Calls Out Direct Link: https://www.iimidr.ac.in/academic-programmes/post-graduate-program-in-management/pgp-indore-admissions-details/provisional-short-list-for-the-personal-interview-pi-pgp-and-pgp-hrm-2024-26-batch/
Profile
Class X -10 CGPA
Class XII – 95%
Graduation – 83 percentile ( I was yet to graduate at that time)
Date: March 2019.
Three panelists (Let’s call them P1, P2, and P3)
P1- Introduce yourself?
well, this is a question, everybody prepares for. So I spoke my well-practiced answer and finished it with “I like reading”.
P1 – What do you read?
Answered: Non-fiction Books and Newspapers majorly.
P1- What exactly in the newspaper?
Editorials and articles.
P1 – What is an article?
Answered.
P1 – What is the difference between article and research paper?
Answered
(but I started getting nervous as they were throwing questions like one on one without any gap)
P1- Asked me to present an extempore on” Economic growth versus fair distribution” by govt – A policy dilemma
I started, I fumbled in between as well, but I continued and stopped only when they asked me to conclude. (Even they were able to notice that I was out of ideas after 50–60 seconds)
P2- What is Noble gas?
I could not answer. (I was literally getting nervous and couldn’t think much)
P1 – Examples of Nobel gas?
I could not answer again ( Now I was embarrassed, and wanted to leave)
P1 and P2 talking, murmuring that I am not a science student or something like that.
P1- What is the Nobel prize?
Answered
P2 – Indians who won the Nobel prize?
Gave a few names, I was trying hard to remember and they could see it.
P2 – Economist who won the Nobel prize in India?
Answered.
(Meanwhile, P3 was sitting and smiling as if he is observing me very keenly.)
P1 – Gave a question from simple equations.
Solved.
Then they said thank you!
I almost felt that I should go and die after coming out but somehow I managed to reach my pg only to get embarrassed again by my friends that I don’t know what is Nobel gas:(
Verdict: Converted
PS: I did not take admission in 2019 though.
IIM Indore Interview Experience:
B.A. Economics (H) graduate from Hansraj College, University of Delhi
Work Experience: Few months with a management consulting firm
Date: April 29th, 2020
Location: Home (Online Interview)
Time: 4:45 PM
WAT – Scrapped
Before I start, I want to state that my interview was scheduled on 4th April, 2020 in Delhi. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed and then taken online.
I waited nearly an hour past the scheduled time for the panelists to let me enter the virtual meeting room. There were two male professors, P1 (probably in his 40s) and P2 (probably in his mid 30s). P1 started the interview. We exchanged pleasantries and then P1 commenced. I’ll denote myself by M.
M – Good Evening, Sir.
P1 & P2 (both together) – Good Evening, Jayant.
P1- We are audible to you, right?
M – Yes, Sir.
P1 – Okay so Jayant, please introduce yourself.
M – (responded with a well rehearsed answer, talking about my hobbies, startup experience, PORs, internships, competitions etcetera)
Economics & technical questions:
P1 – So, you are an economics graduate. What is the difference between monopoly and monopsony?
M – Spoke about how Monopoly is a single seller and many buyer case while Monopsony is the polar opposite case with a single buyer and many sellers.
P1 – Can you think of an example for Monopsony?
M – Explained how labour market could be an example where people belonging to a particular skill set supplying labour (are sellers) and a single company bidding for them (is a buyer).
P1 – Can you think of a practical life example also? Related to day-to-day life?
M – (after thinking for a few secs) explained how e-rick market in North Campus Delhi works as an example when an individual has to board a rickshaw
(Both professors seemed quite happy after my answer)
P1 – What is IS-LM model?
M – (the most expected one) Explained how the same is a Keynesian technique and talked about their derivations when goods and money markets are in equilibrium.
P1 – What is Fisher’s effect? Could you explain the equation also?
M – Explained how the relationship among real interest rate, nominal interest rate and inflation rate gives rise to Fisher effect. Then explained the equation further refining the expected inflation rate.
P1- What is the difference between nominal and real interest rate?
M – Nominal reflects monetary terms while real reflects the quantum in terms of goods and services
P1 – You might have heard of MRS being diminishing in nature as a general principle, right? Prove it mathematically.
M – Answered assuming a Cobb-Douglas preference structure and then applying partial derivatives
P1 – Tell me how Solow model was an improvement over Harrod-Domar Model?
M – Talked about Harrod-Domar being a knife-edge cutting model wherein a change in savings rate produces a permanent effect on the growth of GDP, told how Solow improved the situation by bringing in other factors such as labour population growth
P1 – What is normal distribution?
M – the continuous random variable and probability distribution concentrated on mean, then draw the bell shaped curve and explained its properties a bit
P1 – What is a natural monopoly?
M – Explained about how such monopolies have very high establishment costs and then witness the large economies of scale
P1- What are the two major causes for market failure?
M – Concentration of Power (Monopoly) and Externalities
Entrepreneurship and Indian economy:
(P1 then gave a signal to P2 to take over.)
P2 – I can see that you have good command over your graduation subjects. Well, let’s shift the topics a bit now. In your introduction, you mentioned that you have had an opportunity of working with a startup from scratch. Tell me what is bootstrap funding?
M – (nervous chuckle) an entrepreneur risking his own bootstraps (money) as an initial source for venture capital
P2 – What is a unicorn? Give some names for Indian unicorns.
M – Startups with valuations over one dollar billion. Gave examples of Ola, Paytm, Flipkart, OYO, Byju’s
P2 – Who was Victor Lustig?
M – (sorry, who!?) Sir, I am not sure. I am hearing this name for the first time in my life.
Fun fact: He was an artist who is believed to have sold Eiffel tower.
(Googled it after my interview)
P2 – You sure are, anyways, who is Elon Musk?
M – Talked about him being a technology and industrial entrepreneur, also spoke about SpaceX and Tesla
P2 – Explain a bit about Tesla cars.
M – Talked about Tesla electric cars providing world’s transition to sustainable & clean energy solutions
(Then he named a few US start-ups, I wasn’t aware about any of those, so, I requested him that global entrepreneurship wasn’t really my side.)
P2 – (Maybe, realising that I have a knack for Economics) What is Economic survey? Who publishes it?
M – Told
P2 – Who is our finance minister and Chief Economic advisor?
M – Nirmala Sitharaman and Krishnamurthy Subramanian
P2 – Explain the theme of recent economy survey.
M – (Feeling relieved that I have had read about it a few days back) Explained how the same focussed on wealth creation alongside the support from government
P2 – Okay Jayant. We will now have an extempore.
You will have 30 secs to think and 1.5 mins to speak.
You topic is – “COVID-19 has disrupted our lives.”
M – (woahh, the topic was so simple that on the top of my mind, I felt that I needed no time to think, but still I structured my approach before speaking) Spoken how the same has affected Indian economy, global economy, core economic sectors, personal lives and professional lives. Ended the extempore on a positive note highlighting how it has knitted the whole world in a single thread of unity to fight against the same.
P1 – Any Questions for us, Jayant?
M – Yes Sir. Was wondering how classes and regular activities at IIM Indore shall be proceeding amidst the pandemic crisis, if you could chart out a bit of details, that would be too great.
P1 – Explaining me how online modules are also being tested upon and a part of Term-1 will definitely be going online. Social distancing and other norms shall also be introduced whilst conducting regular classs even in the offline scenario. Rest information shall flow via official communication streams and the same will be adhered as per the government guidelines.
M – Sure, Sir. That was really helpful.
(Then P1 nodded and asked me to exit the meeting room.)
Verdict: Converted
Afterword: I really felt that the interview stressed more on my acads. So, being thorough with whatever you have studied in your bachelor’s is a must. I didn’t really expect such a smooth conversation, but they didn’t grill me at all.
My IIM Indore interview was one of my most stressful interviews in the 2022 B-school admission season. Since the interview happened pretty late in the season, I had started to experience fatigue from the continuous cycle of appearing for interviews by then. Moreover, this was my only interview in which I faced some major technical issues. A brief transcript of my experience is as follows, I hope it helps future aspirants!
Date: 17/03/22
Reporting Time: 11:30 AM, Interview Start Time: 12:00 PM (online)
Duration ~20 mins
Profile: 10th/12th/UG- 9/9/9; CAT 99.69 %ile
B. Tech (IT), GEM Fresher
Two panelists, both male, one in his 50s (P1), the other in his 40s (P2). Friendly greetings.
(Note: Faced major technical issues before the interview even began. Initially the panelists couldn’t hear my audio clearly, later my video froze. All in all, a very nervy start.)
P1:
1. Hello Shubhang, please introduce yourself.
Told (mentioned that I have an analytical bent of mind in my introduction)
2. Since you mentioned you are analytical, what is the probability that a child shares the zodiac sign of his/her mother?
Approached the problem incorrectly and calculated a wrong answer initially. The panelist then helped, I was able to come to the right approach but wasn’t able to give a proper final answer.
3. Okay, let’s try again. Find the probability that a day is a full moon day.
Was again slightly flustered, but then I composed myself and after thinking, answered 1/28
4. Are you sure? Would it be 2/29 or 1/28?
Felt that I was tricked, said that I was not sure but stuck to 1/28.
5. Draw the graph of |x|.
Drew on paper and showed it, was correct.
6. Tilt it by 90 degrees, what is the equation of this new graph?
Told |y|=x, was correct.
7. Okay, you come from an IT background, what was your favorite subject in IT?
Said Operating Systems and Computer Networks
8. What is OSPP?
Said that I had never heard of the term, he said “kya baat kar rahe ho” and gave me a shocked look. I politely said that I will read up on it.
9. What is the OSI model?
Told in detail, has prepared this.
10. What are its 7 layers? Why do we have 7 layers?
Told in detail
11. Are you familiar with Codd’s 12 rules in DBMS?
Said that I had heard of it but this wasn’t taught to us in our syllabus
12. You have not heard of logical data independence or physical data independence?
Said no sir, but will definitely look it up
He gave a slightly mixed reaction and passed the interview to his co-panelist.
(At this point, I felt that the interview was turning out to be a disaster and was getting even more anxious.)
P2:
1. So Shubhang, what is QUAD?
Told, mentioned its importance
2. And what is AUKUS?
Told
3. What was the controversy between France and USA a couple of months back? Around the time AUKUS was formed?
Told
4. How many sessions does Parliament have in a year in India?
Said 4 (was wrong, there are 3 sessions- Budget, Monsoon, Winter)
5. Which session is the Budget presented in?
Said Budget Session, was correct
6. Who administers the oath to the President of India after he/she is elected?
Guessed, was wrong (the correct answer is Chief Justice of India)
7. So you mentioned you like cricket, tell me why is a chinaman bowler called so?
Told (I had read the story behind the origin of the term when I was young, however he said that my answer was incorrect and asked me to recheck)
(Sidenote: On checking on the internet afterwards, I found that my story and answer was actually correct)
8. Who was the first Chinaman bowler?
Said that I didn’t know
P2 said that he expected more from someone who was a quizzer and a cricket fan and passed the interview back to P1.
P1:
1. So we have an extempore component as well as you would know, since you like cricket a lot, here is your topic-
“Cricket is a game played by 11 fools and watched by thousands of other fools.” (was given 30 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to speak)
Spoke comfortably, extempore went well
Was asked to log out.
VERDICT: Converted
This experience was unique since it made me realize that one might think that they are having a bad interview but the panelists might be judging him/her on something else entirely. I was very surprised when I directly converted IIM Indore at a very high rank in the merit list.
(Sidenote: I had also converted IIM Indore’s IPM programme back in 2018 with an All India Rank of 4 but didn’t take up the seat even then.)
Would be happy to help CAT aspirants with any further queries and doubts!
Hey people!!
Profile: 10/95.4/82.11/98.88
Interview: ONLINE ( NEW DELHI )
Interviewers: 2 Male professors
1- Tell me something about urself?
2- What is your favourite subject? ( told physics )
3- Then tell us what is fluid?
4- Okk… which one is your interested topic in physics? ( told quantum theory )
5- What is Hisenburg Uncertainity Principle? And explain it in brief?
6- Can you write Scheodinger Wave equation and name all the terms which are there in the equation?
7- How do you cut a cone to make an ellipse out of it ? ( we had good amount of discussion in it 😄😄.. they gave me hints and I was trying to come to the conclusion)
8- What are your Hobbies? ( told reading and dancing)
9- Have u read novel” Atomic Habits”?( I had read it ..)
10- Tell us some good and famous things about Haldwani? ( this is the city i belong to )
That was pretty it about it …. Overall my interview went decently fine .. not that good …
The conclusion I can take out for u guys from this is that Indore’s interview is more academic oriented ….as per all the people I talked to over there… So prepare for the best …
Stay positive, confident and fun…
VERDICT: CONVERTED..
ALL THE BEST 🌸🌸
IIM I interview Experience
Date: 10th April, 2023;
Venue : IIM Indore, Mumbai campus
Profile: GNEF 9/9/8
CAT: 99.50 percentile
I was in morning slot, panel number 5 and I was third one to be interviewed, interviews before me lasted for about 10-12 minutes and people were quite chilled, it was also because that was one of the last interview days of IIM Indore. Me and my mom reached the venue place, we took pictures and wasn’t bothered or tensed much about interview.
My name was called, I entered the room and i realised that M1 was quite sleepy and M2 was continuously looking at computer screen
M1:
Let’s start with your brief introduction
So you did HR internship, what was your role?
Tell me about your data validation and research internship?
Have you used any tools for data validation?
Have you studied data analytics as part of your course?
What all did you study?
Tell me about ways or techniques of data arrangement.
Explain what is discrete and continuous data?
Let’s move to probability
Asked concepts like random variable, discrete random variable, bayes theorem, poison distribution, probability distribution etc
M2:
Do you follow news?
Which type of news?
Tell me 3 business news
Any other news recently
How many states are there in india?
Even after article 370?
How many union territories?
Sikkim is state or UT?
What about ladakh?
Ok how many types of covid vaccine are available?
What’s the difference?
Discussion over it for a couple of minutes, honestly I didn’t know difference between the two much but somehow answered something.
Extempore topic: A good HR policy can help improve organizational performance
Overall chill panel and they were letting us drive interview in direction we want
Interview went for about 15-20 mins.
Since it was the last interview of the season, I was relieved and not much concerned, and it made me confident and could answer most of the questions as well, I might not have said everything right but I was able to speak something or the other.
Verdict: Converted (in later lists)
All the best!!
Interview Experience for IIM Indore
Date: 16th February,2017
Venue: Dadar, Mumbai
3 Panelists
Profile:
College: Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Branch: Chemical Engineering
10th/12th/Grad: 95.38/90.33/75.70
Cat Percentile: 99.42
Work Experience: 12 Months as Research Analyst at ARB Trading Group
I am only writing questions here.
P1:
- How are you Kunal?
- Did you enjoy your time at ICT?
- Gave me 2 numbers which were populations of USA and India respectively. Asked me to guess current USD to INR conversion rate.
- Can you establish a relation between population and forex rate with justification?
- What is per capita income of India, any guesses?
- Which industry would you like to work for in future?
- (I mentioned in between interview that I like Mathematics.) So, which part of Maths do you like most?
- What is random variable?
- Is water in this bottle (which was kept on table) a random variable?
- If I move bottle from one place to other then will it be a random variable?
- What is constant? Give its proper definition.
- If I toss an unbiased coin for 10 times then what is the probability of getting 7 heads?
- Draw the graph for y^2=4ax.
- What is function?
- Is X^2+Y^2=1 function?
- Draw the graph for x^2=4ay.
P2:
- So, who is current director of Vistara Airlines?
- Name few airlines in India.
- Why are Lithium batteries not allowed to carry in planes?
- Whom would you like to give credit for getting WAT/PI call?
- Tell me any topic which you read in recent past?
- Who is the chairperson of Federal Reserve?
- What was she doing before becoming one?
- How does the policies of US Fed affect India?
P3:
- What is your dream company to work for?
- What is it’s current annual revenue?
- If I give you Rs. 1 lakh and you have two options. You can either invest it in Fixed Deposit or you can invest in share market. Where will you invest?
- What is current rate of return at BSE?
- Tax rates related question from 2017 budget.
Interview Experience for IIM Indore
Date: 16th February,2017
Venue: Dadar, Mumbai
3 Panelists
Profile:
College: Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Branch: Chemical Engineering
10th/12th/Grad: 95.38/90.33/75.70
Cat Percentile: 99.42
Work Experience: 12 Months as Research Analyst at ARB Trading Group
I am only writing questions here.
P1:
- How are you Kunal?
- Did you enjoy your time at ICT?
- Gave me 2 numbers which were populations of USA and India respectively. Asked me to guess current USD to INR conversion rate.
- Can you establish a relation between population and forex rate with justification?
- What is per capita income of India, any guesses?
- Which industry would you like to work for in future?
- (I mentioned in between interview that I like Mathematics.) So, which part of Maths do you like most?
- What is random variable?
- Is water in this bottle (which was kept on table) a random variable?
- If I move bottle from one place to other then will it be a random variable?
- What is constant? Give its proper definition.
- If I toss an unbiased coin for 10 times then what is the probability of getting 7 heads?
- Draw the graph for y^2=4ax.
- What is function?
- Is X^2+Y^2=1 function?
- Draw the graph for x^2=4ay.
P2:
- So, who is current director of Vistara Airlines?
- Name few airlines in India.
- Why are Lithium batteries not allowed to carry in planes?
- Whom would you like to give credit for getting WAT/PI call?
- Tell me any topic which you read in recent past?
- Who is the chairperson of Federal Reserve?
- What was she doing before becoming one?
- How does the policies of US Fed affect India?
P3:
- What is your dream company to work for?
- What is it’s current annual revenue?
- If I give you Rs. 1 lakh and you have two options. You can either invest it in Fixed Deposit or you can invest in share market. Where will you invest?
- What is current rate of return at BSE?
- Tax rates related question from 2017 budget.
Profile: X/XII/B Tech: 95/95.6/84.7
Mechanical Engineering Graduate from NIT Surat
Currently working in RIL
CAT- 99.07
Date: 16–02–2021
Logged in at 2.25 PM
Two panelists P1 and P2, both middle aged
P1: Tell me about yourself
Me: Told a well prepared answer, talking about my hobbies, past internships, PORs, competitions, interest for Equity markets, etc
P1: So you are interested in Markets, what are Capital markets?
Me: Told the basic definition
P1: Difference between debt and debenture
Me: Told ( looked little unsatisfied)
P1: Name all stock exchanges in India
Me: Named BSE, NSE, MSEI. (Then he asked about regional exchanges)
P1: What type of instruments are traded on Indian stock exchanges
Me: Stocks, ETFs, Futures, Forwards, Currency Derivatives, Commodities like metals and named a few others
Then he asked about mutual funds
P1: What types of sections you follow in newspaper?
Then he asked about any business story which you followed in newspaper.
I told Gamestop and explained. I went on to explain the entire fiasco. Told about SEC (NYSE’s regulator role), Robinhood example, Regulations on Hedge Funds, Retail investor rights, WallStreet Bets forum.
He seemed happy and satisfied by my answer.
P2 comes in
P2: Asked about any tussle between L&T and Reliance as I worked at both companies
Me: Told I don’t recall
P2: Favorite subject?
Me: Thermodynamics
P2: What is capillary action?
Me: Couldnt remember exactly but told a little about the principle involved
P2: Write equations of all laws of thermodynamics
Me: Wrote
Extempore: Farm Laws- A fight for reforms or phony reforms.
He was doing time out after 2 mins but I spoke for 30 more seconds.
Okay, Deep glad to interact with you.
You may now log off.
Lasted for about 25 mins
VERDICT: CONVERTED
Iim indore campus. Date: 17/03/23
Two penalists: 1 male and 1 female.
Profile: 9/9/8. B.Tech in Mechanical with 3.5 years of work ex.
Q1. Tell me what’s your role in current company. (Asian Paints) : Answered briefly
Q2. What was role in previous company? : Answered
Q3. Why Asian paints have a huge market and also managed growth during pendemic also? : Told about some strategies
Q4. How Asian Paints products differ from it’s competitors? : I wasn’t sure so told a bit
Q5. Extempore: Development in industrial cities like Ankleshwar comes at a cost of environmental damage like polluted air, undrikable quality of water. (1 min to think and almost was stopped after 1 min of speaking)
Q6. Solve the mathematical problem:
Lim x->inf [sqrt(x)[sqrt(4+x) – sqrt(x)]] : solved
Q7. Another problem where relation between 2 angles of tringle was given and asked to find relation between 3 sides : Solved half and was stopped
Q8. What is the case of Uddhav Thakre in Supreme court? And 1 2 counter questions.
Q9. Name 2 cities in the world which are 20000 km apart from each other. If can’t name then name the country in which they are located : I said I can’t recall. So he asked what is radius of the earth: Answered
Q10. How is the political scenario in gujarat? (Home and current state) and 1-2 counter questions.
Q11. Name 5 women indian chief ministers of current or past along with state name : Answered 2 and said need some time to think he said okey speak 1 more and i was able to recall.
Q12. Why the rate of clothe is higher if cotton content increases while reverse in the case of polyester? (Maybe because my 1st organization was in this business but i was not working in that division): No idea
Q13. Name the oceans in the world. ( I named 4 major): Answered
Overall chill interview and not much grilling.
Verdict: Waiting
IIM Indore Interview Experience
Venue: Taj Coromandel, Chennai
Date: 27–02–2020
Profile: X/XII/B Tech: 97/97/85.8
Work Experience: 19 months(as per CAT form) as Test Analyst in Tata Consultancy Services.
Certificate Verification was the first process. After a while, we have been arranged in the same room for WAT.
WAT Topic: Racial Stereotyping in advertisements
Time: 30 Mins
Performance: Excellent.nceled from the selection criteria as online interviews were conducted for few candidates during COVID-19 Lockdown.
I was the first person in my panel. So as soon as WAT was done I have been called for the Interview process. In my Panel, there were Two male Professors(M1 and M2) from IIM Indore.
Once I entered the room, I received a warm welcome from the panelists.
M1: How do you do? Are you comfortable or you just need some time to settle down. (Since I had my interview just 10 mins after my WAT process)
Me: I am fine sir.
M1: What is your role in TCS?
Me: Explained.
M1: You are a chemical engineer right?
Me: Yes sir.
M1: I will give you a chemical reaction and you find what is it.
Me: Ammonia Manufacture process sir.
M1: What is the name of the process?
Me: Habers Process sir.
M1: What are the temperature and pressure requirements for this process?
Me: I am not sure about the range sir. But high temperature and high pressure are required as I remember.
M1: It is a safe answer. What is the principle behind the process?
Me: Le Chatelier Principle sir.
M1: Can you explain it?
Me: I don’t remember exactly sir but it is something about maintaining equilibrium in a chemical reaction.
M1: Whether it is an exothermic or endothermic reaction?
Me: Guessing for 10 seconds. It is a reversible reaction and I guess both involve sir.
M1: Then how equilibrium is maintained?
Me: Just blinking my eyes. Don’t know sir.
M1: How the product is removed if it is a reversible reaction at such high pressure.
Me: Maybe the volume can be increased to reduce the pressure.
M1: If the pressure is not high then reversible should take place and you don’t get the product right.
Me: Yes sir. I have studied these sir. But I cannot recollect it now. Maybe some catalytic poison or external reagent could be added to slow down the reverse reaction. But I am not sure.
(Grilled too deep in academics)
M1: Okay no problem.
M2: Are you okay with Geometry?
Me: Yes sir.
M2: Find the relationship between the side of an equilateral triangle and the radius of the circumcircle over that triangle.
Me: Tried for 2 mins and gave an equation in terms of radius and side.
M2: Solve this:
Me: (Thinking for a min) I don’t know the exact way to proceed.
M2: What could be the answer?
Me: Around 2 sir.
M2: Greater than or lesser than 2?
Me: Lesser than 2. it could be 1.9999999999…..
M1: You are a football player. do you know banana kick?
Me: No sir. I haven’t heard of it.
M1: How do you curl the ball?
Me: Explained.
M1: How to exert maximum force in the kick and how the landing foot should be positioned?
Me: Explained.
M1: I am done.
M2: I will give you an extempore topic. 30 seconds to think and 1–2 mins to speak.
Me: Fine sir.
M2: Consider yourself as a train and describe your journey between any two places.
Noted my watch and started after 20 seconds.
Me: Spoke for 1 min 50 seconds.
M2: Thanks and you shall leave now.
Me: Thank you sir.
This is my worst interview experience of the season. You should expect more academic questions in IIM Indore interview even if you have 2yr+ work experience is my take away from the process.
Time: 25 mins
Overall performance: Very average and grilled in academics.
Verdict: Waitlisted (Converted eventually)
It has been 4 years though I remember some highlights
- It was in Mumbai, around 45 minutes and 3 panelists
- Started from educational background, some questions on few of the subjects
- Questions on healthcare industry where I was working then
- Other calls and preferences
- General knowledge questions like why the vehicle number plates are different in color (wasn’t known much then), views on few burning scenarios then
This much I could remember now. All the best
Date: 26.02.20
Location: IIM Indore Mumbai Campus, CBD Belapur, Mumbai.
Interview: IIM Indore
Profile: X – 92.8 % (SSC) , XII – 91.69 % (HSC), UG-80.9% (Chemical Engineering,IIT Madras Final Year) GEM Fresher
CAT – 99.71%ile
Calls: C, L, I, S, CAP, SPJIMR, MDI
WAT: (30 mins) #MeToo movement has pointed fingers at several celebrated artistes, musicians and filmmakers who have made significant contributions in their fields. Should a person’s personal life be considered when evaluating his body of work?
PI: (15 mins)
Two Panelists P1 and P2, male, in their mid-40s
P1 – Come in, have a seat.
Me – Good morning, Sir. *passed my document file*
P1 – We don’t need that. Tell us about yourself.
Me – *gives a well prepared, well-rehearsed answer*
P1 is looking at me and P2 is going through my documents (they got a copy of them after document verification).
P1 – If you study at IIT Madras, why are you giving your interview here?
Me – I live in Pune. I took a leave from college for the interviews.
P1 – Which calls do you have?
Me – Calcutta, Indore, Lucknow, CAP.
P1 – So what do you study at IIT Madras?
Me – Chemical Engineering.
P1 – Chemical Engineering is about Chemistry right?
Me – *ugh, that’s the most common misconception* No, Sir. It has to do with mass manufacturing of Chemicals and the related technologies. But we do study one chemistry course in our first year.
P1 – Do you know what an oil refinery is?
Me – Yes, Sir.
P1 – Okay, then tell me the procedure to refine crude oil.
Me – *flabbergasted internally but got my shit together soon* Sorry sir, I’m not aware of it. We were not taught about it.
P1 – Alright, do you know what a boiler is?
Me – *I’m not a Mechanical Engineer, damn it* Yes, sir. We were not taught about it but I know about it from my internship.
P1 – What is it used for?
Me – *answered*
P1 – What are its types?
Me – *paused for a second* I’m sorry sir, I’m not aware of it. I just know one that was used in the plant during my internship. *gave details*
P1 – Do you know about Heat Exchangers?
Me – *Ah, finally something relevant* Yes, Sir.
P1 – What is it used for?
Me – *answered*
P1 – Why can’t we use a furnace for heating?
Me – *answered backed with two reasons*
P1 – Okay which is better, co or counter current?
Me – *Ah, easy peasy* Can I explain using a graph?
P1 – Sure.
Me – *drew the relevant graphs and gave a detailed explanantion*
P1 – Can you write the formula?
Me – *Of what? You didn’t even mention, ugh* The heat transfer one or log mean temperature difference one?
P1 – Both.
Me – *Right up my alley* *Wrote both* *Didn’t let me finish*
P1 – No, that’s okay, it seems you know it. Alright, let’s have the extempore now. You need to speak for 2 minutes and you have half a minute to think. Your topic is Global Warming.
Me – Can I jot down my points on the paper?
P1 – Yes, sure. No, wait. This topic is too easy for you.
Me – *But you gave it, I didn’t even choose*
P1 – Do you know about the floods in Chennai?
Me – *Ah, still easy for me* Yes, sir. It was caused due to Vardah storm in December 2016.
P1 – Alright. Speak on government policies to counter the loss due to floods.
Me – *thought for 5 seconds, jotted my points for 15 seconds, looked up ready*
P1 – Okay, start.
Me – *gave a satisfactory extempore trying to cover as many points as possible* *just about to finish my part, during the last line*
P1 – That’s enough.
P1 looks at P2 signaling he is done. Now P2 starts asking questions and P1 is going through my documents.
P2 – How many states are there in India?
Me – 29
P2 – What are the seven sisters?
Me – It is the group of 7 north eastern states.
P2 – Name them and their capitals.
Me – *Names 4 out of 7, then paused*
P2 – The state famous for football in India.
Me – *What?* *paused for half a minute* I’m sorry, Sir. I’m unable to recall them right now.
During this time, P2 was on his phone.
P2 – That’s okay. You know cricket right? What is the full form of BCCI?
Me – *with a wicked smile* Board of Control for Cricket in India
P2 – Who is its President?
Me – *this is all too easy* Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain.
P2 – Okay. Which player has represented 2 nations in cricket?
Me – Kevin O’Brian (England and Ireland) as well as Eoin Morgan (England and Ireland)
P2 – No no, tell me an Indian.
Turns out he was googling this on his phone. Ugh!
Me – *named 2 players of Indian origin playing for England and South Africa*
P2 – No no, name the player who has played for India and some other country.
Me – *Neither can I read your mind nor am I google, Sir* I’m sorry, Sir. I’m not aware of it.
P2 nods at P1 to signal he is done.
P1 – Okay, you can go now.
Me – Thank you, Sir. It was lovely talking with you.
As it turns out, P1 is an Operations Management Professor at IIM Indore while P2 teaches Strategic Management at the same B-School.
IIM Indore Interview
profile – 95/96.5/75
CAT 2020 – 98.5%, non engineer female
BA(Hons) Economics
Two males – age 35+ (Finance professors)
- What is the MM theorem?
- What is WACC?
- Draw AD AS curve and explain.
- What are giffen goods?
- A stock market case
Extempore – Uncertainity in neighbouring governments is hampering Indian democracy.
Answering because there is a serious dearth of economics honours experiences. 🙂
Edit – CONVERTED !
IIM Indore
Bcom fresher
P1- male around 60, calm and strict type
P2- female around 40, excited and nice type(even waved a hii when I entered)
Enter*
Me- Good morning sir, good morning mam.
Both- Good morning
P1- so yogyata where are you giving your interview from.
Me- Sir from patna, Bihar.
P1- okay, tell me about your hobbies
Me- Reading fiction books and writing poems.
P1- okay since you read and write , name some journalists.
Me- was not expecting that and couldn’t name any in the first few seconds.
P1- it’s fine try to remember.
Me- named few
P1- what about one who recently passed away, you know him.
Me- sorry sir I am not aware of it
P1- that’s fine, tell me some current news of within a week.
Me- Russia Ukraine
P1- okay that’s international, what about national
Me- hizab controversy, budget
P1- oh, budget is old now.
Me- sir elections are also going on
P1- how many states are having election.
Me- sir I am not sure but it’s either five or six.
P1- okay and what is the difference between election and by election.
Me- explained
P1- are any of the states having a by election.
Me- sir I am not aware about that.
P1- tell me what will happen if we don’t have rajya sabha today.
Me- couldn’t really answer well, said something about passing of laws and policies
P1- lok sabha will do that, what else.
Me- I can’t think of anything right now.
P1- okay tell me how the stock market reacted just after the budget was launched.
Me- sir it was up and explained why.
P1- so basically up, okay *showed a maths problem to solve.
Me- *got confused and was taking time*
P1- leave it make the graph of sin x, sin 2x, 2sinx
Me- made and showed.
P1- good, now P2 will take over.
Me- good morning mam
P2- good morning, tell me what do u like in economics
Me- mam macroeconomics
P2- really, what is the monetary policy related to foreign exchange.
Me- mam we haven’t studied that.
P2- okay that’s fine, what about CRR and SLR
Me- yes mam, explained and gave the current rates as well
P2- what are the functions of it
Me – explained
P2- what will be done in case of inflation
Me- explained, talked about the current speculation of reverse repo rate to be increased but RBI didn’t do that
P2- okay and what is reverse repo rate exactly.
Me- explained, again gave the current rate and told it’s part of monetary policy.
P2- what is monetary policy
Me- explained
P2- and fiscal policy
Me- explained
P2- what about fiscal deficit, what is it.
Me- explained
P2- how much fiscal deficit is considered good.
Me- mam I know the currect fiscal deficit but can’t remember the percentage that is considered good.
P2- Okay, but you know there must be something, can there be 0 fiscal deficit, if yes are you aware of any countries.
Me- I don’t think there is
P2- can be or cannot be 0.
Me- mam it’s theoretically possible, but I think there is not anywhere.
P2–one last question, you have clearly mentioned hr in your why mba question, so will you choose pgp-hrm over pgp
Me- Said I will choose pgp and explained why
P2- okay, I’ll give you a topic, think for 30 secs talk for 1 min.
Extempore- Work from home allowed indefinitely.
Spoke for 1 min, and then was stopped.
They said this this is the end of your interview you can log off.
Thanked them and logged off.
No HR questions nothing about what you have done, only gk and acads, it was around of 25 to 30 mins.
I think I did pretty bad in the first part and second part was decent.
Verdict- in May*
IIM I Experience: (22/02/2022)
91/96/9.3 Male, Fresher, Mechanical Eng.
P1 in 40s (focussed on CA) and P2 in 50s(Focussed on Acads);
Greeted and shown Gov. Id
P1: Tell me about yourself in brief and which is not in resume. (Told)
P1: How you keep youself updated? Big news right now. (Told Ukraine, elections, NSE & Hijab contoversy)
P1: What nifty indicates? Who regulates or controls it? (Told)
P1: What is occurring at Russia-Ukraine conflict? (Told but seemed unconvienced)
P1: What is India’s stand as per your opinion?
P1: What is USA’s stand right now?
P1: Why it is actually happening? Reason behind conflict. (Answered)
P1: Are you comfortable with Maths? What you can do? (Told Probability, Differentiation & Integration)
P1: Extempore – People are losing money on trading and doing suicide. Should Government completely ban it? (Not aware and couldn’t add much point, I think worst part of Interview)
P1: What is definition of Probability? (Told but grilled me up with one term)
P1: Gave a sum on “4 Red balls, 3 Green, 5 Black. What is probability of having atleast 2 same colour balls out of 4 which are picked?” (Told approach but not happy with it?
P1: What is definition of differentiation)
P1: Can we do diff. of (sinX)/X. (Told about limit theorem associated but gave weird look)
P2 took over.
P2: Write Bourn ollie Equation (Wrote)
P2: Update your equation if there is difference height level. (Wrote)
P2: What will happen to equation if the fluid is compressible/ incompressible?
P2: What will happen to equation if the flow is laminar/turbulent?
Now application based,
P2: What are types of pumps?
P2: What are types of positive displacement pumps?
P2: At petrol pump, which kind of pump is used? Choose between small (50 ml) or larger (1 litre).
Told which type of pump can be used in both condition. (Seemed partially convienced).
P2: What design parameters one need to keep in mind while designing big blower fan of having dia. 10 m? (gave answer but cross questioned a lot)
P2: Difference between design in small and big dia. fan
Greeted and logged out.
Around 20 minutes, Not much grilling but Acads heavy, No why MBA, No GK questions
IIM Indore PI Experience (2022–2024 batch admission)
Mode: Online (Zoom platform)
Date: 15 March 2022
Slot: 11:30 AM
Profile: class 10- 95%, class 12- 98%, Btech- 83%(2021 pass out batch)
Co-Founder and operations head of YMM Pvt Ltd (Applied as fresher and mentioned what I am doing currently when asked)
2 Panelist: 1 Male,1 Female
-They have my details contains my academic achievements, extra-curricular achievements, SOP, Hobbies
Male Professor:
- Tell me something about yourself which is not mentioned in your form
- Projects in engineering (Detailed questions abut them)
- Research Paper related questions
- How did the shift from mechanical engineering to digital marketing startup happen?
- Details about the services provided by my start up
- What is SEO
- Inbound and outbound marketing
- What is silver lining
- Asked which maths topic i am comfortable with(I told probability from the topics sir mentioned)
- 2 questions from probability
Q: There are 3 rooms one after the other in a straight line and there are 7 keys available. Each room have exactly one key by which it will open. What is the probability that all rooms open in 1st attempt.
(Other question is also related to application of probability ,I did not answer that)
Female professor:
-Mam appreciated the hobbies and as I mentioned about running a animal foster home she gave me extempore topic related to that.
Extempore Topic: Animal lovers are empathetic in nature
(Gave me 40 sec to think and 1 min to speak)
- Andhra Pradesh Chief minister
- Why is Amaravati chosen as capital
- Andhra Pradesh is part of which kingdom previously
- Which current states comes under Madras Presidency
- How and when Andhra Pradesh is Divided
- In which century did Vijaya nagara Dynasty rule
- Why is madras important in Madras Presidency
Overall it went well. Both of them are very friendly, no grilling and gave me time to answer. Interview is of 20 min.
Be confident and if you do not know anything, mention the same, most of the times interviewers changes the topics if we mentions that we dont know. I saw lot of others interview experiences in telegram group and most of them mentioned that it was more of conversation and testing your knowledge from what you have mentioned in the form.
Verdict : Waiting
IIM Indore 16th February 11.45 AM Started at 12.30
Profile
10th : 10 CGPA
12th: 94.8
Undergrad: 8.1 in Chemical Engineering
CAT : 99.88
Panel: Two Males P1 and P2
Me: Good Afternoon Sir
P1: Good afternoon Vinamra. Hope you didn’t have to wait too long
Me: A little Sir
P1: So can you tell me a little about yourself?
Me: Gave standard background answer .
P1: So what did you study in chemical engineering?
Me: Fluid Mechanics
P1: Explain surface tension
Me: Gave brief description (STD XII NCERT level)
P1: Give me a more detailed answer from a chemical engineer point of view.
Me: (Blanking out ) Sorry Sir I do not recall it properly.
P1: Can you tell me about soap and how it cleans
Me: Gave basic NCERT level answer
P1: Can you tell me a chemical engineers perspective on soap formation
Me: Sorry sir we hadn’t covered it chemical engineering
P1: Name 2 redox reactions ?
Me:( Thinking chemical engineering isn’t chemistry) Sorry Sir cannot recall any at this point.
P1: (Starts to smile) Looks like you haven’t prepared for the interview .
Me: Sir it isn’t that I didn’t prepare for the interview but my academic knowledge is slightly weak and isn’t the best representation of what I know
P1: Ok you tell me what you have prepared for ?
Me:( With a slight pause while panicking inside, At this point I knew my interview was gone) Sir Current Affairs
P1: So I can ask you anything from politics, history, geography, international relations ?
Me: (Nervously) Yes Sir
P1: Tell me something about Operation Blue Star
Me: Sir , What in particular … The incident itself or the precursor and the aftermath
P1: (Smiling widely going in for the kill) As much as you can tell us about it
Me: I explain everything from origins of Dharam Yudh Morcha, its demands, how Bhindranwale was promoted by Indira Gandhi to counter Akalis, how he began demanding for Khalistan, the killings of policemen and civilians, and the fortification of the golden temple. Then I went to how Bluestar was planned and why it failed, the aftermath including retaliation killings of General Vaidya and Indira Gandhi followed by 1984 riots and finally how DGP Gill carried out Operation Black Thunder.
P1: (Pauses) That’s good enough. Ill now give you your extempore topic : Surgical Strike
Me: Spoke in detail and talked about later strikes that occurred in 2019 prior to election and their recent impact.
P1: What other options are you considering ?
Me: Sir I don’t understand
P1: Are you preparing for Civil Services ?
Me: No sir
P1: That will be all from our side you can log out.
Me: Thank you Sir and Have a good day
P1: You too Vinamra
Log Out
To be honest it was probably a terrible interview, however I managed to speak close to 6-7 minutes straight on the operation Bluestar question which I feel may have salvaged the interview, however the first few minutes destroyed most of my confidence.
RESULT: AWAITED
Edit 1: RESULT: CONVERTED
Got Merit Rank 57. I guess the detail in my answer impressed them enough to give me high marks in PI to convert in the first list. Probably they figured I knew enough about political history and current affairs which are more relevant than chemical engineering to an MBA. Basically even if you may be weak in academic knowledge, you can make up for it in other areas.
07-03-22
91/89/72, NIT graduate, 2 years of workex
PI experience:
M1: Tell me about yourself.
M1: so why MBA after current job and why not continue with your company?
M1: why resigned
M1: what if you get rejected by all colleges?
M1: so, you have interest in the stock market?
M1: What’s a hedge fund?
(M2 in-between: mutual fund sahi h?)
M1: Extempore-is 5 trillion economy is a dream only? (stopped me after 1 minute and said enough 😐)
.
M2: You’re from mechanical, let’s have fun.
M2: What’s four-stroke engine?
M2: What’s Carnot cycle (in between ohh “thermodynamic”, let’s come to that later)
M2: What’s the otto cycle?
M2: What’s the diesel cycle?
M2: power stroke per revolution in 2 stroke and 4 stroke engine
M2: then why named as a 2 & 4?
M2: ab aate h thermodynamics p
M2: how many laws are there?
M2: why zeroth law is named as a zeroth law? Why not simply 1,2,3,4?
M2: tell me zeroth law.
M2: tell me first law
M2: tell me second law
M2: tell me third law
(Some cross-questioning on all laws)
M2: What’s enthalpy?
M2: What’s entropy?
M2: so, you like puzzles.
(Asked something, it was more like bayes’ theorem application than a puzzle, couldn’t understand)
M2 was laughing when I was answering M1(and him too); I don’t know why.
Lasted for around 20 mins.
Verdict: Converted in the first list.
.
Some Interview Tips:
I have converted 18 of my 19 calls, including IIM LKI, NMIMS, SJMSOM, NITIE etc. So, I guess I am eligible to answer this question.
I would suggest to future aspirants not to take too much pressure by reading other’s interviews. Just Prepare the following things first
· Focus on your profile. Well rehearsed ‘Tell me about yourself’ answer.
· Anything outside your CV that interests panellists, they might start the interview with ‘tell me about yourself that is not in your CV’.
· Prepare basic subjects from your undergrads.
· Details of your projects & internships.
· Work & learning from your job.
· Details of the company you are working for.
· Basic quant like graphs, probability etc.
· Current affairs. Don’t just watch any current affairs video and think you are done. Try to build your opinion on that. Everyone knows about that incident. Panellists want to know your opinion and how you justify that.
· Basic static GK
Pro Tip: Don’t just answer panellists’ questions. If you think you can connect the answer to something you have prepared for or something in your profile, just say it. Panellists are interviewing dozens of candidates daily. Even they are bored by asking the same question again and again and listening to the same answer every time. They will love it If you drive your interview.
MBA Interview season is up, and thousands of students dream about converting their calls and entering into prestigious IIMs. Here is my short experience of the IIM Indore interview which might be helpful for you guys. It would certainly make you ready for uncertainties in your interviews.
Talking briefly about my background, I graduated as a Computer Science Engineer in 2016. After this, I joined TCS and worked there for 28 months. I appeared for CAT 2018. At the time of interviews, I had more than 24 months of experience. You get some advantage when you have 24 to 36 months work-ex. So, I had my IIM Indore interview on 11th February 2019 in Hotel Vivanta by Taj in New Delhi.
So, it started with WAT test whose topic was “The best way to promote discipline in students is by giving them the responsibility to discipline themselves, rather than imposing rules and regulations”. We were given 30 minutes’ time to write on this. After that, the Interviews were started. There were 3 panels and each panel had 3 people taking the interviews.
I was the second last person to go for the interview in my panel. As I entered, I saw three gentlemen sitting in the panel. Two out of them would be in their 40s and the third one was a white-haired professor and would be in his 60s. He appeared to be of some high designation.
Now finally following are the questions that were asked in the interview:
1) Can you please introduce yourself.
2) What is CRM? (I had my work-ex in Customer relationship management)
3)What is parallel processing?
4)What is cloud computing?
5) Can you please convert 255 into hexadecimal.
6) Why Kbs are in 1024 and not 1000s.
7) Which phone do you have? How images are stored in phones and laptops… Define their color scheme
8) What are Microprocessors?
9) What is the difference between 8085 and 8086 microprocessors?
10) Can you write Taylor series on this sheet?
11) what is the mathematical condition for intersecting lines.
12) What are irrational numbers… give us a mathematical definition.
13) How do you calculate the value of pi (π) using a circle
14) What is the value of a natural log?
15) why is natural log called “natural”, is it found on trees?
15) Who is Maharshi Dayanand? ( My BTech university is named after him)
16) Why is Jeff Bezos in news?
Then there was a short extempore, of which topic was “Indian CEOs are better when they work for US companies than when they work for Indian companies…”
Overall it was a very unexpected interview. I was asked a lot of questions from Mathematical background and electronics engineering. On the contrary, I had my bachelor’s from computer Science Background. There were almost no questions from Current issues or from my work experience. Even though I prepared a lot for this interview, but this interview came as a shock for me and I wasn’t ready for such questions. One thing that you can learn from this experience is that you have to be prepared from all directions when it comes to IIM interviews. For example, I studied the Taylor series in 2012 and it was asked in 2019 during my interview. You have to be
completely ready for the interview. Brush up your bachelors’ topics, know what is going on in the world at the time, know somewhat about economies and finances of the country, know about your work experience thoroughly. Clearing CAT is just one step of the process. You have to conquer this major step of clearing PIs if you want admission into your dream college. One tip that I would like to share here is, Read Newspaper every day like a Bible. Be thorough with your concepts and be confident during the interview. If you are confident, everything will fall into place.
All the best !!
