IIMK - GD and PI

6th March, 2 PM, IMI New Delhi

Loads of trepidation as I entered the IMI building for the first IIM experience of my life. Slept at 3 AM the night before and the nights before that were a series of night outs in a bid to prepare on everything I could think of. That included engg acads, general awareness and the usual HR bullshit such as - Why MBA etc. So needless to say, it had been one exhausting experience but made me look forward to the whole GD/PI experience all that much more.

One more thing which I'd like to add is that the whole experience of having prepared for the interview has been tiring, yet in a way a, its been a very exhilarating one too. Something which I really enjoyed and through which I also learnt a lot. Only the Ahmedabad interview left but now I wish there were more calls! So at least I could repeat this experience a few more times!...:p

Anyway, so there were around 25-30 people, divided into 3 groups, I was in panel 1. There were a couple of people from my CL Gurgaon center and we'd been in GDs before so I should add that I felt a little comfortable because of that.

As we entered the room, I could hear my own heart bang against my chest. I have usually been quite good at GDs so I had enough reasons to be confident but I guess it was just the sense of occasion that got to me. Plus the FMS rejection last year didn't exactly make me feel better. Stupid, in retrospect but what the heck...:p

So, there were 10 people in my group, a chit of paper was given to each with a small paragraph

'Indian bureaucracy and procedures are hampering growth of Indian industry. L.N. Mittal and Ratan Tata had to go out of the country to establish industries of a true global scale. Why doesn't the Indian environment provide the kind of support the industry needs? This question needs deep introspection.'
Something like this. Not sure of the exact lines we were given.

I started off by saying how we could discuss this topic on various parameters such as - political, societal, economic, financial etc. Saying this though didn't really prove useful I guess because people started discussing discussing random topics anyways. I came in a few times with some good data such as Budget '07, SEZs, comparison of India and China etc. On the whole I was very satisfied with the GD. Felt my apprehension going, confidence returning and was now looking forward to the interview

I was the fourth person to be interviewed and was expecting a barrage of technical questions since I have only an 8 month experience and a few questions on Budget '07 too because I had brought in a few points from it in the GD.

There were two panelists - an old male prof(M) and a youngish lady prof (F).

M - Tell us something about yourself
Me - blah blah
F - so u work in the consumer goods vertical, what is CPI?
me - half right answer
F - WPI?
me - told her I was not sure but was still going to give a definition as I understood it then.
F - What are Consumer Goods?
me - told her something, but missed out on a few items in that class of goods
F - whats your Rh factor?
me - huh?
F- you have organised a blood donation camp and you don't know that?
I remembered I had done that in college. Told her I didn't find out Rh factor, instead organized the camp

F - How do you organize a blood donation camp?
me - blah

F - you have done a course on human values and ethics. what did you learn?
me - (it was a non credit subject, didn't remember shit!) said a few things, couldnt answer beyond that.

F - a few more questions on usefulness of ethics in business, how the film Guru could be relevant by showing the required business ethics or rather the lack of them.
me - blah

G - questions on my company - profit margin, locations, employee strength, market share, why my salary is low (its not and I still don't know why he said that), my work in my vertical, competitor companies.
me - answered all of them

G - another expected question on academic marks(marks could have been better).
me - I had prepared for that and I had some good non academic achievements to talk about, my campus job was one of the better ones, but somehow just didn't handle this one as well as I could have. Only thing I said was that I realize my mistake by not having focussed more on marks instead of extra-curriculars and will rectify this in future and that I am conceptually strong, nothing else. I still don't know why.

That was the interview. NOTHING TECHNICAL!!! And I was waiting for something technical!!

My interviews too go well usually but just don't know what happened then! Besides the marks question, I am not satisfied with a few other areas too but most regrettable was the marks question which I should/could have handled a LOT better, but not worried about it now. I guess whatever has to happen will happen...:)

Overall - a good to really good GD and average PI.
Your comments if any would be welcome...:)

Really pepped up about preparing for the IIM A interview now. Hoping to give it my best shot.