Dear Readers,
Thanks for your time to peruse my CAT experience, I hope it’s helpful. I am Vignesh Kamath, currently employed at an investment bank (Wall Street big-wig to remain unnamed for compliance) in an operational role and soon-to-be PGP student at IIM Kozhikode. Previously, I majored in Economics (undergraduate) and spent a year in Ernst and Young’s Tax consultancy vertical. I scored a 98.97 percentile in my first attempt at the CAT (2019) and converted my first (and only) B-school interview at IIM K.
I decided to write the CAT on a whim when I came across an online advertisement in September 2019. The ad was by Career Launcher offering a series of mock tests (13 online, 1 offline) for INR 100. Lured by the pricing, I gave my first mock and the score was modelled to by ~87 percentile by the Career Launcher portal. Subsequent reading led to the conclusion that an MBA in Finance will help me pivot to my professional goal of a front-office role in Investment Banking/Management.
Over the next four weeks, I spent an hour every day preparing for the entrance. Confident of my performance in the VARC section (99.93 percentile in CAT 2019) due to the consistent reading of editorials in The Hindu, I focused my effort on DILR and QA. I used material available freely online on the Career Launcher portal supplemented with ad hoc videos where I needed assistance. Subsequent mocks saw an incremental improvement to ~95-97 percentile. That my performance in the actual entrance was better, I attribute to fortune.
A few tips for future exam takers
1) Prepare consistently and effectively. Time should not be a metric to gauge progress, instead of test retention through multiple mock tests and gauge your progress accordingly.
2) Be persistent. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint – and the CAT should be treated accordingly. Regular preparation is key.
3) Identify your strengths and work them to your advantage. The three sections of the exam have largely the same weightage in admission to B-schools, hence work on your strengths and use them as propulsion for your score.
Conscious of textual moderation, I share my interview experience in brief. For those that want to know more, happy to connect on virtual platforms. My interview at IIMK was hands-down the most difficult interview I have participated in (despite my current employer widely being considered an intimidating recruiter). In one breath, I was asked to explain the popularity of POTUS Donald Trump, distinguish between Ayn Rand’s principle of relativity and Sadhguru’s principle of objectivity, decode the numerator of Sharpe Ratio et al. The interviewers did a stellar job of keeping me on my toes by peppering analytical questions alongside trivia, resulting in a cathartic experience I truly hope to undergo again.
My tips for interviewees
1) IIM Interviews are difficult, there is no two ways about it. Be honest, be calm, be cool and stay confident. The three C’s never fail in tackling a stressful situation and honesty is valued across the spectrum of educational institutions.
2) Freely admit to knowledge gaps and convey that you will work on plugging them. Analytical questions require you to apply logic hence be confident with your guesstimates and explain the rationale of how you arrive at answers.
3) The interviewer, above all, wants to gauge if you are a good fit for the program. Guide the conversation (and the answers) to build the narrative that your personality and skills are conducive to the program, the institution and its values.
Thanks for your time and interest. I am happy to connect with aspirants on social media/offline.
Stay safe and good luck!