Date: 22nd Feb 2018 (Kolkata)
The interview was during the afternoon slot.The reporting time was 12:30. I entered the seminar hall at exactly 12:27 and the person taking the attendance surprised me by shouting "You are late!"(Maybe he was just trying to make me more nervous ). I showed him my wristwatch showing I was actually on time and he apologized. For the WAT, we had to write our views on 'How to Control Air Pollution'. Thank God the topic was not that abstract. Then names were called out for PI. This was my first IIM interview so I was quite nervous. Then came the moment. One of the Panelists came out of the room and called me in. After taking their permission I entered the room. There were four of them, all of them male in their mid-50s.
P1: Sit down.
Me: Thank you, sir.
P1: Introduce yourself.
Me: Told them about my family and my siblings (Forgot to mention my hobbies).
P2(firing the question like he was waiting for this moment for years): So Vikash, what are your hobbies?
Me: Cooking, reading books and listening to music.
P2: Which type of music?
Me: English Pop and Classical Bollywood.
P3 (joins the party): Who's your favorite Singer.
Me: In pop, I like songs of Rihanna and Jennifer Lawrence (I always get confused between Lopez and Lawrence).
P3: What? Lawrence?
Me: I immediately corrected myself.
P4(jumps in): So Vikash, you must have done the bubble sort algorithm?
Me: Yes sir.
Then he told me to explain the time complexity and asked me why it is the not the best of the sorting algorithms?
I explained it well (he seemed convinced). Then he told me to write an SQL query. I wrote it well and explained it, hoping they won't ask any further questions on this. P4 seemed to be a computer engineer.
P4: So tell me, what is OLTP and what problems can we face during data input and extraction during the process?
At first, I didn't recall the term OLTP.
P4 (helped me): Online transaction and processing..
Me: I explained it then.
P4: So, can you think of a process where OLTP might be used?
Me: Yes Sir. It is used when we buy equities of companies online.
I mentioned trading, hoping the next question would be from trading.
P1: So you do trading as well? (I successfully moulded the interview in the direction I wanted)
Me: Yes Sir.
P1: When did you start trading and which is favorite broking site?
Me: From the first year of my college, and I usually use Angel broking.
P1: Which company's share did you buy first?
Me: A bank, I don't remember which one sir. It was either Bank of India or Punjab National Bank.
P1: PNB(Smiling). So you must have come across the name Nirav Modi recently who took away some money from PNB.
(Shocked to hear 'some'. clearly 11k crores is not 'some.' It was sarcasm)
Me: (with a smiling face) Yes, Sir. He took away around 11k crores.
I was expecting some more questions on this issue. I was quite prepared for it. But they did not probe any further on the topic.
P2 : So Vikash, tell me your views on the sex ratio in the corporate world in India.
Me: told them about the lower sex ratio in most of the organisations and some other points
P2: So Vikash, females are getting some gender diversity points these days in many organisations and in IIMs as well. Do you support it, oppose it or have mixed views.?
Me: Sir, I totally support it. (I am a feminist)
P3 (rises from deep sleep to throw a bomb on me): So Vikash, given a situation where you and your female best friend are fighting for a single vacant position. She and you have same marks and same skill set. How will you feel if she is preferred over you?
DUMBSTRUCK ...I didn't have anything to say. But somehow I managed to say something
Me: Sir, being a human being, I will definitely feel bad about it, but I will say that will rather be impulsive. But I will make myself understand that women in our country have suffered a lot and now is the time for their upliftment. They should be given some priority to achieve this.
P3: Okay Vikash, thanks for your time and good luck.
(he did not seemed convinced with my answer)
Me: Thank you, sir.
He offered me his hand to shake and also some candies.