The hustle to reach the best B Schools in India has started with the CAT results and interview calls rolled out to shortlisted candidates and a few of the interview processes started already. Getting good CAT results is always the job half done to reach your dream B School with interviews playing a vital role in compensating slight downside in the scores in CAT by giving a major upper hand or an average performance letting go of the hard work done throughout the year.
Most of the interviews will probably be online this year as well though there is a fair bit of chance that the later part could be conducted offline considering the downward trend of the third wave COVID-19. The online interviews remove a vital part of the interview that is body language so communication becomes more important for sure.
After appearing for at least 3 B School interviews including CAP and getting selected in 5+ B Schools in 2019 I did have a lot of learnings for the same. But the actual learning happened while coordinating the first-ever independent admission process for IIM Rohtak with 8000+ students appearing for the same in 2020 as part of the Public Relations Cell of IIM Rohtak where we got to chance to understand the selection process, interacting with thousands of candidates and also supporting them with the preparation for interviews and WAT.
There are definitely two ways to prepare for the same either to take help from a coaching centre who have been preparing students for decades or do self-preparation with support from acquaintances who have cracked B Schools before.
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I chose the second option as I felt I can perform better with the same and had a good circle from people who have cracked it but I would say it is completely up to you and your strengths and there is no harm in taking support from coaching centres or any mentorship programs available.
Things To Keep In Mind
Do you know why you really want to do an MBA?
This question will definitely be asked in 90% of the interviews and have a proper answer with proper reasons behind it. Let me make it really clear that the interviewer always knows whether you are telling the actual reasons or faking it and their cross-questions will definitely lead you to trouble if you are making up a well-cooked story. Be it stagnant growth or be it to step up the ladder or be it an opportunity to explore or to learn things to be an entrepreneur in future.
Knowing about current affairs
Post MBA the role of every B School graduate will somehow be as a decision-maker and knowing about the current affairs matters a lot as the industry is always changing and there are many external factors that affect the business and when you dream to be a future leader it matters a lot to know what is going on around the world. Be it budget or liberalized drone policy or digital health initiatives taken by the Government or the infrastructure push and some current issues going on.
Some core expertise is always impressive
Learning is one of the most important things in a B School and for freshers, it becomes really important to answer questions related to academics for sure whereas for experienced professionals questions related to the domain they are working in are definitely going to add a lot of credibility during the interview process. Don’t beat around the bush as there are high chances the panelists are experts in that particular field and might not like it.
What are your weaknesses and Strengths?
This is definitely one of the tricky questions to be asked in the interview and nobody is perfect in the world. It's good to be honest here with strong reasoning on how you are trying to improve the weakness. For strengths do have a situation where it has helped you in professional or your undergrad days
While wishing all the aspirants all the best things to conclude will be to appear at least
2-3 Mock Tests, be in touch with people who have cracked it in previous years and do prepare your answers for generic questions to avoid missing it out on the interviews.
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