IIM Calcutta Personal Interview Experience 2021
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IIM Calcutta
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IIM Calcutta
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B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from RCC Institute of Information Technology (2021 passout). Past Acads - 96/97.5/9.35. Joined IIM Calcutta in 2021 as part of the 58th Batch.
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Please Share Your Interview Experience
How The Dark Knight became the hero I needed during my interview! MBA Interviews can be nerve-wracking and intimidating. Unlike CAT, interviews do not have any fixed syllabus, and one can be questioned on almost any topic under the Sun. With the pandemic shifting this entire process into an online mode, convincing the interviewers that you are the right choice in a span of 10-15 minutes became quite a challenge, all through a virtual rectangular box.
Date – 3rd March 2021
Evening Slot Panel - Two male professors. I will refer to them as P1 and P2.
Being an online interview, I was first put in the Zoom waiting room. 5 candidates were going to be interviewed by the panel, and I was supposed to go last. The host would inform us 2-3 minutes before our interviews were supposed to start. I was pacing nervously in my room and waiting for the host’s message, but to my surprise, my interview started without any notification. My camera switched on automatically upon entering the breakout room (A setting I made sure to change after the interview was over). Since I was away from the laptop, pacing in my room, the camera now showed an empty wall, with the interviewers calling out my name. I sheepishly entered the screen, and my nervousness amplified more, thinking that this interview had already started going downhill. Fortunately, the panellists were very sweet and gave me time to settle down properly.
P1 – So Minhaj, tell us a bit about yourself.
M – Fumbled quite a lot even though I had prepared for this answer a million times. There could not have been a worse way to start an interview.
P1 – Okay, that’s great. So, I see that you have pretty impressive academic scores. Can you tell us your college rank?
M – Told them that our college does not officially publish ranks, so I could not give them an exact number, but unofficially I was among the top 10-15%ile, given my GPA.
P1 – Okay, that’s great. So, since you are from a computer science background, tell me what a binary search is.
M – Told.
P1 – What is its complexity?
M – Told.
P2 – Can you derive it?
M – Confidently wrote the answer and held the paper in front of the camera.
P2 – Don’t you think you have made a mistake? Upon realizing I had made a silly mistake, I hurriedly tried to change it, but the panellist said no need and gave me another problem on logarithms. My nervousness increased even further, and I felt less confident after ruining such an easy chance. I completed the following sum but took a lot of time and fumbled quite a bit. In the first 5 minutes of the interview, I had already accepted my fate and bid my chances goodbye. Just as I had lost a chunk of my confidence, P1 picked up on something from the interview application form we had to fill out.
P1 – So tell me, who is the music composer of The Dark Knight? I had written that I love watching movies in the hobbies section and that The Dark Knight was my favourite film. Shifting the conversation to this helped me regain my confidence.
M - Hans Zimmer.
P2 – Which country is he from?
M – I’m not sure of this, but it might be Sweden. (Explained that the name sounded Nordic to me. Nonetheless, it was not the correct answer. Zimmer is German)
P2 – Could be German as well, no? No worries. Let’s move on.
P1 – Who played the role of Joker?
M – Heath Ledger
P1 – What happened to him after this?
M – He passed away.
P1 – How?
M – Drug overdose.
P1 – What drugs? Completely stumped. Even though I liked the topic of conversation, I had no idea about the nitty-gritty of the lives of the people associated with the movie.
M – No idea, sir.
P1 *smirking a bit* – Okay, no worries. So, tell me, who is the father of the modern computer?
M – Alan Turing P1 – What has he done? Told them about his role during the 2nd World War.
P2 – Who fought in the 2nd World War?
M – Axis Powers and the Allied forces. Named the countries involved. P
1 asked me a few questions on current affairs.
Answered a few correctly.
For the rest, I told him I was not aware but would look into it after the interview.
P2 – Okay, I think we are done here. Do you have any questions for us?
M – Asked a generic question about the online scenario of education.
P1 & P2 both answered it, following which the interview ended. The interview started in the worst possible way, but I am glad that the topic shifted towards something I was comfortable talking about, which boosted my confidence. Even after that, there were questions where I did not know the answers, but I remained confident for the rest of the interview. The day I received the admission letter in my inbox, I was thrilled that I had written about my love for movies, without which things might have gone very differently.
Final Verdict?
Converted, Joined
Any Advice For Upcoming Aspirants?
1. Keep up with the latest news.
2. Be prepared to answer anything related to the points written in your application form, and even from your 'Why MBA?' and 'Tell me about yourself answers.
3. The interviewers do not expect you to know everything, but instead, they look at how you approach the questions you do not know the answer to. A simple 'I'll read about it after this' can also show that you are interested.
4. Do NOT bluff. It can end up derailing your entire interview.
5. Be confident and genuine, and answer as if it were a normal conversation.
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