I am a Mechanical Engineer with 20 months’ work experience. As a core engineer with a CAT percentile of 98.97 and academics of (90, 84,85) I was well aware that SJMSOM would be one of my best calls. I received the call for an interview on the 16th of February 2022. The mail also stated that the interview would be done over the Gather platform so I was quite curious about it.
My interview was scheduled for the 3rd of March therefore I got a couple of weeks to myself for preparing for the interview. I knew that SOM interviews are driven towards the technical as well as work experience aspects so I prepared from that point of view, also it was expected that a panel of 3-4 interviewers was to be present so I gave the mocks accordingly.
The D-day was a pleasant surprise as the Gather platform was seamless and the process was carried out very smoothly. The admission team was very cooperative and made us feel as if we were on the campus itself. After a wait time of nearly an hour, during which we were kept entertained by animated TV shows like Mr. Bean, my name was called.
The interview itself was nowhere close to what I had expected. Instead of exploring my theoretical technical knowledge, the interviewers were more interested in my practical use of the same. The interview was more of a discussion about my Engineering course as well as work experience activities rather than a one-way grilling. The interviewers also focused on my knowledge of my native city and state and we had a healthy discussion about the history of my birthplace.
Overall, it was a great experience and the process itself stood out to me as the most innovative one of the multiple interviews that I have been a part of.