So, one day I received an email saying that I was shortlisted for the Personal Interview round at SJMSOM. And that moment felt so unreal, mainly because juggling with work and preparation for CAT had not particularly been that easy for me.
My interview was scheduled on 5th March, and the communication for the same was sent out on 17th February. While the timely communication gave me a good head start, I believe what really helped me (and thanks to SJMSOM for the great initiative) was the buddy system at SJMSOM- a buddy is assigned to each of the candidates from the senior batch to help them with the entire admission process.
Shortly after, I received the details of the interview. The interview process was hosted on a platform called Gather – an interactive platform that gave a near real life experience. Each candidate was assigned a panel, and a group POC who guided us through the platform. After the initial instructions, we were split into two groups – one that completed interview first and the other completed document verification first.
Finally, the time had come that I had dreaded for weeks altogether. I was called into the interview room. There were three panelists – one of them I believed was an SJMSOM professor, one IIT Bombay professor and one alumnus. The interview started with “Tell us something about yourself that is not already a part of your application form”. I gave them a couple of points, while they interrupted me multiple times. I got a few questions related to my education, but since I had work experience of around 2 years, majority of the questions were related to my work profile, the technology behind the customer value we provided, and some questions regarding the business models of well renowned companies.
My interview was over, and I was sent back to the lobby where I continued with the rest of my process. As an MBA aspirant, I had appeared for a lot of interviews, but no doubt the interview experience provided by SJMSOM was the best.