The month of February and March was full of interviews one after the another. Due to Covid, everything was happening virtually.
Online interviews have their own set of pros and cons. For most of the interviews, you had to log in and wait for the panel members to let you in the room. The bad part was you did not know when that was going to happen. For one of the interviews, I had to wait for almost 2 hours before suddenly the interview started. I was expecting the same for my SJMSOM interview.
But when I received the instruction mail for SJMSOM, I realized the process was about to be completely different. The interview was supposed to happen on a platform called Gather. Initially, I could not understand the need for a complex process. But when I visited the Gather platform, I was impressed.
The reporting time for the interview was 8 AM. They divided us into groups of around ten people and, each group could interact among themselves. Within a group, everybody was allotted a slot for their interview. Mine was towards the end at around noon. For the next 3-4 hours, I listened to others’ interview experiences and got help from a senior who guided the whole group.
My turn came and, the interview started. There was a panel of three members, which included one alumnus of IIT Bombay. Following are some of the questions they asked -
Tell me about yourself?
What are the three farm laws?
If I were the Agriculture Minister, what would I say to Rakesh Tikait (Farmer Union Leader) to convince him of the farm laws?
If I were the finance minister of India, how would I allocate the budget in different sectors?
What are the universal gates in electronics?
Technical question - Draw AND and OR gate using NAND gate only.
It was a mix of personal questions, situational questions, and technical questions. Overall the interview went well. The panel members were also impressed. It lasted for 15-20 minutes and was one of the smoothest virtual interview experiences I have had.