Before writing about my interview experience, I would like to give a brief introduction of myself. I am Shrikant Hajare and I completed my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Mumbai University. I did an internship at the Bhabha atomic research centre, Trombay and my final year project was “Solar Thermal Air Conditioning”. I am a fresher.
Cat 2020 went smooth and within 2 months, the interview season had started. The interviews this time were completely online and I have always had problems with internet connection (More on this ahead). I had divided the interview preparation into 5 buckets and prepared for these for a month. The buckets were academics, internships, final year project, current affairs and general questions. As I was a fresher, I already anticipated I would be grilled on my academics, internships and project so I prepared in depth for these. General questions include the questions about SJSMSOM, about my motivation and reason to do MBA and questions on my application. Current affairs for me is by far the most boring topic to study.
There were 3 panelists all male. Panelist 1 (P1): Had his camera off (Maybe to check how I answer and my expressions) and checked how fast I could think. Panelist 2(P2): Asked me about my Bachelors Panelist 3 (P3): Grilled me on MBA in operations (I never did mention this as a speciality I wanted to pursue)
P2: Good morning Shrikant, how are you today?
Me: Good morning sir and to the other panelists as well. I am fine.
P2: Tell me about yourself.
M: Gave information about my background mentioned above and told about a volunteering role I was in.
P2: Okay so you mentioned about your project being on solar air conditioner. What did you do in this project?
M: Sir, I designed a solar air conditioner working on Tri-ethylene glycol as a desiccant which is recirculated… (explained him the working) ... and me and my team could achieve a temperature of 27 degrees when ambient temperature was around 36 degree Celsius on a working model of Solar air conditioner.
P2: What are its disadvantages?
M: The size is huge sir and it takes a lot of time to cool the air as compared to a conventional air conditioner. But the advantages are huge, less consumption of electricity and since it does not use refrigerants, it does not cause air pollution.
P2: That’s great. Which subject was your favourite during Bachelors?
M: Sir, Refrigeration and Production Planning.
P2: Isn’t fluid mechanics your favourite? Please tell me about Boundary Layer Theory.
M: (Fortunately I knew this) Answered.
P2: What are Newtonian and Non- Newtonian Fluids?
(I accepted my fate that I will be grilled on Fluids, the interviewer went on to ask about Plank’s constant, heat transfer coefficient and few others I don’t remember. Fortunately I could answer each and every one of the question because they were basic and fairly straightforward)
P2: Okay Shrikant you have answered the questions well. I am done
P3: tell me about your family.
M: Sir, my mother is a home-maker, my brother is a dentist and my dad just retired general manager working in the telecommunications industry.
(Internet disconnects before I could complete my sentence. Major panic. Fortunately, the interviewers were waiting for me till I got reconnected. This does not normally happen as I had experienced in other interviews before. I was fairly confident that the interviewers were impressed by this time)
*Rejoined*
M: Sir I think there was a disconnection. I am sorry
P3: No problem Shrikant. Tell me do you know about the difference between operations and supply chain?
(P3 went on to ask me about warehouses that amazon/flipkart use. These are are called fulfilment centres and I has the opportunity to visit one during my Bachelors which I why I could answer all the questions regarding this)
(P3 asked me about inbound and outbound, the Bullwhip effect, how materials are sorted inside the warehouse, what a cold supply chain is, how are coronavirus vaccines transported. I could answer them all)
P3: Impressive Shrikant. (P1 takes over)
(P1 was very strict and I felt as if he had the final decision whether to select me for their MBA program)
P1: Shrikant, why is cricket so famous in India but Swimming isn’t?
M: Sir, the popularity of a sport is dependent on its history in the country. Cricket has been played since the age of Britishers in India but we have never heard of swimming during those times.
P1: (Impressed at this answer) But hockey is our national sport and it has been played even before the time of the British why isn’t it famous?
M: Sir, we have seen prominent personalities like Tendulkar, dhoni, etc. which has developed a kind of sentiment within people of all age groups. Since there are viewers to this sport, infrastructure has been developed for it and it has been extremely monetized. Hockey lacks infrastructure.
(Internet disconnects whilst P1 was asking me question. I abused my internet service provider a lot and rejoined again to find the panelist’s still waiting)
P1: Shrikant, I think we are done interviewing you. Do you have any questions for us?
(Generally asking a question makes or breaks the deal. I thought I have given a good interview so far, if this turns sour in the last moment I will be disappointed and the internet was also failing)
M: No Sir, Thank you.
P1: Okay shrikant, you may leave. Best of luck!