It was the 3rd of March 2021. My interview was scheduled for 3:00 o clock. IIT Bombay has always been the hub of innovation and SJMSOM being part of IIT Bombay is no different. The interview experience was innovative. In the pandemic times, they wanted to give the same experience to the students as an offline interview. So for this, they used software that functions like a 90s RPG game. We all were given pixelated avatars to choose from and I chose a king avatar. The virtual platform was in the same fashion as an offline interview centre. Even the SJMSOM ADCOM members had their own avatars and if you moved in closer you can initiate a chat with them. You can also chat with other interviewees or just snoop into a talk between two members. There were separate virtual rooms for document verification and interviews. For me first were the interview and then the document verification.
My interview process was very smooth and I attribute it to my answer in the application form. They themselves first said to me that I have written a terrific answer as soon as I entered the zoom call. This made the interview for me. There were three professors. One of them asked me about normal mechanical questions like VCRS cycle, casting, and mechanical basics. Another professor asked me normal HR questions like why MBA and why I want to pursue it. The third professor was from social science and he asked me questions based on that. He was asking me about some sociology terms that I never heard about. I used pure English and made up the definition on spot. The interview ended with criticism of the political system in Bengal and he loved my answer here also.
The final process was document verification. So for all those who read through my entire post, I would advise you to really work hard on your application form answers. If you are able to impress them, your interview will be as smooth as a knife in butter.
For reference my answer in 100 words
The biggest achievement so far (100)
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie.
In my first KVPY interview I was grilled really hard. In that interview, I received only 15 marks out of 100. However, I didn't give up and instead reattempted the test in class 12 which is actually harder to crack, and secured an all-India rank of 327. This was my biggest achievement not because of its significance but also because it brought back the confidence I had lost.