“You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow.”
These words by Eminem were playing on repeat in my head on the day of my interview. You strive hard for months, miss those treks, spend most of your weekends indoors, stay detached from people around you and disconnected from people on your social network and end up getting a solo call from the season.
I can’t screw this is what went through my head while I sat slightly patiently and slightly anxiously inside the main building for my name to be called. After my documents verification was done, we were sent to a big room with a theatre style classroom and were asked to be seated in a predefined manner. The process which was supposed to be the easiest in the multiple interview rounds - WAT and Psychometric Test, began.
The Psychometric test was quite doable where you had to answer a good number of questions about yourself by putting yourself in the shoes of a Saint. We were required to also justify six of our answers by giving specific examples. Next in line, the WAT was a cake walk for us; we were asked our opinion about “Is Social Media an overall positive or an overall negative for the society”. While I gave my answer stating both the pros and the cons, I ensured that the answer overall had a positive flavor. Remember! You always lean towards the positive side. The catch was that we were allotted just 20 minutes for the whole exercise and I had to scribble through the WAT since I had so much to express.
My Profile:
I came out with a feeling of satisfaction that I had fared well only to realize that everybody in the room felt the same as well. Now before I move on to the interview rounds, I’ll like to say a little about my profile since I got a profile based call.
- Yes, I am a GEM (General Engineer Male). No puns were intended.
- My scores in my 10th (ICSE) and 12th (ISC) are 90.2 % and 91.2 % respectively
- I completed my UG from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal with a 8.87 CGPA in Mechanical Engineering
- Now coming to one of the most crucial parts, Extra Curricular: I’ve represented my school in Cricket and Basketball, I’ve been quite active in social service organizations during my school where we organized blood camps and visits to Cheshire homes and orphanages. I was lucky to have been part of my school’s first Quality Circle against plastic bags. In the Leadership front, was fortunate enough to be the Vice President of my school. Something that makes me happy is organizing and managing events and I played a pivotal role during the fests at school as well as college. Apart from this, I’ve always enjoyed public speaking a lot which helped me win an area division and then come 3rd in the Pune West Final of an Impromptu speaking competition organized by the Toastmasters International.
- Most importantly, I had a year of work experience in Sales of Commercial Vehicles, TATA Motors which helped bag a seat in Marketing.
SPJIMR has a different admissions procedure compared to other colleges and it differs in two aspects:
- We need to select a specialization of our choice before joining and the interview revolves around that.
- There are no personal interviews or GD; only 2 Group interview rounds (that is if you get shortlisted in the first one).
Group Interview Round 1
There were three interviewers waiting to grill us since we were the first set of applicants. Along with me were four other guys where one opted for Marketing, two for Operations and one more for Finance. Since I sat on the extreme left side of the row they started off with me after exchanging pleasantries before getting down to business.
(I’ll be mentioning the parts where I was involved in a direct or indirect way.)
Interviewer 1: Starting from Danish, tell me something not on your resume? You have 2 minutes for this.
Me: Answered the question starting with my personal life and stated my hobbies and interests and also connected them in a fashion that would fit the question “Why MBA”?
(The same question was passed on to my colleagues.)
Interviewer 2: Tell us about your Sales experience at TATA Motors?
Me: Told them extensively of how we used to generate leads or check the pipeline and ensure deals got closed.
Interviewer 1: (Interrupting me) what are the 7Ps of Marketing?
Me: Answered this question.
Interviewer 3: Danish, if you were made the Marketing Head of TATA Motors right now, what changes would you like to bring?
Me: Spoke at length about the changes I’ll like to implement and also how we’ll seal the gaps between the customer expectations and what we deliver. Also told them how TATA has dominated the landscape for a very long time and still has a very strong market share in the North and West Zones compared to its competitors.
(
The interviewers looked satisfied and moved on to the next person.)
They asked similar questions to the other interviewers. One candidate couldn’t justify their choice for MBA in the relevant field while the other fumbled a lot while describing his work.
THAT WAS IT!
The first round lasted for just 20 minutes which made all of us anxious because the rest of the group interview 1 rounds lasted for 30- 40 minutes at least. While I was confident about my performance they hadn’t really dug deep into our profiles - something that I wanted them to. Soon, the results were announced and along with me, the guy in Marketing and the one of the two from Operations made it to the next round.
Group Interview Round - 2
After results were announced for everyone the next batch of candidates were sent it for GI-2. (
This is a unique selection round which revolves around ethics, personality and values. You really can’t prepare for this. They can ask you anything.)
After entering the room, I was seated second from the left and after greeting each other the one of the two interviewers began with a bouncer.
Interviewer 1: Before we can start knowing each other, I would like to know about your expectations from this round. Why do we need a second one?
(
The first guy answered the question covering all most all the aspects I had to say.)
Now, it was my turn.
Me: Adding to what my friend here said, I think….
Interviewer 1: (
Interrupting me) No using his words. Speak for yourself! Let’s start again.
(
I made a huge mistake by beginning my answer with “Adding to...”)
(
This certainly pushed my confidence on the back foot but I kept calm and rephrased my answer.)
Me: Sir, I believe in this round you’ll get to know us more personally, in more depth, what kind of a human are we along with the fact of judging us on the basis of why we want to pursue MBA.
(
The same question was passed on to the rest of the candidates as well. The last candidate to answer gave a brilliant answer. She used the words “Courage. Heart” to good use in her answer.)
Interviewer 1: Here my friend Danish said something, “to know us more in depth”, so I’ll like to start with him. Danish, do you think life is fair?
Me: Certainly not, sir. There is a huge disparity in the living conditions across the globe. I am fortunate enough to have been brought up in the right country and in the right family where I had the resources to accomplish what I want. I feel grateful to even sit in front of you.
Interviewer 1: (
Interrupting me) What you are speaking about is chance not fairness?
Me: Explained him how the two are interrelated by illustrating a hypothetical scenario I just made up.
(
Interviewer without saying a word moved on to the next person in line and after 15 minutes came back to me)
Interviewer to another candidate: Let’s say you are a spy of country X and your wife as well is a spy of country Y but both you don’t know about each other’s secret. In a middle of a war like scenario, you both come across each other at gun point. Would you kill your partner or would you let them go and risk national security?
(
This question was asked to two candidates earlier and both of them were dubious regarding their answer. They both chose to let the person go because they would be unable to handle the loss and didn’t care about the national security.)
Me: I won’t let that person escape.
Interviewer 1: But aren’t you in love with your partner?
Me: I love my partner, but I love my country more.
(
On hearing this interviewer had a little laugh and asked the same question to the next candidate.)
Interviewer 2: Tell us something about the work culture at TATA Motors?
Me: Answered that, stating the pros the company has.
Interviewer 1: (
Interrupting me) If the company is so good why are you leaving it?
Me: Spoke about my personal career ambitions?
Interviewer 2: What can a company like TATA Motors do to retain an employee like you?
Me: I spoke about the changes I feel they should incorporate.
Some of the questions asked to the other candidates were :
- What if one of your friends committed a crime by, let’s say, breaking one of the expensive glass walls of the principal’s cabin. Would you call your friend out knowing there could be heavy repercussions for the whole batch if you don’t?
- Tell us about your family business and why were you pursuing it and now want to join a college?
- Tell us your opinion about the Sabrimala issue?
- What makes you happy?
- (Follow up question) If teaching makes you happy whom would you like to teach? Junior-school or in an MBA college?
- Are you an emotional person?
- What would someone not like about you?
I maintained my composure when they threw unexpected questions at me which helped me put my thoughts out very well. Remember to form clear opinions and back whatever you say. Be a good listener because most often the same question is asked to other candidates as well or a lot of times the question asked to you is from an answer given my someone else. Display confidence not only in your words but also in your body language.
Lastly, know yourself well. They’ll try and test you but if you are confident about yourself you won’t buckle under pressure.
Prep Strategy:
- Prepare well for HR Questions like: Tell me something about yourself? Or Why MBA?
- Know yourself well - I cannot emphasize this point enough. Interviewers have been doing their job for years they know who’s faking it. They’ll test you but you’ll fare well when you’re being genuine.
- Current affairs – Read both sides of the story. Positives/Negatives. Form a clear opinion on any issue.
- Specialization - Read up about the field you want to get into. The latest trends.
- Mock Interviews – Prepare for mock interviews conducted by different coaching centers. Especially stress interviews. You wouldn’t like to have a nervous breakdown on the D-Day.
- Technical Subjects - Be well versed with the concepts of one or two subjects. This is valid for people with work-ex as well.
Lastly, remember to have experiences and share them. It’s important to build your narrative as why you want to pursue MBA. It’s okay to not know any question and instead of taking dumb guesses at it a straight “I don’t know sir” would be appreciated. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for bearing with me and I hope these small pointers will help you to reach your dream college. All the best!
Hit me up on Facebook and LinkedIn incase of any important queries. I’ll be happy to help.
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This article was written by: Danish Rehman Saifi
Danish is a pizza enthusiast who completed his graduation from Manipal Institute of Technology.
He will be joining SPJIMR, Mumbai this year after working for close to
two years at
Tata Motors. He takes keen interest in debating and is also a cricket fanatic. He aspires to be a change maker someday and often finds escape in stand-up comedy and conspiracy theories. He is always up for book recommendations.