IIFT 2023 Tips By Aman Bhardwaj, IIFT 99.86%iler – UPL’IIFT’ Series #1

I had decided to pursue a career in management in the final year of my engineering degree. Back then, I decided that it would be better if I gained some corporate experience before applying for an MBA, and therefore I joined an IT firm as a software developer. While working there, I started preparing for MBA entrance exams via online coaching. I used to prepare after my office hours, so as to make the most of my day. During the pandemic, I worked from home, because of which I did not travel a lot and could easily use the time I saved there for my preparation.

For VARC, I had disappointing scores in the mocks, and so I spent extra efforts on its improvement. I used to follow my coaching material, and used to practice Critical Reasoning questions from GMAT question bank. These questions taught me the nuances of logic application while solving Reading Comprehension questions. I also found the RC 100 which were quite helpful.

For QA and LRDI, my preparation was mostly through the material given by my coaching , along with taking mocks. I opted for ElitesGrid online coaching for preparation, since I was a working professional. I felt that online coaching would be more beneficial since there are a ton of resources available both online and offline, and therefore it was difficult for me to navigate through these resources while working. Coaching gave me a distilled set of resources that was especially tailor made for MBA entrance exams.

A week before the IIFT exam, I brushed up on the previous year's current affairs, which helped me in the GK section as well. I also liked to follow current affairs even before I started my prep perse - this, helped me in the GK section to a great extent.

What were the resources that you went through while preparing for your Interview?

For my interview, I took online coaching. I also followed a telegram group which had a lot of volunteers from top tier MBA colleges, along with having plenty of resources and guides for preparation. Also, I was a part of a group of students who were all preparing for interviews, and so we used to practice extempore and mock interviews amongst ourselves. I also spent a lot of time, going through previous year experiences and consumption of related content to hone my oratory skills and widen my knowledge base for various topics.

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Elaborate on your approach while giving mocks. How do you think the mock tests helped you during your preparation?

I opted for both AIMCAT from TIME, as well as SIMCAT from IMS. I would recommend AIMCAT to the aspirants especially for VARC, since the questions in AIMCAT are very close to CAT level, and I could not really understand the questions and solutions that SIMCAT provided for VARC.

While giving mocks, I tried to first cherry-pick the questions that I found easy and solve them. After this, I attempted the ones that I found slightly more difficult. In LRDI, I used to time myself while solving every set. Mocks helped me to form an exam-attempting strategy, and taught me to be able to identify the easy questions and leave the difficult ones as per my strengths and weaknesses.

Do you have any final tips for aspirants?

IIFT allows us to switch between sections, so make full use of the navigation feature
Spend time on those questions which you feel are easier and will give maximum benefit. Also, make sure you brush up on the year's current affairs , since it will help in the GK section of the exam.
IIFT exam has a mixture of very easy to very difficult questions that are spread out randomly throughout the paper. Do not get hung up on a difficult question just because you have started attempting it.
Understand that no matter how good your skills are or how hard you have worked, there are certain things in this exam that are not in your control. These exams do not define an individual in any form, and therefore it's very important to maintain emotional stability, both during preparation and while attempting the exams as well. What we can control is our preparation and our approach while attempting the exam, and therefore one must not allow fear of the end result to influence one's actions.

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