My IIM Indore Online Interview Experience | Dikshant Yadav IIM I' 22

2 panelists, M1(Early 40s), M2(Late 40s)

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Me: Hello sir, good morning. Am I audible?

M1: Yes, you are audible . Can you show me your ID card?

Me: (Showed him my Driving License because my Adhaar Card photo could have lead to a straight reject.)

M1: Lets start with your introduction.

Me: (Gave my well prepared introduction.)

M1: Why did you leave your job?

Me: (Explained the reason)

M1: So, you studied Civil engineering, right? What was your favorite subject in engineering?

Me: (After thinking for 5 seconds) Earthquake engineering (What! WTF! I don’t know why I said this even when the interviewer was giving me a choice.)

M1: What are the effects of an earthquake on a dam?

Me: Earthquakes can make a dam unstable due to loss of strength of foundation. In some cases the dam can even collapse. (Mentioned some more effects.)

M1: Are dams earthquake proof?

Me: Not earthquake proof, but yes dams are designed to resist earthquakes.

M2: So, I heard that you were discussing about dams with the other panelist. How a dam can cause an earthquake and what are the other problems caused by a dam?

Me: Sir, a dam does not cause an earthquake….

(Interrupted)

M2: What are you saying? Haven’t you heard about protests like Narmada Bachao Andolan?

Me: Dam by itself does not cause an earthquake. It can trigger can earthquake due to the water pressure. (I didn’t know much about this.)

M2: Have you heard of Tehri dam?

Me: Yes sir, it is one of the major dams in North India.

M2: What was the controversy going around Tehri Dam?

Me: (I had no idea, but as we were discussing about problems related to dams, I spoke about the general problems that are caused by a dam.)

M2: What is an aquifer?

Me: It is an underground layer that stores groundwater.(A few more points.)

M2: What is drawdown?

Me: Due to pumping out of ground water through wells and other sources of water from ground , water table which is initially at some elevation decreases. The height of water column decreased is drawdown.

M2: What are Piezometric surface?

Me: It is an imaginary surface on which the drawdown is same at all the point. (Wrong answer)

M2: I stay in Indore, and here the level of groundwater has gone down due to the concentration of borewells. How does the level go down?

Me: Because the porosity of water in soil….(Interrupted)

M2: Porosity of water?

Me: (It took me some time to realize what did I say wrong.) Sorry sir, porosity of soil.

(Explained the reason but the interviewer didn’t look satisfied.)

M2: What is the yield of a well?

Me: The amount of water that can be extracted from a well in a specific amount of time.

M2: How do you calculate it?

Me: (Luckily, this was related to my final year project.) Recuperation test is conducted. A certain amount of water is pumped out of the well and time is noted for the water level to rise to initial level.

M2: Can you name the current Army chief?

Me: General Narnaware

M2: And who is the Chief of Defence Staff?

Me: General Bipin Rawat

M2: Which state is he from?

Me: Most probably Uttarakhand.

M2: And where are you from?

Me: Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh but currently my family is in Delhi.

M2: Can you name some National parks in Uttar Pradesh?

Me: (Tried to recall for 10 seconds) Sorry sir, I can’t recall any right now.

M2: OK Dikshant, now the other panellist will continue the interview.

M1: I will give you a topic now. You will be given 30 seconds to think and have to speak for 1-2 minutes on the topic.

Topic- Youth should be encouraged for politics in college.

Me: (Wrote some points on a notepad) Spoke on how involvement in politics can help the youth to develop an ideology at a young age. Mentioned about famous leaders like Arun Jaitly, Sushma Swaraj and Mamta Banerjee who started their political careers from college. Also spoke about how students have even started movements in the history.

M1: OK, your interview is over.

Me: Sorry for the connection problem sir. Have a nice day.

Verdict: Converted (First List)

P.S: The internet connection was weak and the video conference stopped 2-3 times in between. The panelists were interviewing separately.