MBA Crystal Ball

The interviewer had read my entire application in advance. So not much was asked from what I had written in essays.
Interview Q1: Y Oxford?
Interview Q2: What will you bring to the class?
Interview Q3: Tell me something unique about yourself?
Interview Q4: Which place on this earth would you want to go to? ( away from your work/family ).


Tips: 1. SMILE- People love people who bring positivity. (I had been emotionally very low because of the tiring application work for past 1.5 years.. but this does not mean i HAVE TO SHOW IT TO MY interviewer)

Tips: 2. Surround yourself with people who will give you the right advice/ mentors. (I had Sameer suggesting me the pros and cons of every situation. I just had to make my choices)

Tips: 3. Start early. GMAT is just 20% of the work in an application to a good B school. Talk to a lot of people. Hard work cannot be replaced by anything.


After getting the Oxford admit, I havent stopped smiling and thanking my mentors(including Sameer) who were there to guide me. But i still have to make few decisions before I accept the Oxford offer.

ISB INTERVIEW

My profile : Gmat :650. Work ex: 1 year in Non-Profit Organization and 2 years in IT industry

There were three interviewers in the room. We had a small chit chat about my recent vacation before the interview started.

The questions :
1. Few questions on my job profile in NPO
2. How MBA will fit in my career path?
3. What is the impact of the NPO that I am working for ?
4. How would I convince a potential money donor to donate to the NPO ?
5. A few questions on the activities of the NPO.
6. My understanding of social enterprise ? How does a social enterprise differ from an NGO ?
7. How will I finance my MBA ?
8. Problem/challenge faced at workplace ?

The interview was totally stress free and friendly. It lasted for about 45 minutes.

Final Result – admitted

My only advice - Practice practice practice

All the best

Name of the school : IIM Lucknow (IPMX)
Only school I applied to !
GMAT: 660 (Q49, V31, AWA – 5, IR – 7)
Work-ex: 10
Industry: IT

It was a very relaxed interview. Started with an open ended question of introducing myself.
Was interjected in middle of my answer as they started asking a lot of questions on my client company.
They questioned its exorbitantly priced products and the modus operandi. However, I maintained a calm disposition throughout this confrontation. As I am a big fan and loyalist of the firm that is our client, I did not budge an inch and kept on defending the policies and products of the firm in question.
At times it felt as if they were making fun of my statements but I took it in its stride and laughed along.
In the end one of the panelists said "You do a good sales pitch. You should be in sales. What are you doing in IT Services?"
I honestly felt that this was sarcasm at its best and not a genuine complement.

Finally they asked a couple of questions regarding my pay package and whether I am considering resignation or sabbatical from my current job.

I had no idea how I fared in the interview as it was not at all on the lines I had prepared. The only thing that I remember now is that I was smiling throughout - a childhood symptom of being nervous without revealing it to the person sitting in front

Final result : Admitted !!!!

Tips : Be firm on your stand and don't switch sides. Be confident, genuine and honest

Thought I would share the debrief of my interview for the Oxford MBA program:

Saïd Business School, Oxford

- 730 (Q49 V40 IR 8 AWA 6.0); working in B2B sales and marketing for an Indian MNC in the consumer durables industry; formerly the operations manager of a reputed steel company; led large teams in both roles - have significant leadership experience; undergrad in Engineering from Russell Group University, UK.

- Questions were as follows:
1. Why MBA and why Oxford?
2. What do you think will be the toughest part of the MBA program?
3. Why the list of target companies, why the broad selection of geographical areas?
4. Description of conflict resolution (mentioned in CV).
5. Description of experience in motivating teams.
6. Strengths
7. Weaknesses
8. Opinion about a weakness mentioned by referee
9. Which schools are you applying to? Which will you select if you get more than one offer?
10. Questions for the interviewer

- I was interviewed by a sector consultant of SBS. My application had been read by the interviewer in advance and the discussion was challenging but not aggressive. The interview lasted around 35 minutes.

- Final result: Admitted

How I prepared for the interview

I had enrolled for the MCB interview package (apart from MAP and Essay Writing). Preparing for an MBA interview involves the obvious task of being completely certain about the contents of your entire application including essays, career goals, etc. However, MG from MCB rightly advised me on how to present my answers and body language better, based on my performance in the first of our two mocks.

I was also given useful insights about areas where I needed to shore up my research before appearing for the interview. I cannot recommend the MCB packages enough to all who are considering applying to international MBA programs.

Initially, I thought that I was well prepared for all aspects of my application journey, but I was wrong on just too many levels to express in words. My interaction with MCB was a crucial step in achieving this admission and others - and I'm positive about receiving more.

Name of the school: IIM Ahmedabad IIM A, PGPX

- Profile Stats: GMAT- 700 Chartered Accountant: 5 years post qualification FMCG and 1 year running my own consultancy

Interview Questions
(1) So are you practicing as a CA now...what are you doing?
(2) What is the revenue model of your venture?
(3) We will give you a topic, you need to talk about if for 2-3 Minutes....you can take 30 Seconds
(4) Your topic is “ Should India be a federation of States or one”...see if you don’t understand this we can give you another topic
(5) Is the GST according to you making India one or separate?
(6) What are the benefits of the GST?
(7) How does your argument stand, for example: if there is a furniture seller who does a kuccha transaction on cash basis and evades tax...the entire value chain would have no incentive then to comply...?
(8) Do you have any experience in statistics during your work?
(9) Reason that I ask is that how does your previous work experience help you in what you are doing at the moment?
(10) How does the fund raising scene work?
(11) Where do you see yourself immediately after the programme and 5 years down the line?
(12) Why would you choose to work ...you are already heading a business?

Duration: 35 Minutes

The interview panel consisted of 2 Professors. ...the environment was fairly relaxed and friendly.

Think they wanted to gauge your ability to reason and articulate ...
Awaiting the final results keeping my fingers crossed....

Interview Debrief for IIMA PGPX 2016-17 program.
Interview Date : 8th Nov 2015 in Delhi
My profile: 5+ years in IT sector (Accenture) and around 6 months with my venture in Travel sector. GMAT 740

The Interview was very unorthodox. There were 2 professors and a lot of questioning. The interview started with a request to see my certificates, with the argument that they needed to know if the documentation was original.

Then there were questions about my undergrad college, why Accenture and why I left Accenture to work in a remote place in the hills and all of the questioning was in Hindi. I did not lose my composure and justified my decisions - in English of-course .

From then on the interview progressed in a more professional manner with standard Extempore question followed by why MBA and Why IIMA.

The interview was not friendly, with regular poking and cross-questioning but I stuck to my story and shared a laugh or two with the panel. With an admit, I think it was my confidence in presenting my story that helped me achieve a convert.

Last but not the least, I was able to have confidence in my story because MG helped me a lot. My mock Interviews with MG were eye opener and he helped me see the potential that finally landed me an acceptance at IIMA.

IIM A PGPX Interview Questions

Profile:
GMAT: 700
Education: B.Com, A.C.A
Work Experience: 6 years post qualification
Industry: 5 years – FMCG (Finance/ Commercial) 1 year as entrepreneur – Consulting business including a tie up with a European Investment consulting firm

Interview Details:
One word essay: Shallow
(One of them did take 30 seconds glancing through it)
Panel: 3 Members (Introduced themselves by their name, so I can’t say anything else) All of them asked questions without any hesitation. One of them kept going through my profile in detail while the interview was on. No questions on my essays. The sequence of questions also is as it happened in the interview.

Interview duration: 50-55 minutes

Questions –
Started off with introductions and asking me how I was?
Tell us something about yourself?
You have quite a few changes so far?
Why leave your venture at this stage to pursue an MBA?
None of the entrepreneurs have an MBA...so do you think you really need one?
What do you want to do after the MBA?
What happens if things don’t go to plan after the MBA?
Why not an MBA abroad... have you worked out the payback?
You said that you left ____ because the organisation was going through a transition, don’t you think it is normal. I joined a firm 3 months back and now there is talk of selling the entire APAC practice, do you think I should change?
Can you explain what is quantitative easing is and why?
There is some action that is expected to be taken by the US fed in December, could you tell us what it is?
So how does that affect the stock markets here?
Could you tell in recent times what was the most stable period for the Re. Vs USD and what was the rate?
The Euro has been falling, what are the current levels? Why do you think the Euro is falling?
You said _______ was going through a transition, could you tell me the details and how it affected your job?
Could you tell us about the top three global news items in recent times?
(Was not allowed to complete this was cut when talking about the 2nd item)
What are the current oil prices?
You have done this course from IIM-I (3 month programme in 2009)...what was it about?
So do you still play tennis.. (Hobbies) ?
Could you tell us about the GST?
Do you think the GST will work?
What’s your view on the intolerance debate?
What your take on Modi?
Do you have any questions that you would like us to answer for you?
The interview ended by them saying that it was nice meeting me...I said the same...

Results awaited.

INSEAD Interview experiences


Final result: Got admitted into the program


Profile:
GMAT:720
Work Experience: 6 years in Business Analytics (worked in a consulting start up)
Education: Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science

Interview 1:

Before we even got into the meeting room, he casually started asking me:

What got me interested in applying to INSEAD?
Why are you applying in the Sep batch and not Jan?

<We then got into the meeting room>
We continued discussing why INSEAD
Walk me through your resume.
Since I mentioned my passion in running, he asked me what have I learnt from running?
Can you tell me more about your current role at work?
Best part of your job.
As a consultant, do you have an instance in which you have walked away from an opportunity? If so why?
(he asked me since I mentioned business development as part of my role)
How does an MBA come into the picture?
What is the hardest thing for you to accept in your job?
What do you like to do outside of work?
What are the other schools have you applied to? (we also discussed why did I not apply to other European schools)
Any other questions?

I felt the interview went well but the only downside was that in the middle of my interview, my phone rang. (I forgot to silence it) So, I had to take an awkward pause while giving an answer to put my phone into silent mode. He did not seem to mind it but I felt bad about it.

Best part about this interview was that he let me ask questions about his experiences during the interview. So, it really felt more like a conversation than an interview.


Interview 2:

This interview went in a very unconventional way. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

I was waiting in a conference room in the interviewer's office. Once he stepped in, he apologized for making me wait.
He then told me that he had gone through my resume and knew the firm I work with.

Give me a background about yourself.
Can you tell me exactly the role you play in the firm right now?
How does a typical project get executed? (what role do each person play)
He really wanted to understand the structure of my firm. Since it was hard to explain, he asked me to whiteboard it. I drew the structure right from the CEO to the analysts. I used the drawing to elaborate more on where I fit in.
How does sales happen at your firm?
We discussed the common challenges faced by my firm. He gave his perspectives on them.
Now why are you thinking of MBA rather than continuing in your firm?
How does INSEAD come into the picture?
Any questions for me?

In both my INSEAD interviews, there was additional focus on my current job. Usually, in my other interviews, I stop at a high level. But, I had to really talk about the different aspects of my job here. So, my suggestion would be to practice communicating the various aspects of your role at work in a very clear way.

Good luck to others!!

ISB Interview Experience:

Profile:
B.E. Electronics
2.5 years work-ex as Business Analyst in Travel domain (Referred to as company X in Interview Debrief) and E-commerce domain (Referred to as company Y in Interview Debrief)
GMAT:700

Interview Debrief:

One word essay on 'Presentable'.

Panel: 3 Members-all Alumni
Interview Duration: 25-30 mins

Questions:

Interviews were running behind schedule on that day so my interview started with ice-breaking conversation on Delhi Traffic and Food. They were mostly interested in my profile from Travel domain so the interview revolved completely around that.

1. Tell us about the work you were doing at company X?
2. It is not a very usual domain so how did you land up there as your first job?
3. Tell us more about your on-site experiences?
4. Tell us about your team members/ team structure and where you fit in?
5. Why the job change?
6. Then they gave a case study related to travel domain where I had to estimate the parking requirements to be built into a new airport for Delhi.
7. In the essay you had written about your steep learning curve at company Y. Give us some understanding on the methodology you followed to achieve all the results you mentioned?
8. How did you manage internal team conflicts? (Follow-up question for question-7 as the work involved analyzing company-wide processes and changing them for better)
9. If the work at company Y has been so rewarding then why go for MBA now?
10. You can wait, take a promotion and then evaluate the need for MBA around 2 years from now, when you might be in a better position to apply. Then why go for MBA now? (They were not really convinced with my answer to question-9)

They still did not seem very convinced with all the reasons I gave them but that's when they ended the interview. They asked if I had any questions for them? (One of the alumni remarked that I don't really "have" to ask a question. It is more of a formality. We had a small chuckle but I still went ahead and asked).

Result: Admitted

- Name of the school - Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad.
- Stats
GMAT - 720/IR-5/AWA-6
Work-ex - 3.5+ years
Industry - Renewable Energy R and D

- Interview questions
The interview was conducted via Skype and telephone as I was not in India. The panel consisted of three people. As far as I remember one person was from the admissions department, and the other two were alumni.

After exchanging the normal pleasantries I asked them if it was ok if I started with a small explanation of what I exactly do. The said they were ok with this and I explained my job. I did this because I work in a niche sector of a niche sector and I wanted to be very sure that they understood that I am actively involved in consulting with our clients and not just working in a lab wearing a white lab coat . Thanks to MG for this advice regarding highlighting the consulting part of my job profile.

Next they dug into why I had left my IT job in India and gone towards the renewable energy industry. They asked me regarding this transition and how I had benefited from it. The questions that followed were regarding more details of my day to day activities in the office. I think they wanted to get an idea of how broad the scope of my work is. They asked me if I was familiar with electrical transmission standards for renewable generators which I thought was a great question. To be candid I had not expected such a technical but a very 'relevant-to-b-school' question. As I found out my interviewers were very well prepared w.r.t my domain (renewable energy) and had done their homework thoroughly.

Another major chunk of my interview was spent on my post MBA goals. I am interested in energy strategy and energy security post MBA. They asked a number of questions regarding the current situation of energy situation in India and how I would advice the government in the future. Next they asked me about how I would resolve some problems being currently faced by the wind power industry in India. They wanted to know why I thought a MBA would help me reach a profile in-line with my post MBA goals.

Then came the questions regarding my extracurricular activities. They did not quiz me a lot on this. By this time we were almost at the 30th minute of the interview. At last they asked me if I had any questions.

- Overall impressions about the interview
I would describe this interview as 'interesting'. I was very happy that the interviewers made a big effort to understand and quiz me in such detail regarding my domain.

- Final result (admitted/rejected)
Admitted.

- Tips and advice for other applicants.
This advice goes out especially to those people working in niche domains. Know what is happening in your domain. You are very likely to be quizzed regarding current events. If you work in a predominantly technical environment, know what business issues your industry is facing at the current time. Think about possible solutions to those problems.