The GD & PI Blog

Selection Process of IIMS ( 2009-11)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:54:00 +0000

IIMA:

There were two rounds at the second stage of selection Process:

Essay writing (Total time allotted 10 minutes)

Personal Interview (15-40 minutes)

Few topics of Essay Writing

(1) Indian politicians need training in communication skills

(2) How other games were not eclipsed by Cricket

(3) ‘Educational System is quelling creativity in Indian children’

(4) Indian women should take up their husbands’ surname after marriage.

IIMB:

Group Discussion/case study (Around 20-25 minutes, number of people in the group 8-10). After GD summary of GD was asked to written in around 10 minutes.

Personal Interview

GD Topic/case:

In this financial crisis, should government bailout the companies by use taxpayer’s money?

A Case study, which was based on Corporate Governance – Issues, Role of Independent Directors. The case was hinting towards Satyam story. There were 4-5 questions at the end like what are the recommendation, suggestion etc.

Should India allow Foreign University to operate in India (Should India open up in education)

IIMC:

Group Discussion (2 minutes to think and 10 minutes to discuss). After Group Discussion all the members were asked to summarize or were asked give their opinion within 1 Minute (Monologue)

Personal Interview

GD Topics:

33% Reservation for woman in jobs. Should it be there?

Should Students recruit faculty members in the institutions?

Year 2025

There should be international men’s day

Go Ahead, don’t Wait for me

IIML:

Essay writing (20 Minutes)

Group discussion on the same topic as essay (20 Minutes in 300 words)

Personal Interview

GD/Essay Topic:

Education is the progressive discovery of our ignorance

He who knows being poor knows everything

Helping Hands are better than Praying Lips

Necessity is the mother of all inventions

IIM I:

Case study: written analysis (30 Minutes)

Case study Discussion (20 Minutes)- Number of people 9-12

Personal Interview

Sample Case study:

A person who’s a programming wizard but he is not a team man and frequently scuffles with co-workers. One day he goes overboard, fights with a colleague and bunks an important client meeting. The manager is a simple guy, doesn’t like to get into a fight, and finds this guy a pain in the neck. What should the manager do?

Case study about an innovation based organization, which is the market leader, and is facing challenges in the market due to competitions. What should be the action of the CEO? (Case study was about 150 word long)

Riya is, a conservative religious Christian girl who is attracted to army life. She marries her childhood friend – Praveen an army officer against the wishes of her parents. After some time, she realizes that army life is not so idealistic. She comes to know that her husband had an illicit affair when on posting in N-E. What should she do? Take divorce?

Amit and Bineet finished their graduation in commerce and history respectively from an ABC college. Amit is more intelligent and Bineet is a soft-spoken and well-mannered. They had good extracurricular. Amit was good in football and painting, played a crucial role in winning the state championship and reaching finals at national level in football. He also organized events. Bineet was good in mimicking and could mimic famous personalities. A street level mimicry artist. Both their fathers got retired and looking to them for financial supports. They both couldn’t find job after graduation. With the help from a placement agency they secured jobs in Dubai. All went for six months after which they were being assigned menial jobs. Meanwhile they built a good rapport with the locals and the Asian community there. What should be their next step?

IIMK:

1. GD/Case Study (2-3 minutes to think and 15 minutes to discuss)_ Topics was in the form of case/article of 5-6 lines

2. Personal Interview

Sample GD/Cases:

1. There was a small write-up on :Indian men dressing in the western way. This is not even suitable to our climatic conditions. Men don’t wear dhotis and kurtas as formal wear. Indian women, on the other hand, still wear saris formally. Indian men have a lot to learn from their female counterparts

2. Janki is working in BPO/ IT Company. She is now called julie. For her, 4th July is the Independence Day. Works when people are sleeping. No social life, identity, etc. This industry is killing the current generation of India?

3. A small write up about a person who is a perfectionist and how he affects his career.

IIM S:

1. Case study Discussion (5 minutes to think, 15 minutes to discuss)

2. Summary of case study (5 Minutes)

3. Personal Interview

Sample case study:

1. Mr Vijay is the commerce secretary and India’s representative in WTO negotiaions..He has to side with either the European powers who are ready to cut down subsidies but oppose the use of genetically modified crops. There were some other domestic political issues to be taken care of also. How should he go about handling the situation?

2. Topic was based on Agriculture subsidy and Technology outsourcing for the government. Few intelligent decision was to be taken

3. Mr. Iyer has been delegated a responsibility of scheduling trains on time for one zone. But he found out that due to bad tracks, and improper maintenance of the engines, there are regular delays in the trains. Top management not happy with the performance and keeps forcing this issue on Mr. Iyer.What should Mr. Iyer do?

4. Mr X who is working in a company as the driver of the MD for over 15 years. He is very loyal and hard-working. Recently over last few months he stressed with too much of work and erratic working timing. One day after dropping MD at the airport in the late night he went back his home directly (Instead of putting the car back in the office as per rules). Coincidentally he met with a minor accident while going home and a police case is reported. What should MD do now?

How to create an effective Statement of Purpose?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:36:00 +0000

As the name signifies, the Statement of Purpose is your personal statement about who you are, what has influenced your career path so far, your professional interests and where you plan to go from here. It need not be a bald statement of facts; several successful SoPs address these questions through anecdotes, stories or by describing their hero.

B-Schools in India have different ways in which they ask applicants to write SoPs. e.g FMS until recently used to just have one question – “What are your career goals and how can FMS help you to fulfill them?”. Other B-schools ask you to give your responses to several different topics. Out of these IIFT deserves a special mention as it probably has the most of these. Starting from – “What are your broad career objectives?“ to “How has your family structure changed and what has been its impact on you?”

We’re going to discuss the most common topics on which you may have to write and what you should keep in mind.

1. Why MBA?

Nearly all applications will feature a question that asks about your reasons for wanting to obtain an MBA at this stage of your career. Some will explicitly ask you to tie these reasons into your background and your goals. Even for schools that don’t offer this specific direction, you should plan on such a discussion of past and future, as it provides essential context for your application.

“Why MBA?” is often the first question asked and without a doubt the most important essay you will write. It includes essential information about whether you’re qualified, whether you’re prepared, and where you’re headed. The other essays fill in details about these fundamental points, but a strong answer about, for example, how you overcame a failure will not revive a candidacy that failed based on a lack of career focus.

Every answer should contain the following elements, unless the application has separate questions addressing them individually:

§ Your long- and short-term goals.

§ Your relevant past experience.

§ An assessment of your strengths and the gaps in your experience/education.

§ How an MBA program will bridge your past and future and fill in those gaps.

§ Why this particular MBA program is a good match for your needs.

Occasionally there will be overlap with other answers, and you will have to use your judgment on the extent to which you should reiterate important ideas. For example, some schools will ask about your goals in separate questions. In that case, the bulk of your discussion should fall under the goals question, but you will have to bring over key points from that answer to establish context for your reasons for obtaining an MBA.

There are no groundbreaking reasons for pursuing an MBA. This is not a place to aim for bold originality. Rather, you should focus on articulating detailed reasons that are specific to your situation. Moreover, there is plenty of room to distinguish yourself when discussing past experience and future goals; the reasons themselves, however, come from a more limited set. That said, you should not try to drop buzzwords for their own sake. Make sure you tie your specific objectives to other aspects of your application.

2. Accomplishments

Questions like these are frequently worded “Describe an incident which changed your outlook” or even “Describe a problem that you faced and how you overcame it”

The goal in answering this kind of question is to analyze rather than summarize an achievement, incident or episode. This advice is particularly true if you’re discussing an accomplishment that is listed elsewhere on the application. Your readers want to gain insight into your character–not read a factual summary of what occurred.

Here are some guiding principles to use in constructing your answer:

§ Choose something that’s meaningful to you. Some applicants feel obligated to choose the most objectively impressive accomplishments. You should write about something that has personal significance, even if you weren’t formally recognized for it. What matters is that you write passionately and insightfully about your subject. Unless otherwise specified, you should feel free to draw on academic, personal, or professional successes.

§ Focus on details about the process. Show the reader through concrete details how you achieved what you did. If you want to discuss a grade you earned in a particularly challenging class, show us how you mastered the material. For example, describe creative strategies you used; don’t rely on clichés like “I succeeded through hard work.”

§ Build tension. Describe obstacles and how you overcame them. Note initial difficulties or intermediate failures, then show how you recovered. By adding a sense of drama to your story, you not only keep the reader interested, but also make the accomplishment seem that much more significant.

§ Evaluate the significance of the accomplishment. Again, the goal here is to add insight beyond what the reader knows from the straightforward facts. For example, you can comment on how the accomplishment represents an aspect of your character, or describe how it fits within your background of successes and failures. Don’t get carried away, however, and try to draw overly grand lessons. You might discuss external consequences of your actions to convey their magnitude, but ultimately you should stay focused on your personal response.

§ Don’t boast or be overly modest. This is a hard balance to strike, but if you stay focused on the details of your story, then you shouldn’t have a problem. Use the details to convey the magnitude of your accomplishment; you should be able to do so sincerely without having to promote yourself. For example, if you can show through illustrative evidence how you influenced the course of someone’s life, you won’t have to make a presumptuous statement about, for example, “having a profound impact on the life of another.”

3. Leadership

The leadership questions usually come in two forms: the kind that ask about your “leadership style,” and the kind that ask you to discuss a “leadership situation.” You should not try to use a single essay to address both questions, because they require different emphases. The first question asks you to describe principles that define your approach to leadership. You should then back these principles up with evidence of how you’ve applied them.

The second question wants you to focus on a single experience (or in some cases two experiences). For these essays your first objective is to flesh out the details of the situation and the contributions you made. You must tell an in-depth, engaging story before you even worry about the insights and lessons you deduce. Then, when you get to that stage, your insights into leadership should be focused on the story you just told. Don’t stray too far and try to include everything you know about leadership.

After this basic difference in emphasis, the goals of both essays are essentially the same and include the following:

§ Describe your strengths honestly. You don’t have to give much attention to weaknesses or even discuss them explicitly (though if you can mention plans for improvement, that can be very effective). The point here is to show a clear awareness of your personal strengths, as opposed to pretending to be the best at everything. Taking the latter approach will suggest that you only know the clichés of leadership, but don’t have a genuine understanding of how to exercise it in real life.

§ Avoid oversimplified principles. You most likely won’t have anything entirely new to say, but you can still avoid stating the obvious. Again, the best approach is to stay specific and personal. You might, for example, combine two straightforward principles and show how you’ve combined them effectively.

§ Show growth. One way to avoid having to cite the obvious is instead to show through examples how you came to understand a particular lesson. Your readers are interested in how you’ve developed and matured. Start off by indicating your uncertainty, and then frame your newly learned principles not as conclusions to share with the reader but as an integral part of the story’s arc.

§ Illustrate your personal qualities. In addition to conveying your own strong understanding of how to lead, you should also indicate to the reader the valuable qualities you have cultivated for that task. These can include communication, collaborative, organizational, and problem-solving skills, as well as personal characteristics like inspiration, initiative, responsibility, and vision. As always, there’s no point in simply naming these qualities as ones you possess. You must show them through example.

4. Hobbies and Interests

In asking this question, admissions officers want to see another dimension to your personality. Some schools will ask you to describe one important activity, while others will simply ask how you spend your free time. Regardless of which question you’re answering, try to achieve depth. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that they just want to see well rounded people and take the approach of listing everything that interests you. While it’s important to show that you lead a balanced life, you should treat this question as you treat all the others — as a chance to make yourself stand out. That means focusing on what you’re truly passionate about, instead of trying to say what you think they want to hear.

Many people choose to write about sports. If you choose to discuss a physical activity, you’re immediately going to face the obstacle of writing about something your readers have seen many times. You will have a difficult time finding something unique to say, but as long as you focus on personal details, you can create a strong answer. On the other hand, you should resist the temptation to cite the clichéd lessons about working hard and being a team player. Moreover, if you try to force connections back to your business skills, your entire essay will seem contrived.

Approach the essay as though you were trying to get someone else excited about your hobby through your own enthusiasm. Of course, it should still be a personal account rather than a sales pitch. So if your hobby is rare book collecting, don’t try to tell the reader about how it demonstrates your organizational skills. Instead, describe your feelings when you make a serendipitous discovery or complete a set that you started many years ago.

Another tactic you can use to keep the essay grounded in personal details is to focus on a particular episode from your past involvement. If you’re writing about your love for chess, focus on a particular match that epitomizes your passion.

5. Strengths & Weaknesses

This question requires serious introspection before you sit down to write it. Don’t be in a hurry to write down strengths that you think the admissions panel wants to hear. Whatever you write must be a true reflection of who you are otherwise you’ll have a very hard time convincing them in an interview. At the same time you do have to think about how this strength will help you in the context of the specific programme you have applied for. Hence writing I am very good at spelling will have little relevance.

Write about something that genuinely makes you better at certain things than others. It could be an ability to work effectively within groups. Or an ability to articulate and communicate your ideas well, an ability to motivate people around you. Sometimes you might be asked to bring out these attributes with the help of suitable examples.

Steer clear of statements like hard working. Apart from being a very clichéd statement it is something that most of your fellow applicants are likely to share. Most people who manage to crack a paper like CAT or XAT do work hard. Unless of course you believe that it is your most defining characteristic, in that case bring it out strongly.

As far as weaknesses are concerned again be honest. However you should always mention what you are doing to overcome that weakness. Avoid the tendency to write statements that actually are strengths. E.g “I am too dedicated to my work” or “I help my friends to the point of neglecting my work”. Most interview panels will see right through them and you will have a hard time defending your answer.

How to write

§ It is probably a good idea to write several drafts. You’ll be able to refine your answers and sometimes there’s also the problem of fitting it into the space available.

§ Write clearly. The language should be easy to understand. Avoid words that you are not comfortable using. In any event the idea being conveyed is more important and the words should not confuse or mislead the reader. Keep sentences short. Longer sentences tend to have more grammatical errors. If it’s a particularly long answer you might want to break it down into paragraphs.

§ Avoid slang or informal language. The tone should be formal and professional. Even in responses where you are asked to describe yourself you shouldn’t sound arrogant.

§ After you’re done writing your final draft, review it for spelling and grammar. There are certain grammatical errors that are not detected by software. It sometimes helps to get another person to go through it. Brings a new perspective and also helps in checking for errors. By this time you have read your draft at least 7-8 times and sometimes you miss out on errors.

§ After making corrections in your final draft, fill up the form. Make sure you’re working with a pen that’s not going to give up on you half way. Ideally nobody should be able to distract you either.

§ Write neatly and legibly. It’s best not to have overwriting or cutting. Also finish your answers in the space provided.

Managing Self

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:56:00 +0000

In psychology, self-management is a term used to describe the process of achieving personal autonomy. In management, it is the ability to manage your personal reactions to responsibilities and challenges in work and life. This involves managing your time and adapting to changing situations. It requires you to reflect on your experiences and their effect on your physical and mental state. Self-management entails the skills of contemplation, self awareness, planning, monitoring, time management, flexibility and self appraisal.

Introspection & self awareness
For a person with some experience, contemplating on your past actions and the results of certain acts will help you in your future relationships. But as a fresher, you need to be aware of one's motivations, needs and aspirations. Try and relate to how you respond to people and situations and how your actions are perceived by people. This point of reflection will help in identification of the need to improving your behaviour and bring in an element of positivism. Such introspection would also help bringing in a certain element of maturity helping in the creation of strategies for goal setting and achieving the same. Self-awareness is very important, because I feel that it forms the basis of your performance in any capacity.
Adaptability
In last month's article, the importance of being a fit in the culture of the organisation was highlighted. Yet again I would like to emphasise the importance of being flexible. Being adaptable and getting accustomed to new positions and situations help in honing your existing skills as well as acquiring new ones. The objective should be to work constructively with people from varied backgrounds, values and mindsets.
Preparation & Observation
How can we be prepared? Preparation is basically planning. Once you join an organisation, get ready to face the challenges that situations may present. However, the best way to work is by developing a detailed and realistic strategy for accomplishing goals or for resolving problems. Get proactive and foresee problems or other constraints which may crop up, by regularly reviewing and adjusting plans to hold changes in the situation and priorities. The success of an approach lies in achieving the set goal, in a determined time frame and the earmarked resource and budgetary provision.
Time Management & Commitment
Managing time becomes critical, since it involves distributing time, which comes in limited proportions and cannot be controlled. Somebody has wisely said that time is the greatest leveller; everybody has the same number of hours available.

It’s important to identify the demands on your time and then setting priorities and scheduling it according to your set goals and responsibilities. It's equally important to include relaxation and your social life in your plans.

Your commitment is involuntarily always under the scanner. Integrity has been one of the foremost possessions of a person. Your reliability, honesty and commitment get reflected in your work.
Setting goals
Examine your interests, desires and commitments and identify a goal for your self. Goal setting should be well defined, realistic and set in a specific time-frame, where growth can be calculated and success judged unequivocally.
Groom yourself
We can all be trained to be more self-governing through the disciplines of management and leadership; concepts that can give us a great doctrine to live work by. Remember to have a set of values. People get associated with values and get known for them. Always voice your opinion. Inculcate a sense of courtesy. It pays to be polite. Most importantly, be thoughtful but don’t be a sufferer or a martyr.

SNAP Institues Selection Process

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:10:00 +0000

SIIB GD/PI selection Process of SIIB (2009-11)

There were 5 stages of selection process:

Case study/GD (15 Minutes)
Group Task
Essay Writing (20 Minutes)
Interview-1 (Why MBA/IB?)
Interview-2 (No significant difference in the processes of the two interviews)

Sample Case Study/GD:

Times of India Lead India campaign- Is it the right way to search leaders.

Deepika n Priyanka r very good friends. Priyanka is proud of Deepika because she has given an excellent presentation on the topic “FAIR SKIN IS NOT NEEDED FOR SUCCESS”. Priyanka goes to Deepika's house to congratulate her. While entering Deepika's house she gets a sneak peek view of Deepika herself applying fairness cream. Priyanka gets emotionally distressed, is she right?

In the company "Hindustan Defense”, Mr X which was given two responsibilities of GM (Materials) and Sales/Marketing but he was not able to cope with the pressure. He was not able to achieve the targets and employees trust. Hence he was asked to leave. Company also discontinues the policy of giving two responsibilities, Group was supposed to discuss "what u would do if you were in place of X and in place of MD of the company?

Mr. Mohan Lal Thakur is working as the Deputy Director in the Telecommunication dept of the Govt. of India. He got married at the age of 35 and had children at 42. Age. He calculated that by the time he retires his youngest son would only be 16 yrs. He realized he'd need to work another 4 - 5 yrs to support his family after the retirement so, He decides to move to a private sector. He does a part time MBA and clears with an A+ grade. He gets a very good offer from a private telecommunication firm as DGM. He is told that if he joins the company within the next 30 days he can be part of a programme that trains DGMs and promotes them to a higher position. In the meantime a friend calls him to advice that the Government is about to revise the pay and if he resigns 3 - 4 months later he can leave with a higher pension and gratuity. Now Mr. Thakur is confused because if he doesn’t join the private company, the younger guys will be promoted over him. What should he do?

Deepika is working as Assistant Manger at an environment company. Browsing through the documents she finds out that the company does some of the waste disposal at local hospitals itself which can have harmful substances however, when she brings this to notice to her operations manager. The company tells her it isn’t harmful and it is a cost cutting measure. She is asked to mind her business, she knows a newspaper editor. what should she do ?
One girl has taken admission into a top college in the city.The girl belongs to a small town, she is finding it difficult to cope up with the city culture where all the girl drinks, smokes and has a boyfriend. So, what should she do: Change colleges or stay there?

Sample Group Tasks:

With help of tissue paper an Egyptian Mummy needed to be created by rolling it on one the current SIIB students.

Each person in the group was given a secret number which only he/she knew, then everybody was blindfolded and taken to different corners of the room . Group had to arrange themselves from 1 to 10 according to the secret numbers given to each person. During the process no verbal communication is allowed if one talks the entire group could be disqualified.

If you (Group of 10) are on the moon and you (Group of 10) are lost. You (Group of 10) are supposed to reach your ship, which is 100 miles away. You (Group of 10) have 13 things with, you have to eliminate three things and arrange rest 10 in the order of priority with justification.
Matchboxes heater, rope, food, milk, Oxygen, pistols, magnetic compass, FM receiver, parachute silk, etc.

A plane carrying 10 people is on the way to a business meeting crashed in the middle of South Antarctica. The pilot and co pilot are dead. Day temperature is -25 degree and night temp -40 degree. The nearest town in 25 miles away. There are 12 items on the board. Group needed to pick 10 and order them based on the priority of their survival and also provide explanation for picking items.
Build an Airport using paper.
Build a Park using paper

Sample Essay Topics:

Success is a journey and not destination
The mumbai attacks broadcast by media was used just to boost their viewer ship."
Damage to environment is inevitable while raising the standard of living.

Small Cars Boon or bane
Micro-finance and its role in eradicating poverty

Do you think the media treats the celebrities’ in a unfair manner by invading into their private lives? Or is that a price that they have to pay for their celebrity status?

Previous Year PI Questions asked at IIM-C, Graduation Specific Question

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:05:00 +0000

Following questions were asked at IIM-C prior to 2004

Engineering

BE Civil

Question on fundamentals of de-watering were asked.
What is PERT and CPM?
In depth questions on Michael Jordon.
Name few novels by Lapierre and Larry Collins.
If the table present in the interview room was made of RCC, where would be tension and compression?
What is the ratio of cement to concrete in a column?
Why did you joined the postal course of IMS?
How did you perform in the GD?
Your opinion on the walls of IIFT.
Why didn't you join armed forces (father an army officer)?

BE Mech.

Briefly introduce yourself.
Why do you want to do management?
Your views on the current political situation.
What are the pros and cons of engineers doing MBA?
What are your expectations from IIMC?
Will engineers join MBA if there is no salary rights?
What are the qualities of a world class manufacturer?
Do you think students in public schools of Delhi are snobs?
Can they (students) make good managers?

Commerce

BCom

Differentiate between accounts and finance.
What is your favorite subject? (Management accounting).
Mention three questions on economics on which we could grill you.
What measures would you adopt to enhance profits of your company?
What are the tools of cost cutting?
Solve a problem in differentiation.

BCom

What are your career goals?
A Discussion on dictatorship.
Integration of |x| + C with limits -1 to 1.
What is a skew symmetric matrix?
What is the probability of getting a head in 3 tosses of a coin?

Science

BSc Physics

What are your favorite subjects?
State the laws of thermodynamics?
What is the application of super conductivity in the field of IT?
What do you know about Haryana-Punjab dispute?
Give practical examples of fission and fusion.
What are your views on Pokhran?
Questions on prominent Indian physicists.
Why do you want to do MBA?
How did you prepare for CAT?

BSc Botany

How will your study of Botany help you to achieve your career objectives?
What were the major upsets at Oscar awards this year?
Can you name the north eastern states. What are the major problems they are facing?
Comment on SGPC and problems in Punjab.
Questions on coordinate geometry, compound interest.

Economics

BA Hons., Econ.

Why do you want to do MBA?
What is the correlation between GDP growth and development of communications network.?
What is a GDP deflator?
Give a model for correlation.
What will be effect of lowering of interest rates on GDP?
What other factors would increase GDP?
What are your favorite subjects?
What is inflexion point and when does it appear on a graph?
How can you measure inflexion point or locate it?
Which institute would you prefer?

BA Hons., Econ.

What questions should we ask you?
Do you think interview should only focus on academics?
Questions on theater and NSD.
Comment on the present state of education system.
What is the relevance of economics?
Ask from yourself three questions that would reveal your capability?
Between matrices and calculus which area will you choose to answer questions?
Is x! continuous? If so then why? What is 1.5!?

Previous Year PI Questions asked at IIM- C

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Following questions were asked for the interview of IIM-C in 2004

Why is there a fluctuation in your marks?
What is your work profile? You are a graduate in electronics, then why shifting to IT?
What is the difference in Windows and Linux?
In depth questions on networking from an engineering final year student were asked.
How will you apply Keynesian theory in today's international scenario?
What is marginal efficiency of capital?
Why do you look different in your photograph?
Why do you want to do MBA?
Why not join MICA for advertising rather that IIMB?
Who is your role model?
Why should we select you?
What does your name mean?
The panel asked for recent books read and asked questions on the books which mentioned.
Why MBA and how does it help you in your career?
How will you define integration and differentiation?
What is the application of integration in present working environment?
Questions on the project in the final year of engineering.
How much percentile did you have and what is the process of calculation of percentile?
What would be your rank (with respect to you percentile) assuming that total number of participants is 1.5 lakhs?
What is the concept of overdriving in automobile engineering?
What is the principal of air conditioner?
What are your hobbies? What type of books do you like to read?
How many calls do you have?
Why is the difference between CAT'98 and CAT'03?
How much do you know about finance?
How do you operate a bank account?
Why MBA now after having 5 years of solid work experience?
Why didn't you contribute enough in the GD?
What is "Nagma", apart from the South Indian actress?
Difference between a "Nagma" and a "Ghazal"?
Which is largest training company of India?
Which company has been acquired by NIIT recently?
What is the present literacy rate of India?

Previous Year PI Questions asked at IIM's

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Following questions were asked for the interview of IIM-B in 2004

What is your career vision?
What was your project in Final year?
Why do you want to do MBA now? Why don't first work and then do MBA?
What are your hobbies?
What type of books do you like to read? This was followed by further questions on the books mentioned.
Questions on job profile & work experience were asked.
How does MBA from IIM- B going to help you to achieve your goals?
Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
How good you are in Maths?
How HRD ministry decision regarding IIMs fee cut going to effect students?
What is your career vision and how do you plan to achieve it?
Why was there a gap of one year in your academics?
What are your special achievements so far?
What would you like to achieve?
A number of questions on social service were asked.
Questions on BPO & Anti outsourcing.
Comment on the performance of Infosys.
What you don't like in yourself?
Why should we select you?
What is your favorite subject?
What is operating system? Mention few operating systems?
What will you choose, a job offer of Rs 10 Lakhs p.a. or IIM- B selection?
What alternative do you have if you are not selected?
What is central limiting theorem?
What is sampling method?
How do you decide the size of the sample?

Following questions were asked at IIM-B prior to 2004

Engineering

BE Electronics and Communication

Introduce yourself.
What is your response to the fact that students do not attend classes in DCE? Did you attend?
What do you know about IIM-B classes?
What did you learn at your coaching classes?
Why do you want to do MBA? Why not work as an engineer?
Who is an entrepreneur?
What is IT enabled industry? Give some examples.
Which events have you organized?
At which position you play in basketball?
What is Karl Malone known as?
Which program do you watch on TV?
Questions on favourite subject (digital electronics).
Did anyone outside tell you that we do not know anything about it?
How does a cell phone work? What are the major companies providing the service?
How is that signals of various operators do not clash?
How does digital TV work?
Do you want to know anything else about IIM-B?

BE Computer Science

You had good marks in XII, then why did you go to DIT?
Why shift from software to MBA?
Why do you want to do MBA?
What are products?
In which direction is Indian industry heading?
Name some companies and products manufactured by them.
Who is a venture capitalist?
As a venture capitalist, what would look for in a software company?

Commerce

BCom Hons.

Questions on background.
Questions on accounting concepts.
Compare Banking with MBA as a career?
What are the various forms of dances? Which one do you know?
What is the most recent book that you have read? What have you learnt from it?

BCom Hons.

Questions of principles of accounting.
What does dy/dx mean?
What is point of influx?
What are the emerging issues in finance?
What is capital account convertibility?

Science

BSc Physics

Question on Idol (Peter Drucker).
Which books of Peter Drucker have you read? How has it helped you to understand management?
How did you contribute to your physics society?
State Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
A discussion on "A brief history of time" by Stephen Hawkings.
Questions on quantum theory, gravity and elementary particles.
What is standard deviation? What if it is 0?
What is the weight of a squash racquet?
Do you watch movies?
Speak for 2 minutes on Akshay Kumar.

BSc Botany

Should the interview be general or specific?
How do you relate Botany, law, Management and Computer?
Name five botanists who contributed to the society.
Questions on Rabri govt. and IPKF were asked.
What is LAN, WAN?
Questions on botany were asked.

Economics

BA Econ.

What is marginal cost?
Is replacement cost a marginal cost?
Which one is a marginal cost, regular labour or contractual labour?
Is salary is a marginal cost?
If workers increase, what would happen?
What is the characteristics of cost function?
What are the characteristics of step function?
What is break-even point?
Who were the last two governors of RBI?
What do you hill resorts of Tamilnadu?
Which rivers merge at Sunderbans river basin?
What is economies of scale?.

BA Econ. - MIB, DSE

You are a MD of a company which is selling pencils for last 15 years. It wants to sell pens now. What would you do?
Three equations were given viz: Cost + Profit = Price; Price - Cost = Profit; Price - Profit
= Cost; used by three different businessmen respectively. Can you comment on their psyche?
What is a PSU?
You are an MD of a rural bank, how would you decrease costs?
Compare pre-1991 BOP situation with current scenario.

Previous Year PI Questions asked at IIM's

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:46:00 +0000

Following questions were asked at IIM-A prior to 2004

Engineering

B.Tech., Textile, IITD

Tell us about your childhood.
What courses do you have in this semester?
What Laplace transformation?
Which other calls do you have?
Questions on Sensex.
Do you have a job? How long do you plan to work there?
What are gabardines, Oxford wear, plain wear?
What are G-7 countries? Can you name them.
What is a Nuclear power? Can you name a few.
Ringitt is the currency of which country?
SE Asian crisis.
Problems of Textile industry.
Questions about Rajat Sood, my batchmate.
Questions on Family.
Where does US rank in population?

BE Elect and Commn., DCE

Any three questions we should ask you.
A long discussion on Iridium.
How do optical fibres work?
What is the difference between data and voice transmission?
What is GDP, fiscal deficit, excise duty, sales tax and octroi tax?
Difference between mobile vs. land phones (PSTN).
What should be done to improve the state of Internet in India?
How will you increase penetration of computers in India?

Commerce

BCom Hons.

What is regression and correlation?
What is diamond-water thrift?
What does my name and surname mean?
What is the relation between P&L account, balance sheet?
What are the sources and uses of funds?
Names of some management gurus.
What are deep interest bonds?
What do you know about Sec 80, 88 of taxation?
What is double/triple taxation bond?

BCom Hons.

Mention all the subjects of your graduation.
What is the difference between diminishing and decreasing returns?
Should doctors be governed by an ethical code of conduct?
What developments have occurred in Kosovo during the past 24 hours?
How will you prepare a fund flow statement?

Science

BSc Hons., Physics

What were you doing for the last three hours?
What are your impressions about the panel?
What questions do you expect from us?
You are from Asansol, they why are you studying in Delhi?
State Boyle's law.
Define Kepler's laws.
What is the importance of Ellipse in Physics?
What is the difference between an ellipse, hyperbola and parabola?
What do you know about TRAI?
What do you about Lahore-bus-trip of the PM?

BSc, St. Stephen's

Why a shift from science to management?
What is the difference between preference and normal shares?
Speak for a minute on ICICI.
Which game requires most energy?
What is the difference between a manager and an entrepreneur?
Mention major features of Budget.
Questions on cricket and badminton.
What are five fastest sports?

Economics

BA Hons., Econ.

What is your opinion of the case study?
How did Career Launcher help you?
Who did the reorganization of India? What were the criteria?
What are your career goals? Have you prepared the answer?
Is a girls' college better?

BA Econ. and IIFT

Why would you prefer IIMA from IIFT?
Why is Bihar is so low on development inspite of being politically so aware?
What do you know about Enron controversy?
Is the division of districts into smaller parts desirable?
What is your opinion Women Reservation Bill?
What is indifference curve, plot it? Why is it convex? Example of a concave curve.

Previous Year PI Questions asked at IIM's

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:05:00 +0000

Following questions were asked for the interview of IIM-A in 2004 and 2005

Bcom, 2 years work experience,

Describe your self.
Questions on social service, hobbies (cricket), commercialization of cricket were asked.
The recent that you have read. (Biography of Indira Gandhi)
Mention three bold decision taken by Indira Gandhi in her political career.
Question on favourite subject accounts were asked .
What is the difference between an economist's and a CA's interpretation of Fixed cost and Variable cost.
What are quick assets and liabilities?
Draw and explain break even point
What is the positive impact of corruption and need for privatization
Two most important things that will concern you if you were railway minister.
If Indian railway was suffering from 10000 crore deficit and you had to increase the fare which fare will you increase freight or passenger?
Who was the grandfather of Ashoka?
Mention 5 use of eraser.
Why did you leave your first job?
Are you satisfied with your career?
Do you want to ask anything from us?

Candidate's background B. Tech - Electrical

What is distribution system?
What is the principle behind an Induction motor?
How will you differentiate between an AC and DC motor?
What is power factor?
What is the concept of Transformer?
Final year of project and many cross questions related to it, where asked.
How many functions have you organized during your engineering?
How will you organize Hasya Kavi Sammelan?
Differentiate between the style of Surendra Kumar and Shail Chaturvedi.

Candidate background B. Tech - Civil

Questions on structure design.
How is the load in a cantilever distributed?
How will design of a beam?
How is stress distributed in a structure?
Why do you want to do MBA?
Questions on work experience.

Candidate background BBS

What is sampling principle?
How will you draw a distribution curve?
Questions on standard deviation.
How will you explain variance?
Do you really need to go for MBA as you have already graduated in Business?
Questions on work experience.

Candidate background B. Tech - Chemical

Which chemical is used in perfumes?
Which chemical is used in shampoo products?
Mention few applications of methane?
Why do want to do MBA and in which stream?
Which company do you wish to join after MBA?
Questions on hobbies and extra curricular activities.
How many calls do you have?

Candidate background BA - Economics

What does success means to you?
How will you define failure?
What were you asked at your interview at other IIM's?
Questions were asked on the basis of forms.

Group Discussion: what and why?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:40:00 +0000

GD is a discussion by a group of people which involves an exchange of thoughts and ideas. Group Discussions are largely used by institutes where there is a high level of competition. The number of participants in a group may vary from 8 to 15 people. In most cases a topic or a situation is given to the group and the members have to discuss it within a given period of time.

What the panel looks for:
All that one observes in a GD can be categorised into two broad areas: the Content and the Process.

The content is all about the 'matter' (or the 'what') spoken in the GD. Whereas, the process refers to the 'how', 'when' and 'why' of the GD.
Both are equally important and need adequate attention at all stages.
A high quality contribution with no regard to the 'process' is as suicidal as one which is high on packaging with little content.

Critical success factors in a GD

Cognitive skills or knowledge
The most important aspect of your contribution to a GD is the quality of content (QOC), which is reflected in the points you make, knowledge of the relevant subject, and the supportive examples you give.
Comprehension of the core idea
It is essential to deliver high quality content. But to do that, you should speak on the topic and not deviate. The panel basically wants to see whether you have identified the crux of the problem and whether you are offering relevant solutions.
Logical reasoning
It includes understanding the topic, generating quality arguments, analysis and a progressive approach to a justifiable conclusion. This is one of the necessary attributes to be seen in an influential participant. Such people convey an impression of being open minded and logic driven rather than opinionated.
Behavioural and personality skills
This includes certain attributes like rapport-building, team membership, participation, patience, assertion and accommodation, amenability, leadership, etc.
Communication skills
You should be able to articulate your thoughts properly and you should also be able to understand what others are trying to say.
Clarity of thoughts
In whatever you say, follow a logical sequence/order rather then presenting the points in some bits and pieces.
Body language and eye contact
These are some tools which check your level of confidence and whether you can work together effectively in a group or not. So, be sure to maintain eye contact with everyone in the group.

Basics of Tackling Personal Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Tackling Personal Interview

In this article we focus on the 'in-room process' and understand the secret of walking out as a winner.

Pleasant Disposition
There is no better way of beginning the interview process than with a warm greeting to the panelists. A cheery greeting coupled with a sunny disposition is a very effective ice-breaker.

Leading the Interview
Typically, any interview starts with an open-ended question about you such as, "Tell me/us about yourself." The interviewer is keen to know a little about you. Also, this is the time he is going to pick up basic data about you and give a direction to the process. This is a golden opportunity that has to be grabbed by you. You need to identify which areas would you want to be questioned on and need to include these areas in your introduction. To do that, you must be clear about your strengths, weaknesses, career goals, the reasons for your interest in the organization or career and how you can make a difference.

Communication Skills
Most 'remarkably good' interviewees have always been keen listeners. A keen listener has a still mind with no 'turbulence' and is not unduly concerned about his/her performance. As a result of being an 'exceptional' listener, one is able to not just respond appropriately to the interviewer but also to pick up subtle signals that the panel sends through its own body language.

Articulation Skills
As a young manager you must appreciate the difference between what may be termed as 'up market and jargon-ful English' and sound articulation skills. Do not be unduly worried about not having a fancy vocabulary. You must be able to articulate the most complex concepts in the most lucid fashion.

Body Language
If there is dissonance between what you say and what your body says, a seasoned interviewer will be able to make you out. You will be thought of as a person that lacks conviction and confidence. One need not be concerned about one's body language as long as one is honest in whatever he says.

Eye Contact
Another important sub-component of the body language is the eye contact between two individuals. Do you look straight into the eyes of the interviewers? Or do you give furtive looks? What is your response if a panel member acts 'unfriendly'? Do you escape eye contact with him or confront him and convey confidence? As you know, a candidate who constantly avoids eye contact with the panel does so either he is being dishonest or lacks confidence.

Honesty, At Any Cost
One basic and unquestionable fallout of understanding the body language is the issue of honesty. You cannot orchestrate you body language as per what you are saying. But you can make a strong body language impact by being honest.

Reasoning Skills
Reasoning skills are always seen as very critical to the success of managerial jobs. And as a potential manager, your ability to make decisions based on strong reasoning skills are seen through a microscope in the interview. These could be tested through a variety of questions based on the data provided by you or your bio-data. Any stance taken on an issue without sound reasoning would make you appear opinionated or as one who does not think deep about issues.

Confidence Personified
An interviewer is perpetually looking for a silently confident person who has no airs about him. Assertiveness combined with politeness makes you a sure winner. But this is easier said than done. There aren't many challenges in our professional lives for which the above saying is not true.
All the best.