MBA PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

2022-01-25 17:12:33 SPJIMR Group Interview-1 experience
2 Male panelist
We were basically four students(3- fin and 1- markt specialisation)

•Introduce yourself in about 1-2 minutes.

• One other engineering guy was asked which specialisation would he prefer? (Since his first preference was IM, but he was shortlisted for Fin)

• I was asked about my fav Maths subject and how can it be applied to the finance? And there were cross question regarding what is inflation and what factor effects the GDP of the country?

• Since the marketting guy mentioned during his intro that he has consulted a gym, so he was cross questioned on it.

• At last we were asked what are your goals after mba?
It was a pretty good interactive interview and panelist were quite friendly too!!

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-24 09:50:04 SPJAIN Interview Experience

WAT: What are your thoughts on the privatisation of nationalised banks?

9:15 slot
GI1: Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi and Prof. Sapna Malaya
2 Males, C1 C2 1 Female C3 (Myself)
C1 CA CFA L2 with Work Ex Fin Spec
C2 Engineer with Work Ex some startup story Mrkt Spec
C3 Fresher BSc Statistics Fin Spec


1) Brief Round of intros ..they look for some hooks some interest points other than what you have already mentioned in the form

2) Prof. Sapna to C1 who worked at Adani Energy some back and forth with respect to his work ex and fin based questions related to his organisation

3) Prof Sapna to C2 his work ex (related to tech) some back and forth about his work ex in tech
Why MBA in marketing? Why the shift from tech to marketing ..some questions about startup he was trying to build around EV

4) Prof Sapna to C3: Why MBA..what motivates you to choose fin specialization..what relevant background would you have in Fin....spoke about my interests some course I had pursued and my internship stint at EY..some details and back and forth on that

5) Prof Vineeta to C2 C1 ...cross questioning them on their answers..see if their stance changes.. addressed some loopholes

6) Prof Vineeta to C3 ..asked if I was aware of jobs post MBA according to my interests

Some cross questioning on details regarding my course..budget popped in about what metrics are considered before deciding on budget...some more detailing on finances and my motivation in general

7) Prof Vineeta to C1 C2 C3 ..about other hobbies and interests... generic stuff

8) Asked if we would like to ask any questions and then it ended

Tips:

*NOT A STRESS INTERVIEW BUT BE CLEAR IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND VISION

*I couldn't flesh out all things i wanted to say so try including things beforehand

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:25:39 SPJAIN

21st jan slot 3

WAT - which marketing tagline / slogan left a impact on you ? Why?

GI - 1
2 panelists - 1M (IM background) 1F (marketing)

3 candidates - 2M 1F all IM background

They gave us a brief idea about the process , told us it's a discussion not a stress interview (very rare)

Started with a min or so of tell me about yourself
Then followed up us on a more detailed basis about our day to day job.

Told them about my work as a consultant , gave a few examples about the project

It was followed up with how technology is used in your job , what kind of work structure is used and why (agile, waterfall) , he wanted to quiz about the analytics and ML algorithms.
Told him about a project where linear regression was used in the team but told him I was the not who worked on it, i just knew a little about the Algo.

The female panelist just asked me about how tech has changed Formula 1 ( mentioned in my hobby)

Told them about the enhancements in vehicles tech , how data science is used and how user experience has been elevated by AWS graphics.

Rest 2 candidates were quizzed similarly on the work ex and hobbies as well. Discussion on progg language and 5 G and tech in general

All three of us made to GI 2

GI 2 - 4 candidates (IM - 2M Marketing - 1M 1F)
Panelists (2M , One of them was malay sir)

Started the discussion around whether the rebranding of Fair and Lovely to Glow and lovely necessary , and if yes then why now and not before ??
Questioned our opinions with examples and have to defend those

Other was a office scenario where a senior took credit for a juniors idea in a meeting where you and all of yours manager is present , how would you respond to it and in diff scenarios

Stay firm and consistent in your thoughts for GI2 and prep your domain and work ex very well for G1

All the best to the ones who still have an interview left

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:25:25 SPJAIN

WAT (Slot 2)
How is empathy applicable in our day-to-day lives. Give examples

GI 1
Spec - Finance
Panelists - Prof. Lijo John and Prof. Sushmita Srivastava
Other students - 1 IM and 1 Marketing.
Profile - X - 95, XII - 95.4, Grad 94.2 (B. Tech Production Engineering at NIT Trichy)
Work ex - Business Analyst at Citicorp since July 2021 (4 months)

Prof Lijo:
1) Why production to finance?

2) What have you learnt in your 4 months at Citi?

3) What is wealth management?

4) What roles do you wish to pursue post MBA?

5) What are the major asset classes?

6) How would you decide what investment is best for an investor?

7) A HNI with 10 Lac investment wishes to make an investment. What asset class would you suggest?

8) Following up to Qn 7, what would you suggest if he's willing to take higher risks.

9) What are the various asset classes in both debt and equity? 10) Which equity asset class is high risk and which one is low risk?

11) Do you involve yourself in financial conversations in your house? What significant contribution have you added to your family's way of investing?

12) Since you're from a production background, What is Lean?

13) What is Waste?

14) What are the types of waste? (Following up, do you know what is TIMWOOD)

Prof. Sushmita:
1) Why did you not pursue a career in Operations, Lean or Supply Chain?

2) What is Agile Manifesto?

3) How is Agile incorporated in the finance sector? (Answered in relation to Citi)

4) Over the last week, the Indian stock market has been crashing. Any reason why, according to you?

GI2
Panelists - Prof. Jyothi Jagasia and Prof. Renuka Kamath
Other students - 3 IM and 1 Fin (Me)

1) Introductions

2) A colleague of yours reported an expense for something he didn't spend for and the company's HR has approached you for your opinion on him. Your company has a zero tolerance policy and it is proven that he made that error. What's your stance?

3) In many indian households, women are serving as housewives either voluntarily or are being forced to. But again, corporate jobs take up a lot of time and women often also complain that they aren't able to spend more time with their children. What is your take on this?

4) Looking at your form B, I see that you wish for a time machine to never be invented. Why is that so?

5) You're the boss of a company and employee of yours arrives late almost every single day. He complains that the traffic in the city is delaying him. How would you resolve this issue? (They suggested options ranging from firing him to letting go of this issue and expected a viewpoint of ours).

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:24:57 SPJAIN

I know this was last slot of the batch but might be helpful for scorebased people

GI 1 - 1 Male(operation and supply chain), 1 female (people and performance)

I am mining engineer nit raipur 2019 passout
I have 2.5 yrs workex in applications support Capgemini

Brief one min tell me about yourself which interests us?

Difference between IT and IM?

Why IM ?

Asked what is IM but in different way

What kind of roles post MBA?

I told tech consulting and product management

Asked me key parameters from scratch for pm role

Then asked what's the current trend in IT, I said blockchain

Whats unique about blockchain?

Smart contracts?

In most of the question I was trying to give example to explain in better way but he was like to the point only points
He didn't looked convinced by my answers

Then female professor

Why IT after mining

How new technologies are used in mines

She looked convinced

I didn't clear GI -1

But I hope this will be helpful

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:24:24 SPJAIN

Hi guys, I just got done with my first round.

2 panelists, 3 candidates-1 Ops(C1), 2 finance [Myself(C2) and another Engineer(C3) with CFA L1 cleared]

It was a bit of both, personal and technical.

Started with a basic introduction.
Then they moved on to C3. He had a work ex as a data analyst and he said that he didn’t like engineering and his job role so now he’s going towards finance. He was grilled on that a little bit with questions like how do we know for sure that you’ll not drop out of finance as well and that you’re tumbling will stop. He mentioned sustainability as an interest and was asked a few questions about the same.

C2(I am a Finance graduate fresher)
I was asked some personal questions first about my school life and then some technical questions. -What roles post MBA? I said IB then a few follow up questions on that. I could answer most of them, not anything too complicated. Then I was asked one last question- why not gain some work ex and then do an MBA after two years.

C3: He was asked mainly questions about his work ex. He had a lot of technical knowledge and was cross questioned about why MBA and not go in tech further.

All in all, the panelist were more or less chill. They were listening and smiling throughout (even when they were grilling)

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:24:02 SPJAIN

WAT
Is uniform dress code needed in office spaces?

GI - 1
This was purely based on my work experience. ERP and supply chain for myself. Then the basics of why mba , why operations,goals,a question and solution oriented answer for scm issues.
The other candidates were from other specs so i had no interrelated questions.

Notes:
-Be clear on what you are saying with regard to work. The whole interview just revolves around your experiences.

- have a clear cut answers for the why mba and operations question.

- it is more of a conversation so please try to be as honest as possible. It is completely alright to admit that an mba is something you wanted to pursue recently rather than cook up a story.

- they want to know your values and also how honest you are to yourself and the panel.

For freshers and people with low work ex, it is completely fine, don't let other profiles in the discussion affect you.

Good luck everyone! gi2 is in the afternoon

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-21 18:23:35 SPJAIN

WAT topic - Should uniforms be compulsory at workplace

Shortlisted for Finance Background
Undergrad - B.Sc Economics, mathematics and statistics

GI -
Tell me something not mentioned on resume

Why did you take such a unique course for undergrad, what inspired you

What is Normal distribution and 3 properties

Is current acc deficit good
If not good then why we have better gdp growth rate than China when they have current acc surplus

If economy and Finance move in tandem why is unemployment rate so high but markets also up ( referring to the period before market correction)

GI 1 ended - Very smooth interview, comforting panel

GI2 - What is your expectation from us as a panel

Unique things not mentioned in your form

Situation - If serum institute of India sets aside some vaccine doses for Parsi community is that morally right?

Does having poetry as your passion make you a successful manager. Or is it completely useless

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-20 20:29:06 SPJAIN

WAT- What does creativity means to you?

In G1 interview their were two penalist.

P1- Marketing Background

P2- Finance Background

S1- Marketing guy (having own family buisness of dry fruits)

S2- Marketing guy

S3- working in LIC, Finance Background

S4- (myself, Operation and supply chain) Logistics background

No introduction or any sort was asked.

Direct discussion started with a question asked from S1 about his family buisness of dry fruits that they operate from Kathmandu. Around 10 min discussion went on ways in which they should work to improve there sales.

Everyone was asked to give there inputs turn by turn.

Second discussion revolved around LIC IPO. Where LIC is laging then it's competitors. Any add-ons to improve. S2 suggested involvement of AI. Further questions were asked on AI.

From me a single questions asked to give two major reason of how COVID have effected supply chain.

At last asked about respective hobbies.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the second round.

Best of luck for all others.


*My advice- Do develop some views from other fields too. Read about marketting, finance, operation*

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment

2022-01-20 20:28:51 SPJAIN
"My GI-1 experience:
Marketing
19th January
Slot 3

WAT: If you were to host a lavish party, what are the 5 things you would definitely do?

Panel: 2 profs and 4 students( 2 from IM, 1 from Ops and myself from Marketing)

Interview:

Introduce Yourself, Why MBA, Why SPJIMR. Ye sab kuch nahi tha

So, the interview starts with one of the professors asking about the work ex related stuff to one of the IM guys. And then he shifts his attention towards the second IM guy. And this guy over here had mentioned regarding this app which he created. So the prof asked him to explain it. So this guy explained it beautifully and that resulted in the entire interview to take place on how to make this app successful. They asked me about what marketing strategy which would help this app and similarly everyone was asked to chip in. So 60-70 percent of the interview was about that app.

And then the Ops guy was asked regarding his work ex.

And then I was asked about which marketing campaign I liked in recent times.

Then, the first IM Candidate was asked about her interests.

Second IM guy was asked something related to his app again. I can't remember what it was.

I was asked about which Company would you like to join after SPJIMR? Plus whether I knew about the Marketing subjects in the
curriculum.

And then, the Ops guy was asked to state 3 current challenges in the Supply Chain World.

That was it.


My thoughts: As a fresher, I could see how people are so well structured and were well prepared. I'm sure I won't get through but hope to give my best for the rest of the calls. Hope this helps.

Btw the interview was extremely chilled. Even I had a few nerves before the start, but as soon as the interview started it was absolutely fine."

#SPJAIN @CATGDPI Open / Comment