IIM Calcutta interview
April 17, 2008
IIM Calcutta
Venue: Hotel Luxar Monarch, bangalore
Time: 15th March 2008, 10:00 am
GD:
Ram Singh, starts a BPO branch in a small and conservative city in central India an, so that attrition rate is low. His company has 43 % female employees and he has outsourced cab service for employees who work in the early morning as well as night shift..
One fine morning he receives a phone call saying that a female employee had been molested the previous night at 11:30 by a drunk driver when she was returning home. He is worried since the media will create a hype about this, if they come to know and his company reputation will be spoiled. Also parents might not be willing to send their children, esp girls to his company and this will defy the very purpose of him setting up the company in this town.
What should he do?
The GD went off well.I chipped in with a few very valid points. at the end we were asked to summarize individually. Gave a very good summary and added a new point there.
Was a good GD fr me and would rate it at 8/10
PI
Panel members
P1, P2, P3, Me
Enter the room and wish them.They ask me to take my seat and P2 takes my file.
P1: Arun.. Do you know who Arun Lal is?
Me: Yes sir. he is an Ex cricketer and is now into cricket commentary.
P1: Yes.. lot of people are into commentary nowadays.. ( all laugh). Now you gimme a commentary about yourself.
Me: Told them.. had not prepared much.. Just told them whatever came to mind
P1: How do you think you performed in the GD?
Me: I had a good participation and i gave some valid points.
P1: On a scale of 10 how much would you rate your performance?
Me: 7 – 8
P1: Who else do you think performed well.
Me: Told a fella’s name and also said two others had given good points.
P1: Fine.. What do you think is the problem with opening of new airports.
Me:Started talking about Hyderabad and Bangalore airports..
P1: (interrupts..) What is the difference between these airports and the other airports in the country.
Me: These are built on PPP – Public Private Partenership
P1: So what is the problem with these airports.
Me: Told about B’lore airport having problems with approach roads and distance from city.
P1: But Hyderabad airport was inaugurated yesterday in presence of Sonia Gandhi.
Me: Sir the unions, they are staging a strike.
P1: No.. They have been assured that there’ll be no job cuts..
Me: (Suddenly remembering)Sir, it had not met some safety norms. Thats why its not operational now.
P1: Ok so wats PPP.
Me: Told.
P1: From what you say private is investing in infrastructure and operations. What is the Public or the government’s part in this?
Me: In our country its the Govt. that gives permission to set up such infrastructure. Also they provide the necessary land and power.
P1: What can the government do to make the PPP profitable?
Me: Provide better infrastructure..
P1: No.. Its part of the agreement.
Me: Provide power..
P1: No.. Its part of the agreement.
Me: Then sorry sir, i am not getting your question properly.
P1: In case the PP is not profitable, what can the govt do?
Me: In case if it were not profitable, then the Pvt company would not have entered the deal in the first place. Probably they can give them some tax benefits.
P1: ahhhhh.. This was what I was expecting from you right from the beginning.
Me: Thought the tax structure would also have been a part of the deal.
P2: So you are from Whirlpool.. what do you do there..
Me: told..
P2: Some more questions on company, my work and a few new launches we have planned.
Me: Answered them well
P3: Shoots a situation and asks me how i would handle it?
Me: Tell him.. Could not gauge their response.
P3: Why do you want to do an MBA?
Me: Told…
P3: What will be the growth path for you in your company?
Me: Told..
P1: So you want to get into academics in later part of your career is it? ( Had written something reg. this in my form)
Me: Told them how shitty the education system here is and how incompetent most teaching faculty in private engineering colleges are.
P2: So you plan to bring about a nation wide reform is it?
Me: If not a notion wide reform, I’d at least like to bring about a change in my own small way.
P3: What is it that is very unique about you? I don’t see any such thing in the form.
Me: Told him something about me and my achievements..
P3: But all that is not unique.
Me: Told them….
They look satisfied with the answer.
They look at each other and say i can Leave.
IIM Ahmedabad Interview
April 17, 2008
Institute: IIM Ahmedabad
Venue: Hotel Luxar Monarch, Bangalore
Date and time: 27th February 2008, 10:00 Am
Profile:
Name: Arun S
10th: 68.6 % ( CBSE)
12th: 86.25% ( Tamil Nadu Matric)
B.E. Mechanical Engineering : 78 % (affiliated coll - Anna Univ)
Cat ( Percentile , absolute score)
QA: 99.84 56
DI: 99.37 61.46 ( One question was wrong in DI, so the marks for 96 were converted to 100)
VA: 97.36 32
OA: 99.92
Work ex: 22 months with Whirlpool in manufacturing sector.
Extra curricular: played basket ball for coll, won quiz competitions, can play mridangam very well.
No of ppl in the Group: 9
Write up topic: The Buffoon media caters to the wants of the public who always want sensational news.
Performance: We were given 10 min to write and had to write in the space provided in the application form.
Rating: would rate it at 7/10
PI:
Panel Members:
P1: You work in whirlpool, what do you do there.
Me: I am working as a process engineer, and I take care of…. Blah blah..
P1: Do you work alone?
Me; No sir, I work along with xyz persons and they support me in some abc ways.
P1: From whom do you get your inputs from?
Me: Told them, I get it frm X dept and I plan for something more than what they give.
P1: So why are you planning for something that is not asked?
Me: sir, I plan for infrastructure and I will also have to plan keeping the future demands in consideration. Also we might not get money in a later stage for this expansion in infrastructure.
P1: Who gives you money.. Govt. of India is it? (all including myself start to laugh)
Me: No sir, It is given by some Y dept.
P1: They are a part of your company only na. SO why wont they give money? Anyway Which do you think is right? Phased spending or spending at once.
Me: Phased spending,
P1: Then why don’t you talk to the people in you company.
Me: Told him .. (Could not gauge his reaction for this answer)
P3: You have presented a paper on brakes. What is this about. (had written about this in the form)
Me: Told him what it was about.
P3: What is the difference between a disc and the other type of brake
Me: Explained to him with drawings.
P3: Where is a disc brake used?
Me: Sir it is used in Bikes and cars. In India We can find Discs in front wheels of bikes and in all the wheels of cars.
P3: How does it work?
Me: Told him with some drawings.
P3: What is the difference between a pneumatics and hydraulics?
Me: Told him.
P3: Where is hydraulics used and where is pneumatics used?
Me: Pneumatics is mostly used in places where the distance of transmission is long as in cases with some trucks.
P3: So DO they use Disc brakes in Trucks?
Me: No sir, they use Drum brake, as I think drum brakes suit them as the mass and momentum are very high,
P3: You are caught here. You said they use springs in drum brakes and now you are
talking about pneumatics. J
Me: Told him how the drum brake is actuated either by a Hydraulic/ Pneumatic cylinder and how otherwise it is actuated by a lever as in case of bikes.
P3: What is the advantage of Pneumatics?
Me: Told him it is cam be used over long transmission distances and Pneumatics has an advantage that small leaks don’t matter as air leak can be tolerated for a short while while it is not possible with Oil as Oil is used from a sump and the quantity of Oil in the system is constant and is re-circulated.
P3: SO are you sure the Air is not re-circulated.
Me: Told him I think so sir, But am not sure as I have not had any chance to open up such a mechanism.
P3: How does the drier work in a washing machine.
Me: Told him.
P3: In case I put a load of 10 kg and a load of 2 kg in a drier, which one will come to rest
first?
Me: Sir the One with 2Kg will come to stop first as the other one has a higher Momentum.
P3: What is Momentum?
Me Mass x Velocity
P3: Ok. So lets assume that there is a car 500 Kg and a 10 Ton truck. Which one;ll come to rest first.
Me: The Lighter mass will come to rest first.
P3: Can you explain it with a few simple equations of motion. Like v = u + at
Me: Actually for a body moving straight, Think for some time and tell him that I cannot recollect.
P1: why is it that the Lighter car will come to rest first?
Me: Sir the momentum is lower. If the same stopping force is applied to both the car and truck, the first to stop will be the 500Kg car.
P1: So you mean to say that it is the same reason that two bodies with different weights come down at the same time.
Me: This is the case in vacuum. Two bodies come down with different velocities due to air friction
P2: You play the Mridangam, Do you have any certificates to show us saying that you have learnt it?
Me: No sir, I Don’t have any.
P2: Then how do we know?
Me: Sir, once we attain a certain level of proficiency, we give a public performance, called the ‘arangetram’.
P2: So do you have any invitation card of something?
Me: No sir, I did my arangetram in a small temple near my place and do not have any invitation to show you.
P1: what is the difference between a Mridangam and a Tabla?
Me: The Tabla is very similar to the Mridangam, except that the it s made of two separate drums, and Mridangam is made of a single hollow unit, with two sides covered with leather.
P1: I see a black patch on the side of the Mridangam. What is it for?
Me: This is for holding the side tight so that the vibrations are more clear. This is the function of the patch in the Left, or the Base side.
P1: I do not see any drums with that black patch.
Me: Sir the material of the drum is made of synthetic material, so it can be streached, while in the Mridangam, it is the cow’s skin. So since it cant be streached beyond a certain limit, we use a black patch, which is made of Rice and coal.
P2: What type of instrument is a mridangam?
Me: It is a percussion instrument, where Music is generated by tapping the instrument.
P2: What are the other kinds of instruments
Me: String instruments and wind instrument.
P2: Give me an example for each.
Me: Violin is a string instrument, and a flute is a wind instrument.
P1: SO what kind of instrument is a Harmonium?
Me: Wind instrument,
P2: What kind of instrument is a Piano?
Me: (Think for a second), Think it is also a wind instrument, No sir, I don’t know. (Piano is a string Instrument )
They look at each other and say that’s it.
Once I come out I was chatting with others and P3 comes out with my pencil which I had left inside. I take it, thank him and apologize for the trouble.
Rating: Will rate it at 7/10.
Result: <will update once it comes>
IIM Indore Interview
April 17, 2008
Institute: IIM Indore
Venue: IIM Banglore
Date and time: 19th Feb, 02:00 Pm
Profile:
Arun
10th: 68.6 % ( CBSE)
12th: 86.25% ( Tamil Nadu Matric)
B.E. Mechanical Engineering : 78 % (affiliated coll - Anna Univ)
Cat ( Percentile , absolute score)
QA: 99.84 56
DI: 99.37 61.46 ( One question was wrong in DI, so the marks for 96 were converted to 100)
VA: 97.36 32
OA: 99.92
Work ex: 22 months with Whirlpool in manufacturing.
Extra curricular: played basket ball for coll, won quiz competitions, can play mridangam very well.
No of ppl in the Group: 10
GD topic: Five friends meet up in a restaurant to discuss about starting a readymade cloth business a village.
Frnd 1: A social worker in nearby villages. ( only gal in the group)
Frnd 2: Wholesale buyer for farm products in the village.
Frnd 3: Medical shop owner in the village.
Frnd 4: Engineer
Frnd 5: The guy who actually wants to start the business.
When the friends we discussing, points like starting the shop along with the agri business shop or medical shop came up.
This ‘frnd 5’ goes to his father for advice on what to do.
The question was how would his father go about this issue.
Performance: As soon as the Profs asked us to start, a guy (lets call him Mr X) started off giving a line about the case and said we need to do a SWOT analysis of the case, and went about giving a few points himself. Think this should have been the format prescribed by is coaching institute as it appeared well rehearsed. Slowly the discussion carried on and someone else started took over from him and gave a brief of the case. I was the 4th or 5th person to enter and gave a few points. Mr X who was quiet for some time suddenly started discussing about how farmers are pseudo employed and how half their time is not utilized in farming. Very valid point, but where do they fit in this discussion. Then he said that a manufacturing plant for fabrics should definitely be set up her and village resource should be utilized and went about talking about financial and other implications for the village. Since he was loud and monotonous, some people even joined him in this discussion. A few others and I tried in vain to tell to the group that it was about someone who wants to set up a cloth store, and not a cloth factory. Again I felt that this manufacturing thing was prepared by Mr X and he desperately wanted to give his points. I was reminded of the story where a boy mugs up an essay titled ‘ My friend’. But the exam paper asked for ‘My dad’ and thus he wrote, “ I have many dads. Rohan is my best dad and he come to my house daily…….” I din mind this as an alternate suggestion, but to bring this up in the 4th minute of the GD and take it further, well I considered was not the right way.
At around the 10th Min, the prof asked us all to stop and asked a person to speak as he had been very quiet till then.
Overall the GD was ok sorts, except for a few off the track discussions and we were searching for new points at the end when points got repeated.
Would rate my performance at 6/10.
PI:
Panel Members:
P1:
P2:
Was the second to be called in. The first person ( the silent boy) was a fresher and was asked a lot on acads. At the end of the GD they had told that we’d be called in some random order.
I enter the room and
P1: Goes thru mark sheet and asks. What did u you study in Numerical methods?
Me: We studied something about interpolation, extrapolation and how to obtain details from a given data. Actually sir I don’t remember much of it.
P1: He flips through the mark sheet. Sees Fluid dynamics. And asks me if I remember Fluid dynamics.
Me: Yes sir. (what is it man… I was expecting him to ask me something from core mechanical. Had not gone thru much of this)
P1: Define ideal fluid
Me: (Think for a few seconds.. )I cannot recollect it sir.
P1: Define Newtonian fluid
Me: I don’t remember sir.
P1: Then what is non Newtonian Fluid?
Me: ( I start smiling and say as a matter of fact) I don’t know sir.
P1: What is viscosity?
Me: (At last something I know..) Tell him
P1: What is buoyancy?
Me: Tell him.
P1: What is efficiency of carnot cycle? Draw the carnot cycle.
Me: Take a paper and draw that. Actually took some time to draw and get the eqution.
P1: Efficiency of reverse carnot cycle
Me: Tell him.
P1: What is all this T1, T2 etc….??
Me: Tell him it is the temperature of the source and the sink
P1: What are the types of refrigeration.
Me: Sir there are three. One is vapor absorption and other is ammonia something.. ( told him, don’t remember now). Told him don’t remember the third one ( I dint have to commit myself in the first place saying there were three types !!)
P1: What if refrigerator is kept open inside the room.
Me: Told him.
P1: Diff bet Ref and AC
Me: Told him.
P1: Factors you consider for designing an AC.
Me: Told him a few things, but did not appear satisfies.
P1 says that’s it with him. Asks P2 to take over. P2 was silent all this time.
P2: Why was Chennai renamed?
Me: People or the politicians here felt that the name Madras was given by the British and the earlier name was of Chennai city was Chennappatinam.. Before AP and TN were together called as Madras constituency. Then when AP and TN were separated, TN was called so. Later the now Chennai was called Madras. This is a similar reason why Mumbai and Kolkotta got their names.
P2: Which constituency is Tamil Nadu’s CM from?
Me: Chepauk – Chennai
P2: Which constituency is Jayalalitha from?
Me: Andipatti.
P2: Where is it?
Me: I Do not know its exact location sir.
P2: So you play the mridangam, who do you think is the most influential mridangam player today.
Me: Told them..
P1 hands over the file and says I can leave.
Rating: 6/10
Result: <will update once it comes>
