IIM A Interview Experience

This was it – the big one, IIM Ahmedabad. As I was giving this one in New Delhi, my parents had driven over from Ganganagar and the centre was IIFT. For a change I had a morning slot as I headed to the lobby and was informed that I would be in panel three. There were a few guys already waiting, who appeared to be from the same college and didn’t seem interested in chatting. A few others joined in later and I struck a conversation with them.

The process started bang on time (as is usual with the IIM’s) and we were sent to our different panellists straight away. We were asked to write an essay first – “Pubs are anti-Indian”. I had learnt from others’ experiences that time was of an essence here, so I paced myself to finish in eight minutes. I was pretty satisfied with my essay this time (hadn’t quite done justice to the essay at Lucknow).

I was the third person to go in for the interview. They had already informed us that the interviews would last about twenty minutes each. Also, they’d collected our forms and marksheet photocopies after the essay (one guy hadn’t noticed the instruction which asked us to get photocopies and he had to run straight after!)

I walked in for the interview feeling reasonably confident – the first two had said that the panellists were relaxed. One interviewer was slightly balding and aged (P1) the other (P2) seemed to be middle-aged.

P1: Have a biscuit. (They had just been served tea and biscuits before I entered)

I: No thank you, sir. I will have them later. (It would have been really tough talking with a biscuit in my mouth!)

P1: Okay, tell me something about yourself.

I: (Wow, you gotta be kidding me! Gave him a nice rehearsed answer, hoping he’d catch on to something to ask. He did. :))

P1: Alright, tennis you said. Who is a better player – Paes or Bhupathi?

I: In my opinion, although Bhupathi is ranked higher in doubles, it’s because he has a better partner. Also, Paes has a much stronger serve-volley combination. Plus, Paes has won a bronze in the Olympics and also two Junior Titles (US and Wimbledon). So he had more talent as well. I would say if they played on clay, Bhupathi might win, but on grass and hardcourt, Paes would easily win.

(Asked a few more questions on Federer’s days running out, Indian Tennis prospects for the future and where would I rather invest my money – Tennis or Kabaddi. Seemed more like idle chit-chat)

P2: (he’d been reading my form and listening in to my answers intermittently) So you got a 100 in Sanskrit, can you recite a sloka?

I: (whoops! How did I miss out on preparing one? I tried to recite a sloka and faltered midway. Then clarified that I had ‘Communicative’ Sanskrit, which basically meant that I had learnt how to converse in Sanskrit and I was prepared to do so, right then. The course had been changed that year and we no longer reproduced essays and slokas on rote)

P2: Alright, tell me the laws of thermodynamics. (Meanwhile P1 asked for my sheaf of certificates)

I: (Remembered the Zeroeth and First Law, and told him. Had read this about ten days ago, but forgot the Second and Third Laws. Told him I couldn’t recollect the second and third laws.)

P2: Do you still remember calculus? What is differentiation?

I: Sir, basically it is the slope of the graph…

P1: Okay, so you are a computer engineer? Tell me the difference between optical mouse and normal mouse.

I: (Told them about the wheel being employed for roll-and-draw motion detection and light being used in optical mouse. On being further asked about them, gave advantages of optical mouse having a longer life and being faster. Also spoke of dirt accumulating in the traditional mouse.)

P2: Tell me about a recent development in the field of computers.

I: Asus has just developed an ‘EEE’ keyboard which has a mini-screen, a processor, 1 GB RAM and Windows XP all in the keyboard. They’ve also come out with a CPU with a mini-screen.

P2: (who was obviously the academics expert) Ok. If you had to make something five years down the line to help entrepreneurs and businessmen what would it be?

I: Perhaps a completely advanced planner and organiser. I mean it’s extremely important for them, plus perhaps something for them to save time.

P2: What I mean to ask is if you wanted to make a revolutionary breakthrough in your line of computers, what would it be?

I: I would perhaps like to make a chip which could be attached to humans and have different functions like tracking etc like in science fiction.

P2: Something else?

I: I would also like something which can compress huge objects to make them portable. I mean you want to use big screens and gadgets, but carry them around effortlessly, expanding them to full size when required.

P2: Can you think of an example from real life?

I: (At first mentioned an umbrella, then when he asked me to think natural, went from flowers to seeds. He got really animated at the mention of seeds as it was the answer he had been looking for)

P1: Tell me something about Chandrayan mission. Why is India participating in it?

I: (Spoke about Helium-3 reserves, energy crisis. Then he asked if we should waste so much money, I mentioned it was an investment for the future and since other countries were headed that way too, we couldn’t afford to be left behind as we would become dependent on them in the future).

P2: What else is Chandrayan about? Apart from He-3?

I: I don’t know, sir.

P1: Okay. So you are from Army Institute of Technology. What is that?

I: (Explained it to him, and then he went on to ask of my father’s post)

P2: Is this your first interview? How many calls do you have from IIM’s?

I: (Told him)

P1: (Looking at my form now) You went to Kaun Banega Crorepati Junior? You mention a cash prize and computer here…

I: (Described it all to him and showed him the certificate. Told him the question I lost out on and also all about Amitabh Bachchan. He asked if he was different from reel life in real – I said he was imposing. Also went on to talk about Sidharth Basu being the brains behind it all.)

P1 and P2 (looked at each other, nodded): That would be all. Thank you and all the best.

I: Thank you, sir. Good day.

As I was getting up, they offered me toffee and biscuits. I ended up taking two toffees and a biscuit. They called me in again as I was at the door, for they had forgotten the ‘fee waiver not required’ signature.

All in all, it was a good experience – the panellists were cheerful and relaxed throughout. As a result, so was I. Although the interview lasted about 22-25 minutes, it felt more like a tea-time conversation. I can just hope for the best now. My part in this has already been played.