I had my IIM-C GD/PI on March-9,2009. Morning 9.30am slot.. One of the first batches to attend the process… 30 CAT candidates and a few NRI candidates were split into 3 panels (9,10 and 11) . Panel -9 was full of OBCs.. Panels-10,11 were full of candidates who got the PGDM call under open quota… Panel -12 was for PGDCM students and here too their respective quota was mentioned..
For ex, I was under open quota for PGDM and under OBC quota for PGDCM.. ppl like me with both the calls, had to finish PGDM first and then attend the PGDCM interview..
The verification process started at around 8.30am.. every number/detail entered in the form was put thru rigorous checking .. so pls be very accurate.. do not forget to bring a Xerox copy of each and every certificate who have ….
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 CBSE
XII – 88.59 TN state
Undergrad Major - B.E(ECE) 6.7/10, CEG, AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 21 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (OBC)
Any other special thing abt u: J
ESSAY:
Topic:
There needs to be a men’s day.
GD:
Weird topic.. we were given 2 mins to collect our thoughts and approx 15-20 mins to discuss..
It was a very bad gd.. 2 or 3 guys were too rude .. less said the better abt their points.. fish market will be an under statement.. I did giggle a bit when it was going haywire..
I did give 2 or 3 points when I got a chance to speak without indecent interruptions.
At the end, everyone was given a min to summarize or give their points.. it was claimed to be done in random order.. but I felt that those who spoke the least, got the earliest chance…
PI:
We were made to wait under the trees until it was time for our turn to face the music..
I was the 3rd to be called in.. we were called in the same order as of that of the seating arrangement in the gd..
L – Ultra cool, young lady
M – Middle aged gentleman.
O – a typical prof.
K – may I come in sir..
M – please close the door and take ur seat.
Wished all the panelists.
M – Karthikeyan, Pls tell us abt urself starting from what u do now.. in the reverse order..
K – told abt work, college, schooling from diff places across TN, family background, interests etc..
M – tell us something that differentiates u from the others.. why do u think we shud select u?
K – sir, I am a confident guy, can do well under pressure, cool nature and also willing to accept my failures to improve myself as an individual ..
L – u didn’t speak much in the gd for a confident guy ..
K – mam, I did putforth a few of my points. Frankly I dint have more than 3 points.. hence decided what others say.. but, I felt that some were desperate to talk.. hence it turned out to be a fish market.. its just my opinion on the gd.. I hope that I had more opportunities to speak..
L – so u didn’t get those opportunities?
K – I was waiting for others to finish their sentences.. dint feel the necessity to cut thru others abruptly.. that will be rude..
O –ok.. so, did u take Cat last year?
K – yes, sir .. I did.. I failed .. though I got a final Indore call.. I dint join..
O – what do u mean by a failure? Why didn’t u join?
K – sir, by a failure, I mean a performance which is very much below my potential… I got only 97.15%ile last year.. I knew that I am much more capable than what my score suggested…I wanted to a get atleast a decent score and calls from the better IIMs... Also, I had just finished my training from infy, mysore.. it is an awesome campus.. for the first time in my life, I spent some quality time in sports.. and I also wanted to learn more abt the work atmosphere in a top notch IT company like infosys..
M – so have u applied under the OBC quota, whats ur %ile?
K – sir, yes.. my %ile is 99.7 overall
M – karthik, I see that u don’t like ur ECE subjects much..
K – sir, I have to accept that I lacked the commitment towards exams in college.. I was a reserved , reticent guy in my school days.. became more friendly during coll days.. spent the majority of the time having fun with my friends.. but I wasn’t spoilt.. I did learn a lot of things from other wonderful ppl I met during my coll life.. I know that getting low marks is a mistake.. I wont repeat it again.. J I will give my very best in IIM C ..
M -, so If I take u back to ur 12th.. will u take engg again??
K – no sir.. usually in TN, parents force their kids to take either engg or medical blindly.. there wasn’t much freedom at that time.. once I entered coll, I did get some freedom.. but, If given a chance again, I will study mathematics..
O – oh.. maths.. !! tell me whats (a+b)-squared..
K – a-sq + b-sq + 2ab ( is it for real??.. such a sitter !! J )
O – ok.. now represent it pictorially.. or prove it geometrically..
K – gave a representation .. it was simple and correct..
O – ok.. (looks satisfied ..)
M – karthik, u have written that u want to get into marketing… see now the job market is not good due to this recession.. infy is a gud company.. why don’t u try for a marketing profile in infy..??
K – sir, there are no opportunities for me to get into a marketing profile in infy.. I have done my UG in engg.. so it desnt help me either.. I think that a PGDM from a top notch inst like IIMC will help me a lot in this regard..
O – do u know, what is inflation?
K – sir, it’s the increase in cost of living index with the same index during the corresponding week last year taken as the base ( dint complete this..)
M – see, give us a layman’s explaination.. no tech terms pls..
K – sir, its basically the % rise in the prices of basic essential commodities..
O – last week, the inflation was 5%.. this week it came down to 4%.. what happened to the price??
K – we cannot determine it, bcos it is calculated against the base of the index of the corresponding week last year..
O – just choose among the 3 options… price up.. price down.. price same..
K – sir in most cases, the price wud have gone down.. but it can go up too .. I cant be sure sir..
O – ok.. whats a monopoly in a market?
K – sir, any market with only one player..
O – player??
K – sir.. say only BSNL provides internet all over the country, then it’s a monopoly..
O – so how many buyers and sellers?
K – 1 seller and many buyers..
O – ok.. what is the name for condition where there are many buyers and only one seller..??
K – I do not know sir..
O – its called @@$%@%@#%.. now, give me one ex for it..
K – sir. Electronic voting machines can be a example sir.. I think only the EC will buy them..
O – no.. there is one such product in the market for a long time.. its still there.. its from the utility sector.. thats the clue..
K – sir, I am not getting the answer now.. J
L – ok.. Tell me a marketing model peculiar to TN..
K – mam, we have saravana stores.. their model was used by kishore biyani to develop big bazaar..
L – what is it about?
K – all products at discounted rates.. even nike shoes.. low profit margins.. but huge turn over.. targeting the middle class and lower class ppl.. they usually advertise using cinema stars, not models ..
L – why no models?
K – mam, models are usually up-market.. they can be used for marketing diamonds.. mass ppl usually connect themselves with the cine stars with boy/girl next door image.. it’s a cinema crazy crowd in TN…
L – compare a TN market with a Mumbai market..
K – mam, can I take any examples?
L – yes.. u can.. u have 2 mins :)
K – lets take the cinema halls in Chennai and Mumbai.. explained abt the reasons for the absence of many multiplexes in Chennai as in Mumbai.. due to the cap on the ticket rates and the lesser population as a whole means lesser metro crowd.. etc etc…
L – (looks satisfied ..) J
M – yes karthik, u can go .. ask for the next person to wait..
K – wished everyone individually..
MISC:
Really, IIMC rocks.. no acads, no stupid data based Qs.. really nice testing questions that doesn’t require hours of mugging as prep. .. a concrete reason for “why MBA” really helps..
Monday, March 9, 2009
IIMC PGDCM GD/PI Experience
I had my IIM-C GD/PI on March-9,2009. Morning 9.30am slot.. One of the first batches to attend the process… 30 CAT candidates and a few NRI candidates were split into 3 panels (9,10 and 11) . Panel -9 was full of OBCs.. Panels-10,11 were full of candidates who got the PGDM call under open quota… Panel -12 was for PGDCM students and here too their respective quota was mentioned..
For ex, I was under open quota for PGDM and under OBC quota for PGDCM.. ppl like me with both the calls, had to finish PGDM first and then attend the PGDCM interview..
The verification process started at around 8.30am.. every number/detail entered in the form was put thru rigorous checking .. so pls be very accurate.. do not forget to bring a Xerox copy of each and every certificate who have ….
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 CBSE
XII – 88.59 TN state
Undergrad Major - B.E(ECE) 6.7/10, CEG, AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 21 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (OBC)
Any other special thing abt u: J
ESSAY:
Topic:
There needs to be a men’s day.
GD:
Weird topic.. we were given 2 mins to collect our thoughts and approx 15-20 mins to discuss..
It was a very bad gd.. 2 or 3 guys were too rude .. less said the better abt their points.. fish market will be an under statement.. I did giggle a bit when it was going haywire..
I did give 2 or 3 points when I got a chance to speak without indecent interruptions.
At the end, everyone was given a min to summarize or give their points.. it was claimed to be done in random order.. but I felt that those who spoke the least, got the earliest chance…
PI:
After finishing our PGDM interviews, we were supposed to enter the PGDCM panel room voluntarily if we find the panel to be free..
G – grilling prof..
S – stressing prof..
G – yes come in please.. (sees me waiting outside thru the glass pane in the door )
K – may I come in sir?
S – ya pls. whts ur name?
K – Karthikeyan sir..
G – come pls take ur seat..
K – wished them individually..
G- ur 12th marks are so poor… just 59%.
K – sir, its 88.59..
G – oh yea sorry.. I mistook this as 59..
K - J
G – so u have 21 months work ex in infy !! hmm.. where are u posted now?? Since when?
K – yes sir.. I am currently in pune.. had 4.5 months of training in mysore.. from nov-07, I am in pune.. J
G - so, did u take Cat last year?
K – yes, sir .. I did.. though I got a final Indore call.. I dint join..
O –Why didn’t u join?
K – sir, I got only 97.15%ile last year.. I knew that I am much more capable than what my score suggested…I wanted to a get atleast a decent score and calls from the better IIMs... I had enough confidence to give another shot at the exam.. I wasn’t too serious abt it last year.. though, I was interested in management
G – see this paper.. (shows me a paper.. it has two cases.. s1 and s2. ) u have to recruit either s1 or s2.. s1 gives a return of 200 per year.. s2 gives a return of either 500 or -100 per year. With p=0.5 for both the cases..
K –can I use pencil?
G – its strange that u need to write.. its simple man.. just see and answer..
K - sir, I will choose s1..
G – why sir?
K- s1 gives me a minimum guarantee of 200..
G – then whats the expectation of s2?
K – sir, it’s the same 200.. but s2 can fail.. I don’t want to take risk here, as I am recruiting for not my own company.. I will risk my own money, but not others..
G – say if u were to recruit them for a period of 35 yrs.. what will u do?
K- sir, in that case, I wud recruit s2..
G – why sudden change of mind?
K – sir, if its for 35 yrs, then its like a league.. I can afford to lose a game or two.. but the first case was like a final match.. I wont take risks in knockout situations..
G – I never told any condition for the first case..
K – sir, I did assume it that way..
G – ok.. see this.. ( shows me a graph with 3 lines.. wage vs productivity.. ) which one wud u choose?
A – constant wage..
C – slightly variable based on productivity.. fixed component much higher than that of B and slightly lower than A’s
B – very low fixed component and high variable component.. high salary for high productivity..
K – sir, I wud choose B
G – why ?
K – sir, it gives me the highest return for high prod.. I believe in my ability to excel.. I was in a similar situation when I didn’t join indore last year..
G – hmm.. see lets take ur cat itself.. say it’s a function of 3 variables.. what will those variables be?
K – 1. ability. 2. concentration..
G – say its 1. ability. 2.effort.. what abt this 3rd one?? Say some external factor.. u mug up, but the Q doesn’t turnup in the exam..
K – its luck sir..
G – oh yea.. !! its luck .. so now what will u choose among ABC..?
K - if the influence of luck is high, I will choose C ..
G – why?? to impress us??
K – no sir.. I think a constant wage might make me lethargic.. a variable component will motivate myself to push the limit..
G – ok..
S – u have written “ I want to have a +ve influence on the reach of a quality product among the public ..” its something bombastic… what do u mean??
K – sir.. I want to market a product that’s useful for the common public..
G – ya.. what do u mean by that?
S – say HLL hires u.. what will u do ? will u sell their soap?
K – I wud prefer to seel a soap like dettol..
S – but, HLL doesn’t produce dettol ..
K - sir I mean, I wish to market products that I use . lets take a product like coke.. I don’t like it much.. I think its harmful to our health in the long run.. I wudnt wish to market such a product..
S – but then , that wud nt give u any money acc to ur wage-plan..
K – yes sir, it wudnt..
G – then.. if coca cola hires u, will u sell coke or not?
K – sir, I wud prefer to sell pulpy orange for them..
G – no, I want u to sell coke to villagers..
K – sir, that wud put me in a fix.. I think I am yet to get matured to make such a decision..
S – hmm ok.. how long did u take to fill this form?? Its not at all neat.. some strike overs here and there..
K – sir, I took around 30 mins..
G – whats that empty space sir??
S – its his academic awards and achievements..!! nothing at all.. ppl have filled loads of it.. do u think we will just push u into IIMC? How dare u to keep this space empty??
K – sir, frankly, thus far I don’t have any academic achievement to distinguish myself from other candidates.. almost everyone attending an IIMC interview will have good acads in school/ college and a high cat score.. so, I don’t think I will be proud to say my acads as my achievements.. if given a chance in IIMC, I will great good grades and will later put that as my achievements in my futures interview forms..
(G & S become silent )
G – hmm .. u have written that u have won some entertainment quiz.. whats that?
K – sir, a quiz on English/tamil movies..
G – did u follow the Oscars this time?
K – hmm yes..
G – who won the awards?
K – category sir?
G – best actor/actress.. best supporting actor/actress
K –kate winslet for “the reader” , sean penn for ..
G – milk..
K – yes, milk.. then, amy adams for best supporting actress.. ( :( ).. heath ledger for dark knight..
G – did u watch SDM?
K – yes sir..
G – hindi or English?
K – English sir..
G – did u like it?
K – yes sir.. :)
G – ok, do u have any Qs for us?
K – no sir..
S – you can leave.. we will have the form with us..
K – thank u sir.. thank u sir..
MISC :
Hmmmmm.. not as good as PGDM for sure.. cud have done better.. :)
For ex, I was under open quota for PGDM and under OBC quota for PGDCM.. ppl like me with both the calls, had to finish PGDM first and then attend the PGDCM interview..
The verification process started at around 8.30am.. every number/detail entered in the form was put thru rigorous checking .. so pls be very accurate.. do not forget to bring a Xerox copy of each and every certificate who have ….
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 CBSE
XII – 88.59 TN state
Undergrad Major - B.E(ECE) 6.7/10, CEG, AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 21 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (OBC)
Any other special thing abt u: J
ESSAY:
Topic:
There needs to be a men’s day.
GD:
Weird topic.. we were given 2 mins to collect our thoughts and approx 15-20 mins to discuss..
It was a very bad gd.. 2 or 3 guys were too rude .. less said the better abt their points.. fish market will be an under statement.. I did giggle a bit when it was going haywire..
I did give 2 or 3 points when I got a chance to speak without indecent interruptions.
At the end, everyone was given a min to summarize or give their points.. it was claimed to be done in random order.. but I felt that those who spoke the least, got the earliest chance…
PI:
After finishing our PGDM interviews, we were supposed to enter the PGDCM panel room voluntarily if we find the panel to be free..
G – grilling prof..
S – stressing prof..
G – yes come in please.. (sees me waiting outside thru the glass pane in the door )
K – may I come in sir?
S – ya pls. whts ur name?
K – Karthikeyan sir..
G – come pls take ur seat..
K – wished them individually..
G- ur 12th marks are so poor… just 59%.
K – sir, its 88.59..
G – oh yea sorry.. I mistook this as 59..
K - J
G – so u have 21 months work ex in infy !! hmm.. where are u posted now?? Since when?
K – yes sir.. I am currently in pune.. had 4.5 months of training in mysore.. from nov-07, I am in pune.. J
G - so, did u take Cat last year?
K – yes, sir .. I did.. though I got a final Indore call.. I dint join..
O –Why didn’t u join?
K – sir, I got only 97.15%ile last year.. I knew that I am much more capable than what my score suggested…I wanted to a get atleast a decent score and calls from the better IIMs... I had enough confidence to give another shot at the exam.. I wasn’t too serious abt it last year.. though, I was interested in management
G – see this paper.. (shows me a paper.. it has two cases.. s1 and s2. ) u have to recruit either s1 or s2.. s1 gives a return of 200 per year.. s2 gives a return of either 500 or -100 per year. With p=0.5 for both the cases..
K –can I use pencil?
G – its strange that u need to write.. its simple man.. just see and answer..
K - sir, I will choose s1..
G – why sir?
K- s1 gives me a minimum guarantee of 200..
G – then whats the expectation of s2?
K – sir, it’s the same 200.. but s2 can fail.. I don’t want to take risk here, as I am recruiting for not my own company.. I will risk my own money, but not others..
G – say if u were to recruit them for a period of 35 yrs.. what will u do?
K- sir, in that case, I wud recruit s2..
G – why sudden change of mind?
K – sir, if its for 35 yrs, then its like a league.. I can afford to lose a game or two.. but the first case was like a final match.. I wont take risks in knockout situations..
G – I never told any condition for the first case..
K – sir, I did assume it that way..
G – ok.. see this.. ( shows me a graph with 3 lines.. wage vs productivity.. ) which one wud u choose?
A – constant wage..
C – slightly variable based on productivity.. fixed component much higher than that of B and slightly lower than A’s
B – very low fixed component and high variable component.. high salary for high productivity..
K – sir, I wud choose B
G – why ?
K – sir, it gives me the highest return for high prod.. I believe in my ability to excel.. I was in a similar situation when I didn’t join indore last year..
G – hmm.. see lets take ur cat itself.. say it’s a function of 3 variables.. what will those variables be?
K – 1. ability. 2. concentration..
G – say its 1. ability. 2.effort.. what abt this 3rd one?? Say some external factor.. u mug up, but the Q doesn’t turnup in the exam..
K – its luck sir..
G – oh yea.. !! its luck .. so now what will u choose among ABC..?
K - if the influence of luck is high, I will choose C ..
G – why?? to impress us??
K – no sir.. I think a constant wage might make me lethargic.. a variable component will motivate myself to push the limit..
G – ok..
S – u have written “ I want to have a +ve influence on the reach of a quality product among the public ..” its something bombastic… what do u mean??
K – sir.. I want to market a product that’s useful for the common public..
G – ya.. what do u mean by that?
S – say HLL hires u.. what will u do ? will u sell their soap?
K – I wud prefer to seel a soap like dettol..
S – but, HLL doesn’t produce dettol ..
K - sir I mean, I wish to market products that I use . lets take a product like coke.. I don’t like it much.. I think its harmful to our health in the long run.. I wudnt wish to market such a product..
S – but then , that wud nt give u any money acc to ur wage-plan..
K – yes sir, it wudnt..
G – then.. if coca cola hires u, will u sell coke or not?
K – sir, I wud prefer to sell pulpy orange for them..
G – no, I want u to sell coke to villagers..
K – sir, that wud put me in a fix.. I think I am yet to get matured to make such a decision..
S – hmm ok.. how long did u take to fill this form?? Its not at all neat.. some strike overs here and there..
K – sir, I took around 30 mins..
G – whats that empty space sir??
S – its his academic awards and achievements..!! nothing at all.. ppl have filled loads of it.. do u think we will just push u into IIMC? How dare u to keep this space empty??
K – sir, frankly, thus far I don’t have any academic achievement to distinguish myself from other candidates.. almost everyone attending an IIMC interview will have good acads in school/ college and a high cat score.. so, I don’t think I will be proud to say my acads as my achievements.. if given a chance in IIMC, I will great good grades and will later put that as my achievements in my futures interview forms..
(G & S become silent )
G – hmm .. u have written that u have won some entertainment quiz.. whats that?
K – sir, a quiz on English/tamil movies..
G – did u follow the Oscars this time?
K – hmm yes..
G – who won the awards?
K – category sir?
G – best actor/actress.. best supporting actor/actress
K –kate winslet for “the reader” , sean penn for ..
G – milk..
K – yes, milk.. then, amy adams for best supporting actress.. ( :( ).. heath ledger for dark knight..
G – did u watch SDM?
K – yes sir..
G – hindi or English?
K – English sir..
G – did u like it?
K – yes sir.. :)
G – ok, do u have any Qs for us?
K – no sir..
S – you can leave.. we will have the form with us..
K – thank u sir.. thank u sir..
MISC :
Hmmmmm.. not as good as PGDM for sure.. cud have done better.. :)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
IIML ESSAY/GD/PI Experience
I had my L GD/PI on feb 26th at HMATC, Dadar. Also had my A interview in banglore the previous day.. didn’t have much sleep.. tried sleeping for sometime in the Airport at night.. started early and reached the centre at 8am itself.. it was boring.. having given my A interview the previous day, it was difficult to sustain interest..
50 ppl were split into 5 panels. I was in panel -5. No AC L .. it was hot and sunny there.. no drinking water for a long time.. I cud see a lot of ppl with work ex..
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 CBSE
XII – 89 TN state
Undergrad Major - B.E(ECE) 6.7/10, CEG, AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (OBC)
Any other special thing abt u: Usually very confident in giving wrong answers..
ESSAY:
Topic:
He who knows to be poor, knows everything..
Wrote a decent essay for a page.. others wrote a bit longer.. we were given 15 mins after being promised 20 mins..
GD:
It was on the same topic .. It was like a fish market in parts.. when ppl were allowed to speak, some really funny and totally irrelevant points were discussed.. I gave some 4 decent points and decided to be quiet for the rest of the time.. The seating arrangement wasn’t gud… I cudnt see 2 candidates who were seated to my extreme right..
After the GD was over, I cud see some candidates discussing with each other that there have been worser GDs and ours was decent
PI:
I was the 4th to be called in.. The first 3 interviews were over in around 30 to 40 mins..
M – middle aged smiling prof
O – older smiling sarcastic prof
K – that’s me yaa..
M – hey, close the door man..
K – ok sir… (wished both of them )
O – so, karthikeyan.. u did ECE.. my boy, ur grades are very poor.. why??
K – sir, I have to accept that my commitment towards exams in college wasn’t upto mark. It was a mistake.. In an effort to rectify that I think got a good CATscore.. and hereafter, I will make every opportunity count, and wont make the same mistake of getting low grades if given a seat in IIM –L . I will give my very best..
O – (nods) .. so, u work in Infosys.. where?
K – Pune sir.
O – do u like pune?
K – yes sir.
O – do u like ur work?
K – yes sir.
O – then why do u want to quit ?
K – Sir, I have worked in the IT field for 20 months.. now I want to get into a marketing profile.. and a PGP from a top inst like IIM-L will help me..
O – so, u have a good score.. how many calls do u have?
K – sir, I have ABC..
M – (cuts) hey where do u have the document to support this figure..
K – sir , its there.. actually my last salary was lesser, bcos I had to be on LOP for somedays due to poor health .. (its all in the game )
K – yes sir.. I have ABC LIK ..
O – so, where do u plan to join?
K – sir, as of now I don’t have any final call.. so every match is a final match for me now..
(M and O started )
O – k man, but If u get all the calls, whats ur preference?
K – sir, I haven’t decided yet.. I am not in the best position to answer this question.. I have to analyse the pros and cons of all the insts and have to get inputs from all my seniors..
O – seniors, cud mislead u..
K – yes sir.. that’s possible.. but I will try to take a rational decision..
K – yes sir.. that’s possible.. but I will try to take a rational decision..
O – so tell me abt ur work … whats ur role in it?
K – told.
O – whats the name of ur client?
K – told.
O – ok.. tell me what problems u face..
K – told.
O – that’s a management problem.. whats technical.. what technique u use in networking ??
K – no big technique sir.. we use OSPF(open shortest path first) kind of thing.
O – see.. that’s right.. tell me wat do u do.. wat approach u use..
K – (well .. that’s all I do.. ) blah ..
O – see, there are problems like travelling salesman, spanning tree etc..
K – yes sir.. we do have to avoid them..
O – ok, whats the spanning tree problem>?
K – told.. also explained the travelling salesman problem..
O – one final question.. tell me what technical problem u face?
K – sir, may be I am not getting ur question.. I don’t know the answer for it sir.. J
O – ok..
M –ok.. lets stop acads..
K – ya ya ..
M – (to O )hey he has won some quizzes in maths.. u can ask him some thing on that..
O – haa no.. whats his %ile in QA?
K – 97.48 sir
M – marks??.. oh its 43/100..
M – do u know how many states are in our country?
K – 28 sir.
M – union territories?
K – 7 sir.
M – then what abt goa? Is it a state or an UT?
K – UT sir..
M – it has a CM ya..
K – so.
M – if its under direct president rule, why its an UT?
K – UT can have CM sir.
M and O discuss abt how UTs have only governor general..
M – ok, how many official languages are in India?
K – 22 sir.
M – so, is hindi and English from the same family of languages?
K – no sir.
M – ya they are from the family @#$@#%@..anyway that’s too difficult.. J
K - J
M – how many seats are there in the parliament.
K – hmm.. 553 sir..
M – I want only the lok sabha seats..
K – yes sir.. last time the seats req for a simple majority was 272, I guess..
M – ya, Do all seats have elections?? if its 273, how do u get 553? see u r weak in Quants
K – oh yea, its 543 sir.. but some seats in JK don’t have elections as its in POK.. sir, i am not weak..i just got this simple wrong today.. may be i am nervous
M – so where is @#%@#% in Kashmir?
K – no idea sir..
M – hmm J ok.. we are done.. you can leave..
K – thank u sir.. thank u sir.. J
MISC:
As usual, whatever happened, I was smiling thru out ….
most of the interviews were short.. ppl werent stressed much..
50 ppl were split into 5 panels. I was in panel -5. No AC L .. it was hot and sunny there.. no drinking water for a long time.. I cud see a lot of ppl with work ex..
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 CBSE
XII – 89 TN state
Undergrad Major - B.E(ECE) 6.7/10, CEG, AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (OBC)
Any other special thing abt u: Usually very confident in giving wrong answers..
ESSAY:
Topic:
He who knows to be poor, knows everything..
Wrote a decent essay for a page.. others wrote a bit longer.. we were given 15 mins after being promised 20 mins..
GD:
It was on the same topic .. It was like a fish market in parts.. when ppl were allowed to speak, some really funny and totally irrelevant points were discussed.. I gave some 4 decent points and decided to be quiet for the rest of the time.. The seating arrangement wasn’t gud… I cudnt see 2 candidates who were seated to my extreme right..
After the GD was over, I cud see some candidates discussing with each other that there have been worser GDs and ours was decent
PI:
I was the 4th to be called in.. The first 3 interviews were over in around 30 to 40 mins..
M – middle aged smiling prof
O – older smiling sarcastic prof
K – that’s me yaa..
M – hey, close the door man..
K – ok sir… (wished both of them )
O – so, karthikeyan.. u did ECE.. my boy, ur grades are very poor.. why??
K – sir, I have to accept that my commitment towards exams in college wasn’t upto mark. It was a mistake.. In an effort to rectify that I think got a good CATscore.. and hereafter, I will make every opportunity count, and wont make the same mistake of getting low grades if given a seat in IIM –L . I will give my very best..
O – (nods) .. so, u work in Infosys.. where?
K – Pune sir.
O – do u like pune?
K – yes sir.
O – do u like ur work?
K – yes sir.
O – then why do u want to quit ?
K – Sir, I have worked in the IT field for 20 months.. now I want to get into a marketing profile.. and a PGP from a top inst like IIM-L will help me..
O – so, u have a good score.. how many calls do u have?
K – sir, I have ABC..
M – (cuts) hey where do u have the document to support this figure..
K – sir , its there.. actually my last salary was lesser, bcos I had to be on LOP for somedays due to poor health .. (its all in the game )
K – yes sir.. I have ABC LIK ..
O – so, where do u plan to join?
K – sir, as of now I don’t have any final call.. so every match is a final match for me now..
(M and O started
) O – k man, but If u get all the calls, whats ur preference?
K – sir, I haven’t decided yet.. I am not in the best position to answer this question.. I have to analyse the pros and cons of all the insts and have to get inputs from all my seniors..
O – seniors, cud mislead u..
K – yes sir.. that’s possible.. but I will try to take a rational decision..
K – yes sir.. that’s possible.. but I will try to take a rational decision..
O – so tell me abt ur work … whats ur role in it?
K – told.
O – whats the name of ur client?
K – told.
O – ok.. tell me what problems u face..
K – told.
O – that’s a management problem.. whats technical.. what technique u use in networking ??
K – no big technique sir.. we use OSPF(open shortest path first) kind of thing.
O – see.. that’s right.. tell me wat do u do.. wat approach u use..
K – (well .. that’s all I do.. ) blah ..
O – see, there are problems like travelling salesman, spanning tree etc..
K – yes sir.. we do have to avoid them..
O – ok, whats the spanning tree problem>?
K – told.. also explained the travelling salesman problem..
O – one final question.. tell me what technical problem u face?
K – sir, may be I am not getting ur question.. I don’t know the answer for it sir.. J
O – ok..
M –ok.. lets stop acads..
K – ya ya ..
M – (to O )hey he has won some quizzes in maths.. u can ask him some thing on that..
O – haa no.. whats his %ile in QA?
K – 97.48 sir
M – marks??.. oh its 43/100..
M – do u know how many states are in our country?
K – 28 sir.
M – union territories?
K – 7 sir.
M – then what abt goa? Is it a state or an UT?
K – UT sir..
M – it has a CM ya..
K – so.
M – if its under direct president rule, why its an UT?
K – UT can have CM sir.
M and O discuss abt how UTs have only governor general..
M – ok, how many official languages are in India?
K – 22 sir.
M – so, is hindi and English from the same family of languages?
K – no sir.
M – ya they are from the family @#$@#%@..anyway that’s too difficult.. J
K - J
M – how many seats are there in the parliament.
K – hmm.. 553 sir..
M – I want only the lok sabha seats..
K – yes sir.. last time the seats req for a simple majority was 272, I guess..
M – ya, Do all seats have elections?? if its 273, how do u get 553? see u r weak in Quants
K – oh yea, its 543 sir.. but some seats in JK don’t have elections as its in POK.. sir, i am not weak..i just got this simple wrong today.. may be i am nervous
M – so where is @#%@#% in Kashmir?
K – no idea sir..
M – hmm J ok.. we are done.. you can leave..
K – thank u sir.. thank u sir.. J
MISC:
As usual, whatever happened, I was smiling thru out
….most of the interviews were short.. ppl werent stressed much..
IIM A Interview Experience
I had my IIM A interview in Banglore on feb25. The venue was Hotel Monarch Luxur.. easily the best of the venues I had thus far.. but again bumped into the panelists in the restroom … was changing from casuals to formals... some sorry/excuse me/thanks exchanged here..
Almost all the candidates were from the reserved category.. many OBCs with 99.5 + %ile.. the cream of TN were there.. I was no.2 in Panel-4 .. felt a bit nervous b4 the process started.. messed up with the arrangement of some certificates.. all of us were asked to fill the parental income column and we had to declare “no waiver required” in writing and sign near column G, if we didnt want a fee waiver..
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 (cbse)
XII – 89 (TN)
Undergrad Major – GPA 6.7/10. CEG, Anna Univ
Work-Ex:
20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (obc)
Any other special thing abt u: not applicable
Essay:
Topic: Indian politicians need training in communication skills
Time: 10mins (but I felt that we dint get 10 mins.. )
Any Other Details:
I think that I wrote a decent essay.. wanted to write an elaborate concluding line, which I cudnt finish..
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
S – prof with specs.. portaying himself in a totally bored and uninterested mood..
A– prof who did all the announcements.. he was repeatedly asking the same Qs.. trying to stress ppl
K – ofcourse, its me.. :P
No.1 a girl.. came out of the interview room and said to others that its “too stressful.. L “
I made up my mind that the interview is a pootta case (flop) .. decided to be very confident and smiling , whatever hell happens... so went in relaxed .. the famous line “chinna pasangala, tha yaaru kitta da vilayaadureenga.”. came to my mind… J
Questions:
S – ya karthikeyan, take ur seat.
K – thank u .. good afternoon sir.. good afternoon sir.. J
A – so, you did ECE… tell me.. how this mobile phone works?? (picks up his nokia 7610)
K – sir, it’s a GSM phone.. it has a sim card, which stores info abt.
A – (cuts) hey I am a layman.. I don’t understand all this.. tell me in a way that I can understand.. what happens when I dial a number..
K – told abt the cellular structure and usage of frequencies, base station, satellite etc etc..
A – hmm.. no no.. I don’t get it..
K – explained the same thing in a simpler manner..
A – see I am from Ahmedabad.. I am here in banglore.. if someone dials my no from ahd, how will they know that I am in banglore.
K – sir, if u had switched off ur mobile after leaving A, no one can trace u in banglore.. but when u switch it on in B, ur sim will send some info to the base station here.. and the exchange in A will know on which freq u r currrently available thru satellite comm.. its like maintaining a recent history for ur sim card..
A – hmm.. (shakes his head) k .. leave that… tell me what the diff bet electrical and electronics.. same current and voltage stuff.. ??
K – sir, there will be a big diff in power rating.. electronics in mA and Volts.. electricals in A and higher number of volts..
A – is that so??
K – yes sir.. electronic tubes were created for conduction of charge thru vacuum.. electricals is conduction of charge thru a medium..
A – is that so ??
K – yes sir..
A – hmm..
S – so karthik, u did ur project some 20 months ago.. u must have forgotten it.. (sarcastic and uninterested..) J
K – oh yes sir. J I don’t remember abt it much ..
S – okkk.. so for how long are u in infosys.??
K – sir from june-11-07..
S – where are u now?
K – infy, pune sir.. from nov-07
A – hey tell me what this means?? (pointed out to my role “grooms offnet provisioner” in the form)
K – explained it..
A – ok ok..
S – ya , do u know hindi?
K – no sir..
S – then how do u manage in pune?
K – I don’t find it difficult at all.. J
S – so, tell me how many official languages does india havE?
K – sir, I guess its 14.. (its wrong.. seems to be 22)
S – hmm.. how many dialects then?
K – sir must be a lot.. in several hundreds or may be even thousands..
S – you mean that much??
K – yes sir.. tamil itself has many dialects..
S – so when was infy started ?
K – 1984 sir (its 1981.. )
S – 1984 !! .. who started it..
K – 7 IIT alumni.. NRN, nandan, kris
S – (cuts) where did NRN study?
K – IIT B sir..
S – oh.. IIT B !
K – I think so sir. (wrong again)
S – so what was ur training in mysore abt?
K – basics of prog in C and basics of networking..
S – u must have read all this in college right.. why the hell again??
K – sir, I had some courses like Prog and data structures in college..
S – so is it like the same wasteful routine for all?
K – sir, ppl with CS/IT background have it for just 2 months.. others like me had it for 4-5 months.. now its like 6-8 months for all..
S – haa.. (giving me a bored look).. so everything got vapourised from ur head?? What is not vapourised?? Do u know anything?? What do u do in ur free time?
K – sir , I do know optical comm and other comm related…
S – hey, that’s over man.. don’t dig acads again.. tell me what do u do in ur free time !!
K – J sir I watch a lot of movies
S – what kind of movies? Anyway u wont get to watch ur tamil movies in pune..
K – sir.. I watch english classics and Kamal haasan’s movies with a lot of interest.. I have a good collection with me..
S - I dunno much abt ur kamal haasan.. so, do u watch these WW-II period english movies??
K – yes sir.. I have seen movies like saving private ryan by steven spielberg and Dr.strangelove by stanley kubrick.. and also some other movies like casabalanca which were set in the WW-II period ..
S – hmm how did u come to know of these movies?
K – sir, when I first started watching them, I came across this site called IMDB. Com.. it’s the internet movie database.. it has a list of top250 movies, which are usually very good.. I download or rent them..
S – oh.. see u dunno electronics.. u don’t much abt ur work.. ur movies are too limited man.. what do u know?? May be this one!! (points to a paper that was filled by A ..)
A - (shows me a list of cities -- surat, paris, perth, london, dehradun, austin, singapore ..) see we are starting from banglore moving west wards.. tell me which city will come first .. arrange them in the same order..
K – surat, paris, london, austin, perth, singapore, dehradun.. sir.. (promptly numbered them in order in the sheet shown to me by A)
A – sure??
K – yes sir.. J
A – oh.. so do u know where brussels is situated? Which country…
K – hmm.. its in belgium sir.
A – really??
K – yea.. I think so.. J it is in belgium sir..
A – ok..
S – so, have u seen this movie slumdog millionaire.. 8 oscars and all.. hows it?
K – sir.. it’s a good movie.. but its not that good as it is hyped to be..
S – then how did It win the oscars.
K – sir, it was well marketed by FOX and it was directed by a reputed director like danny boyle.. and such a story was new to the western audience ..
S – why is it not “that” good?
K – its not very logical sir.. but they say it’s a realistic movie..
S- whats so illogical in it?
K – sir, the guy gets electrocuted the previous night but is seen to be cool the very next morning.. he didn’t even have any sleep .. the same old story of brothers reuniting and childhood love etc… we have seen it in too many indian movies..
S – so who draws the line abt this logic and all? Do movies need to be logical always?
K – sir, movies can be fantasy and still can be excellent.. the LOTR series is an example..
S – tell me who decides to give the oscars to particular movies?
K – sir, in hollywood they have an academy… some american.. hmm
S – motion pictures..
K – oh yes, motion pictures academy.. and its officially called as the acamedy awards.. they have some members who have the right to vote and select the movies to be awarded..
S – k, how many can vote?
K – I don’t know sir..
S – hmm.. 5, 500 or 5000??? Tell me.. approximately !
K – I guess they will have 100s of members sir.. there will be a jury too..
S – so u r always guessing around the hundreds.. :sarcastic smile: k, we are done.. take ur certificates.. take a toffee too.
K - J .. thank u sir.. thank u sir.. (took an eclairs) ..
MISC.
Any other relevant detail.
Well, I guess their stress tactics worked very well with some other candidates.. especially with the girls.. I was just projecting myself as a very confident guy..handled the stress very well.. was smiling thru out… but gave some wrong answers abt infosys and NRN.. I think I answered the acads part decently.. did a gud job in answering the geography Qs.. ok with movies.. but dint know much abt the oscar jury.. anyway lets see… honest opinions are welcome..
eagerly awaiting the IIMC interview on march 9th.
Almost all the candidates were from the reserved category.. many OBCs with 99.5 + %ile.. the cream of TN were there.. I was no.2 in Panel-4 .. felt a bit nervous b4 the process started.. messed up with the arrangement of some certificates.. all of us were asked to fill the parental income column and we had to declare “no waiver required” in writing and sign near column G, if we didnt want a fee waiver..
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 (cbse)
XII – 89 (TN)
Undergrad Major – GPA 6.7/10. CEG, Anna Univ
Work-Ex:
20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (obc)
Any other special thing abt u: not applicable
Essay:
Topic: Indian politicians need training in communication skills
Time: 10mins (but I felt that we dint get 10 mins.. )
Any Other Details:
I think that I wrote a decent essay.. wanted to write an elaborate concluding line, which I cudnt finish..
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
S – prof with specs.. portaying himself in a totally bored and uninterested mood..
A– prof who did all the announcements.. he was repeatedly asking the same Qs.. trying to stress ppl
K – ofcourse, its me.. :P
No.1 a girl.. came out of the interview room and said to others that its “too stressful.. L “
I made up my mind that the interview is a pootta case (flop) .. decided to be very confident and smiling , whatever hell happens... so went in relaxed .. the famous line “chinna pasangala, tha yaaru kitta da vilayaadureenga.”. came to my mind… J
Questions:
S – ya karthikeyan, take ur seat.
K – thank u .. good afternoon sir.. good afternoon sir.. J
A – so, you did ECE… tell me.. how this mobile phone works?? (picks up his nokia 7610)
K – sir, it’s a GSM phone.. it has a sim card, which stores info abt.
A – (cuts) hey I am a layman.. I don’t understand all this.. tell me in a way that I can understand.. what happens when I dial a number..
K – told abt the cellular structure and usage of frequencies, base station, satellite etc etc..
A – hmm.. no no.. I don’t get it..
K – explained the same thing in a simpler manner..
A – see I am from Ahmedabad.. I am here in banglore.. if someone dials my no from ahd, how will they know that I am in banglore.
K – sir, if u had switched off ur mobile after leaving A, no one can trace u in banglore.. but when u switch it on in B, ur sim will send some info to the base station here.. and the exchange in A will know on which freq u r currrently available thru satellite comm.. its like maintaining a recent history for ur sim card..
A – hmm.. (shakes his head) k .. leave that… tell me what the diff bet electrical and electronics.. same current and voltage stuff.. ??
K – sir, there will be a big diff in power rating.. electronics in mA and Volts.. electricals in A and higher number of volts..
A – is that so??
K – yes sir.. electronic tubes were created for conduction of charge thru vacuum.. electricals is conduction of charge thru a medium..
A – is that so ??
K – yes sir..
A – hmm..
S – so karthik, u did ur project some 20 months ago.. u must have forgotten it.. (sarcastic and uninterested..) J
K – oh yes sir. J I don’t remember abt it much ..
S – okkk.. so for how long are u in infosys.??
K – sir from june-11-07..
S – where are u now?
K – infy, pune sir.. from nov-07
A – hey tell me what this means?? (pointed out to my role “grooms offnet provisioner” in the form)
K – explained it..
A – ok ok..
S – ya , do u know hindi?
K – no sir..
S – then how do u manage in pune?
K – I don’t find it difficult at all.. J
S – so, tell me how many official languages does india havE?
K – sir, I guess its 14.. (its wrong.. seems to be 22)
S – hmm.. how many dialects then?
K – sir must be a lot.. in several hundreds or may be even thousands..
S – you mean that much??
K – yes sir.. tamil itself has many dialects..
S – so when was infy started ?
K – 1984 sir (its 1981..
)S – 1984 !! .. who started it..
K – 7 IIT alumni.. NRN, nandan, kris
S – (cuts) where did NRN study?
K – IIT B sir..
S – oh.. IIT B !
K – I think so sir. (wrong again)
S – so what was ur training in mysore abt?
K – basics of prog in C and basics of networking..
S – u must have read all this in college right.. why the hell again??
K – sir, I had some courses like Prog and data structures in college..
S – so is it like the same wasteful routine for all?
K – sir, ppl with CS/IT background have it for just 2 months.. others like me had it for 4-5 months.. now its like 6-8 months for all..
S – haa.. (giving me a bored look).. so everything got vapourised from ur head?? What is not vapourised?? Do u know anything?? What do u do in ur free time?
K – sir , I do know optical comm and other comm related…
S – hey, that’s over man.. don’t dig acads again.. tell me what do u do in ur free time !!
K – J sir I watch a lot of movies
S – what kind of movies? Anyway u wont get to watch ur tamil movies in pune..
K – sir.. I watch english classics and Kamal haasan’s movies with a lot of interest.. I have a good collection with me..
S - I dunno much abt ur kamal haasan.. so, do u watch these WW-II period english movies??
K – yes sir.. I have seen movies like saving private ryan by steven spielberg and Dr.strangelove by stanley kubrick.. and also some other movies like casabalanca which were set in the WW-II period ..
S – hmm how did u come to know of these movies?
K – sir, when I first started watching them, I came across this site called IMDB. Com.. it’s the internet movie database.. it has a list of top250 movies, which are usually very good.. I download or rent them..
S – oh.. see u dunno electronics.. u don’t much abt ur work.. ur movies are too limited man.. what do u know?? May be this one!! (points to a paper that was filled by A ..)
A - (shows me a list of cities -- surat, paris, perth, london, dehradun, austin, singapore ..) see we are starting from banglore moving west wards.. tell me which city will come first .. arrange them in the same order..
K – surat, paris, london, austin, perth, singapore, dehradun.. sir.. (promptly numbered them in order in the sheet shown to me by A)
A – sure??
K – yes sir.. J
A – oh.. so do u know where brussels is situated? Which country…
K – hmm.. its in belgium sir.
A – really??
K – yea.. I think so.. J it is in belgium sir..
A – ok..
S – so, have u seen this movie slumdog millionaire.. 8 oscars and all.. hows it?
K – sir.. it’s a good movie.. but its not that good as it is hyped to be..
S – then how did It win the oscars.
K – sir, it was well marketed by FOX and it was directed by a reputed director like danny boyle.. and such a story was new to the western audience ..
S – why is it not “that” good?
K – its not very logical sir.. but they say it’s a realistic movie..
S- whats so illogical in it?
K – sir, the guy gets electrocuted the previous night but is seen to be cool the very next morning.. he didn’t even have any sleep .. the same old story of brothers reuniting and childhood love etc… we have seen it in too many indian movies..
S – so who draws the line abt this logic and all? Do movies need to be logical always?
K – sir, movies can be fantasy and still can be excellent.. the LOTR series is an example..
S – tell me who decides to give the oscars to particular movies?
K – sir, in hollywood they have an academy… some american.. hmm
S – motion pictures..
K – oh yes, motion pictures academy.. and its officially called as the acamedy awards.. they have some members who have the right to vote and select the movies to be awarded..
S – k, how many can vote?
K – I don’t know sir..
S – hmm.. 5, 500 or 5000??? Tell me.. approximately !
K – I guess they will have 100s of members sir.. there will be a jury too..
S – so u r always guessing around the hundreds.. :sarcastic smile: k, we are done.. take ur certificates.. take a toffee too.
K - J .. thank u sir.. thank u sir.. (took an eclairs) ..
MISC.
Any other relevant detail.
Well, I guess their stress tactics worked very well with some other candidates.. especially with the girls.. I was just projecting myself as a very confident guy..handled the stress very well.. was smiling thru out… but gave some wrong answers abt infosys and NRN.. I think I answered the acads part decently.. did a gud job in answering the geography Qs.. ok with movies.. but dint know much abt the oscar jury.. anyway lets see… honest opinions are welcome..
eagerly awaiting the IIMC interview on march 9th.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
IIM Bangalore Interview Experience
Hotel Ritz was the centre.. no waiting hall L the rest room was too cramped for space .. had a tough time changing from t-shirt/jeans to formals L HMATC, Dadar is a much better venue. We had to sit outside in the corridor.. the GD/PI room was not spacious.. .. had continental breakfast.. the two ppl sitting opposite me in the dining room turned out to be the two panelists..
Only 6 were present for the session.. two of them were girls…
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 (cbse)
XII – 89 (TN)
Undergrad Major – GPA 6.7/10. CEG, Anna Univ
Work-Ex:
20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (obc)
Any other special thing abt u:
didn’t have any sleep for more than 30 hours before the interview started.. Reached CST station at 4.30am..took some rest in the waiting room.. no sign of sleep. Roamed around south Mumbai for some 2 hours.. then had a walk along the marine drive with portugese tourists J enjoyed the early morning thoroughly..
GD:
Topic: Foreign Univ to open campuses in India. What are the pros and cons? Should it be allowed? Who are the possible stake holders? What should the govt do to?
Number of Ppl present : 6
Time: 5-7 mins to think. 15-20mins to discuss. 10mins for the summary
Brief Snapshot of Discussion: Good GD.. I did contribute well with some 5 or 6 diff points which were very well received. at the end of the discussion, Prof.Jagdish said "that was a good discussion"
Other Salient Details: One panelist seated on either side and it was like a rectangular table..
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
J- Jagdish http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/f...ile.jsp?id=148
P- Asish Mishra http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/f...ile.jsp?id=130
I was the 3rd to be called in.
Questions:
J- Hi Karthik, seems like u haven’t sent the workex certificates
K- sir, it was mentioned in the letter to send only academic certis.. anyway I did scan and mail them afterwards.
J – when?
K – feb-1
J – no.. they say that it has not been received yet..pls make sure that it reached the admin office
K – ok sir.
J- so what is quintessential? (picked up the word from my SOP..)
K – (oh no I am gonna be doomed.. anyway relax, its all over.. ) Sir, something that’s necessary/essential.
J – whats the diff bet essential and quintessential?
K – quintessential is a higher degree of necessity. (well its wrong... wrong usage in the SOP too.. bad start !!)
J – ok .. so u r working in Infosys.. tell me abt ur work..
K – told.. mentioned terms such as T1s and T3s
J – what are they exactly?
K – told ..
J- that’s ok.. whats ur part exactly in this process?
K – told so..
J – what do u mean by “subtleties in customer satisfaction?”
K – sir, I have interact daily directly with my customers and gave some story.
J – looks satisfied.. what are the issues faced by others??
K – gave some good examples and compared my profile with job profiles of others in my floor.
J – so is it like a BPO work?
K – no sir. It requires knowledge in basics of communication..
J – for how long are u working in pune?
K – sir, from nov-07 before that had training in mysore.
J – everybody has that right? For 2 months?
K – comp.sci guys for 2 months.. others for 4-5 months.. now recently increased to 6-8 months for all.;
J – u r a comp.sci guy ?
K – ECE guy sir.
J – oh what subject did u study in ece?
K – sir, I had a lot of subjects in my syllabus..
J - that’s a nice answer man.
P – (finished checking the certificates) hey that’s ok.. tell us which is ur fav?
K – Optical comm.
J – is that the only one u studied?
K – cellular mobile, telecomm etc..
J – why only comm.?
K – sir, the first four sems of BE was electronics. The last four was on comm.
J – so what is this latest tech 3g all about?
K – sir, now we are using 2g.. EDGE is like 2.5g. 115kbps data rate.. 3g will provide BW in mbps range..
J – that’s for the customer… whats the tech part?
K – 3g uses much better data compression, less redundancy .. I don’t know much more than this sir.
J – that’s ok.. what are GSM and CDMA?
K – gave correct answer..
J – whats the diff?
K – again told correctly with some detail. .
J – whats the modulation used in CDMA? Pulse or amplitude?
K – I guess its pulse code modulation
J – hmm.. what do u do in ur free time?
K – Sir, I watch a LOT OF moviesss, listening to music.. playing tennis, cricket etc.. even I have started skating seeing the kids in my flats J
J – so, do u know this rajnikanth?
K – (very happy.. ) yes sir.
J – whats the criticism abt him?
K – (may be my second most fav topic in this world..) sir, actually he did some good roles in the late 70’s and early 80’s.. then only masala.. smoking on screen .. misleading youngsters.. always the same mass masala kind of movies .. no logic.. recently did a movie called kuselan … it was sold for 1.5 crores in the Karnataka market.. he criticized the kannada agitators against the hogenekkal project heavily.. he used the term “kick them” .. later when the same set of ppl like vattaal naagaraj opposed the release of kuselan in banglore, he pleased guilty, asked apology.. then later denied the apology too,,. Image got damaged in TN and karnatak sir.. (spoke in full energy )
J – if he is repetitive, why do u watch his movies?
K – sir, I am not a fan of rajinikanth
P – then whom do u like?
K – I am an avid fan of Kamal Haasan sir..
P – what do u like abt Kamal haasan?
K – (my most fav topic ) explained abt his movies.. the way he enacts the character and the way we feel the impact of what the character is going thru.. gave examples like Mahanadi, kuruthi punal..
P – but for that, the credit goes to the script writer ..
K – sir, Kamal is the script writer for many of his classics like Mahanadi, kuruthipunal, heyram, anbesivam, thevar magan etc..
P – why do u think kamal is occupying every frame in his movies?
K – sir he is the most talented.. he can do 10 roles.. only he can.. hence he did a movie like Dasavathaaram..
P – hmm
K – sir say for example a movie like heyram was a first person narrative.. hence required kamal’s screen presence from who’s perspective the movie goes, in all scenes.. he has also done movies like anbesivam where there was equal scope to other actors like madhavan.. also I explained in detail abt Virumaandi which is the only double-directive in Indian cinema ..
J & P – listening patiently..
K - there are various concepts in dasavathaaram like religious fanaticism, politics,bio-weapons, sand theft, environmental protection, untouchability etc etc..told that it was brilliant script with amalgamation of sooo many concepts.. I personally feel that i have learnt a lot from Kamal's movies..
P – smiled.
J – ok karthik, u can go now . but pls make sure that work-ex/obc certis reach the admin office..
K – sir, I have it now.. can I give it to u.
P – no. I have verified the originals.
K – sir, I hve some copies with me.
J – oh then, pls give it to us.
K – gave it.
P – thanks karthik.
K – very nice meeting u sirs..
Smiles exchanged..
MISC.
Well, I felt positive then.. I gave detailed answers on work ex and movies.. answered almost everything on acads(much to my surprise, though they weren’t very tough questions) .. got the meaning of quintessential wrong..
Only 6 were present for the session.. two of them were girls…
PROFILE:
Acads:
X – 85 (cbse)
XII – 89 (TN)
Undergrad Major – GPA 6.7/10. CEG, Anna Univ
Work-Ex:
20 months in Infosys
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.7 (obc)
Any other special thing abt u:
didn’t have any sleep for more than 30 hours before the interview started.. Reached CST station at 4.30am..took some rest in the waiting room.. no sign of sleep. Roamed around south Mumbai for some 2 hours.. then had a walk along the marine drive with portugese tourists J enjoyed the early morning thoroughly..
GD:
Topic: Foreign Univ to open campuses in India. What are the pros and cons? Should it be allowed? Who are the possible stake holders? What should the govt do to?
Number of Ppl present : 6
Time: 5-7 mins to think. 15-20mins to discuss. 10mins for the summary
Brief Snapshot of Discussion: Good GD.. I did contribute well with some 5 or 6 diff points which were very well received. at the end of the discussion, Prof.Jagdish said "that was a good discussion"
Other Salient Details: One panelist seated on either side and it was like a rectangular table..
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
J- Jagdish http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/f...ile.jsp?id=148
P- Asish Mishra http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/f...ile.jsp?id=130
I was the 3rd to be called in.
Questions:
J- Hi Karthik, seems like u haven’t sent the workex certificates
K- sir, it was mentioned in the letter to send only academic certis.. anyway I did scan and mail them afterwards.
J – when?
K – feb-1
J – no.. they say that it has not been received yet..pls make sure that it reached the admin office
K – ok sir.
J- so what is quintessential? (picked up the word from my SOP..)
K – (oh no I am gonna be doomed.. anyway relax, its all over.. ) Sir, something that’s necessary/essential.
J – whats the diff bet essential and quintessential?
K – quintessential is a higher degree of necessity. (well its wrong... wrong usage in the SOP too.. bad start !!)
J – ok .. so u r working in Infosys.. tell me abt ur work..
K – told.. mentioned terms such as T1s and T3s
J – what are they exactly?
K – told ..
J- that’s ok.. whats ur part exactly in this process?
K – told so..
J – what do u mean by “subtleties in customer satisfaction?”
K – sir, I have interact daily directly with my customers and gave some story.
J – looks satisfied.. what are the issues faced by others??
K – gave some good examples and compared my profile with job profiles of others in my floor.
J – so is it like a BPO work?
K – no sir. It requires knowledge in basics of communication..
J – for how long are u working in pune?
K – sir, from nov-07 before that had training in mysore.
J – everybody has that right? For 2 months?
K – comp.sci guys for 2 months.. others for 4-5 months.. now recently increased to 6-8 months for all.;
J – u r a comp.sci guy ?
K – ECE guy sir.
J – oh what subject did u study in ece?
K – sir, I had a lot of subjects in my syllabus..
J -
that’s a nice answer man.P – (finished checking the certificates) hey that’s ok.. tell us which is ur fav?
K – Optical comm.
J – is that the only one u studied?
K – cellular mobile, telecomm etc..
J – why only comm.?
K – sir, the first four sems of BE was electronics. The last four was on comm.
J – so what is this latest tech 3g all about?
K – sir, now we are using 2g.. EDGE is like 2.5g. 115kbps data rate.. 3g will provide BW in mbps range..
J – that’s for the customer… whats the tech part?
K – 3g uses much better data compression, less redundancy .. I don’t know much more than this sir.
J – that’s ok.. what are GSM and CDMA?
K – gave correct answer..
J – whats the diff?
K – again told correctly with some detail. .
J – whats the modulation used in CDMA? Pulse or amplitude?
K – I guess its pulse code modulation
J – hmm.. what do u do in ur free time?
K – Sir, I watch a LOT OF moviesss, listening to music.. playing tennis, cricket etc.. even I have started skating seeing the kids in my flats J
J – so, do u know this rajnikanth?
K – (very happy.. ) yes sir.
J – whats the criticism abt him?
K – (may be my second most fav topic in this world..) sir, actually he did some good roles in the late 70’s and early 80’s.. then only masala.. smoking on screen .. misleading youngsters.. always the same mass masala kind of movies .. no logic.. recently did a movie called kuselan … it was sold for 1.5 crores in the Karnataka market.. he criticized the kannada agitators against the hogenekkal project heavily.. he used the term “kick them” .. later when the same set of ppl like vattaal naagaraj opposed the release of kuselan in banglore, he pleased guilty, asked apology.. then later denied the apology too,,. Image got damaged in TN and karnatak sir.. (spoke in full energy
)J – if he is repetitive, why do u watch his movies?
K – sir, I am not a fan of rajinikanth
P – then whom do u like?
K – I am an avid fan of Kamal Haasan sir..
P – what do u like abt Kamal haasan?
K – (my most fav topic ) explained abt his movies.. the way he enacts the character and the way we feel the impact of what the character is going thru.. gave examples like Mahanadi, kuruthi punal..
P – but for that, the credit goes to the script writer ..
K – sir, Kamal is the script writer for many of his classics like Mahanadi, kuruthipunal, heyram, anbesivam, thevar magan etc..
P – why do u think kamal is occupying every frame in his movies?
K – sir he is the most talented.. he can do 10 roles.. only he can.. hence he did a movie like Dasavathaaram..
P – hmm
K – sir say for example a movie like heyram was a first person narrative.. hence required kamal’s screen presence from who’s perspective the movie goes, in all scenes.. he has also done movies like anbesivam where there was equal scope to other actors like madhavan.. also I explained in detail abt Virumaandi which is the only double-directive in Indian cinema ..
J & P – listening patiently..
K - there are various concepts in dasavathaaram like religious fanaticism, politics,bio-weapons, sand theft, environmental protection, untouchability etc etc..told that it was brilliant script with amalgamation of sooo many concepts.. I personally feel that i have learnt a lot from Kamal's movies..
P – smiled.
J – ok karthik, u can go now . but pls make sure that work-ex/obc certis reach the admin office..
K – sir, I have it now.. can I give it to u.
P – no. I have verified the originals.
K – sir, I hve some copies with me.
J – oh then, pls give it to us.
K – gave it.
P – thanks karthik.
K – very nice meeting u sirs..
Smiles exchanged..
MISC.
Well, I felt positive then.. I gave detailed answers on work ex and movies.. answered almost everything on acads(much to my surprise, though they weren’t very tough questions) .. got the meaning of quintessential wrong..
IIM Kozhikode Interview Experience
roamed around Dadar for 30 mins or so.. reached the centre at 1pm .. spent some time changing my dress.. had some conversations with other candidates.. most of them were very friendly.. many infy-pune ppl were there.. our names were called out at 2pm.. split into 3 panels.. I got panel-2.. started feeling sleepy when the process started..
PROFILE:
Acads:
(my poor grades actually help me avoid tough Qs on acads.. )
X - 85 CBSE
XII - 89 TN state
Undergrad Major - GPA 6.7/10, CEG - AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 1.5+ years
Sector -IT
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.70
Calls – ABCLIK (obc)
Any other special thing abt u:
nothing
GD:
Topic: We are breeding a generation of workaholics. this is not good etc..
Number of Ppl present: 9
Time: 5 for prep.. 10 for discussion
Brief Snapshot of Discussion:
decent.. most of them contributed.. friendly group.. no fish market.. I contributed with a 4 decent points.. lots of talk abt Infosys.
Other Salient Details: No summary.
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
P1 - dressed in JEANS.. cool guy..
P2 - formal and serious guy ..
the first 3 interviews took 50,25,30 mins respectively
.. i was the 4th to enter the hall..
Questions:
P1 - so, Karthik, U r from Tamilnadu.. chennai?
K _ yes sir.. born in Chennai.
(seized the opportunity to talk abt various places.. ) . started schooling in chennai. then moved to various places like salem, ramnad and then back to chennai in my 6th.. Engg(dint mention my branch :P ) at AU, Chennai..got placed in Infosys.. training in mysore. .. working in pune from nov-07..
P1 - I say "TN is the real India".. do u agree??
K - yes sir. Apart from Chennai, the rest of TN is still culturally rich.. not as westernized as some other parts of india.. very friendly ppl.. friendly to other state ppl also..
P1- what ya.. TN ppl are like MNS, beating hindi speaking ppl !!
K – NO sir.. that’s a misconception.. TN ppl never bet any hindi speakers.. they were opposed to hindi IMPOSITION only.. they don’t like hindi being made a compulsory subject.. in TN, even Tamil is not compulsory.. anyone can study any language of their choice.. many in 12th, prefer Sanskrit over tamil in Chennai… etc etc..
P2 – (finished verifying the certis. ) Ok, which is the oldest lang in India?
K - its disputable between Tamil and Sanskrit.. both are old languages with roots dating back to antiquity.. literature and inscriptions to support both of them.. cant arrive at a particular date..
P2 – so, what are the data in suppor t of tamil’s age?
K - spoke in detail abt sangam age from 500 BC – 600 AD.. rich literature speaking of temples and ppl thousands of years prior to BC.. very old temples like rameshwaram and srirangam have unknown dates of construction.. its very old. No body knows, how old.. etc etc..
P1 – who is older .. rama or Krishna??
K - I am not sure sir.. I am not a religious person..
P1 – yea. Tamils aren’t religious abt rama or Krishna.. they worship lord subramani..
K - . yes sir.. they are more saivaites than vaishnavites in TN..
P1 – why so?
K – all the major dynasties of TN like chera, chola, pandya, pallava were saivaites..
P1 – tell me, why shud we pick u??
K – ( our Prem garu asked me the same question once and gave me a model answer … I vomited the same ) Passionate abt my interests, self-confident, helping nature, hard working if needed..
( I stopped.. P1, looking at me.. not asking anything.. hence I continued)
Sir, I am also a cool person under pressure.. I will take a relaxed approach in a crunch situation, .. it brings out the best in me.. gave some examples ..
P1 – so u were on a vacation before cat..
K – no sir.. I was at work.. it was like any normal day..
P1 - .. are u capable???
K – YES SIR.. very much.. I am very confident
P1 – ok.. but, if all the infy ppl are here.. wont infy be closed today??
K – sir, thousands are working in Infy pune.. only 10 or so are here.. just a very small %..
P 1 – 90 % of the ppl in infy are engg.. 10% of the engg are women.. whats the % of women in infy?
K – sir, atleast 9% .. but, it depends on the sex ratio of the 10% who are non-engg.. if all of them are women, then 19% of all infy ppl cud be women.. so cant say.. data is insufficient..
P1 – what if 9% of non-engg are women.. ??
K – then, it will be.. 9.09.. actually 9.9 sir.. 9% from engg.. and 0.9 from non-engg.. totally 9.9%
P1 – is it not 18%? Are u sure??
K – sure sir..
P1 looks satisfied J
P2 – what do u do at work??
K – explained abt my work.. gave an explaination for T1s and T3s also..
P2 - what is ur part exactly??
K - told.
P2 - what happens after u finish ur part??
K - told..
P1 – ok karthik, u may leave now…
K – thank u sir..
(then they enquired abt my calls.. )
MISC.
Totally around 15-20 minutes.. gave detailed answers for blunt questions. cud have used better words.. used the same kind of words frequently.. P2's voice was very low.. he had to repeat some of the Qs.. my chair was a bit far from the panel.. overall, felt very +ve... lots of smiling... but i did eat up some sentences as the panel nodded their head ( thought tht they had enough of my answers..) shared my experience with others waiting outside.. one of them was virajcdesai from PG.. I told them abt PG.. they said that Kamalaandi is very famous (thought that they weren’t active.. what wud they think of prem?? 
)
Went to the restroom to change my dress.. was singing..” naaaaaaalai namatheyyy..” P1 was there..
LOL.. smiles exchanged.. he enquired abt my next interview.. wished me all the best again.. while changing the dress, another panelist came.. again, same kind of smiles and wishes..
PROFILE:
Acads:
(my poor grades actually help me avoid tough Qs on acads.. )X - 85 CBSE
XII - 89 TN state
Undergrad Major - GPA 6.7/10, CEG - AU, Chennai.
Work-Ex: 1.5+ years
Sector -IT
CAT %ile:
DI 98.11
Quant 97.48
Verbal 98.84
Aggregate 99.70
Calls – ABCLIK (obc)
Any other special thing abt u:
nothing
GD:
Topic: We are breeding a generation of workaholics. this is not good etc..
Number of Ppl present: 9
Time: 5 for prep.. 10 for discussion
Brief Snapshot of Discussion:
decent.. most of them contributed.. friendly group.. no fish market.. I contributed with a 4 decent points.. lots of talk abt Infosys.
Other Salient Details: No summary.
PI:
Panel Members Intro:
P1 - dressed in JEANS.. cool guy..
P2 - formal and serious guy ..
the first 3 interviews took 50,25,30 mins respectively
.. i was the 4th to enter the hall.. Questions:
P1 - so, Karthik, U r from Tamilnadu.. chennai?
K _ yes sir.. born in Chennai.
(seized the opportunity to talk abt various places.. ) . started schooling in chennai. then moved to various places like salem, ramnad and then back to chennai in my 6th.. Engg(dint mention my branch :P ) at AU, Chennai..got placed in Infosys.. training in mysore. .. working in pune from nov-07..P1 - I say "TN is the real India".. do u agree??
K - yes sir. Apart from Chennai, the rest of TN is still culturally rich.. not as westernized as some other parts of india.. very friendly ppl.. friendly to other state ppl also..
P1- what ya.. TN ppl are like MNS, beating hindi speaking ppl !!
K – NO sir.. that’s a misconception.. TN ppl never bet any hindi speakers.. they were opposed to hindi IMPOSITION only.. they don’t like hindi being made a compulsory subject.. in TN, even Tamil is not compulsory.. anyone can study any language of their choice.. many in 12th, prefer Sanskrit over tamil in Chennai… etc etc..
P2 – (finished verifying the certis. ) Ok, which is the oldest lang in India?
K - its disputable between Tamil and Sanskrit.. both are old languages with roots dating back to antiquity.. literature and inscriptions to support both of them.. cant arrive at a particular date..
P2 – so, what are the data in suppor t of tamil’s age?
K - spoke in detail abt sangam age from 500 BC – 600 AD.. rich literature speaking of temples and ppl thousands of years prior to BC.. very old temples like rameshwaram and srirangam have unknown dates of construction.. its very old. No body knows, how old.. etc etc..
P1 – who is older .. rama or Krishna??
K - I am not sure sir.. I am not a religious person..
P1 – yea. Tamils aren’t religious abt rama or Krishna.. they worship lord subramani..
K - . yes sir.. they are more saivaites than vaishnavites in TN..
P1 – why so?
K – all the major dynasties of TN like chera, chola, pandya, pallava were saivaites..
P1 – tell me, why shud we pick u??
K – ( our Prem garu asked me the same question once and gave me a model answer … I vomited the same ) Passionate abt my interests, self-confident, helping nature, hard working if needed..
( I stopped.. P1, looking at me.. not asking anything.. hence I continued)
Sir, I am also a cool person under pressure.. I will take a relaxed approach in a crunch situation, .. it brings out the best in me.. gave some examples ..
P1 – so u were on a vacation before cat..
K – no sir.. I was at work.. it was like any normal day..
P1 - .. are u capable???
K – YES SIR.. very much.. I am very confident
P1 – ok.. but, if all the infy ppl are here.. wont infy be closed today??
K – sir, thousands are working in Infy pune.. only 10 or so are here.. just a very small %..
P 1 – 90 % of the ppl in infy are engg.. 10% of the engg are women.. whats the % of women in infy?
K – sir, atleast 9% .. but, it depends on the sex ratio of the 10% who are non-engg.. if all of them are women, then 19% of all infy ppl cud be women.. so cant say.. data is insufficient..
P1 – what if 9% of non-engg are women.. ??
K – then, it will be.. 9.09.. actually 9.9 sir.. 9% from engg.. and 0.9 from non-engg.. totally 9.9%
P1 – is it not 18%? Are u sure??
K – sure sir..
P1 looks satisfied J
P2 – what do u do at work??
K – explained abt my work.. gave an explaination for T1s and T3s also..
P2 - what is ur part exactly??
K - told.
P2 - what happens after u finish ur part??
K - told..
P1 – ok karthik, u may leave now…
K – thank u sir..
(then they enquired abt my calls.. )
MISC.
Totally around 15-20 minutes.. gave detailed answers for blunt questions. cud have used better words.. used the same kind of words frequently.. P2's voice was very low.. he had to repeat some of the Qs.. my chair was a bit far from the panel.. overall, felt very +ve... lots of smiling..
. but i did eat up some sentences as the panel nodded their head ( thought tht they had enough of my answers..) shared my experience with others waiting outside.. one of them was virajcdesai from PG.. I told them abt PG.. they said that Kamalaandi is very famous (thought that they weren’t active.. what wud they think of prem?? )Went to the restroom to change my dress.. was singing..” naaaaaaalai namatheyyy..” P1 was there..
LOL.. smiles exchanged.. he enquired abt my next interview.. wished me all the best again.. while changing the dress, another panelist came.. again, same kind of smiles and wishes..
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