XLRI BM Interview Experience

X: 85.8

XII: 82

Graduation: 73.4 –  M.Sc. + B.E., BITS Pilani

XAT: 98.97

GK: 93.xx

Essay: Okayish

GD Topic: Globalization is good for economy but it destroys cultures.

GD was pretty good. All of us pitched in a lot of points and we were able to give the discussion the required structure. All of us were pretty happy about how GD went.

Three senior faculty members at XLRI. Let’s call them P1, P2 and P3

P1: So Naman, tell us what have you been doing for the past 10 months? (I had to leave job for medical reasons)

Me: Sir, I have been working on my aptitude and teaching students online to maintain a steady source of income.

P1: Tell me one good quality and one bad quality that learned about yourself while teaching those students. Me: Sir, one good quality that I learnt is that I am a patient guy who generally doesn’t get irritated if a student asks same doubt over and over again.

P1: So have you ever tested this patience, I mean after how many repetitions do you start to get irritated?

Me: Yes sir, after 5-6 times I sense a little bit irritation but then I try to understand what is the problem because of which the student is not able to get the concept. Either I am not explaining properly or the student is not paying attention and then act according to that.

P1: Okay, now tell me one bad quality.

Me: Sir I think my negotiation skills. My motive for doing this is to maintain a steady flow of income and if a student does not have enough money, say he/she can only spare 20$/hour instead of 30, I let it go and take 20.

P1: So isn’t that a good quality? Gurus in the past were lenient about their fees.

Me: Sir because of this I suffer economic loss and that is why I consider it as a weakness, and regarding the gurus in the past, I thing they were very stringent about Gurudakshina, Dronacharya asked for Eklavya’s thumb! *P1 goes silent and P3 starts talking*

P3: So which company were you working in before you left it and why?

Me: Sir, I was working with Hindalco industries in Renukoot and I left because I was diagnosed with color-blindness so I had to leave.

P3: Did you not know about this before-hand or have you not gone through medical check-up before joining?

Me: Sir, I was doing an internship in Germany when the e-mail for these medical check-ups came and since medical care is very expensive in Germany I asked the officials at Hindalco for permission to undergo medical check-up once I join and they readily agreed. On the 7th day of my stay there, I was diagnosed, and according to their policy I could not continue.

P2: Naman, you have studied Bhagvad Gita in your 2nd year. How many chapters are there and which epic is it a part of?

Me: Sir, I don’t remember the exact number of chapters but I do know that it is a part of Mahabharata and the conversation took place between Arjun and Krishna.

P2: Don’t you think Bhagvad Gita should be taught by Swamis and not teachers?

Me: Sir, the teacher that taught us had all the qualities that I can imagine in a Swami. He was a very calm person, with no materialistic attachment. Despite being a professor at BITS Pilani, he sleeps on floor, commutes with bicycle and donates most of his earnings to the charity.

P2: Naman, I think the strength of BITS lies in the fact that a lot of diverse courses are offered, but I can see from your transcript that you have taken only 4 humanities elective.

Me: Sir, after graduating, my aim was to as an engineer for 2 to 3 years to gain industry exposure and then pursue MBA. And keeping that in mind, I focused on diversity in my field. And I think I have fulfilled that objective as I have internships in Oil & Gas Industry, Steel Industry, Paper board Industry in Sweden and one research internship in Germany.

P3: So tell us about your work in Germany.

Me: *Explained the work, pretty technical*

P3: So your work was not theoretical?

Me: No sir, it was very practical and I did conduct some useful research that can be used later.

P3: And what about your internship in Sweden? Did you work alone or in group and was it a single project?

Me: Sir I worked independently with my colleagues to guide me if needed. I was allowed to make my own decision and to come up with new projects. One of my major project out of 7 was to design a cigarette packaging for Phillip Morris International.

P3: *Looking at the questionnaire* Naman, you have written about the bad quality of Youth Hostels in Hindalco in Renukoot. Tell us more about it.

Me: Sir, before we joined Hindalco we have heard stories about how Aditya Birla group treats Graduate Engineering Trainees like their Daamaad (they all laugh). But the quality of the Youth hostel was nowhere near to what we had expected. So we suggested some pretty cheap solution to improve the quality of living for current and future employees, but they were adamant that they have best hostels in that particular industry.

P3: And you said that you wanted to do an MBA after some time? Me: Yes sir, in core industry, after a certain point the work becomes monotonous and growth is very slow, promotions are far apart. So to give a boost to that I had decided to pursue MBA after a while.

P3: So you must be happy when you got the news that you can’t work there.

Me: No sir, I was not happy but I was not sad either. This is something that I cannot control and having this condition (color blindness) is not my fault. So I guess there is no point being sad about this.

P2: You have received a certificate from Himachal Pradesh Government for various adventure sports. You trekked for 45 kms and went upto 12,000 feet! (He was a bit amazed). Where was this? Kullu?

Me: Sir, this was an adventure camp organized by our school and our first destination was near Manali.

P2: Yeah, Kullu and Manali, same thing.  *P1 comes back into the conversation*

P1: You know Naman, I’ve been thinking for the past 15 minutes that BITS really hasn’t done justice to you. They should have conducted a medical test before you joining the college. Specially with Chemical Engineering and Chemistry as your majors.

Me: Sir, I thought about this too, but now I think there is no point lamenting about this. I can’t help it. What’s done is done.

P3: Yes yes, we totally understand that, what we are trying to ask is, have you done anything about this?

Me: Indeed sir, I have contacted my HOD and told him about this and he assured me that appropriate measures will be taken.

P1: Tell me the science behind color blindness. Me: *Told*

P3: So you have written that you learnt to play a few instruments. Which ones?

Me: Sir, I play Guitar and Harmonica and I picked up flute just a few days ago.

P2: So where did you learn these instruments?

Me: On the internet, sir.

P2: What! How can you learn these instruments from the internet! (He was not angry, just happily inquisitive). Tell me about the websites from where you learnt these.

Me: Sir, Justin Guitar for Guitar and Harptabs for Harmonica are two of such websites.

P2: So why do you play Harmonica and what do you like about it?

Me: First thing, its size! It is so small that I can carry it everywhere, I actually have right here in my pocket (they smile). Moreover the sound is very pleasant. It helps me relax.

P2: How many days would it take for me to learn Harmonica?

Me: Sir if you know a little bit about Music, maximum 7 days. It is actually quite an easy instrument.

P1: Rank Harmonica, Guitar and Flute according to the time required to learn them.

Me: Guitar>Flute>Harmonica.

P3: Naman, you have written that you try to keep abreast with world affairs. Why? What purpose does it serve for you?

Me: Sir, I mostly do it for conversations (they raise eyebrows). I believe if you are abreast with world affairs, the quality of your conversation increases and you can also make new connection with individuals because you have something common to talk about.

P1: So tell me what is going on in Spain and Netherlands?

Me: I don’t exactly know sir, can you give me a hint?

He gives me a hint and I connect it to immigration problem due to Donald Trump’s travel ban, he nods his head in affirmation but still the conversation was short*

Me: Sir what just happened proves my point. If I knew about this topic, our conversation would have been much longer and we would have connected more.  (He nods)

P1: (In Hindi) To Sharma ji, Tonk Road rehte ho? Ram Mandir ke paas? Jaate ho kabhi Ram Mandir.

Me: Ji sir, kabhi kabhi parents ke saath Janmashtmi par jaate the.

He smiles and says thank you, you can leave*

This is almost verbatim. I hope I did okay. Let me know what you guys think.