Hi, here is my XLRI-BM GD/PI experience.

My profile:

General /Engineer (MNIT- ECE)/ Male.

XAT score: 99.395

Work ex: 28 Months (I work for OFSS Pune as a developer)

10/12/UG: 92.6/92.2/6.2

I’m also a published writer and had a startup back in college.

Date: 13th March Afternoon slot, Mumbai (XIMR).

I reached around 1.15 PM, a few candidates were already there, and the process started at 2, no document verification was done.

GD Topic: Is religion an economic activity? 40 Minutes (We were 8 people).

In the time that we had waited outside, we had discussed how GD at XLRI is different from others and decided not to let it become a fish market. So, one of the guys began with a point for the topic and rest of us added to it. After about 20 minutes we started discussing the points against, which was quite a difficult task. Many of us deviated a lot. This was the time I gave some good points. By the last 10 minutes we were discussing the criteria for the arguments and decided the best arguments in unison. Overall it was done quite well; I do believe my performance could have been better. It was quite a long GD and everybody got a chance to pitch in multiple times.

Interview: (It’s a long one, went for around 30 minutes)

I was the second last guy to be interviewed, yet again; I don’t know what these b-school interviews have against me. There were three people (All Male, in their 40s) in the panel.

Every interview took around 25-30 minutes, started at 3 PM, my turn came at 6.00.

As I went in, I was asked if this was a tiring day, to which I said yes. Out of the three people in the panel, two (P1, P3) had my forms (the questionnaire etc. that we’d filled). The one person in the middle (P2) asked me to hand over my folder. And this happened for the first time in the last 9 years since I gave my first interview that somebody wanted to look at my certificates!

This is how it went on after that.

P1: So Shubham, as I can see in this form, class X 92.6, class XII 92.2, and then MNIT Jaipur, 6.2. How much did you enjoy your life in college?

Only if I had a penny every time I was asked that. I’d started laughing midway when he was asking the question, and the other two panelists too were smiling, knowing that I know the question.

Me: There’s no excuse for that performance, sir. I lost my focus and performed badly.

P1: What made you lose your focus?

Me: Although I’m not blaming my activities for my bad academics, but I had my own startup in college, and I also was too much into writing and published my first book in 2012 and I guess somewhere I had to pay the price with my academics.

(From there on it was all about my book)

P1: Tell me how the MRP of a book is decided. What are the important factors?

(Answered; told in detail about the pricing in the industry)

P1: So how do you explain the prices today, do you think self publishing is better than traditional?

(There were a few more questions in the same topic)

(Answered)

P3: What was your book about?

(Told. I kept smiling throughout, since it was a humor/fiction book and the name is ‘My EX Fell in Love’, one ought to get nervous saying that to such a senior person)

P3: Tell me a three things that you’d tell a new writer who wants to get published.

(I told him about the issues I faced and the mistakes I made. As soon as I mentioned the second point, i.e., define your target customer, he cut me off and asked me about my target customers)

(I told him about their age and other demographic data. He wasn’t convinced and asked me for more. This went on to the extent that I even told him the eating habits of a few of my readers. (I didn’t even have to make anything up; this was actually easy to tell))

(P2 (who was looking at my certificates till now), asked me a few more questions about the book, the publisher etc) 

P1: Ok, enough about the book. Tell me about your startup.

(I Explained the b-plan and why we’d started it.) 

(P1 then asked a few cross questions about the startup and its domain that I answered)

P2: So how do you think management is going to help you in your career?

(One of the 50 shades of why MBA question)

I answered it, connecting this to my startup and before I could complete, P1 interrupted: I think you’re only coming to MBA to get a good brand name in your profile, that will make it easier for you to get funding.

Me: Sir as much as I agree that XLRI would be a big addition to my resume, I don’t think NIT Jaipur is a small brand name or the fact that I was a student entrepreneur was not enough to get me funding.

P1: So why didn’t you go full time with your startup, or writing for that matter?

Me: For writing, it was never the plan. I wrote the book because I wanted to, not because I thought I’d make it a profession. For the startup, I didn’t have a vision.

(And then I said a few more things like where I lacked and how I plan to learn that in MBA)

P3: So does your family know about your writing?

Me: Of course!

P3: Did they like your book?

Me: My parents did, so did most of my friends. My sister didn’t.

(Everybody laughs)

P3: So how did you take her criticism?

Me: (Told how she disliked my work and gave me a few things to improve which I did, and how she really liked the things I wrote next)

P2: By the things I wrote next, do you mean another book?

Me: Yes sir. (Shouldn’t have said it I guess. Blunder!)

P1: So why didn’t you publish it?

Me: Sir I had to halt the project, I couldn’t think of an ending that’s worth the story I’d written.

P1: So what if you come to XLRI and then think of an ending and end up compromising your studies here?

(This started sort of an argument where all the three panelists tried to tell me that I’m a good writer, that was evident to them from the questionnaire too, and I should not even think of MBA and go to full time writing instead and I kept defending my decision till what seemed like an eternity)

As soon as this ended, all three looked at each other and asked me to go. 20 minutes, and the interview was over! I stood up, and then P3 realized he’d something to ask and asked me to sit again.

(This was followed by some basic questions about publishing and business, and some more grilling on why am I not going for writing full time)

(I was also asked about my performance in GD, to which I said it was average, and I’d rank myself at 4 out of 8. When they asked me who was the best, I named one guy, then I also named one for the worst, which kind of surprised them, but I was pretty confident with my reasons for both)

P2: Can you tell me someone who started writing around the same time as you but managed to make it big?

Me: Nikita Singh. Her first book came around a few months before I started writing and today she’s one of the bestselling authors in the country.

P2: So what does it take to be her?

Me: (I mentioned the need of a network and many other things and how I wrote a story with her)

P2: You have all that don’t you? You’ll probably ditch us in the middle of your studies!

Me: Even if I do, and even if I can make it as big as her, I don’t think I’d be ditching anybody. (Followed by how her work has degraded with time and how I don’t want to be a part of that Engineer turned MBA turned Author clan, and write good books even if I do)

P3: Shubham, look me in the eye and tell me one thing, don’t you think if you manage to get one bestseller in the coming years, you’d leave everything and take up writing? Am I wrong?

Me: No.

P3: ( Looks at the other panelists) Told you.

Me: I’m sorry sir but by no I meant I’m disagreeing with you. Sorry for not making it clear. I don’t know if what you say can happen or not, but saying that by succeeding in one thing I’ll fail in the other is wrong. I’ve paid the price once in my academics and it’s not happening again. No matter what B-School I go to, I can tell you I’ll be one of the best there, regardless of what I do apart from academics.

This is the time it came to an end. P1 asked me if I have a copy of the book to gift him, I said I wish I’d brought one. To which P1 jokingly said bring a copy to the college if you get selected.

As I stood up to go out, they offered a candy, and then asked to take one more as I took one. And then asked to take another one (Well, more candies for me!)  by this time everybody was laughing, I don’t even know why.

Some FAQs:

1. Duration: XLRI-BM interviews go on for about 25-30 minutes on an average. I reached the center at 1.15 and my interview was over at 6.30, I’m assuming the last guy left at 7.

2. Your certificates matter. Take them.

3. Make sure you know your questionnaire responses and video inside out.

4. Be very very clear about your reasoning and opinions. Express yourself.

5. For all I know, XLRI interviews don’t focus that much on your knowledge of academics or the world around you, it’s more about how much do you know yourself.

6. Sorry for taking so much time of those who read this, this was probably the longest and the most in depth yet chilled out interview I’ve had, I just had to share this.