[2009-2011] SIMSR KJ Somaiya GD/PI Experiences

@ Aditi..
If you do not have any location issues , fill it up with...anywhere in India.

Somewhere I read ,executive placements are referred same as general placements. My advise would be , not to be bothered about these issues.

Take care,

Adios!!

aditikhosla Says
from where did u all prepare for a case study????i mean we all can easily prepaare for gds,but the case studies on net dnt carry any solutions or discussns.....jst the case study is given.......so wat did u all do???/plz help....

hey just wished to ask dt hw hv u prepared fr th egd also..lk gd is something fr which sky is the lmit..any n everythng needs to b covered..:wow:

delhi pl plz post ur experiences....hv my gd pi on 24th ..

Hi when gd/pi starts in Delhi??
My GD/Pi is on 24th march..at 1.30pm anyone have gd/pi on the same date??

Hi when gd/pi starts in Delhi??
My GD/Pi is on 24th march..at 1.30pm anyone have gd/pi on the same date??

i too hv th esame slot on 24th ..really tensed bout it ..i guess delhi gd pi has already strtd..wht bout ur cnverts??
can u plz tell me are grls wearin coats there???/coz i wanna wear mine,but at imi i actually turnd out to be the only grl wearin a coat. due to hot weather........felt awkward

n wat do u mean by executiv placmnts mentnd in the form????m a fresher,so is it not for me????



well in my gdpi at bangalore ther was a girl wearin a coat...actually most girls were in salwars...but c it's al up2 u...wear whatevr u r comfortable in...jus mak sure u carry it off professionaly..atb

guys, PLEASE use this thread only for posting gdpi experiences....use the queries thread for posting doubts
riticabharadwaj Says
i too hv th esame slot on 24th ..really tensed bout it ..i guess delhi gd pi has already strtd..wht bout ur cnverts??

Please , use appropriate threads for your queries. There is a query thread going on.

Take care,

Adios !!

hey guys I had ny GDPI on 21st 1:30 slot

i graduated in Business economics hons. backed by work ex of 25 months-14 months mkt/financial research and rest trading house

firstly all applicants were segregated to diff panel (after small verifycation and registration) and briefed abt the institute by KJ staff-including Q&A;

this was followed by write-up: one has to choose from following two topics to write a essay in abt 350 words in 15 min
1. should all citizens be trained to fight against terrorism
2. advertising is about creating unwanted needs (dun remember exactly)

i chose first one...

den came the case study..... in my batch there were 9 ppl present... everyone was given exactly 2 min to read the case (1 page long case must be 300-350words) ... followed by 90sec monologe by candidates choosaen randomly by panelists...then discussion for 12min

case was abt sm affair b/w clerk and driver in a co...... r/l gets sour an lady clerk complains to admin officer... driver had a record of small altercations but the lady apprised the officer abt his driking problem whichis percieved as a potential problem in multidemsions...
basically initial monologue exposed most of points and group after a point was discussin same pts(bit disappointed wid myself for my inability to give diff perspective to discussion)

finally arrives the intrview.... i must tell each candidate in my panel was interviewed n an avg.for 15 min

there were 3 panelists ,,,, all male.... 2 mst b above 55 and third wld b arnd 45(p1, 2, p3)

p1: in wt stream u did grad.
me: told

p1: then
me: told abt my prev job and currnt job

p2: ask me abt my work profile there
me: told ...... i believed they counter questioned me on this front for next 1-1:30 min

p2: having worked for investment banks comment on the statement "investemnt banks are dead. Long live investment banks"
me: tried to relate the "dead" part with invt banks wich werre there on wall street basically 5 major banks and later half with banks in rest of world which are still kicking in like nomura and banc f america,,, basicaly i said bankin activity for sm banks or at sm part of world may be dead but investment bankin in itself very much present and one on currently operating ones can be leader of tomorrow say 10-15yrs

p3: why so long
me : told sm logic... but dunno if they bought it or not... saale koi expression hi nahi tha

p3: ur frm ec branch so temme who was awarded noble in eco in 2008
me: paul kruggman(xuse me on spellin)

P3: therz was smthng unique in his case ... wt was that
me: no clue

p3: time span ... usually it takes long time to decide abt it but this was decide in a relatively very short time....now temme time taken
me: told no idea

p3: asked me to make a guess
me: (i thought of a day )but said a week.....but p3 corrected me told it was less tthan 24 hrs

p2: then came to my hobbies
me: told with counter Qs

i believe that was it............... all in all it was a nice xpeience
i really liked those guys ..... bcoz those were doing everything on their on including making us sit, verifing documents, presentations everything w/o assistance of ane student or anyone........ this to me is committment towards their work, their honesty, truthfulness, and belief in the value system of organisation they are part of

i hope my expeience might be of sm use.... all the best
tc

Had my GD/PI on 21st, 9 am slot
Venue: IIFT campus in Delhi
Cat Percentile: 97.89
Final Year B. Com Student

All of us were sitting in the lobby. The Panel reached at 8 30Almost 10 professors, including 2 female profs. We were called upstairs at about 8 45. After the Cat Admit Card, Score Card and the Somaiya Form were verified, a professor explained the procedure to us. Then there was a presentation about the college after which the professor asked us if we wanted to know anything about simsr. I asked them how the current placement situation in the college was keeping the recession in mind. He told that although the situation this year is not as good as previous years, its better then most other colleges and is going to get much better by the time we pass out.
This was followed by an essay of 15 mins duration and the topics were---
How Real are reality Shows
Or
Should there be a minimum eligibility Criteria for Politicians
Moi chose the former topic. Since the time was so less, I could not write much

After that we were divided in five groups of 8 and were asked to go in our respective room
The GD was a case study, about a Neeta, who was working as a journalist in the fashion Industry. She was asked by her boss reduce weight for an event which was in 3 weeks from now. So the problem was whether she should act upon her boss suggestion or not. Lots of other details in the case.A page-long study
We had one and a half minute each for the Monologue, 12 mins for discussion and 2 mins to conclude. The problem was that since most of the points were already covered in the Monologue, the GD became repetitive and stagnant. And nobody was listening to anybody else :shocked: By the way, for the monologue, you are supposed to look at the group members only and not at the professors. This was pointed out to someone.

The PI started after a break of 20 mins. The Panel was DIFFERENT for the GD and the PI. After the GD, our panel members went to another room and we had two new professors. My PI started at around 12.

P1: Tell me about yourself
Moi: blah blah blah
P1: Why MBA?
Moi: Some basic gyan and explained to them how I enjoyed working with people etc
P2: Then why only MBA? You could have gone for Mass Comm. Etc
Moi: To be honest with you, Journalism was also a career option in mind, But a job in the corporate world offers me the maximum scope of growth, display of leadership and money too
P2: Goal in Life
Moi: Financial Independence, do work which I love
P1: In what all activities did you participate in college?
Moi: Mentioned about NSS and other clubs that I was a part of.
P1: How did these activities helped you
Moi: Told them how I was able to understand people better, solve conflicts etc etc
P1: Give an example about you solving a conflict
Moi: Told
P2: Fav Subject
Moi: Economics
P2: Explain the current economic scenario in India
Moi: Told them that due to the global slowdown, we are facing export crisis in industries like IT, gems & jewels, Hosiery etc and we may enter deflation in few weeks from now
P1: Hobbies
Moi: blah blah blah.. Mentioned book as well
P1: What kind of Books
Moi: Any good book that I can get my hands on
P1: Fave Book?
Moi: Anne Frank-Diary of a young girl. They hadnt heard about it, so told them it was the personal diary of a young Jew girl who was help captive in the Nazi-era
P1: What did you learn in Soft Skills? (I have done a course in it)
Moi: Communication Skills, Body language, Table Manners, Business Etiquettes etc
P2: What is business etiquettes?
Moi: Basic Conduct and Mannerism you must maintain in a professional situation. For eg- The way you dress up, how to have a telephonic conversation, send an e-mail to a colleague etc
P1: How important are ethics to you?
Moi: Very Important, you may be able to gain short term achievements by manipulation. But the Satyam Case has proved that to survive in the long run, you must maintain an ethical code of conduct
P1: Give an example of ethics from your own life
Moi: Told them about an incidence
P1: That will be all. Asked P2 if he wanted to ask anything
P2: No that will be all
Moi Thank you

As I was about to exit...
P2: You come from Chandigarh. So have you specially come to Delhi for this interview?
Moi: Yes sir, I have a train back home today evening only
P2: ok, thank you
There were a few other Questions as well. Not able to recall them now.

The Panel was extremely chilled out and easy-to-go. The interview lasted for 10 minutes.In spite of me being a fresher, they asked me NO question based on academics. All the Qs were general, HR based.

Questions that were asked from other students-
Name 20 pharmaceutical companies
Tell the latest business news
How will you control the current recession
Job Profile
Hobbies
Mostof the question were based on the the form that we had filled. Of all the people I spoke to, Nobody had a stress Interview sabka hi general tha and the Profs were sweet to everyone!

All the best!! Cheers


Result: SELECTED !!!

City - Delhi
Venue - IIFT
Slot - 9 AM
Work experience - 14 months with KPMG
SIMSR GD/PI Experience - Weird

It was the usual stuff in the beginning. The registration, then the presentation. Some questions regarding exchange programmes and other things. The professors were pretty chilled out. Looking at my PAN card one of them mntioned that i look fat in the pic. :wow:

The GD was conducted in a separate room. I was impressed with the IIFT campus. The rooms in which the GDs were being coducted were fabulous. It was a proper conference table and only the upper torso was visible to others. So i felt free to shake my legs in anticipation.

The GD IMHO was pretty lame. It was about how we are becoming to slaves to technology. I was given the first number in the group so was to speak first. If you are the first speaker then it is pretty difficult from what i udnerstand. I stupidly dint address the group with a "goodmorning" or a " my friends" at repeated intervals (which i find extremely stupid) and i hope it is not held against me. The speakers towards the end of the order are the ones with max benefit because they can take a lot points into acocunt, their own and others'. After the monologues the GD started and it was the best GD i ever had, mock or real. No chaos, everyone was giving his/her inputs but the topic was pretty lame so the discussion dragged quite a bit towards the end. I was at the end of the semicircular arrangement so i couldnt really see the panel which was good because i tend to do look at them. It lasted exact 20 mins

Then there was a small break where the panels were shuffled because the GD and PI panels are different. I was the first one to be interviewed. AND THE F*&^%$() interview lasted more than half and hour. I had some amount of extra curriculars and hobbies and they asked quite a lot about it. Also my long term goal was to start my own enterprise (i wont tell what) and they asked a lot many questions on that. There were 4 panelists and 2 of them were ex students who had passed out in 2007. It seemed as if they were taking a personal revenge of having gone through this stage and seemed hell bent make me go through the amount of torture that they had gone through. at times 2 panelists bombarded me with questions at the same time.
Lot of general questions like latest book i read, what did u learn from danicng (extra curicular) that would help u achieve your career goal blah blah. Keep it simple, dont get verbose because they will cut you short any way. the cutting short bit is a little irritating They asked me what my father does and i told the he;s with Times of india. "when was TOI established" me - no clue. "Whats the logo of TOI" " Two elephants pulling something. "pulling what?" "Dont recall". State 3 good and bad points about Kerala (where i belong) gave them satisfactory answers. "Where is the head office of RBI" fumbled a bit there. First said delhi then bombay. Another panelsists asked me to take a firm stand, i said i dont know. Lot many other questions which i don even remember. (HALF AN HOUR!!!!!)
I couldnt do the "sir" "ma'am" bit too much, but i gave pretty satisfactory answers to many questions. The panelists were towards the end trying to have some fun. Also one prof told me it wasnt the interim budget this year but "vote-on-account"

All in all the GD went well and PI was a mix bag. The key is to remain calm and yes smile a lot. Prepare yourself for RANDOM questions and NEVER fumble, say "i dont know" the moment there is a confusion.

Lastly, pray that you are not the first person on the list. All the best!!

DAMN! i forgot the essay bit

1) Does advertising require censorship? If so, by whom?
2) DOes india need more entrepreneurs or managers?

I think i exceeded the word limit. The verbosity problem.. How bad would that be seniors??

HEy guys, I have a query regarding GD/PI at Somaiya...I intend to specialize (PGDM) in IT/Systems...In the Somaiya online brochure, there is no mention of Syatems as a specialization. However, in the downloaded profile form , Systems has been listed as an option.

Can someone at Somaiya plz confirm if the PGDM course has System as specialization ?

Hi friends,

Had my GD/PI on 23rd in IIFT at 1:30pm. I hv done BE Biotechnology from Panjab University.

First we were led to a room where there was first attendance. They had seen the student profile form, cat score card, cat admit card and id proof.
Then they gave their simsr presentation for 15min.

Then was the written communication test. V were given 15min to write around 300 words. Topics:

  1. Is mall culture destroying the culture uniqueness in clothes and jewelley?
  2. Should disaster management be taught in schools and colleges?
I worte on first topic.
Then they divided us into 5 groups for GD. I was in third group and my batch had 9 students. V were led to different room for GD.

Case study was given:
One lady Sakshi went to Oxford store book in mumbai which is a very old store there and it was doing a good business. She wanted to buy a book for her friend's child. After 5min one event was going to take place in which Aamir Khan was going to come to promote book based on his film. So the shopkeeper dint allow Sakshi to buy the book. She was in dire need of the book. But shopkeeper dint treat her well and Sakshi left angrily. After going back home she had written in her blog what happened to her on that day.
As a store manager, what wud u do nw to save ur store from losing its business?

2min to read the case which was one page long. Then 90 sec presentation by each. And then an open GD for 15min. I pinched in 4-5 times. Note that u hv to be alert in GD. Its really tough to start to speak. No none wl allow the other to speak...It was quite a nice GD. No fish market.
After the GD, they collected our student profile form.

Then was the interview. 15min for each. I was 7th person in GD so my turn came after 1.5hrs.

Two male panalists (M1 & M2)

Me: Good evening sirs
M1 & M2: Good evening
M1: Can u give brief description of urself?
Me: Told
M1: questions regarding the above answer
Me: Told
M2: Asked abt my father's job
Me: Told
M1: what are stem cells? What its use?
Me: Told
M2: U were a winner in Chess. Can u name someone famous in this field?
Me: Told
M1: U were interested in Dance also. Can u name some famous choreographers?
Me: Told
M2: Questions regarding the above answer
Me: Told
M1: u r also a table tennis winner. Can u name someone famous in table tennis?
Me: No sir, I dont know any one in this feild!!
M2: So u r ready to come to mumbai...
Me: Yes sir, very much...
M2: Hv u ever been there?
Me: yes sir but i was very small that time...
M1 & M2: ok, u can go nw...
Me: Thank you sirs..

Overall it was nice...
I think i hv covered everything above. If anyone has any queries, do ask.

All the best friends....

Hi Simsr aspirants!
I had my GD/PI at IIFT-Delhi on the 23rd 1.30 pm slot. First there was an Essay, you have to choose from among two topics. I chose the topic on Disaster Management. The other one was about Mall culture. I wrote the essay well. After that, there was a Case Study about the dilemma of Mr Bakshi, the Store Manager of Oxford Book Store. Details of CS has already been discussed in previous post..I pitched in several times and gave a few points.. I will dwell on my PI now..
There were two Panelists..P1 and P2 and Me !. After the pleasantries..
P1:Ok..you are an Electrical engineer..
Me: Yes sir..
P1: What is power factor?
M: Answered (Ratio of true power to apparent power)..
P1&P2;: It is like the present power at the helm today, is it..(laughed..I also joined)
P1: Tell me..how does a car battery functions?
M: Answered...told something about capacitors..
P1: Not satisfied..
P2: If capacitors are cheap, then why do we use batteries?
M: I don't know sir..
P2: Name some companies involved in generation of solar and wind power?
M: I dont remember sir..(miserably failed to recollect)
P2: What are T&D; losses in India?
M: Answered..(he was satsified)
P2: What is the total power requirement in India?
M: Answered.,
P1: You are interested in Finance..what is the current inflation rate?
M: Told..(0.44%)
P1: Is it inflation or rate of inflation? (what an absurd Q?)
M: Inflation rate sir!
P1: (Gave his explanation..was not satisfied with mine)
P1: What is intra-day average? (something related to stocks)
M: Answered (was a guess)..
P1: Who is Osama Bin Laden right hand ?
M: (where did this come from?..i dont have any plans to join him!)
I know but i dont remember now sir..
P1: It is Al Jawahari..
P2: Do you know what was his profession?
M: Dont know sir..
P2: He is a nephrologist (kidney specialist)..
P1: What books you read ?
M: Named a few..(but he didnt ask further Qs on this)
P2: What is your passion other than MBA ?
M: Cricket..i play for my college factulty team..
P2: Do u have a certificate for that?
M: No sir..i am in intra-faculty team.(again looked dissatisfied)
P1&P2;: ok..thanks..
M: Thank you sirs!

All-in-all, not a good experience, a below-par performance..the worst of the season..dont know what the panel was looking for, they grilled so much on academics, no why MBA, goal plan, etc.. to me it looks difficult to cross the bar!
Best of luck to other aspirants!

Hi all finally I had my GD/PI today (24th march) at 1:30 pm slot.
Normal procedure which has been mentioned in previous posts...

Essay Topics- 1. Should TV programs be censored if so by whom.
2. Joint familly-Boon or bane(dnt rem completely)

I chose the 1st topic.

GD caselet -- All the corrupt politicians , burocrats and businessmen deposit their money in Swiss banks which is affecting others countries' economy. What is our opinior to bring transparecies....(It was a one page caselet and i dont remember the whole caselet)

PI--
P1, P2-- Very nice always smiling

P1-- Tell me sth abt urself.
Me - Told

P1-- Tell me four mistakes which you have made in last two years and how you learnt from it??
Me-- Told

P2-- Your hobbies..
Me-- Reading non-fiction

P2 -- Which book you read recently
Me- told

P2 -- Some questions on the book
P1-- Reason for Gap year
Me -- Explained

P1,P2-- Thank you!! All the best...
Me -- Thank you sir..

END

I thought my interview went for max five minutes but my friends who were waiting outside told me that it was minimum for 10 minutes.

Questions were very general and from profiles. They were asking all question from profile itself from everybody... So you never know what will happen finally....but yeah at leas we can expect for the best....
Thats all puys....All the best to all of you...

I had my GDPI today...
1:30 pm slot at SIMSR Mumbai

profile : BE Mech- 12 months exp in manufacturing

Reached there at around 12:45.. and got myself registered first.
Then a video presentation on SIMSR followed by Q &A; session with the director (which I found to be very helpful)

Essay Topics : Moral responsibility of media .. .
or
How citizens must fight terrorism or smthing

I selected the first topic...felt I wrote well but found myself short of time and wrapped it up hurriedly in the end..
(remember: no warning given ,its 'start'....'stop'!)

GD
It was a caselet on Slumdog Millionaire - How will it affect bollywood and the impact of its success on image of India and Indian cinema
Some good points came out during the 90 secs given to each candidate..
rest 12 mins were complete chaos! We drifted away from the topic many times...interrupting each other.. one guy spoke abt IITs and IIMs in between! I pitched in 4-5 times with some good points although I felt I could have been more articulate..

PI - Panel of 2. Both ladies.. .I was probably the first one to be interviewd for the 1:30 pm slot

P1: Tell me abt yourself?
me: jhdhfsdhfsdjhfdjhfdjhfdjkdj

P2: so u work in 'xyz' ? its a part of 'pqr' group right?
me: told them I quit job .. and yes it is pqr group ..

P2: why did u quit ?
me : ansrd (no further questions asked)

P1: about my job, specialization mentioned, why MbA and stuff..
me: answered (seemed convinced)

P1: what are most imp things I learned while managing workers on shop floor in mfg plant ?
me: answered

P1: Hobbies .. music ,reading.. asked what I read.. last book read :Maverick by ricardo semler... some questions on that.. circular hierarchy and stuff
me: answered .. (again seemed convinced)

P2: About a weakness I had mentioned and was asked to elaborate with example
me: given (not too convinced I felt) some cross questioning here..

P1: why should we select u?
me: dasgdhasdajsh..... (I think I answered it well..)

P1: what would be that one thing you would be lacking if u are given an opportunity to be an entrepreneur in a field similar to your work exp?
me: I would not want to start something in that field..

P2: then what ?
me: I told abt my interest in web development and that I am leaning HTML,CSS , PHP , MySQL ..

P1 & P2: No expression:|.. asked whether I have joined any classes for the same
me: no .. self learning through books and web tutorials

P2: Thats it! Do u have any questions?
me: Asked 1 ques

P1: answered .. thanx!
me: thanx!

PI was chilled out. no technical ques. just job related and the regular 'why' stuff !.. I was pretty confident and relaxed...
The chaos during GD bothers me if not any thing else..
Lets see...

Had my GD/PI yesterday.. 9am slot, Mumbai

Essay was good.. Topic was, "in these days of recession, is an MBA the right option/alternative". Other topic was "should more budget allocation be given to education or defence?". I chose the first one.. couldnt complete it though 😞 i would give myself 7.5/10..

GD - case study was about a state-of-the-art sports complex which was built in the outskirts of pune and wasnt being used now.. it was taking high rent and transport facilities were poor.. would u support the construction of such complexes and what would u tell the govt about effectively utilising sports facilities?

Verdict : Decent gd.. the extempore part was good but a little redundant.. i was number 10 in my panel, so many imp points were already covered.. but could chip in some unique stuff..
the gd part was like a "mini" fishmarket.. but everyone spoke and since i used the word mini it meant that it wasnt aggressive but pretty redundant and the same points were being covered again and again.. rating 8/10

PI - chilled out.. nice panel.. :
P - tell us something about yourself
Me - told
P - hobbies
Me- told
P - why is mba mba? u r gonna do management and not administration.. come up with a new nomenclature
Me - didnt know..
P - what is ur goal in life
Me - told (little grilling on this one)
P - if u were to choose btn family and career what would u chose
Me - told
P - asked about photography (primary hobby), books i read...
Me - told
P - what's ur job profile, engg stream?
Me - told
P - give us an instance of your team working skills and a little grilling on this one
Me - told
P - why did u quit ur job? what r your location pref when u get placed?
Me - told
P - this should be fine.. U may go now.. All the best..
Me - smiles.. thank u ma'ms..

over all performance was good..

mani bhai what say? in the pi, for some questions i fumbled a bit .. i dont know whether i was convincing enough.. :-(

@ seniors - the ppt was great.. u guys designed it really well.. :cheerio:

Hi everybody.....
Is der nybody having workex
I had my GD/PI on 23rd at IIFT.Mine were neither verified nor collected with profile sheet.Can nybody plz help.......

@sandzie

from what i have read...i feel u should make it....
coz if u feeel u have done well...it must have been better
most times..we are nt satisfied...
rest, yes..our senior mani will be a better person to comment on..

intersting question as to why is mba mba....nice one!!! hmmm

all the best anywez.....now u too can join in the list of ppl waiting for results.!!!

i hv my intrvu scheduled on 30...d last day....
i hv sm querries ..pls answer ASAp..
1) d space provided in d student profile form is so less 2 write d achievements nd stuf..wt to do??
2) do i need to carry copies of CV?..if so, hw many??
3) plz suggest sm answer 4 following ques.
) Why do you want to join this programme?
K) Why do you want to join our Institute?


plz help me...