[Official] 2015-17 XLRI GDPI Experiences Thread HRM/BM/Global MBA

Jobs & Careers
42

2nd March, BM and Global MBA

XAT: 95.4 , GK : 10 

Your profile : 

X - 86.4%

XII - 91.6%

UG - 63%

PG(if applicable)

Work ex: organisation /role/ work ex in months - ZS Associates/ Business Analyst/ 17 months

Other major achievements : 

Any achievement / USP of yours :

Gd topic: AAP success in recent Delhi elections was a mere flash in the pan

Gd description in short : ( how did it go?) Very simple topic. Everyone contributed

Professor's description in brief: (names of the prof, specialisation, the way he conducted/took the process forward )

PI experience: 

P1: (Looks at my school,college name) Army School..Army Institute of Technology. That means someone from your family must be in the army

Me: Yes, my father served in the Indian Army

P1: Which army

Me: Indian Army

P1: No I mean Navy, Army , Air Force

Me: Indian army

P1: Oh army. You mean the ground one. okay okay

P1:(looks at my acads 10-12-engg) 86-91 -63 ...

(long pause)

P1: Could you please explain this? (Engineering marks)

Me: Not easy to score in University of Pune, involved in extracurriculars...

(More grilling ensued)

P1: Your designation at Mu Sigma was Trainee Decision Scientist. As far as I know scientists never take any decision

Me: Yea, Mu Sigma wanted to differentiate Decision Scientist from Business Analysts so it came up with this designation

P2: What is the difference between Decision Scientist and Business Analyst?

Me: Explained

P1: What do you know about our Global MBA program?

Me: Yea its in 3 countries India, US ...

P1: India, US ,China ..one semester in each country I know that. What else?

Me: We will get to intern in a company in each of these countries

P1: I know that . What else?

Me: It will be a multicultural batch...

P1: Yea multicultural batch, fair fair chinese girls. I know that . What else?

Me: I will learn more about the work ethics in these places, learn more about how business is done..

P1: Its the same multi-cultural thing. What else?

Me: (Blank)

P1: Okay tell me the cost of the program

Me: From what I have read, its around 22 lakhs

P1: let me explain. The academic fee is 25 lakhs (Might not be the exact figure). Then add travel fee, other expenses it comes to 35 lakhs. Do you think it is worth spending this much?

Me: Considering the exposure I would get, it should be worth the money

P1: Okay, now what do you do as business analyst?

Me: Explained

P1: I have been in business field for 20 years now and I still dont understand what business analysis means. Haha....

Me: (More funde on business analysis)

P1: Consider the GDP growth of India is 11.5%. Do business analysis on this.

Me: Need split by sector to understand which  sectors need to be focussed

P1: (Gave growth of individual sectors for current and previous figures. Random numbers basically)

Me: Looked at the trends and gave insights and suggestions

P1: (Not satisfied). What does your business analysis say?

Me: (Now unable to understand meaning of the exercise) Fast growing economy, double digit growth....

P1: (Tumse na ho paega mood). No no you havent been able to answer the question

Me: (Blank)

P2: Okay tell me about what changes are required in the pharmaceutical sector?

Me: Told

P2: Changes required from pharma drug manufacturer point of view?

Me: Told

P3: What can be done to ensure Swine flu medications are available to everyone?

Me: Told

P1: What are your hobbies?

Me: I like to play badminton, work out regularly..

P1: Tell me height of the badminton net?

Me: 5 feet at center

P1: (With a wicked grin) Now tell me the length and breadth of the court

Me: Told

P1: Cool , you may leave now

The panel was quite chilled out , though they seemed to have lost interest towards the end. 

Any other info that you wish to share that might be of importance/relevance : 

Any suggestions: 

43

28th feb. HRM interview.

XAT 97.50. GK 11

other calls:- NM (converted), SIBM ( converted), SCMHRD(converted)

YOUR PROFILE:

10TH-  88

12TH-   95

GRAD- BCOM-6.9 CGPA

OTHERS: INTER CA. DISTINCTION IN 4 SUBJECTS AND CITY RANK.

WORK EX- NIL

ANY OTHER ACHIEVEMENT:- BOOK WRITER, NATIONAL LEVEL PAPER PRESENTER.

GD: TOPIC WAS FREEDOM TO HIRE AND FIRE EMPLOYEES IS NECESSARY FOR ORGANISATIONAL SUCCESS.

gd was fairly good. all were contributing. i stated various labour laws and facts and talked about indian economy.( when i stated a labour law, they took out their i-pad and started checking it maybe. panicked me a lot). however we cudnt conclude. it was abrupt.

i was 6th for the interview. before me all those who came looked reaallyyyy reallyyyy grilled and tired after the pi. it scared  me a lot.

INTERVIEW PROCESS:-

there were three panelists- p1, p2, p3( all sirs)

me- good evening sirs

all- good even juhi, sit down.

p2- so u r a bcom student

me- yes sir and i am an inter ca as well.

p2- oohh. ok ok. u mentioned that rule in ur gd. u know the name of the act?

me..told

p2- where did u study this? in ur ca course or did u read smwer?

me...sir it was not there in ca course. i keep on reading various things. so dun remember the exact source.

p2..ok ok. good.

p1....do u by any chance remember the section...

mee...sry sir exact section i dunno. bt i know the provisions. in detail explained the entire law.( looked quite satisfied)

then both p1 and p2 started counter arguing me. non stop. both speaaking at the same time sometimes. 

i was just smiling and giving the answers. managed to answer all of them.

p2- your gk is really superb. u r sooo well read. keep reading haan. dont leave it.

mee....sure sir. i love to read.

then p3- acha..u r speaking abt PSU. so tell me the names of 5 central PSU's of india.

p2- u hv aldready answered a lot. this is just that we r going one step ahead. we cn skip it if u wish

mee...no sir. i ll try.

p1- nobody can be a good manager just because he remembers the names of PSU.

mee....agreed sir but would like to try. first one would be coal india limited. it is....

before i cud say further they cut me and told...we dun want any details. just gv 5 names.

mee...ok. second is oil india

p2--ok..next??

mee....nhpc

p1- good juhi. come on now just 2 more to go. this is your life and death situation. ( all started laughing). i also started laughing.

mee...sir i know bt nw m nt able to recollect.

p2- ok. no problem at all juhi.

then again p1 and p2 started arguing with me on that law. i was also answering and then took them to indian economy and stated various facts and figures.

p2- where did u read this juhi?

me.....sir exact source ii dun remember bt i read a lot.

p2...good good.

p1...ok juhi give me a practival solution to this law.

mee....told

p1...this is toooo vague. kuch aur bataooo

mee...told.

he....ok ok. i m done. others??

p2...finance waali h

p1....oohhhh....wat shud we ask her then. npv and irr bataoo

mee...told. also told all other methods and gave in depth analysis about which one is the best.

was asked details about all other methods. told. told various differences also.

p2- okay. economics puchuu??

me..sure sir.

p2- consumer surplus bataoo

me....told.

p2...ok wer are done.

i stood up. then again p2..which other calls do u have.?

mee..told. then p2..these might be some of the many calls that u might be having and all started laughing. i also joined:p:p:p

i began to leave the room. then p2 again- your gk is really superb. keep reading like dis always:)

mee....sure sir. thanku very much:)

overall a wonderful experience. please give yur reviews regarding this interview..

44

6th March BM Bangalore XAT 99.51 GK-7.5

X-84.8

XII-84.6

UG-7.21

PG(if applicable)

Work ex: organisation-Reliance Infra Ltd /role-Project Execution 2yrs, operation-1 year/ work ex in months -37

Other major achievements : 

Any achievement / USP of yours :

Gd topic: Media Independence gone out of hand

Gd description in short : ( how did it go?) The GD went out of hand. One guy kept violently kept insisting that Supreme court rulings should be strictly adhered to and said that BBC airing that documentry was totally wrong. I spoke 4th or 5th and added some general points. The discussion was bordering on fishmarket situation. Gd was somewhat directionless and nobody really came with points that could impress the panelists. Discussion was stopped abruptly and then one prof said let them continue some more. I tried to conclude but it wasn't very comprehensive. 

Ratings- GD-2.5/5, me 2/5

Professor's description in brief: (names of the prof, specialisation, the way he conducted/took the process forward ) -three middle aged male profs. All very calm and gentleman-like. lets call them L, C ,R

PI experience: 

C: where have you spent majority of you life and what are the problems there.

Me: I lived 18 years in rourkela. Problem there is its economy is dependent solely on 2-3 industries such as steel, fertlizer. We need more industries maybe IT companies.

C: Suppose you are the mayor of the town. What will you do and how will you compensate the people affected.

Me: We can provide them with job in the company if they have a degree or jobs in security and admin if they don't.

C: What about monetary compensation?

Me: I don't know the exact figure, maybe upwards of 15 lakhs for land and suppose a person earns 2L per year and cannot be employeed in the company, we can calculate his income for next 15-20 years and compensate accordingly. (was grilled on the figures, I got almost every data wrong :( 

C: Tell me something about the social evils of india and how they can be eradicated.

Me: Sir, Crime against women....(interrupted)

L: Take your time, think and answer.

Me: (after 30 secs) Religious intolerance is a social evil and leads to many conflicts..

C: ok. How can it be lessened.

Me: Said something about the people in important religous positions should be more tolerant, madarasas should allow hindu children, RSS should allow Muslim students and scientific temper should be promoted. I fumbled a lot. 

C: ok....(somewhat satisfied). Another social evil.

Me: Crimes against women..

L: What can be done about it.?

Me: There is a lot of harassment meted out to women who have girl child by their inlaws. This needs to stop. Maybe we can put some law in place for this. again I fumbled and was grilled on laws and what not.

L: Suppose you are head in a tractor co.How many tractors should be manufactured in 2015.

Me: I approached with no. of people working in agriculture and wrote something about how only 10% of workforce can afford and came to a ridiculous figure of 2-3 million. I was told to change my approach by considering land area, owners, income, reusability etc. I tried again and came up with 4-5 million. Panelists looked at each other in disbelief. I completely screwed this question.  

R: where have you worked

Me: told

R: how do plan to set up your solar energy co.

Me: Told..was cross questioned but I handled it well.

R: What do you read

ME: told names of few genres and books I have read.

R: I see you play football. What can be done about dismal state of football in India.

me: Talked about grassroots training, surveying schools for talent etc.

R: My son wants to play fro national team. As the head of one such(football grassroots training) institution can you guarantee his selection.

Me: I can not guarantee his selection but I can tell you he can have a bright future in football and if not national team he can play in ISL, I-league and others.

R: OK I am done.

C: You can go.

ME: thank you all. And hey. happy holi to all of you.

Any other info that you wish to share that might be of importance/relevance : Panel was friendly and considering i was the first candidate, I did not do very well. My percentile and workex are my biggest hope. 

Any suggestions:

Learn to think on your feet. Be thorough about your hometown. Current affairs and Technical stuff don't matter much( Atleast in my case).

Any feedback would be appreciated.

45

5th March BM Bangalore XAT 94.88 GK-10

X-90.8

XII-89.8

UG- 8.89

PG (if applicable)

Work ex: Organization- Royal Enfield Ltd/Role- New Plant Projects; Material Handling Work Ex in months: 18

Other major achievements:

Any achievement/USP of yours: Drummer for a progressive rock band

GD Topic: Smaller States are better for the nation

GD Description in brief: 7/9 attended. It was decent with everyone pitching in. There were a group of people who were for the devolution of states and a few (including me) who had some reservations. I conveyed 3 solid points which were brought in the discussion later. I was interrupted a lot and had to even ask one gentleman to let me finish. But in the end, the group was not able to come to a consensus and went too much into examples and we couldn't conclude.

Rating: GD- 3/5

Professor's description in brief: (names of the prof, specialisation, the way he conducted/took the process forward ) -one aged and two middle aged male profs. All very calm and gentleman-like. lets call them A, B ,C

PI Overview: Last person to be called for the slot (and for the day)

PI Duration: 30 minutes

PI experience:

C: You have a very unique name. Aparajith right? (Pronounced it correctly)

Me: Yeah. It is from the Vishnu Sahasranama and is a name of Lord Vishnu which means one who cannot be defeated (with a smile)

C: So, you work at Royal Enfield? You own a bike?

Me: No sir. I hope I can get one soon.

C: So, do you ride?

Me: Yes sir. I started learning to bike only after I joined Royal Enfield (RE) and that too the bike I learned in was a ThunderBird-500.

C: So, you like riding the bikes of Royal Enfield?

Me: Yes sir. I go on trips regularly from Chennai to Kancheepuram and I cherish the experience.

C: So, you seem to have a passion for riding. Can you explain that passion to me?

Me: It is actually difficult to explain in words....

[Interrupted by C who told that is your job to explain to us in words]

Told about how biking makes me forget everything else in the world and it is just the man (me), the machine (the bike) and the road and the bond it creates.

B was pleasantly surprised by my answer.

C: Okay. How can you bring that passion into the workplace?

Me: Told how RE with its culture and values made me fall in love with its bikes and as a person, I did not even like bikes before joining and if RE can create a passion in me, it can be done by any organization provided it promotes its values and creates its own culture.

B: But how can it instill a passion in everyone in the organization?

Me: It may not. But it will surely instill a passion in one person who will inspire another and so on and create a web which will reform the mindset of the general workforce.

C: Okay. Take some time to help me in this one.

[Knew this was going to be a tough one]

C: I need you to create a model which I can use to judge if my actions are fair or unfair. Here's a piece of paper.

Me: I took the paper and wrote down an algorithm and explained.

B & C cross questioned me about it for a while but I answered them stating my point of view.

C: Okay. You know Harley Davidson (HD) has entered India? How has that affected RE?

Me: Told about how it helped us improve our products.

C: Okay. Let me give you a statement. Give me your POV. "Entry of HD has helped improve RE's sales"

Me: I agreed.

B was shocked and told "How can the entry of a competitor help in improving the market share? Shouldn't it reduce?"

Me: I explained how RE is in the mid size motorcycle segment while HD is in the large motorcycle segment and told how HD with its brand value has made RE want to step up and helped in improving our products' quality and innovation which has in turn boosted our sales.

B was convinced.

C: But, before HD, there were other brands which sold large bikes like Suzuki and Kawasaki. How is HD different from the rest?

Me: Told about how HD was the first company to promote biking and the road trip culture in the UD and how RE is closely associated with the same culture here. And if HD is entering into India, RE treats HD as an elder brother with respect and is motivated with the challenge of being on par with HD and hence it is a different scenario with HD when compared to others who focus mainly on racing paramters.

C: Okay, I am done.

Now B took over.

B: Okay, Say the national Women's Commission approaches you to gauge the wellbeing of women and how it had improved from a base year to the current year, on what parameters would you judge them? Write them on a piece of paper.

Me: Wrote 5 points and explained them [Forgot to mention nutrition]

B: So, isn't nutrition an important indication of women? Is height alone an important indicator?

Me: [Oops] No, sir. I don't think height alone is important.

B: So is weight important?

Me: Yes, sir. But both height and weight aren't an effective indicator on a standalone basis and the BMI would be a better indicator which I would like to add to the 5 points I mentioned.

B: Okay fine. I am also done.

Now A took over. A was just looking at my documents all this while and was walking in and out.

A: Asked about my long term vision of establishing my own startup (mentioned in assessment) and how I can offer something unique?

Me: Told about the existing scenario and what I would want to provide.

A laughed and told that is not viable now.

Me: It is viable now. But not commercially, though. But, I am sure it would be in the next 2-3 years.

A: What is the difference between viability and commercial viability?

Me: Gave some gyaan. Didn't seem very convinced.

A: Pointed to a lamp on the roof and asked for 3 unusual applications

Me: Gave a lot of points which they told were usual applications. Took some time and finally used every bit of creativity to tell 3 points which they agreed were unusual. This was a very long process and they waited for me to give 3 points.

B: Name one incident wherein you did something which was not ethically correct and was not expected of you?

Me: Gave a college incident where I was not given my hall ticket by my department due to some payment related confusion and since I had just 2 hours for my sem exam, I went to the admin office and pretended I was another normal guy who lost his admit card and hence, they gave a temporary admit card which I used to write the exam successfully. I had sorted out the issue in the study holidays given before the next exam.

They all laughed and said they were done.

B: Any questions you want to ask us?

Me: Asked when I can join? The result announcement date?

B: The admission office will be in touch with you shortly

Me: Okay sir. And does XLRI plan to establish an entrepreneurship cell in the near future?

B: Explained about the current provisions they have and that they are working on one such cell.

I thanked them all.

C: If you are interested in us, we are also interested in you. All the best!

I left with a confusion as to what the last sentence even meant.

Verdict: Rejected

46

March 7th, HRM Delhi, XAT 97, GK - 9.25

X-89.2

XII-73.8

UG-70.8

Work ex - TCS(22 months), Teaching(Physics in a coaching institute) - 6 months.

GD Topic - Campus placements should be banned.

GD description - 7/10 attended. It was exteemly smooth, Every1 was able to speak as per their discretion, No fish market, Concluded well within the time.

( My performance - Initiated GD, concluded GD, moderated at times asking them to say their final statement, chipped in 4-5 times )

Interview Panel - 2 males (M1, M2); 1 Female(F1).

F1 : How do you think the GD go ?

I : Ma'm it was so well organized, ever1 got fair chance 2 speak, no chaos, good points discussed, no digression - so I say it was a nice constructive GD.

F1 : If I were to give u less marks on sum factor in GD,wat it cud be ?

I : couple of times it happened that wen I started 2 speak , others started at same time and then I got quiet. Nw , I did so to avoid any chaos bt it may give a signal that I let d opportunity go.. so dat one factor can go against me..

F1 : so if u were in my position , hw will u judge the situation ?

I : Ma'm I will nt focus only on those instances bt wud gauge the overall performance , d way I initiated GD, moderated in between , n concluded as well. I will corroborate dat incident wid whole performance and then decide.

F1 : U were a teacher / wat did u teach ?

I : I was a faculty of Physics.

F1 : Wat was ur expertise ?

I : d mechanics portion - infact they used 2 say sir can make u feel those laws of motion..

F1 : newtons 3rd laws of motion is also used metaphorically..

I : ( stated 3rd law n said hw "we reap , wat we sow".gave examples)

F1 : did it ever happened to u dat u did bad n u gt retalitaed .. (had mentiond fights in my examples)

I : I wont say actual fight, bt yes it happened in colg dat u support sum1 on 1 issue, they feel obliged to support u on other .. (blah blah)

M1 : did anything bad happened to u in TCS ??

I : (thought fr a moment) .. I cant recall any incident frm TCS dat can be categorized as bad..

M1 : wat abt training program of TCS ? Hw is it ??

I : (told abt it contents, methodology, faculty, compared wid training of other IT companies, told how it is better)

M1 : wat r ur growth prospects if u continue in TCS ?

I : (told appraisal due in March.. 2-3 years to ITA.. 12-15 years to get into a managerial role)..

M1: bt ppl switch.. it becomes faster that way?

I : yes sir ppl tend to do certifiactions n switch, if not designation n role, it definitely improves their salary packages, bt its for those who want to continue in technical roles..

M1 : do u knw sum1 already in XLRI frm TCS, ur senior ?

I : (told abt a senior frm my colg).

M2 : What are d challanges dat TCS faces ?

I : (told about strict data sharing of EU n hw it hampers d business)

M2: u r sayin specific to ur situation, tell me hw overall IT industry situation can be improved.

I : (Told dat humans r most imp resource in IT, a better collabrtaion wid colleges can help 2 create expertise ryt frm colg rather than wasting tym n resource after clg )

M2 : Who is I&B minister ?

I : m confused a bit between Arun jaitley n vankaiyaah Naidu..bt ( after a moment ) I wud go wid arun jaitley (again after a moment).. Yes definitely Arun Jaitley..

M2 : Wat r provisions fr IT in budget 2015?

I : (thought fr a moment) I didnt notice ny particular provisions , I might hav missed on it even if it ws there bt we can discuss on all other provisions..

M2 : No , its fine.. wat do u prefer - BM or HRM ??

I : sir I dont hav a call fr BM frm XLRI bt given a choice between generalized MBA such as MBA frm FMS, I vl prefer FMS bcoz in frst year I can have a generalized study of almost all disciplines and in second year, along wid HR I cn have one more major/minor-dat wud widen my knowledge n skill base..

M1 : U dont hav a call frm BM.. ok .. wat other calls u hav frm CAT ? I : IIM K, New IIMs, FMS expected.. (fingers crossed.. 😃 )

M1 : Which new IIMs ? ( he was confused wid those announced last year).

I : sir the ones who are already working for last 4-5 years nw.. IIM Rohtak n all..

M2 : Wat do u think makes u suitable fr HRM course ?

I : ( told on lines of various endeavors frm academic life, job.. team wotking n leadership roles , have been able to manage humans rsource efficinetly n dat has been key to success of various projects ).

M1 : on wat parameters wud u compare/differntiate FMS , XLRI , IIM - C..

I : sir C has brand value of IIM dat is precious.. XLRI is leader in HRM and has advantage of being oldest MBA colg in India ( I dont remembr I was able to say dis point or it gt lost sumwhere in my thought process).. n then FMS has extremely low fee structure..

M1 : what is their Fee ??

I : sir I havent seen dat of IIM - C, bt of FMS is approx 25000.. n of XLRI is abt 17 lakhs..

(then there ws sum discussion on hw many times d fee is greater, such a huge differnnce bt last conversation didnt seem d part of interview, it was more of a casual discussion among common ppl)

M1 : U may leave nw..

I : Thanku every1..

( My analysis - d interview is so plane dat I cant label it either good or bad )..

Suggestions : My strategy ws 2 b logical,honest,composed,keep it simple n natural..

Feedback - Most welcome.. 😃

47

What are the documents that we need to carry for the interview?

48

MY XL interview screwed! 😞

They did not have my name for today as i rescheduled it. Let me in after seeing the rescheduling mail. From that point onwards, i think except for the GD, the interview process became all but a formality! I was the last one to be interviewed, they did not have my assessment sheet (no way to judge my answers, not even look at them), did not know anything about me, handed over my file and they saw whatever little they could from that (including assessment sheet!)..even interview seemed a bit disconnected, more like this is that extra person in the sheet whose name is written in pencil! hehe!

Sheer misfortune. 😞 :| 

49

Hello Everyone!

how long is the average interview of XLRI BM/Global?

50

March 7th, BM Mumbai, XAT 99.77, GK - 10.25

X-91.2

XII-96.8

UG-8.84

GD: We need to grant third degree powers to security forces for national security(7/9 ppl turned up)

Okayish GD, not much content!

Prep: 1/5, Performance:3/5

Interview:

Will call them L,M and R

M: Whats your native?

R: Are you from vizag, your school is frm there!

Me: No, i am from (almost said visakhaptanam) vijayawada

R: proper vijayawada?

Me: No, vuyyuru

R: tell me the name of sugar factory thr :?

Me: I dont know!

Told my native village's name and R and me discussed on that.

R: But ur school is in vizag? 

Me: yes, but i have studied in 7 schools...on further prodding...told all the places I have lived in

R: Okay...L & M have never been to any of these places..Convince them to visit Vizag

Me : spoke about its beauty, beaches, cleanliness, lack of traffic, how CBN made it a tourist hub and all...they looked convinced

L: So, you handle business development on a pan India basis?

Me: Yes

L: but you have

Me: No, its a 65 billion $ company, discussed my business unit's revenue and stuff..

M: convert 1 million $ to crore

Me: (got muddled up and took about 20 sec!) 6 Cr 😞

M: why did u take so long

Me: I got a little muddled up...and i usually convert it the other way round 😛

L: you alreadt have a wonderful career...y do u want to do an MBA

Me: told about career goals and y mba

M: i see this in ur form too...explain the story of fourth estate novel

Me: Said

R: i believe u need to b e sadisitc and arrogant to reach thr

Me: I dont think so

R:okay...i say u r sadisitc and arrogant...give me examples of when u have been a + influence

Me: gave an example from workplace

L: what is ur cat and xat percentile?

Me; 99.39, 99.77

L: which all calls do u have

Me: all iims except A and XL

L: which interviews are over

Me: L, B,K

M:  we are done

R: Good

Preperation : 2/5, Performance 3/5

Verdict : Converted 😁

51

Did any one have a 12- 15 minute BM interview ? In my an old gentleman praised my communication skills , questioned whether I had taken any training for the same and told me an "All the best beta" . My interview was unstructured and vaguely remember the questions. I'm tensed about the duration :/ .

52

March 8th, HRM Bangalore, XAT 93.86, GK - 1.0

X-86.2

XII-86.2

UG-9.7

Workex- TCS(EIS) - 6 months

GD: The Right to strike should be made a Fundamental right.(9/9 ppl turned up)

All in all the GD was very good. Not a fish market. Everyone gave points. All valid points. No digression from the topic. I joined in late(6th or 7th person to speak) but gave points with valid examples(Bombay mill strike and how it effected employment, Nagaland and section 144). At the end everyone had to sumarise for 30 seconds. Everyone had almost the same summary and the group had reached at a consensus.

Prep: 3/5, Performance:3/5

Interview:

Will call them P1,P2 and P3(All of them were male professors)

P3: Please come inside and close the door.

Me: Sure sir. Very delicately closed the door and came to their desk. P3: Have a seat.

Me: Thankyou Sir!

P3: (The other two were filling something meanwhile) Please sign in the sheet infront of you and pass me your file.

Me: Passed him my file, signed the sheet.

P3: So, you are from Uttar Pradesh? (now the other two finished thr work and started looking at me)

Me: Yes Sir. ( I looked straight at him and didn't pay attention to the other two professors)

P3: Uttam Pradesh

Me: No sir Uttar Pradesh(again saying with a straight face)

P3: Yeah but its striving to be Uttam na.(Started grinning)

Me: Haha, Yes Sir! (I also started grinning)

P3: So, SRM University, where is that?

Me: Sir it has its 4 campuses, Three are in Chennai, including the main campus and one is in NCR region.

P3: Okay, u seem to have almost touched 10 pointer in all semesters(I got 9.6 ,9.7 ,9.8...such pointers). So is this a general trend?

Me: If I consider my class of 120 students sir, there will be around 4 students with a pointer more that 9.4.

P3: Okay so still that means you are in the top bracket.

Me: Yes sir.(wondering know he'll attack me with technical questions...but that didn't happen) The other two professors are still sitting back, looking at me.

P3: Do you watch Cricket? 

Me: Yes sir, I am watching the world cup.

P3: Yeah, its in Australia na, so tell me who is the Prime Minister of Australia?

Me: (I knew the name..but it just wont come out of my mouth)..I said that I have read his name by I cannot recollect.

P3: Ok..Name any five cities in Australia.

Me: Named them.

P2: (finally someone starts talking) All of these places have a cricket ground na?(smiling)

Me:Yes Sir, (Smiling back)

P3: Okay so had your BM interview?

Me: No sir I was not shortlisted for it.

P3: Why?

Me: Sir my percentile is 93.86 and I think the cutoff for BM is 94.

P3: But I see that you have given your first prefernce as BM, so dont you think if u do HR, it will norrow done your MBA. As HR is a specialisation, whereas in BM you will ahve Marketting, Finance, Operations...?

Me: Sir I have an Aunt who is the HR Director of a company, I have seen her go and train top management officials of these departments, marketting, operations, finance. So I believe that HR is the one that drives BM. It has a grip over the entire business process.

P3: So you feel that HR is better than BM?(looking surprised)

Me: Sir, HR does provide a competitive Edge.

P3: Okay, recently Dhoni broke Ganguly's record of most number of wins. Compare both in terms of the hr aspect and not the players as such.

Me: Okay sir let me break this down. What are the aspects in HR, leadership skills, motivating the members, deciding who will bat when and in which order, who can handle the pressure, who can stabilise the innings. ( I continued in this way)

P2: Yes we see that you have a very good approach and we appreciate that, but can you come to the answer now?!

Me:(yaar answer form toh karne do :P) Sir I believe Ganguly had a better team than Dhoni does.

P3: No no..no players, tell about HR aspects.

Me: Sir Ganguly was an emotional captain, whereas Dhoni is an intelligent captain.

P3: So your are comparing IQ and EQ? Isn't that controversial,saying that one does not have the other?

Me: No sir. I am saying that one shows more of his EQ and the Other his IQ, but both have there share of IQ and EQ respectively. And Sir in Ganguly's time Players came and went. See what happened to Irfan pathan. But now under dhoni, even though Shikhar Dhawan,Ashwin and Jadeja didn't perform for the past three months, he retained them till now and now they have started finding there form.

P3: But then the same thing happened to Yuvraj Singh!..you know what his father said right?

Me: Yes sir I know but I also know what Yuvraj Singh himself said after his fathers statement.

P3: But thats diplomacy na

Me: Sir now we can't comment on it, even that is controversial.

P3: (Smiling) Ok!

P1: (for the first time he asks something) What do u know about labour reforms and why were they introduced?

Me: Ok sir i'll first answer about what I know. Sir they were introduced during the british rule in India and in Britain. blah blah blah...told about how the brought the employer and employee to the same level and provided social and economic development.

P1: (He was convinced and started shaking his head) So do u know any recent labour reform that has been introduced?

Me: (I was thinking really hard but I didnt know any new reform) Sir I can tell you about the provisions for labour that are given in the budget but I am sorry I cant remember and new reform.

P2: Still some new reform must have come na?!

Me: Yes sir, actually I have read alot in the past 2 months, and now everything may get mixed up. I cant remember any new law but I know most of the laws of the 20th century.

P2: Haan allright tell me that only.

Me: I listed 10 labour laws(P1 again started shaking his head and looked convinced)

P2: Okay explain any 1 law.

Me: I told him about the Maternity Act and how it was recently used by an employee of tcs. Told about the provisions in the law. (he was still looking at me so i continued) I told him about the factories act. That it included the health and safety measures and the working hours

P2: Working hours was a part of the factories act??

Me: Sir I have read alot so I might be getting confused but I do remeber reading about the Eight(8) hour law and it was a part of the factories act.

P2:(looked convinced)

Me: I continued explaining the Industrial Disputes Act. All were satisfied.

P3: Okay so lets talk about your pay slip. What all components are there?

Me: Basic pay, they cut a professional tax then LTC/LTA.

P3: LTC and LTA are the same??

Me: Now I got confused.

P3: okay i'll explain, there is one in which you get compensation for your daily travelling and in the other you take a vaccation.

Me; Now I remembered so I said yes yes and I added that we can take that vaccation and claim the money for it 2 times, in 4 years.

P3: Yes correct. Okay so they cut a PF?

Me: Yes sir

P3: Howmuch?

Me: Sir we as employees pay 12% and employers contribute another 12% but in all around 25.6% gets credited. I cannot remember where the rest 1.6% comes from.

P3: Thats okay, tell me where does this amount go?

Me: Sir there is an EPFO, a organisation in which everyone of us has an account. The money goes into that account.

P3: So can we withdraw it whenver we want?

Me: No sir, i think when we are leaving a company we can either withdraw that amount or transfer it to the next companies account.

P3: I dont think we can take it out just like that.

Me: Sir I read it somewhere.

P3: You actually require a certificate for that.

Me: Sir now I havn't done this so I wont be knowing it.

P1: What do you understand by Industrial Relations?

Me: Sir earlier there used to be large industries whereas as know there are Services. Earlier 15,000 people used to work under on roof in a factory and need protection from the Employers. Blah Blah..talked about the same bring employer and employee to same level.

P1: (Again convinced :P)

P2 : What do you think is different in you as compared to the other candidates sitting outside? Me: Sir I have only spent half an hour with them so I really cant comment on there qualities and then differentiate them with mine. I can talk about myself and what all qualities I have.

P2:So that means you take time to judge people.

Me: Sir if u give me a day, then maybe I can judge, but half an hour is not enough.

P2: Okay so that means na that u take time to judge people.

Me: Yes Sir.

P1: What do you think about First Impression then?

P3: They say na..First impression is the last impression?

Me: Yes sir that is because whenever you meet someone for the first time, the subconsious mind takes a mental note of something thats hits you about that person. This happens every time. There is one thing that will always hit you about that person. And then when u meet them for the second time, u will again register something and now you will weigh it with the first thing. It was so happen that the second trait weighs more and your impression about the person may change, but the fact remains that you will continue to way the traits with the first one every time you meet him. Thats why they say that first impression is the last impression.

All three seemed convinced.

P1 P2 P3 : All right Thankyou!

P3: Thanks, you are a nice guy! take your file.

Me: Thankyou!

Preparation- 4/5 Performance - 3.5/5

Tip : Just be urself.

Seniors can u share your views on my interview??

53

March 9th,  BM

Jamshedpur XAT:- 97.68 GK:- 15.5

X:- 92.4

XII:- 90.6

UG:- 8.08

GD:- The single most factor affecting the business in India

Good discussion in GD. All spoke ( 7 people ). But, the discussion more focused on general busness issues and not really on the single most concerned one.

Interview:- Will call them P1,P2,P3 from left to right :-

P1: So Debjit You are from Ishapore. why is Ishapore famous.

Me: It is famous for two ordnance factories mainly Metal and Steel Factory and Rifle Factory Ishapore.

P1: There is one more which is older than them but now closed do you know.

Me: Yes I know that there was an existing Gun powder factory.

P1: Yes, due to you guys we did not get independece. Britishers established the firs factory there only . blah blah

Me: stood blank.

P1:- Why are you not answering you tell what you are telling I was not born then its so much early.

P2: So Debjit what is work profile

Me:- T.C.S Business Inteligence developer designing Data warehouse and report generation for an auto finance enitity.

P2: So, tell me if I want to have differential premiums based on a color of a car, how will your BI help me

Me: I can provide you with a report of past claims made based on the color of a car which can be inturn fetched from the car details of the insured car.

P2: So, its my data you are just giving reports. I can do that myself how are you helping me.

Me: Sir the designing  of Data warehouse we make blah blah... a standardized form needs to be maintains there can be disparate sources of data a file, database ,mainframe source. We develop the standard how to store data without redundancy and also in a manner that reports can be generated.

P2: ok .

P2: You said you like to read books hat books read. Me:- said 4 .

P2:- what else in non-fiction

Me: cant recall at this moment.

P1 interjected.

P1: You will just provide solution for anything the client demands. thats what u do. what can be the logic for different premiums for a car, you are supporting an nu-intelligent demand. ( I have said earlier that more past claims means more accident so we can charge more for a particular color based on that ).

P3:- You work for insurance products right. tell me some new changes in insurance sector that is about to take place.

Me:- FDI hike from 26% to 49%

P3:- beneficial aspects.

Me;- more capital in insurance sector more penetration etc

P3:- any bad effect

Me:- May be bad for LIC low premium return insurance products may get scrapped ( i dont know much about it )

P3: Unique feature about auto-finance.

Me: taled about work based owner insurance dealer insurance there is a re-inusrance thing where risk gets transferred to other entitie etc. P1:- You taled about your uncle in the influence. What attacts you.

Me Said he is a painter devouted to work. devoution passion attracts me.

P2:- How a painter is valued.

Me:- Mostly critical acclaim of his seniors mentors etc. value given by buyers.

P2:- But most painters get famous after death. By that time peers also gone.

Me: - in that case value of painting decides his success may be .

P2:- You mean commercial success.

Me :- Yes

All:- Ok thank you .. No chocalates 😞

54

So the interview was going pretty grilling/frying/steaming 2 of 3 panelists screwing my happiness - claims of me being over confident. I am tiring my facial muscles by smiling and laughing like an oaf.

Then the bouncer - Low CG, u wasted 4 yrs in your college, why should we let you waste 2 yrs ?

Le' Me' - (nothing to lose now) - Sir, a low cg is more stable.P1 (Senior Prof) & P2 (Young prof) - Laugh out loudP3 (Nods) - Good one

Iske bad they let me drive the interview tongue emoticon .Hopefully their laugh translates to a decent PI score. Tip for others - Humor may just help you get out of a Panel driven interview smile emoticon ATB like emoticon

55

Expected date of xlri result?

56

Delhi walooon ! Bm experience daal bhi do

57

24th Feb, Jamshedpur, HRM

The campus is a beauty!!

XAT: 99.88 GK: 9.5

X: 93.0

XII: 84.6

UG: 6.5  (BITS-2012)

Work ex: Symphony, Blore-> Jabong,Ggn-> Pramati, Hyd; around 22 months.

Achievements: A few olympiads(nso,nco,iais..) in class 12th with good air..

GD topic: Traditions are much more effective than enacted laws for managing people.

GD description:

Out of 10 people called for the gd-pi session, 3 bunked! So 7 people in all, 5 guys, two girls, good mixture of commerce, economics and engg. ppl.

Lot of points were brought up. Everyone spoke pretty well. Hardly a fish market. Really a good experience. phew!

PI session: Two male profs. One lady prof. I looked up the panel after coming back. Recognized two:

Prof J Singh ( 40 years teaching exp, XL alum) --> Referred as A henceforth.

Ms. Tina K. Stephen--> Referred as B henceforth.

and one more faculty--> referring him as C. Could not get his name.

So B calls me. I take 15 secs and then enter, wish everyone and take my seat.

A: So your name is Shekhar Suman. How did you get this name!?? Smiles all around.

Me: Sir actually it started with the name of my sister as ##### Suman and then my parents decided they liked the name Shekhar, so the last name just sort of came together. They hardly knew the actor back then too.

A: (Laughing) Yeah, I don't think he deserves to be well-known.. 

Me: (Smiling) I do agree Sir.

A: So, three jobs in less than 3 years. You switch too much, too soon, eh? 

Me: Told that it might seem so but the switching decisions seemed perfect based on the factors then plus the new offers seemed better.

Told that switched first company to work in e-commerce, left Jabong due to extremely strict schedule and being a single-developer in an Operations- Management team. I like my current job though.

A: But working alone is better right? You would have had respect and responsibility.

Me: Told while that was there, but since I was working alone it got really hectic with me often working late into the night and sometimes getting up at 3 am to fix server issues.

A: But post-MBA job would be as difficult. Would you run away then too..?

Me: Told that the situtation here was completely different. Apart from the tight schedules, I could not share my work with anyone else since no one was from a developer background. There was no peer-to-peer learning happening and the work began to get really exhausting and it seemed I was working in a black-box that no one had any idea about.

A: But three jobs, Shekhar!?

Me: Told I did not regret it all. I actually considered it positive. Also said that since I have lived in blore,ggn and hyd one after the other i felt confident in living anywhere in india.

C: Ok. you had your fun but what about the company.

Me: Told about the good work, feedback, nomination at my first job and hike in the current one...

A: (Seems satisfied., rolls back his chair and puts his hands behind his neck and goes to relax mode  ) You people carry on.

B: So Shekhar,  why HRM?

Me: One of the first reasons would be that I love interacting with people..(they interrupted me in between)

A:Everyone says the same thing. All three of them start laughing..

Me: Told that apart from that I liked to know what motivates people to act the way they do.

B: So what motivates you, Shekhar?

Me: Told that I wanted to do the things which make me happy and I was interested in many things. And the end when I am 75-80 years old I do not want to look back at life with regret of not doing what I wanted.


A: So you want to do everything. So just bachelor of anything with hardly any depth of knowledge..?

Me: I said it was not that I wanted to try everything. It is actually everything which I am interested in, and though it might be a little more in number, it's hardly a big number. Told I wanted to specialize in Economics and out of interest as well as keep learning keyboards due to interest in music.

A seems ok.

B: But you have worked throughout as an Engineer only. In all three jobs!

Me: Told that mam, I had also handled three HR panels as well so know about HR as well..they all start laughing 

A: He must have hated them all.

Me: Told that i liked them instead.

C has been looking over my files and certis. Now he pitches in.

C: Tell me a situation where you were stressed and also tell me how did you resolve that?

A: Told that I had written one such situation in the assessment for as well and another was in Jabong when after a week of working I got a mail from manager saying he might complain to the HR since  my average hours were 8:45 rather than 9 

Told, I gave in because that was the culture there. So started working more..that's it.

C: ok. Now tell me about your one shortcoming and how have you overcome it?

Me: Tried to joke by telling I had a pretty bad hand-writing. C wasn't very amused. So told, apart from that I obsess a lot and not able to get out of doing things or not doing things. For example studied day at night during exams at school but never studied at all during normal days. Also said realized it pretty late in my college so only scored well in my final sem 

On overcoming, I said that I try to mix a couple of tasks and alternate now to avoid getting too obsessed. So will do a thing for 90 min.s then relax then another different thing for the next.. "

B: So Shekhar, you were in Jabong..e-commerce industry...we had a flipkart sale

sometime back..What was that?

Me: Told it was the big billion day sale and that I actually bought loads of stuff and saved a lot (4 day old wish-list):P but there issues with the site, less inventory...

B: Tell all the issues which came up..

Me: Told about the site hanging up, carts getting emptied, inventory going out of stock in a few seconds. also told that they failed to deliver the things on time.. 

B: Anything else? How will you execute something at Jabong for instance?

Me: (Did not remember there was fraud over prices as well! >.

Told that I would take care to analyze the number of thigs since they had estimated it wrong. Plus will scale up servers and web infrastructure. Will show inventory size on display pages itself. Won't guarantee one-day delivery or same-day as flipkart screwed it up and had to pay me 720 rs for being late and also will temporarily outsource some of the logistics work for scaling up.

B: Have you heard about any recent HR issues in the news currently. Tell me about it.

Me: Told about the firing of the pregnant tcs employee.

B: How do you think they should have handled it?

Me: Told that the excuse of not knowing about the pregnancy of the employee seems made-up as she was many-months' pregnant. So they should do proper checks before finalizing decisions and also stick to the law of never firing pregnant women. 

A: But what if she was inefficient. Why should the company keep her.

Me: Told if she had been inefficient for a long time, it must have been addressed before and the fault lies with the management if they did not talk to her and taking actions during her pregnancy was wrong. They should allow her the leave and do a re-appraisal on her work after she comes back, take her inputs and then take actions.

B: Ok Shekhar, consider this another scenario, you have your senior Manager and a lead Manager above him. The senior manager has lately been dumping too much work on you.So will you complain to the Lead first or go talk to the senior first.

Me: Told that in most circumstances like that, there is really too much work and lack of resources so I will do my best to handle the new work also. Also will try to understand the reasons behind the overload and go for grievance-redressal only if it was for a longer-duration while short-term was manageable.

58

March 8th, noon slot, BM

Delhi

XAT:- 99.69 GK:- 2.5

X:- 90.6

XII:- 85.4

UG:- 9.18 (B-Tech, CSE)

GD:- Should goods and services tax be made top priority fiscal reform. 9 out of 10 turned up, it was a good gd , except 1 girl, everyone chipped and came to the consensus at the end. I gave several points : ease of doing business ranking, cooperative federalism, effect of this reform on consumers etc.

Prep: 2/5, Performance:3.5/5

Interview:- Will call them P1(Mam),P2(Sir),P3(Sir) from left to right :-

P2: So Nitesh what was your branch in engineering?

Me: Computer Science and Engineering.

P2: What does SRM stands for? (My college name).

Me: Sri Ramasamy Memorial, Sir.

P2: You have very good marks in engineering, what was your rank in your class?

Me: overall, third Sir.

P2:- Good.(seemed impressed)

P2: Where do you work?

Me:- I have been working in TCS from past 1.5 year.

(Now P3 took over)

P3: So, You spoke about ease of doing business ranking of india during GD, so If you were given the opportunity how will you improve it? Give me three measures that you will take.

Me: First could be the introduction of GST tax system that we all agreed to during the GD. Secondly,In India, if a foreign company wants to start a firm in India, it is required to take around 17 permissions and for each it takes a long time and prevailing red- tapism worsens the situation. So what I will do is I willl try to bring it down to lower number by clubbing 3-4 into 1 .Even Modi govt has aimed to bring it down to 4.

P3: (Seemed convinced) Ok, third ?.

(I asked for some time to think then spoke after 10 secs)

Me: I will try to improve the infrastructure of the country , specially in the poorer states like Bihar, Jharkhand. Due to lack of transport facility and power, companies refrain from setting up industries in these states. This will ensure that development is not limited to few states of the country.

P3: I see that you come from Rajasthan. It is a developed state then why companies are not setting up businesses there?.

Me: (told that there is scarcity of water in most of the areas)

P3: But there are several areas where ample water is available, right?

Me: Yes, but one major factor is the low literacy rate if you compare it states like Karnataka and Kerala where the IT industries are mushrooming because they have very high literacy rate and it enables the companies to hire locals. And also the previous govt in Rajasthan lead by Mr Ashok Gehlot which governed for last 5 years favoured poor and farmers and was anti to corporates. However things are changing, Mahindra SEZ has been set up in Jaipur and Infosys has opened their office there .

P3: What do you mean by SEZ?.

ME:- (explained: low taxes,subsidized services etc.)

P3: Suppose I am the FM of India and assuming that I have sufficient funds, I plan to give free electricity and water to all the citizens of the country. What do you say, Am I doing the right thing.

ME:- No. I am against it . Even I don't agree to what AAP is doing currently in Delhi by giving subsidized electricity and free water. What it does is that people get spoiled and suppose at a later point of time the economic situation of the country is not good and if you withdraw these subsidies, people will be reluctant to pay for these services. Also it put a lot of pressure on the economy. Started giving an example about a worker in my dad's firm whose family members don't work because they get allowances through MNREGA scheme....

(P3 interjected)

P3: OK, I am done.

(Now P2 took over)

P2: You talk about improving ease of business ranking, what I suggest is, lets make bribery legal then the foreign companies will come , pay the bribes and get all the 17 approvals in 2-3 days, govt will get foreign investments, employment will improve etc. Do you agree ?

Me: (Surprised for a moment) No, I don't agree at all. It is unethical and..

P3:- But I am saying that it is legal by law to accept bribes.

Me;- (thought for a moment)The money which companies will pay as bribes will go into the pockets of the govt officials and not to the govt. Companies will pay comparatively smaller amount as bribes and may evade crores of taxes and duties which will cause a lot of loss to the govt revenue.

(seemed convinced)

P3: OK, I am done.

P1: You have written in your assessment that "The thing which motivates me most is that as an entrepreneur I can decide what the work is like. What I get to do.And that's the paradise for me." If you will have to do all this dirty work like paying bribes to get approvals for your business and work a lot for it. How will it be paradise for you?

Me:- It is unethical to pay bribes, but if that is how business done in India, then I will have to do it. And I haven't written that I will be relaxing and chilling , what I am saying is that no matter how much work needs to be done for my company to succeed ,I will do it .But the work will be chosen by me and that is paradise for me. (Then the trickiest question was asked)

P1:- As an entrepreneur, What is success for you?

Me:- It is not only about the monetary gain, its more about qualitative gain than quantitative.

P1:- What do you mean by qualitative gains?

Me:- I am saying that I will be more happy if my company grows even if it doesn't make too much profit.

P1:- But growth is again quantitative. Isn't it?

(Awkward silence for 15-20 seconds, got a bit nervous, couldn't think of anything for some time)

Me:- (finally spoke) I will consider myself successful if the colleagues with whom I work respect me and believe that wherever I am , I deserve that. I will cherish it more than anything

P1: Ok, I am done.

All:- Ok thank you.

P2:- Take your file.

Me: thank you


Prep: 1/5, Performance:3.5/5

(Came out with weird feeling, no academics ques, no work ex questions, no gk!)

Verdict : Convert!

59

March 11th, Afternoon slot, BM /GM

XLRI Jamshedpur

XAT:- 97.13 GK:- 7.5

UG:- 7.58 (B.Tech & M.Tech, Mechanical Engg., IITKGP)

GD Topic- Globalization promotes economic group but wipes out cultures. Only 4 out of 9 present. Our GD was ended after 20 min.

PI - Three professors, same power seating arrangement, senior most Prof. Madhukar Shukla in middle, right side Dr. Supriya K D (Phd -IITKGP) and a lady on the left seat, whom I could not recognize in faculty directory.

SKD - You have almost come to your Alma matter.

Me - Yes, sir. That's correct. (My XIIth College is near XLRI).

SKD - What course did you pursue at IIT.

Me - B.Tech in Mechanical engineering and M.Tech in Manufacturing Systems engineering. It was a dual degree course five year duration. 

MS - What did you think about the GD?

Me- It could have been better with a couple of more participants. But the lack of ideas and also a clear direction was persistent during the GD. We discussed a lot on human nature and subsequent effect of globalization on culture, but how the globalization promotes economic groups was an area that we failed to elaborate more.

MS - Give me an example of how globalization affects culture?

Me - As we discussed, the globalization is the process of exchange of world views, ideas and other aspect of culture, it paves way for cultural evolution or transformation. Some salient features are transferred from one individual to another. We can look at example of our IT workforce living in US or Europe and see there is remarkable difference in their habit of complying with public space etiquette, but here in India we fail to maintain same level of etiquette or cleanliness in public places for that matter.

MS - I think you had raised this point during GD, did you feel that this example was not given due recognition and that you had to state it again to make a point.

Me - No its not like that. It is just that it strongly relates to our culture and the recent change that is being sought to bring in Indian Culture.

SKD - Tell me the nature of job you performed at your company.

Me - Told that it was in mechanical maintenance at first then project lead for the rest of period.

MS - Your job location was?

Me - Gujarat and Mumbai respectively.

SKD - Tell me the name of some kind of breaks that automobile use?

Me - Disc and Drum brakes, the only two that I could come up with. Explained Disc brakes origin and initial use and subsequent adoption in bikes and luxury cars.

I was glad he did not ask me the mechanics of it.

SKD - Can you tell me the name of one company that makes any of these kinds of brake?

Me - Sorry, I cannot recollect.

LP - Can you state one instance where you had an argument with?

Me - I fought fiercely with a team of logistics people and the matter was escalated to project site leadership. It took some streamlining in the logistics process and that had actually made everyone's' life much easier.

LP - Can you give me an example wherein you would not like to hire an Indian national?

Me - (Repeating the question), do you want me to answer this?

LP - Yes I do.

Me - Can you give me some pointer as in which area of expertise?

LP - No, That's what I am asking you.

Me - Ok, Let just say that work which demands strict professional conduct from individuals is an area where we lack serious attitude.

LP - I am asking for one particular example.

Me - sorry sir I cannot think of a specific area.

SKD - You know recently there was this ban from government on some kind of broadcasting ... was the ban justified?

Me - No, Sir. The ban was not the right reaction from the government. First of all, it is in the human nature to do the very thing we are asked not to do; so the ban prompted us to watch, share and discuss vigorously. If GoI thought that broadcasting ban would restrict the citizens in this digital era, then they were clearly wrong. Other thing is that GoI has a control in India, but what about other countries? Other countries can broadcast the same at will, maligning image of India as feared by government.

MS - But, you know the instance where an Indian student was denied the opportunity for studying, citing the reason that an Indian male would not respect women colleagues present in his group.

Me - Yes, sir. That is very unfortunate and was based on misguided impression that was created by ignorance of the real issue.

MS - But these things are happening in India, right? That's the reason why they are having such impression of Indian people as a whole.

Me - Quite right, Sir. But you remember the recent incident in Australia where Indian woman was followed and stabbed. Situation is bad everywhere, it is just that we got the more negative publicity, subsequent to documentary broadcasting ban.

SKD - Yeah but there would be no documentary on the woman that was stabbed, but the real issue that we are facing now is of bad publicity. How do you think that government should have acted?

Me - Firstly, the knee jerk reaction of banning the broadcasting could have been avoided, and collective public demonstrations the kind of which are organized during election campaigning....or candle light march ...

MS - Candle light march had already been done sometime after the incident. This would not solve the negativity that has recently spread all over?

Me - Let me finish this, suppose we organize a candle light march at India gate, publicly condemning the statements of accused and show our solidarity with strength, against the people who harbor such mentality. Let the world know that we do not conform to that mentality and certainly not approve of anyone with such backwardness in thought. People who are gripped with such crude mentality would come to know that they are against a mighty majority that does not approve of their concept of society; and that would send a strong signal to everyone that we are not some intellectually backward mass.

MS - Ok, Thank you.

Everyone nodded, greeted.

Again a short and sweet XLRI interview, I could not make much from their attitude and the kind of question that was asked. it was surprising that not a single MBA rhetoric question was asked. So its best to be prepared that you will be asked anything and even the most unexpected questions.

Also carry a note pad to the GD, it helps in giving a psychological boost that you are prepared and for the practical purpose that you can note down anything which you might want to counter later on.

Final Verdict - Not converted.  ( I guess, I was right in questioning the short and sweet part originally, as both XL interviews turned out to be dud. If I would have known it during the second time, I would have stormed out of interview.)

60

March 10th Morning 8:45 AM Slot
Delhi

HRM Call

XAT = 93.47 %le

Work Exp: 45 Months

UG = NIFT, CGPA 7.07

XIIth = 87.6% 

Xth = 83.4%

Panel: P1 (Sir) P2 (Sir) P3 (Ma'am) from Left to Right

GD Topic: Any education system should have an expiry date

Group spoke well overall, couldn't conclude.

GD Performance = 3/5

Interview

P2: Where are you working?

Ans: Triburg, It's an apprarel buying agency

P2: What is your profile?

Ans: I work as a Product Development Merchandiser

P2: Can you elaborate?

Ans: I receive a technical sheet from the customer and ask the factory to materialise into a garment, and I review the same for all its aesthetics and measurements. Plus evaluate fabrics, prints and colors. 

P2: Is there anything subjective in this job?

Ans: Yes sir the aesthetics, because that is something you have to take a call on.

P2: How about the colors?

Ans: Yes, they are subjective too as you need to review the same against the color std. the customer has given and take your call accordingly.

P2: What are the challenges you think any garment factory faces?

Ans: I said handling labour and quoted the example of riots that sparked off in udyog vihar in Gurgaon on hearing rumors about the death of a worker and how they burnt cars and damaged the shopfloor of the factory.

P2: What was the strength of the factory?

Ans: They have 10-12 units with 700-800 labour working in each...so around 8-10k.

P2: Is the person alive?

Ans: Yes sir it was a rumour that he is dead.

P2: What happened to the manager who hit him?

Ans: (The labourer was hit by the personnel manager of the company). I think a police case has been filed against him because, no matter what you cannot hit the person.  

P3: How big is the textile/garment sector?

Ans: Contributes 13% to India's GDP.

P1: What are the initiatives taken in this sector?

Ans: Under the Make in India scheme 57 Textile parks will be opened in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, North East and Odisha.

Plus it projects a growth of 67bn $ to 100bn $ in 2 years for the domestic apparel market.

P1: Do you know what is MFA?

Ans: Multi fibre Agreement, but it has already been scrapped off.

P1: Can you elaborate the same?

Ans: I don't know much but the developing economies like India suffered a lot because of it. Also countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam & Cambodia.

P3: Has removing MFA, helped Bangladesh now?

Ans: Definitely yes!

P3: Do you see a growth in the exports market?

Ans: Certainly there is a lot of growth potential in European and Middle East markets but US is suffering.

P3: Are there innovations possible in your field?

Ans: Yes, a lot of fabric innovation happens to offer new to the customers.

P3: Do you charge extra for that?

Ans: Fabric mill only adds the R&D costs.

P1: How is Tirupur doing?

Ans: Pretty well as far as Cotton Knit T-Shirts are concerned. But the people who are managing the industry do not want to grow from what they are earning.

P1: Why?

Ans: Because the mindset is such, mainly the business is family owned and since they do not have qualified managers with them, they are less exposed to the world outside and happy with what they are earning. 

P2: How is Surat doing?

Ans: Very well as far as polyesters are concerned. But, they have a lot of pollution related issues going on. But, they are the best as far as polyester dyeing/printing/weaving is concerned.

OK you can go now...thank you... 

Guys how do you rate this?

61

March 10th Afternoon 1:45 PM Slot

Delhi

Global MBA Call (GD/PI happened with those with BM Call)

XAT = 96.xx %le

Work Exp: 33 Months

UG = B.Tech (CSE), GGSIPU - Delhi, 84.51%

XIIth = 93.0%

Xth = 90.4%

Panel: P1 (Female) P2 (Male) P3 (Male) from Left to Right

GD Topic: Who said beggars cannot be choosers? Beggars can be choosers too.

GD was okay. 9/10 attended. No fish market. Everyone got a chance to speak. Some redundant points were also discussed. Concluded within time (with 2 minutes to spare).

GD Performance = 3/5

Interview

They asked about difference in work culture of a private and a public sector company (as I switched from a private sector company to a public sector undertaking). Discussed about my hobbies (mainly reading) like what qualities are a must for a writer etc. Finally discussed about my long term goal (they did not seem very convinced, but I was able to at least explain them properly). Lastly, they asked a question from differentiation (as I must have mentioned more than once or twice that I liked and had an aptitude for Mathematics). No questions from GK/Current Affairs. No questions from my stream ( I am a computer science engineer). Overall, it was okay.

PI Performance = 6/10