Hi
I am Madhur Midha. Below is the list of Interview experiences for the EPGP batch 201314. I took the references from Pagalguy’s previous year EPGP thread. Please see if it
helps the aspirants. Please add to the list if you guys find more interview experiences
for the previous EPGP batch.
1.
Vineesubu
10:38 AM, 19 Nov '12
19 Nov '12
Had my interview yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. There were 6 panels of 3 people each
in both the morning and afternoon sessions. They had conducted 50 interviews in the
morning and had scheduled another 50 in the afternoon. My guess is they would have
conducted another 100 on 17th, Saturday. So it is safe to guess that they have
interviewed about 200 candidates in Bangalore.
The interview wasn't stressful at all, although some of the candidates said that they
were grilled.
I was asked to introduce myself, and all questions came out of my talk. How epgp will
help you, why did you switch your career, latest things happening in your current
sector, your opinion about this development in your sector, your reading habits, some
questions on Indian economy, long term goals, short term goals, any questions for us.
Overall, the experience seemed fine but don't know what to make out of it.
2.
Tyagi80
10:46 AM, 19 Nov '12
In my panel most of the people were inerviewed for about 20-30 minutes except me, I
was inside the pressure cooker for around 45 minutes and surprisingly not a single
question was asked except about my business plan. I have mentioned about my vision
of enterprenourship by the age of 35 in my SOP. All 45 minutes they have discussed
about that only not even single question out of that. I would not say that they have
grilled me but in fact they were trying to understand my business plan. Couple of
question I would have answered in a better way but screwed those questions. At one
point of time 1 professor mentioned that we are getting a feeling that all this plan is
made just for the sake of interview. I am not sure may it was a stressed questions,
Some how I managed to kickked out that question from the discussion. Another
question how EPGP fits into my Business plan, It could have also answered in a better
way. Some questions about same type of other industry which I could not answered .
One question about plan B if plan A will not get succeed, I was not having answer for
that and tried to convince them that I don't foresee any chance of failures and told the
reasons. Also they mentioed some where in between that you are not very clear in your
thinking, may be it can be again one stressed question, before I could comment on this
they have wrapped up asked me if I am having some questions. I asked couple of
relevent questions about support and guidance provided by IIMB for enterprising
peoples.
Now I beleive it all depends upon how they percieve my plan, in case if they think that
it is just made for the sake of interview then "I am gone"
but in case if they can percieve that it was a real work of last 10 months and I am
planing to act on it then may be they will give me a chance.
I was not consious at all during the interview but now I am to see the result.
Profile :
10 years of global sourcing experience
GMAT -650
Electronics Engg from Nagpur University ( Private college)
3.
kjs1
11:11 AM, 19 Nov '12
19 Nov '12
Had my interview yesterday. Very brief interview
Panel consisted of two male professors and 1 female prof.
Q1) What did you gather about interview process till now from fellow interviewees ?
Ans : I told them discussion about movies which happened with the guy who just went
before me.
Q2) Why EPGP
Ans: Answered
Q3) What are your responsibilities ?
Ans: Answered
Q4) My area was work is CRM. They asked which companies should implement CRM
Ans: I answered banking and airlines companies specifically because right from the
start they take a lot of time in retrieving customer info. There was some amount of
cross questioning and they didn't seem to be full convinced but not many questions
posed.
Q5) How do you spend your time
Ans: I told reading newspaper , exercising , internet surfing.
Q6) Which newspapers ?
Ans: Mint , TOI
Q7) Who publishes MINT ?
Ans: HT
Q8) With which newspaper has MINT tieup ?
Ans: Wall Street Journal
Q9) What are three big business news ?
Ans: 2G auction , RBI governor & FIn MIn meeting , Banking License
Q10) : Some question on RBI governor & Fin Min
Ans: Had read about this so gave that gyan.
And then they said we have no more questions. Do you have any questions ? I replied
no and then asked if I met any current student, to which I replied yes. That's it.
4.
andy_hero
05:37 PM, 19 Nov '12
19 Nov '12
All,
I had my interview on 17th Nov, afternoon slot.
There were 3 panels only, each taking 9 interviews in morning slot and 9 in afternoon
slot.
Total 54 interviews.. There were some absentees as well.
Overall for most of folks, interview was normal talk.
I was in Panel 2.
Interview Questions were on:
Team size i have led and kind of projects.
My opinion on Qualities of good manager.
My views on qualities which i see when i am doing performance appraisal of team
members.
My International exposures, roles and responsibilities and domain knowledge.
Difference between European private banks and Indian Private banks.
What i expect from EPGP.
Overall duration was 20 minutes. Almost similiar questions were asked to most of
people in panel 2.
As per panel 1 folks, Panel 1 interview was more focussed on ECs and hobbies.
For most of people, interview was calm, relax and more conversational. And yeah..most
of the folks couldn't make out much from Interviews
5.
Aviinspire
12:49 PM, 20 Nov '12
20 Nov '12
Hi all,
I had my interview on the 18th at IIM Bangalore. My two cents below:
- As much as possible, prepare by trying to anticipate what the panel is likely to ask u.
First impressions matter, so be sure to rehearse your answer to "Tell us something
about yourself". I took a risk by trying to make it a little humurous, and I am happy
with it.
- Be sure to prepare well in advance "Why MBA, why now". Once you prepare your
answer to these questions, put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer and see if u can
poke holes in your answer. Next, try to plug them.
- My interview lasted about 30 minutes, and more than an interview, it was like a
friendly discussion. A little stressful, but i guess that was all cos of me. The panel
members were most friendly and extremely inquisitive.
- I was aided greatly because I got the chance to meet a current EPGP student outside
my interview room. I could really make use of some of the pointers, added some to my
preparation, and deleted some too.
- The discussion is 100% personalized, so expect points on whatever your SOP says.
For ex: if u say you aspire to become a certified SCUBA diver, "whats does SCUBA stand
for? Where do u intend to get certified, how much will it cost u, how will u find it, why
SCUBA diving only (sky diving, mountain climbing etc are equally thrilliing and
expensive).
- For all your desires, ambitions, aspirations they will try to find out if it is a genuine
one, or just an egoistic, myopic, creative high.
- Be genuine in all your answers, if u dont know say so.
6.
maheshwd
09:43 PM, 20 Nov '12
20 Nov '12
done with my interview today , skype ...
Qs - What kept you interested in software and motivated to continue in same company for
so long
- 2 -3 Questions on application and strengths (spent 80% of interview on it )
- Why Indian IT companies do not invest much on product development and even
whatever they spend , why they are not successful (spent good time on it )
- Interests
- Good bye !
7.
debarya
05:03 PM, 21 Nov '12
21 Nov '12
Just now finished with my interview.... Thnks to all mates for sharing questions. In
general, interview was interactive, had 3 people (Panel 3), was scheduled for 430pm
but started at 438pm, went on for 15mins till 455pm.... no grilling, simple generic
questions. I dont know how to take it. :(
They started asking me about myself, my learning, my strengths and one general
question - "why is it cold when we move to North of world". Asked me whether I have
anything to ask, which I said, "no".....
8.
cyberabadi
09:26 AM, 22 Nov '12
22 Nov '12
Hi Puys, Finally had my Webex Interview yesterday. There were three professors who
were really cool and made me feel very comfortable. The interview lasted for 20
minutes. Every question was around my SOP. Mine is a unique situation in terms of
career and future aspirations. My passion lies in media and entertainment and my
experience has been in business analytics. Questions have been mainly around the
M&E; industry and it was very hard to gauge their reactions.
Overall, I felt the interview was so informal that the purpose of this interview is not to
select prospect candidates but to filter out unwanted profiles. Both are same, you might
argue......but you can see the difference. Few specific questions were:
1. Your client XYZ is such an IT savvy company, what does your BI solutions provide
that a typical IT solution cannot.
2. What is new about BI compared to Executive Information Systems.
3. If the IIMB placements cannot find you a place in the M&E; industry will you leave
these dreams and continue in IT?
To this I answered, I am willing to take a two year break and start a small M&E;
enterprise.
4. Why is the quality of telugu film industry so low and what do you see is different in
Hollywood.
Answered.
5. What regulations do you think will change this?
I said any regulation will conflict with the creative talent arrival into the industry, only
policies like FDI will encourage hollywood companies to penetrate and revitalize the
industry.
Again, it's hard to say how the interview went as in my case you can see, it's not about
how I answered but the success lies in the success of basic story I am flying with here.
Either it will hit or miss.
Good luck to all others who have attended and who are attending.
9.
pcp
07:39 PM, 22 Nov '12
22 Nov '12
Had my webex interview half an hour back. My profile:
GMAT 700(Q49, V 35, AWA 4.5)
Exp: 7.5 years in IT
There were two professors, 1 male and 1 female.
Prof: Which part of US are you in ?
Me: Portland, its near to California
Prof: So we woke you up very early ?
Me: That's ok..
Prof: What work you do ?
Me: answered
Prof: Why do you want to do MBA. What is it that you are trying to achieve ?
Me: Answered that I want to work as product manager with the intent to bring my
product ideas to market. And said something good about Bangalore
Prof: There are no roads in Banglore.
Me: Still overall infrastructure is better than most other places in India. There are very
few companies in my state Bihar.
Prof: Yes, Bihar is an economically backward state. Does it hurt you when I say that.
Me: Yes it does. But its kind of true, so ...
Prof: What IT can do to make Bihar's condition better ?
Me: We can start new companies that will help Bihar's economy (Actually I had no idea
what I was saying)
Prof: No not that. I am asking what IT can do in the state to make it better.
Me: (Still no clue how to defend this) We need infrastructure and companies in our
state. If anything I believe IT can help in betterment of education system.
Prof: Like Akash ?
Me: Yes, something like that. I have heard very good reviews of Akash 2.
Prof: (words were different) Why IIMB ?
Me: answered that Bangalore advantage, IIMB quality education and professors,
talented peers and my dream companies in the same city.
Prof: Do you think your dream companies will take you if you have IIMB degree.
Me: Degree is not a piece of paper for me. One year in that environment is sufficient for
me to lean things that I want to. Moreover I have contacts in industry, I can find job if
placement can't get it for me.
Prof: You have written that you work as onsite coordinator, please give one example of
your work.
Me: answered
Prof: One question from extra curricular that I wrote
Me: answered
Prof: any questions for us?
Me: something about alumni network
Prof: answered ...... do you live there alone ?
Me: No I have a room mate.
That's it. Overall it was friendly. No stress question. Except what IT can do for Bihar, all
questions were easy. All the best to those who are yet to be interviewed.
10.
Inseaddreams
08:49 AM, 23 Nov '12
23 Nov '12
I had my interview yesterday. The interview started with a brief Hi & Hello. I think all of
them were profs. 2 gentlemen and 1 Lady
Some points on the overall interview:
-The panel seemed friendly and supportive.
-One prof did almost 90% of the questioning.
-One prof was just observing me.
Questions:
Q: Please introduce yourself?
Q: How does the EPGP fits into your career?
Q: Where are you based right now?
Q: What are good leadership traits/qualities? OR What do you expect to see in a good
leader?
Q: Difference in management style in Indian/Korean/Chinese/Japanese companies?
-Do you really think Japanese companies have a hierarchical leadership?
-Some cross questioning
Q: You mentioned in your SOP that you used your cultural knowledge to reduce the
communication gap between Japanese and Chinese team. Can you explain what you
actually did?
Q: What is happening in SAMSUNG & SONY in the last 5 years?
Q: There are many cases against SAMSUNG recently. Do you feel they are good at
copying?
Q: You said you like Badminton, can you say the recent changes that have happened in
the game?
Q: Can you see the business perspective of the above changes in rules in Badminton?
-Some cross questioning. I was not able to answer what the prof was looking for. So
eventually he explained the business perspective to me.
Q: Do you have any questions to us?
-I asked about the CP module in term4 and term5
Goodbye and all the best!
My opinion:
-I answered all the questions to the best of my knowledge but at the same time I think
I goofed up in many important questions. My answers were not concise and hence I do
not feel good about the whole interview.
-Moreover the last words do not make me feel good. The prof already goodbye me
11.
indian888
04:36 PM, 23 Nov '12
23 Nov '12
Had my interview yeterday on skype
Question were normal
1) about my work
2) Achivemnet in work
3) why not doing practice as CA
4) why MBa
5) After Epgp what
6) Why changed 4 jobs in span of 9 years
7) why u dont want to practice as CA after EPGP
lil bit of cross questining ...it went for about 12 mins