Simanti Talukdar
Symbiosis Centre for Management & Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune
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General
Questions
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Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation
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Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise
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Interview-related Questions
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After
Joining MBA
4.
Interview-related Questions
Q. Date and location of
Interview. Were you given the option to choose? Was the interview date fixed or
rescheduled couple of times?
A. 14th February 2007 at Delhi. We were asked for our preferred location
and a second preference out of a few given options. I had to get my date and
venue re-scheduled a couple of times, because it was clashing with other
interviews and they were very co-operative about it.
Q. Can you tell us
about the panel that interviewed you?
A. I had two faculty members in my panel - a lady who was the HR faculty
and a gentleman. Most of the questions were asked by the gentleman who asked me
a range of questions from politics, demographics, as also about the different
things I had put in my CV. The lady asked a few general questions like 'Tell us
about yourself', 'Your strengths and weaknesses' and 'about an incidence when
you went against a superior'.
Q. How long was your
interview?
A. My interview was for around 15-20 minutes.
Q. What was the first
question? The most interesting question? The most difficult question?
A. The first question was "Tell us about yourself", the most interesting
question as also the hardest question was "Do you think capital punishment to a
terrorist is justified?". When I said that I wasn�t an advocate of capital
punishment, but a terrorist was an exception who had killed thousands of
innocent victims and, therefore, deserves capital punishment, the panel negated
saying that the terrorist may have a wife and kids who will be left without any
support. It was a long discussion and in the end, I surrendered but gave a
balanced view.
Q. How did you prepare
for the interview? While facing the panel, were you confident, did you feel
prepared?
A. I read up on current affairs from the Internet and newspapers, as also
brushed up on the subjects in graduation (Economics). Apart from that, I tried
to be thorough on my work and my company. I was a little nervous, but I had no
expectations, since I wasn�t expecting to get through the Group Discussion, so
it was a bit of a surprise. I went with an open mind and was very relaxed which
brought out the best during my interview.
Q. Was any feedback
given to you? What feedback did you receive from the panel at the end of
session?
A. No.
Q. Did work experience
help in getting the choice of your school and also in dealing with the
curriculum?
A. I think work experience definitely gave me some extra points, both in
terms of maturity as well as diversity. However, dealing with the curriculum is
not related with my work experience, at least in the first semester.
Q. Getting into and
sailing through a B-school is easier for a Science Graduate than for someone
from Humanities background. Your comments please.
A. I think a B-school admission or surviving in one is more of a personal
issue which has very little correlation with educational background. Being from
a Humanities background myself, I have never felt any disadvantage, either
during my MBA preparation or during the short time I have spent in a B-school.
At the same time, I have seen some Humanities students struggle because they
weren�t from a Math background. At the end of the day, it boils down to your
comfort level with a particular subject rather than your undergraduate stream.
Q. Will an MBA degree
add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career
in management?
A. I embarked on my MBA because it was a challenge, because it was
childhood dream, and because I wanted to be a part of the holistic learning that
it offers. The degree itself or the career path wasn�t such a big consideration.
Q. Why did you decide
to do MBA from this school?
A. SCMHRD is known for its multi-faceted learning environment where we
are offered an array of subjects with equal emphasis on academics as well as
extra-curriculars and even spirituality. So I wanted to be a part of this
holistic learning. Also it has amazing infrastructure, good placements and has
the Symbiosis brand name that is respected all over. It is one of the fastest
growing B-schoolS in the country and is well respected in the industry.
Q. Were you able to get
the school of your choice or did you compromise and opted for the best option
that was open/available for you?
A. SCMHRD was one of my better options. While I had a call from SP Jain,
Mumbai, I couldn�t convert the call. I also had calls from SIBM, MICA, TAPMI,
XIMB, NMIMS, Delhi School of Economics. But I was more keen on SCMHRD, which was
my second option after SP Jain.
