Ask MBA Crystal Ball

Hi Sameer,

I got interview call from ISB Hyd. Any suggestions.. what is an ISB interview like? Normally what kind of questions do they ask?

Thanks
Somu

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Congrats, Somu.

The basic rules apply to almost all interviews - know your application inside out, identify weak areas and pre-empt questions (this applies to your pre-MBA career, why MBA or what after MBA). ISB tends to be a little less predictable compared to many international schools. Depends on who is there in the interview panel.

I spoke to another candidate y'day who got a case study (though it's become a little less frequent now). But this also had to do with the industry that he came from, so we had covered it much earlier (in the MBA MAP). Some general knowledge brushing up (on current affairs, important milestones from the past etc) will also be good.

We offer an ISB interview preparation service too and our conversion rate so far has been pretty good. But in your case I'm not sure if there'd be enough time to squeeze it in.

If you can't practice with an expert, get a few friends to do a mock-interview for you. Getting all the answers right in your head is very different from verbalising them. So practice a few times before you go for the actual one.

Here's an earlier post from our blog that you might find useful:
- How to prepare for interviews for free

Good luck buddy. Come back and share your experience.

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Hi Sameer
I wanted to take this opportunity and discuss my profile with you to get a fair idea of what colleges I would get thru for MBA in USA.

My background:

1) Graduated from top 5 Engg colleges in Mumbai university in Electronics and Telecom with first class in 2005
2) Worked in Accenture for 1 yr in IT
3) Did my MS in EE in NJIT in USA & graduated in 2007 with GPA 3.6
4) Did my internship @ ESSIT Inc where I was trained to work on Business Process evaluation and Development in SAP. Worked with them from March 2007 to Sept 2008 for their clients.
5) Implemented SAP in 7 months for 3 subunits of Mars Inc for SAP SD from Sept 2008 to July 2009
6) Due to recession - other consultants were rolled off & I continued to work on support and new developments on the same project now handling SAP SD, MM, PP & WM .. from Aug 2009 to current. (Also took up the load of SAP CRM since July 2010)

This might sound a bit unconventional for 1 person to do everything, but since the units are small - they hv limited budget.
My role involves interacting with the Business users & Leadership teams to discuss their upcoming requirements & implementing end to end developments along with a SAP FI consultant who does his part for that development.

Also interacting with Offshore developers to get the technical work is a part of the work.
I have immense knowledge of the Business Processes in all the modules which I have listed & consider myself to be amongst the very few SAP consultants who have so much visibility.

7) I have also been actively involved in a NGO and volunteering in counseling Mental Health Patients to overcome their mental issues and get them back to normal & reintroduce them in to the society. I have been doing this for a year now.

I haven't given my GMAT yet .. planning to give it before June 5th 2012 when the format will change.
I believe I should be able to get 750+


My desires:
After thinking a lot - I think I would like to get into Management Consulting in Strategy in the top 10 colleges if possible.
And then I hv dreams to get into the top 3 firms M/B/B if possible.

I plan to do by MBA in 2014 as currently I hv filed my Green Card and hope to get it by early 2013 and then plan to work for my employer for a while.
Also plan to get married during this period and hence want to go for an MBA in 2014 fall ( age = 30 & 1/2 and the WE = 8+)


Let me know your evaluation and what you think about the colleges I can get into for Management Consulting (At this point, I dont know which are the good colleges for Consulting).
Also since I have some time for applying - if you feel I can improve on certain aspect of my application, Please suggest the same.

Thanks for your time & patience
Vin

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Hi Vin,

Not sure if I've answered your query on another forum. Let me know if you are still waiting for a response.

Raju,

Normally folks assume INSEAD rejects candidates outright if they don't have international experience. From our experience that's untrue. We have worked with someone who joined INSEAD with zero overseas exposure.

But he did bring a lot of unique qualities to the table, starting with an unconventional background. And a compelling storyline. You have the unconventional background (that's a good start). Beyond that there's very little you've shared about your post MBA careers plans, so can't provide any specific suggestions on what you could do.

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