ISB MBA Program Guide 2025

ISB interview script The interview was very long 1 hours 15 min but very chill like 4 friends having... Read More

ISB interview script The interview was very long 1 hours 15 min but very chill like 4 friends having conversion. I dont remeber question as alot of it was conversation. There was some grilling questions that i remember. There were 3 panellist- alums. P1 - So how was your day how are? P1- give us a brief about yourself. Lets us know who you are? P2 - You are doing what you love. Why MBA? P2-Why consulting? P2 - Why ISB? P3 - what you exactly work at Airbus? -Explained with the help of a paper plane. P3- Your work is really good with good opportunity. why Consulting? P1-What does consultant do? P3- What are your failures? P1- Syed your resume is very good it looks like a resume of a consultant. P2 What was the pitch In the initiative you took at airbus? P3-What is happening with boeing? P3-If a non engg CEO in Boeing was the reason for Its fall why you want to be a consultant? Its not good in your field. P3- What if you didnt make through this time? P1- You mentioned shadow a CEO. You father is almost a CEO why not shadow him? P1- Giving Feed back. Syed “It will hurt me more thn my first breakup if you leave airbus”. P3 - Do you know about the “SPIKES” in resume you need to get a shortlist in Consulting? What are yours? P1 - Do you know how difficult it is to be in top of cohort ? How will you manage? P1 -ISB is a party school- how will manage with studies? P1- again giving feedback- I really like you, you are passionate you have done alot of quality work but their needs to a little more clarity on Why consulting. Also I am loving this interview I am learning alot. P3 - Do you have any questions? Read Less

Here's a rough debrief of the written test and the interview. ***Spot essays*** 1) You are a team ... Read More

Here's a rough debrief of the written test and the interview. ***Spot essays*** 1) You are a team lead...working in a project..have to submit before the deadline well in advance because of some competition prep..team members came up with short cut solutions..however may have issues in the project later...what are the challenges...what would you do? 2) You are having a group presentation...a classmate had problem with the approach & expresses it during the presentation..team wants you to pitch in & handle the situation..how would you do it without compromising integrity? ***Interview*** <Panel consisted of 3 alumni> 1) Introduce yourself, work, likes.. 2) Asked about each role in my career progression..what is that role & what exactly did you do in that role? 3) Suddenly about extracurricular..learnings from it? 4) What do you bring to the table at ISB? 5) Biggest challenge I faced? 6) Why your short term goals? 7) Why product management? 8) Why MBA & why ISB? 9) Did you discuss with your manager if you can become one without an MBA? 10) After 20 years, what would you have achieved? 11) Why do you think you got so & so promotion? 12) What would you do if you graduate from ISB & can't make it to your desired industry? 13) What did you most like in one of the extracurriculars? 14) Few more follow up questions based on the answers i gave to above questions 15) How would you contribute to alumni after graduating? 16) Any questions you have for us? Overall, the interview was conversational and I received the admit. ISB interviews are always filled with follow-up questions, making it unpredictable & highly dependent on the panelists. While the traditional advice of knowing your application & resume inside out still holds true, my short advice is to be ready for follow-up questions on everything you say. Most of the questions I faced didn’t come from a predefined list. They were entirely based on my responses during the conversation. So, if you're hit with a curveball question, take a few seconds to think before responding. Trust me, pausing for 4–5 seconds(Don't take too much time though :)) to gather your thoughts is far better than blurting out the first thing that comes to mind, especially since you "will" face follow-up questions. You can DM me for any assistance. I will try to respond whenever i find time. Hope this helps. All the best!! Read Less

Profile - 95% in 10th (topper), 95.6% in 12th (second topper), 8.81 (fourth topper) in Electronics... Read More

Profile - 95% in 10th (topper), 95.6% in 12th (second topper), 8.81 (fourth topper) in Electronics & Comm from a Tier-I Engg college (IIT). Strong PoRs in college - Head of International Relations Cell, Head of Department Society, Head of Socio-cultural fest Work Ex (Analytics) - 1.5 years at ZS 1.5 years at a crypto Indian startup 1.5 years at a stock broking Indian startup. Became a team lead here. Involved in 0-1 product building. Spot Essays 1. A Helpful and respected team member is asking for confidential data from my prior company to complete a project. What will my actions be? 2. ⁠A Key team member made an error in a project which can affect my grade. Prof asks me to replace the team member. What will my actions be? How will ensure project completion? Interviews (no specific order) : 1. Personal and professional journey 2. Picked a point from my LoR. You struggled with Stakeholder Management initially. What was the conflict? How did you improve? 3. ⁠What type of company do you think suits you the best post PGP given your diverse professional experiences? 4. ⁠Picked a point from my essay - elaborate on your weakness and your self awareness journey. 5. ⁠how does a day at your workplace look like for you in the conext of leading the analytics team in a startup? 6. ⁠Imagine you’re a PM at your workplace. What initiatives will you take? 7. ⁠Given that you’re already a quasi-PM, why PGP from ISB for product management? 8. ⁠Any questions for the panel. Read Less

*Interview* (in no particular order) - Tell me about yourself - What is your long-term goal? (Lot of... Read More

*Interview* (in no particular order) - Tell me about yourself - What is your long-term goal? (Lot of cross questioning on the specifics of it.) - What are your strengths and weaknesses? (Cross-questioned here) - What activities / clubs will you participate in at ISB? - What courses will you take at ISB? - Provide details on a project you worked on recently. - A time when you faced conflict at work. - Why ISB? - What other schools have you applied to? - What if you don’t get to go to ISB this year? - What do you like to do outside of work? - Anything else you want to share that we have not covered? - Any questions for us? Read Less

Profile: Mechanical engineer working with Mahindra RnD. 3 years of experience. 710 GMAT. Top Tier Co... Read More

Profile: Mechanical engineer working with Mahindra RnD. 3 years of experience. 710 GMAT. Top Tier College. Various Extracurriculars and Initiatives. Recieved my virtual interview invite on 29th Feb. Had preferred Hyderabad. Interview happened on 4th Feb. Very conversational and pleasant experience. Here is a de-brief: Q1 - We have already gone through your profile. Tell us something apart from what’s written that pushes you to pursue MBA? Q2. Asked regarding one of the initiatives that I had taken to start something in the social sector. Follow up questions. Q3. Queston on the greatest achievement essay. Asked my individual role. Asked step by step approach taken. Few follow up questions. Q4. What are your career goals. What companies are you targeting. Q5. Picked up on my long term entrepreneurship goals. Went deep into asking my role in one of the startup internships that I had done. Q6. Do you have any questions for us Overall very conversational and relaxed interview. 3 panelists. My suggestion is to be prepared with each and every possible question. I got nearly 2 months to prepare for the interview from the day I submitted the application. Good luck to everyone. *29th jan Read Less

My interview Experience: 7th Jan, Mumbai There were 2 panel members, one from Mohali and one from ... Read More

My interview Experience: 7th Jan, Mumbai There were 2 panel members, one from Mohali and one from Hyderabad. They graduated 5-6 years before. The interview lasted for around 25 minutes. One of the interviewing alums visited me in the waiting room and escorted me to the main room. He did small talk and asked about Indore, MP etc. Questions: 1) Tell us something about yourself 2) Tell us all about dotflo (current startup that I am building in AI space) 3) Cross questioning on free chatgpt vs dotflo. Explain the AI part in simple terms. 4) What was your role at ZS? 5) You have so much interest and exposure to businesses and startups then why do you want to do an MBA? 6) Why did you select ZS as your first job when you could have taken a higher paying job from an IIT? 7) You have impressive profile and you can take admission in any good B-Schools in the world then why come to ISB? 8) What is that you will bring to the table when you get into ISB? 9) What are your short-term goals after pursuing an MBA? How will you achieve them? 10) Why take the pain of taking an exorbitant loan of 45 lacs and how do you plan to repay it given you are targeting a risky entrepreneurial journey? 11) Do you have any questions for us? Read Less

Hello everyone! I had my interview in Mumbai today; I'll share my experience. Relatively new here so... Read More

Hello everyone! I had my interview in Mumbai today; I'll share my experience. Relatively new here so not sure if this is supposed to be posted on a different thread. If so, please let me know. The interview was with two alums (Batch of '17 and '19) It started off well, they made me feel comfortable. Asked how I spent my waiting time - I said we fellow applicants were chit-chatting and getting to know each other which really helped ease our nerves (it actually did). They introduced themselves and the interview began. Tell us about yourself - I think what I said here really set the tone for the interview. I mentioned I like reading and we spent a few minutes discussing the last book I read. I also mentioned another hobby to which they said we'll pick it up at the end as we are keen on learning more about it (had written about it in my essay too) Tell us more about your work and what you do at work - They had different backgrounds so they were just curious and trying to understand my work Why MBA? - Since I am from a family business background, they went hard on this one You are already doing business, I don't see why you need an MBA? - Explained further. Why consulting? - Had it as my short-term goal, justified it. In consulting you will essentially just be suggesting what to do, but in your business you are already strategizing as well as implementing. So again, why consulting? - Defended my choice. Have you spoken to any ISB grads in consulting? - Yes, gave them names. Have you spoken to any other college grads in consulting? - Yes. Are you sure you still want to do consulting? - Yes. I am still not convinced on why you need an MBA and how will consulting help you? - Here I got the feeling that they were trying to test how I respond, but maybe they really were not convinced. I can't say for sure. What are your strengths and weaknesses? - I mentioned problem-solving as a strength, gave examples. They subtly tried to throw me off by saying this is not problem-solving, this is just 'jugaad' (it wasn't jugaad. I figured they were again testing how I responded to being challenged and I did not want to sound too defensive, so I just made a funny remark and we moved on) What if you don't get in to ISB? Backtracked to the hobby I mentioned at the beginning - talked about it for several minutes, they genuinely took an interest and seemed impressed. Do you have any questions for us? Remarks - The interview is very conversational, panelists are warm and friendly. Choose your introduction carefully, it will dictate the course of the interview. Have a solid story, be clear about it, and stick to it. If you are unclear, they will sense it and call you out for it. Choose your words wisely, do not blabber - the panelists are incredibly sharp and will catch on to any word and question you on it. Interact with applicants in the waiting room - it will relax you and it gives a good impression when you tell the panel about it. Don't approach the interview as a challenge but as an experience - it is an incredible one! Tricky opinion (not the best idea but worked well for me) - Gauge the panel's demeanour and based on your judgment, crack the occasional joke - it really helps lighten the mood and prevents both you and the panelists from getting too serious. Even one witty remark does wonders - One of the interviewers had a uniquely difficult name; towards the end he said you cannot recall my name, can you? I did not respond for a few seconds, the other panelist made a remark and then I blurted out his name. They were convinced I had forgotten it so they were taken aback for a couple of seconds - then all three of us burst into laughter. I believe that ensured a pleasant end to the interview. Good luck to everyone! If you have any questions regarding my experience, happy to help. Read Less

My interview happened around 10 days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. I started by blurting o... Read More

My interview happened around 10 days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. I started by blurting out a compliment for an interviewer's jacket (we hadn't even reached the room, I don't know why I said that aloud and he just rolled his eyes). When I walked in it was 3 people (all alums, 19 batch M, 20 and 22 batch Fs). They gave their intro and said this would be a 30-minute interview with no pressure, they had gone through my essays and just wanted to get to know me better etc. They asked for a short introduction, lady in the center (and the youngest one) said she was intrigued and works in a similar field, and asked a lot of questions about the impact of my work, what challenges I faced etc. The other lady interjected for follow-ups etc. The gentleman did not ask many questions till this point, maybe once - when I tried to make eye contact while talking he was usually looking away or fidgeting, I don't know if that was intentional or not. Either way, I think I handled this part pretty well because I genuinely enjoy the work I do. Then the dreaded question they came in which was "you clearly like your job and make good money, why ISB then, why not get masters in data science, etc. I gave my reasons, they did not look very convinced, said can you explain the situations in which you felt the need for a business degree (framed it as "oh you already seem to know so much, what else do you wanna learn?"). This was the point when the guy stepped in, asked questions about my org structure, asked if I'd like to go back to my job after ISB, what roles I'd aim for. I feel like I didn't do my best to explain here - I answered the question of the post-ISB role in terms of what I'd choose during placements, not what I'd choose if I go back to my current workplace. He was reluctant to ask for clarification but I insisted and he went ahead and asked (glad I did) because I was able to clarify it (the job title barely explains the functions I do and will do in my current job and that was the confusing bit). Lastly, the interviewer in the center asked me to put in one line what I learnt from my career. I said "context is everything" - the older guy said "there is no context to the answer whatsoever" and everyone started laughing (me included, because fair enough). Then he waited a minuted and said something like "no but it's a fair quippy one line answer", and asked if I had any questions before I left. I went ahead and asked them about their experience, they all answered, the third lady joked about "oh do I need to answer as well" and I said "no pressure" but she did anyway. Also when the first guy answered it and mentioned networking he said "e.g. if I need to verify anything you've told me about your company or work I always know someone who works there so I can just call them and ask" so I said "so if I lied am I in trouble?" which fortunately, made them laugh. TL;DR I went on autopilot during my interview, and I can't decide if that makes me come off as charming or a d***head, and I'm a little worried that if it's the latter I might have screwed up my chances. I'm honestly only here hoping to get reassured that I did not screw up. Read Less

I was asked only behavioural questions. 1. Walk us through your journey and what led you to ISB PGP... Read More

I was asked only behavioural questions. 1. Walk us through your journey and what led you to ISB PGP. 2. Why do you want to pursue MBA in India (I am an overseas candidate) 3. 2 qualities of a good PM 4. Few questions related to what I'd mentioned in the application essays 5. One person (living/dead) who inspires me Read Less

ISB R3 applicant. Bangalore. Physical interview. 8/8/7 profile Background in Automotive and Chemi... Read More

ISB R3 applicant. Bangalore. Physical interview. 8/8/7 profile Background in Automotive and Chemicals Industry 6.5 work ex GMAT 700 3 panelists - very cordial and friendly Questions 1. Tell me about yourself highlighting family background, education and jobs 2. Elaborate 3 greatest challenge that you face on your day to day work 3. Tell me how you overcome them 4. How do you do product costing benchmarks 5. How you negotiate with vendors 6. Do you manage any team 7. What technology will you use to increase process efficiency while keeping the workflow same 8. Why MBA and what about your short term and long term goals? 9. Why consulting and why focus on operation 10. What is stopping you from applying to consulting now? 11. What kind of subjects will you focus on during MBA to bridge the knowledge gap 12. What are your other options apart from consulting? Are you open to different opportunities? 13. What are the other schools that you are applying for 14. Why focused only on Indian schools 15. Why not applied for MBA earlier 16. What if you are not getting selected this year at ISB? 17. Any questions for the panel? (Asked 2) Read Less