IIM Ahmedabad Hub

"My interview was in Mumbai, on December 3 2023. It was the first slot - I reported at 08:00 AM. By 09:00 AM I was called into the interview. I was only the second candidate of the day to get interviewed. So, the panel was quite enthusiastic. I was ushered in my panelist 1 (P1) , a professor in mid-40s maybe? After I stepped in, the other panelist (P2), a much older gentleman also greeted me. After taking my seat, P2 looked at the printed handout of my profile that he had with him. P2 - "Hyderabad, you seem to have come a long way!" Me - No, no. I am from Hyderabad, but I live in Mumbai. Have been for the past year P1 - Okay, pick a chit from the bowl (he then proceeded to explain the rules of extempore which is that you can pick a chit and take a stand for or against the topic and if you are not comfortable on the topic, you can pick another one, but the second one would be binding) I pick a chit. The topic is around "PLIs - A good policy decision" or something like that. The candidate who was interviewed before me got the same topic ( I had asked her), so I probably should have prepped for a minute or two that i had before I was called in. Nonetheless, I wasnt comfortable so I picked another chit. This was one said "Should Transgender athletes be allowed to compete the in women's sports". You get a minute to jot down your thoughts on a pen and paper (they provide the pen and paper) I began my extempore I took a stand against the argument. I began by addressing the defintion of transgender and how wide it could be and then began to list down reasons why it would be unfair to biological females and how it would mean a gender change could allow a physiologically superior male to take part in women's sports, as they would be biologically faster, stronger and larger. I also covered how it would be a question of promoting women's sports. I was interrupted here. P1 - But, transgender females are not all muscular and male like. It could be varied. Me: True, which is why I began with the definition of transgender being so vast. However, the majority does belong to the category of traditional male physique. When policy is crafted, I would tend to craft it for the majority, not the fringe elements. A bit of back and forth on this P1 - Okay, let me take you away from this topic to equality in pay. You say women in sports are not equal to males in speed and strength, then should they be paid equally? Me - yes P1 - Why? If they aren't exerting as much, why should they be paid as much? At this point, I elaborated on how exertion is not the measure and I took an example of the direct relation between a factory worker's output and profits and how there you could make that argument. I then siad that the logic cannot be extended to this example. I faced a lot of back and forth and counters. I was even asked "So, you are changing the stance?" I acknowledged their points, but kept my stance. At this point, P2 also got involved, and extended the example further to a race with male and female participants. They said according to my logic, a man would win the race, why then, should they be paid equally. I countered with a few points, and stuck to my point of pay equality. Then I was steered back to my original topic. It ended with a generic and light hearted comment on how you would go about defining transgender ( bloodwork, characteristics) etc. Profile: P2 - You dont have an undergraduate degree!Why! I am a CA, but I do not have a B.com or any other such degree. I explained the personal circumstances around it. They were fine with it. P2 - Did you think of pursuing it later? Me - Yes P2 - Why didnt you do it till now? Time constraints, too busy? Me - No, I didnt prioritize it. I will. P2 - You should. Somehow you've slipped into IIMA but wont be possible everywhere P2 to P1 - We should also put a restriction. P1 - Agrees and smiles I am staring and smiling at them both now. P2 - You've been doing insolvency resolution for so long, whats so special about it? Why are you doing it? I answered. After getting 2 lines in was interrupted by P2 again P2 - Okay, okay granted very interesting. Why MBA? And, what do you bring to the table? I answered (usual stuff, nothing special. Repeated the story I had in my essays) P2 - okay, I see your salary. Will you give me an undertaking that you will not sit for palcements if I let you in? I laugh. P2 eggs me on a bit more, tells me, it's possible I might not get a great pay upgrade over my current salary and that I should not be coming into MBA with "hidden agendas". I laugh and try to convince them I have loftier objectives. The panelists ask if I have any questions for them, I ask a question around IIM A PGP and PGPX alumni. They answer pretty well. I was asked to take a toffee or a cookie, took a toffee and bolted. I came out all smiling, entirely unsure how the interview went. It was fun. It was great to hear I got in on 15 Dec 2023. My 2 cents: 1. Structure your extempore well. Practicing it with friends or seniors is key. 2. Reading up on current affairs does work but keep it topical. Definitely read up Hindu/ET a few weeks prior so you don't miss out on important issues (eg: RBI increasing risk weights on unsecured loans was reported a week prior to the interview. I anticipated this topic. While I did not get it, others in the panel did). A week before my IIM A interview, I suddenly became the most informed version of me that I have ever been. I pored over the current affairs, like I was cracking UPSC. Extempore had me in knots. But, in the interview I realized, I could have been an averagely informed person and probably would have been able to get through the interview, as long as I kept my arguments logical and structured. 3. Your stance can be firm, but your argument has to appear as if it has taken their counter arguments also into consideration. No matter how frustrating their logic might be (and it is), you want to give it the benefit of doubt. 4. Know your essays and profile well and try to portray an honest (not blunt) portrayal. 5. A few candidates got asked technical questions as well, which were at the fringes of their expertise or way back during their academic days. So, be prepared to tackle questions around your area of expertise. You cannot afford to not know your stuff. "

"My interview happened on 7th Oct 2023, Saturday. The reporting time was 8:30 AM. I arrived at the location by 8 AM. One of the organizers from IIMA informed me that the interviews will start at 9 AM. Candidates waited at the lounge. My background: I have 5.5 years exp in IT, particularly in cloud services. Worked in a start-up for 4 years based on ad technology/big data and 1.5 years in a healthcare tech company. Interview experience: While IIMA PGPX interviews usually start with an extempore, mine started with the questions on how I'm doing, and where I am based out of currently. When I said Bangalore, the obvious discussion and jokes about traffic happened. And then the question of what I expect from the interview. Q: What do you expect from the interview? A: I just want to have a good interaction and know things. This led to some discussion about the Green initiative mentioned on the website. Q: Give us a brief about your background. A: I started with my previous experience (ad tech start-up). They interrupted me saying that’s my past and I shouldn’t be talking about it much. Unfortunately, my first essay related to the challenges faced also started with something from the previous organization, so they were roasting me on that. Q: Why did you shift jobs? A: I became very comfortable with the previous one. All the code base was very familiar - Here they again started to mock me asking why would someone move out if they were comfortable. I concluded this by saying I’m in a tech arena and I can’t be comfortable and get stagnant. It’s a very fast-moving industry. They were kinda satisfied with this answer. Q: Is moving out of your comfort zone also the reason you applied for an MBA? A: It is one of the reasons. I’m also aware of how rigorous the program is and I’m ready to face the challenge and push myself. Q: Did you talk to anyone from previous or current batches? Did they also tell you that we torture students? A: They did tell me that their schedules are tight-packed and the current batch students are hard to catch for any suggestions. They didn’t say ‘torture’ though. Q: Tell me the names of those you talked to. A: (Me who couldn’t recollect any names in the situation) Unable to remember the name but energy is the field they worked in previously. Q: Tell us about one recent project that you worked on. A: Talked about a project that I recently worked on that involved internet traffic trends and any spikes or downfall in the traffic. This discussion led to the panel asking me how I determine that there is a spike. I tried to answer in words I know but the discussion ended in the panel suggesting me about six sigma, which I didn’t know about at the time. Q: We have your current manager’s contact details here. Does he/she know that you are here? What would they tell us about you if we called them right now? A: They would tell you that I’m a very confident and communicative person and that the points I raise during team discussions and my work have significantly contributed to the product. Q: Is that it? Would they be saying that you are perfect? No weaknesses? A: They would also tell you that I had issues planning my sprints earlier but I’ve come a long way from that. I’m confident that if you call my manager now, you’ll definitely hear all this. Q: Where else have you applied? A: IIMB and IIMK. Q: What is your preference between IIMA and IIMB? A: Honestly it is IIMA. Q: Why IIMA? A: The diversity is more. The kind of leaders that graduated from IIMA are also diverse. Q: Give some examples of some leaders from IIMA you admire. Specifically from PGPX. A: (Realised I stepped into a pit here) Tried to talk about some PGPX podcast I saw on YouTube sometime back. Then also mentioned Vineetha Singh. Q: What would be your answer if the same question was asked at IIMB? (Which one is your priority?) A: IIMB, obviously has a location advantage, especially for the IT industry. Q: Anything else you want to ask us? A: Again asked about why the IIP is specifically 2 weeks and why there are restrictions on the phase 2 essay submission when they know there are always workarounds to be able to bypass them. Q: What are your hobbies? A: I podcast on my YouTube channel where I interview people from diverse backgrounds. Q: Tell us about the best podcast you have done so far. A: Answered this with my first podcast. Q: Please have a toffee. A: No thanks, I do not consume packaged foods. Overall experience: The experience was overall pleasant. However, the panel kept interrupting any sentence I started. They had smiley faces but grilled me at the same time. I too forgot that I didn’t have an extempore until I came out of the room but later realised some other candidates also didn’t. It just depended on the flow of the interview. Mine started with small talk and continued from there. Interviews with IIMA can become stressful if these interruptions cause diversions to what you have prepared."

"I was last individual to interview that day in Delhi. Anxious about the unseen and hard to prepare for extempores, had cleared my mind about it. The panel of two faculty members introduced themselves and asked for my brief introduction and asked me to pick a chit from the bowl for my extempore topic. I choose the chit and the topic was "Hindi was the most spoken language in India. It ought to be the national language. Anyone who opposes it is undemocratic." (Aha moment, a political topic for me, topic of my interest) I stated my opposition, and where my opposition with the statement actually lies. We had a debate on topic for about 15 minute, coming to midway about should it be the national language or not. And they agreeing to my opposition on the "anyone opposes it is undemocratic" part of prompt. Then they asked about my day to day work, and stress tested about the fundamentals of marketing analytics and how can we increase the addressable markets."

"My panel consisted of two professors P1 and P2. I was the last person to be interviewed that day and by the time my chance came, there was already an hour's delay. My interview would've lasted about 25 minutes - 20 minutes talking on extempore and 5 minutes of work-ex+why PGPX. P2 ushered me into the room as P1 scrolled through my profile. P1 said, oh ed-tech experience from X. Looks like we have a lot of questions to ask you. P2 said, they will begin the questioning after the extempore. The topic on the chit I picked out first was, "Should professors with few years of experience be teaching MBA students who come with rich corporate experience of many years." I wasn't comfortable with this topic and picked out another chit which had the topic, "Automation and AI have left several people out of jobs. Should government introduce an automation tax on AI firms?" I was glad since this is a topic I've read a lot about. I began by taking a position for the argument. How Big Tech utilises millions of terabytes of data without consent or remuneration and uses to profit off of these. Added a few more points to this effect. P2 corrected me by saying that I had missed the crux of the topic and the topic was about automation tax to make up for job losses. I then course corrected and continued speaking for the topic but with more relevant points. I was often cross-questioned and spoken over, especially by P2 who just wanted to negate everything I said. I maintained my calm and let them finish whenever they were speaking and only then began. This back and forth continued for ~20 minutes at the end of which P1 asked me, "So is your stance still the same?" I answered with a solid yes and I feel sticking to my guns really helped my case. Two things I'd like to suggest to candidates is: Don't get frustrated when spoken over. Be patient and hear them. Smile when being cross-questioned. They look for subtle cues in your behaviour while challenging you. And try holding your ground by backing up your answers with opinions and facts. Secondly, try to make the answers personal and include your experiences and motivations if you can. I was able to plug in a few reasons for me to pursue MBA, courtesy the cross-questioning during the MBA. After P1 asked me that question, they were looking to wrap up the interview and asked my the very expected, 'Why PGPX'. This is where I messed up due to a lack of preparation. I already have an admit from another school and that made me complacent. Plus I had given three interviews prior to this one so I didn't have interview stress also. Hence, I had not prepared at all for this interview. Had I researched and prepared well for this interview, I'd have answered this question more convincingly and would've definitely secured an Admit instead of a Waitlist. In conclusion, be confident and well prepared on these fronts - work ex, your industry's current state, challenges, future outlook, why MBA and why PGPX. All the best to those interviewing!"

"Afternoon slot interview with 2 profs at ITC Windsor in Bangalore on 7th Oct 2023. There were about 20-25 people slotted for interviews in the afternoon. There was a person taking attendance and ID check. Close to the allotted time, we were escorted upstairs for the interviews. 4 panels in 4 rooms with 1-3 people waiting outside for their chance. My interview was just after snacks time. Walked in with a smile, greeted the panelist. I was explained what would happen as it was my first time interviewing with the panel. I was asked to pick a chit from the fishbowl and decide either to speak on the topic or pick a different topic. My topic was along the lines of "should cryptocurrencies be banned?" Decided to roll with the topic, wrote down some points on the paper provided by the panel. Was given about a minute to prepare. Then I clarified my stand on the topic and provided my reasoning behind it. Was able to keep the conversation jovial and light. There was some cross-questioning and halfway through they asked me to change my stance. Was able to talk about a couple of points as I had written down those points for such an eventuality. Then the disussion moved to my work ex and my move from US to India. Differences observed, impact of those changes on me, my leadership style etc. Here also, was able to tie in a few points from the previous discussion and points I had prepared for the interview. We spoke about challenges at work and how I have had to adapt my leadership style to the Indian context. Then we spoke about semiconductor domain. I was asked about some niche applications, that was a googly. I was able to answer based on my experience and brainstorm some potential future applications as well. The end. Was asked to take a chocolate. Thanked them and left the room. Done in about 15-20 minutes."

"My interview was scheduled to be at 03:00 p.m. in Mumbai. I reached about 30 minutes before that. I was told to wait for the turn. There were three panels. Many candidates were coming out of the interview rooms with mixed reactions. I asked a couple of the candidates about the extempore topic. Their topics were: 1. Indian startups are often criticized for replicating Western products without much innovation. Comment. 2. Given the significance of mental health, it is advisable to consider discontinuing closed-book exams. I was asked to wait for my turn. My turn came around 04:15. Two professors were in the panel: one male and one female. I greeted them and was asked to take my seat. As I sat, I was asked the question: What do I do? I answered. After that, the female professor asked me: Is Coal a mineral? I was not sure about this. I said yes and added that I was not sure about this. ( One geologist once told me that different people have different answers to this question). The other professor then asked me to select a chit. My topic was: Do you believe that MBA professors with limited corporate experience should be teaching students who come with significant industry experience? I did not change the topic. As I asked the permission to start. But given the nature of this topic, I remained silent for a few seconds before murmuring the words" it is a very difficult topic for this." The Professors smiled a bit and told me that they had given me a chance to change it. So, I started with the extempore. I started by saying with hesitations that: Those who can't, teach. And the Professors smiled and said exactly what they were saying. But, then I added that I do not believe in this line. I gave a few points. My points were: 1. They do research. 2. Cases. 3. Act as a consultant for so many companies. 4. Also learning is a two-way street. They also learn from students from diverse backgrounds as well. To this, the female professor commented: " So you are saying that we are taking your money and learning from you guys?" There was cross-questioning after every single point. They were not satisfied till the end. Then they asked me about my roles and responsibilities. After that, the female professor asked me if I ever went to visit the site. She asked me about the reserve that we have explored in the current project. I was then asked the question regarding why MBA. After that, they asked about the other B-Schools interview I have to give. I told them about the ISB's interview. The professor asked me if I got the call to which I responded in affirmative and added that the dates have not been finalized yet. I added that I would apply to IIMB as well in later rounds if needed. After that, they asked me about my interests and what I do in my free time. I replied that I love trading and I do options trading. The Professor asked me if I had read the news about the facts by SEBI. I had read the news but quoted the wrong percentage of the people who lose money while trading options. I was asked if I was profitable. I replied " No." Then I was asked why I do the trading. She asked me if I had become habitual. To which I responded "No". I told them about how I would also do option selling in the future. The professor gently advised me to not do that. " Jo paisa bacha h wo bhi jaega". They both smiled. So, I was asked what have I learned. I could have answered this better. But, in the interview, I could not. I said a couple of points after which I was interrupted. And then I lost the flow and deviated. I told them that in the future as well I would continue trading. I was told that the interview was over and if I had any questions. I asked a couple of questions. And that's all. Hope this helps! A special thank you to Manan Sir, Sandeep Yadav Sir, and the whole S4G team for all the help with the application and the interview prep. All the best to the readers!!"

"I had my IIMA interview on campus. The official reporting time was 8:45 am and I reached around 8:30. Initially I thought that all the candidates are called at the same time but when I reached there I realized these slots have limited candidates so do reach on time, if called for an interview. Had interaction with current students and that helped in calming down the nerves. I already had an admit from other B school so in hindsight, the pressure was comparatively less. At 9:10 I was called into the interview room. There were two profs (PGPX chairman and one another). I was asked to pick the topic for extempore and the topic was "Should politics be left to politicians". The extempore topics are actually selected for its controversial nature and there is no right or wrong side to these. I spoke for couple of minutes and then there were barrage of questions from the panels. I had to justify my stand with example, counter their point and help them understand my thought process. Then we moved to the normal question answers. PGPX chairman comes from an analytics background and I come from a data background, so we had a lot in common. While this commanlity sounds great on hearing, this also meant I had to be very clear about "Why MBA?". PGPX chairman has some close to three decade in analytics and our discussion was more like a teacher-student discussion, where the teacher disagreed with the student on everything. :) In the middle of the interview, PGPX chairman decided to cut the interview short and told me that he had nothing more to ask. Perplexed, I answered all the questions the other professor asked. I was able to make solid points on certain things. I think the one thing that helped me secure my admit was the point I made about their electives. This left both the professors defending the program and they eventually agreed my point was valid. The suggestion I made about elective now actually reflects in the current curriculum, hence I believe I made a solid point. To future applicant, be original in your answers and do some research about the program. Professors do like people who knows the program beforehand. It will also help you understand if this is the right program for you and save the confusion when you have the confusion on multiple admits."

"My IIM A PGPX interview was scheduled on 15 Dec 2018 at Bangalore. My panel had 2 alums who were quite friendly and calm. When I entered the room I was asked to pick a chit and speak on the topic. The topic I got was - "Has increased digitization led to unsocial behavior?". The entire interview was on this topic. Next, the panel moved on to some questions about my hobbies. The interview lasted for 15-20 minutes max. Surprisingly, no questions were asked on my essays or profile! In sum, stay calm and be aware of all that is going on around - as in the GK part. Read editorials of The Hindu- trust me it helps! Final result- Selected!"