ISB 2018 Intake Class of 2019: Calling all applicants

Did anyone receive a interview call for delhi location?

Today was the 1st day of Interview in Bangalore- Anyone willing to share their experience? Did they ask people to write the 100-word essay too?

Thanks in advance.

Don't think so. All very quiet at the moment. Maybe tomorrow's the big day!

Received the interview invite (for Delhi) 5 minutes back. To be honest, I did not expect the mail at this hour on a Sunday.

Interview Debrief:

Slot: Morning; City: Bangalore; Location: ITC Windsor.

I reach the venue 15mins earlier than the scheduled time. I was directed to the waiting hall where everyone who was in the same slot as mine waited. We were asked to go to another room where we were checked for Identification (Passport name/id check). Post that another waiting room where the panellists came and took the candidates to respective rooms/panel. My wait wasn't too long either.

I was taken to a room where there were 3 panellists. Let's call them Panellist P1, P2 and P3. After brief introduction and handshakes, P1 asked me, "how are you feeling today?" I answered "Just fine, but a bit nervous." P1 consoled me by saying "What can we do for you to make you comfortable". I thought to myself "Grant me the admit." LOL. I said "Its natural to be little nervous at this stage and also there is a reputation of ISB interviews that precedes it. Not that I am impacted by it, but I guess I will be fine as we go along." P3 laughed and said, "I guess you read too much on what's written on the internet and https://gmatclub.com/chat messages." I said, "I don't read too much into it. Every interview is a very personal experience and no two people are same. So post my interview I may have my own story to convey which could be very different from what other people feel." P1 said, "We are here to help you in whichever way possible and help you make the right decision." I said,"Well thank you!"

P3 said "OK! Let's start then."

P3: Do you know about SEC? (I have 9+ yrs of experience)
My answer: No I don't know about it. (P3 looked a touch shocked.)
P3: It's a senior executive club in ISB. If you are admitted to ISB you will be a part of that club. Do you know anything about it?
My Answer: I read somewhere about the fact that once you are 8+ experience and make your way to ISB you tend to be categorized differently. I didn't know there was a specific club.
P3: (nodded while I answered). OK that's alright. So you have 10 yrs of experience why do you want to take a break and get into the space of product management? Why ISB? Why take a break at all?
My Answer: (I came prepared for this, but I didn't expect that they will start with this.) I tried to remain calm and remember that he asked me a 3 part question to start the interview so I have to give him a 3 part answer.
P3: you have a great job and you are comfortably placed I am not sure why this is a right time for you?
My Answer: I answered from a different perspective detailing my career progression, etc.
P1: You could break into the space of product management without an MBA? Did you consider digital certifications? or Online certifications?
My Answer: I had this aspect covered as well.

I had a series of questions on why product management is the right space for me and why I chose it. How my current work aligns with the goals, etc. Next 10mins spent on me explaining to them why I think this was the best space for me.
P3 kept checking his watch in between when I answered these questions. I think he was trying to throw me off or derail my thought process throughout the interview. Or Maybe I did bore him with my answers. Not sure.. P2 kept smiling while I answered and jumped in the middle of these cross questions. It was clear that he worked in the space of Product Management and he looked almost convinced from my answers. Some more cross questions on career goals, what is my plan B, what is my plan B when I don't make it to ISB, Why can't pursue my plan B now, etc.

I wrote a lot about my CSR activities in Essay 1. On that P3 asked, "You mentioned a line on your essay which almost makes it sound cocky! Why do you think ISB needs to know about it, given that there is limited real estate on your essay."
I clarified "It's not meant to be cocky; I just wanted to convey that I don't look to get anything tangible from my CSR initiatives. " P3 nodded and cracked a silly joke. We all laughed. I think he was trying to test me here!

P2 asked me a question on challenging project/situation in my current organization. I answered. To my answer, P1 said, "We must say, you have come very well prepared for the interview, to all our questions, and that's not a bad thing. ". I thought "OK that came out of nowhere " They all agreed and giggled. I smiled!

P3 asked me, "Tell me something about you that's not written on your application and on the documents that are in front of us." I mentioned a story about my 2 yr old daughter and what I learnt from it. They smiled.

P3 asked if I had any questions for them. I asked my question on ISB SEC club (as that was new information for me), visiting faculties, and other student club engagements.

With that my interview wrapped up. Now an excruciating wait till March 5.

Key Takeaways:

* Be thorough with your goals and career aspirations.
* Be thorough with your application and essays
* Have your plan Bs in place and have proper rationale to back it up.
* Research on ISB clubs if you belong to a certain category (as I did) or have a career inclination.

Feel free to reach out in case you need to discuss anything.

Yeah, that was quite a late email. Dropped in 4 minutes before midnight, happy to get it. Now to prepare for the interview

Thank you for writing about your interview experience in detail. Consider uploading it on Interview Debriefs tab as well... https://gmatclub.com/forum/isb-204/inte ... brief.html

Anyone with interview location in Hyderabad been called yet?

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Are they sending rejection mails, along the interview invites as well...??

Havent received the invite for delhi yet ?

If you haven't received an interview invite for your specific location yet, you will mostly get a reject letter by the final notification date in March.


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Are these above interview invites for 16th only or for 17th and 18th as well?

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