I realized there are no threads for ISB yet, and the deadlines are looming. Where are you guys at? Who all plan to go to Hyderabad or Mohali this year? ISB Essay Topics and Deadlines

Congrats on the interview invite, atb. Sent from my using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

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ISB 2018 Intake Class of 2019: Calling all applicants

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anujasterisk90

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12 Feb 2018, 05:34

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divm

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

Posted from my mobile device

I received an invite for 17th

CantonasRaisedCollar

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Concentration: Strategy, Marketing

Schools: CBS '20 (D) Goizueta '20 (D) Stern '20 (WL) Ross '20 (D) ISB '19 (A) Marshall '20 (I) McCombs '20 (I) Kenan-Flagler '20 (A) Anderson '20 (S) IESE '20 (D)

GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V42 Verified score

WE:Business Development (Retail: E-commerce)

Schools: CBS '20 (D) Goizueta '20 (D) Stern '20 (WL) Ross '20 (D) ISB '19 (A) Marshall '20 (I) McCombs '20 (I) Kenan-Flagler '20 (A) Anderson '20 (S) IESE '20 (D)

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12 Feb 2018, 05:37

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anujasterisk90

divm

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

Posted from my mobile device

I received an invite for 17th

Me too, received an invite for the 17th.

ManishKM1

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12 Feb 2018, 07:09

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Did anyone get interview invite for Mumbai location?

Invited to Interview

12 Feb, 2018

12 Feb 2018, 07:32

Private, GMAT: 750, Q51, V39; GPA: 3.5; WE: 36 months; India; via Email [#permalink]

ravishankar2411

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12 Feb 2018, 07:46

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What is your interview location and when did you get the interview invite ? Thanks.

itdoesntmatter

Invited to Interview on: 2018/02/12
GMAT: 750, Q51, V39
GPA: 3.5
WE: 36 months
Location: India
Heard back via: Email

itdoesntmatter

AkshatN

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12 Feb 2018, 07:49

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Shreyak167

Anyone with interview location in Hyderabad been called yet?

Posted from my mobile device

Yes I did

Sent from my SM-G615F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

itdoesntmatter

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12 Feb 2018, 08:21

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ravishankar2411

What is your interview location and when did you get the interview invite ? Thanks.

itdoesntmatter

Invited to Interview on: 2018/02/12
GMAT: 750, Q51, V39
GPA: 3.5
WE: 36 months
Location: India
Heard back via: Email

itdoesntmatter

Hi. Its Delhi and I got the invite today evening.

ravishankar2411

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12 Feb 2018, 11:07

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Congrats on the interview invite, atb.

Sent from my [device_name] using [url]GMAT Club Forum mobile app[/url]

pikolo2510

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12 Feb 2018, 11:37

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TheMechanic

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 WhatsApp 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.

Thanks for the awesome and detailed debrief! All the best

MBADecoder

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12 Feb 2018, 19:50

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We are starting a series of posts to prepare you guys for the interview. In the following days, I will cover some important questions that get asked in the interview. I will start off with the all-important question,which you can expect to answer in almost every interview in some form or the other:

Walk me through resume / tell me about yourself

Give yourself 2-3 minutes to answer this question- a longer answer may get the interviewer bored, and a shorter answer may not generate sufficient hooks to engage the interviewer for asking more questions.

The answer should highlight your strengths and skills through your achievements. The candidates should start the marketing pitch with a broader, overall statement e.g. I am a growth hacker with a passion for multimedia marketing. I bring X years experience in this field where I have rolled out XYZ campaign to achieve <result> for companies such as A, B, and C.

Follow this with the current job, critical challenges and achievements, size/ context of responsibility (i.e. managing budget of $$ or managing X people to deliver ...). Pick your strongest story from current and significant earlier jobs to highlight the skills you have developed. Wherever required, talk about a transition from one job to the other, specifying your reasons for a change.

The main objective of this answer is to generate sufficient hooks that get the interviewer to pick a story and ask deeper questions. So do not give too many details, but highlight impact.

A few things you could avoid are giving a verbatim summary of your resume. While you could make this answer chronological, we prefer the approach mentioned above as this allows you to start off your answer with a bang, which is needed to keep the interviewer’s interest level up. Moreover, it gives you the chance to highlight the important aspects of your career.

Shreyak167

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13 Feb 2018, 02:04

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Anyone with gmat score in the range of 650 to 680 get an interview call yet?

Posted from my mobile device

Invited to Interview

13 Feb, 2018

13 Feb 2018, 05:33

Private, GMAT: 740, Q51, V38; GPA: 3.5; WE: 48 months; India; via Email [#permalink]

Invited to Interview

13 Feb, 2018

13 Feb 2018, 05:33

Private, GMAT: 740, Q51, V38; GPA: 3.5; WE: 48 months; India; via Email [#permalink]

Invited to Interview

13 Feb, 2018

13 Feb 2018, 05:33

Private, GMAT: 740, Q51, V38; GPA: 3.5; WE: 48 months; India; via Email [#permalink]

Invited to Interview

13 Feb, 2018

13 Feb 2018, 05:33

Private, GMAT: 740, Q51, V38; GPA: 3.5; WE: 48 months; India; via Email [#permalink]

nagesh.dce2k

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Schools: ISB '19 (A) LBS '19 (D)

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13 Feb 2018, 05:36

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Sorry For multiple spams, the status was not updating in the profile but it still got conveyed on the forum... please ignore.

ravishankar2411

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13 Feb 2018, 05:42

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Interview location ? And when did you receive the interview invite ?

nagesh.dce2k

Invited to Interview on: 2018/02/13
GMAT: 740, Q51, V38
GPA: 3.5
WE: 48 months
Location: India
Heard back via: Email

nagesh.dce2k

nagesh.dce2k

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13 Feb 2018, 05:49

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An hour ago , via mail. Its for Delhi rounds, 18th Feb.

ManishKM1

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13 Feb 2018, 06:50

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Shreyak167

Anyone with gmat score in the range of 650 to 680 get an interview call yet?

Posted from my mobile device

Doesn't seem so.

rohanpatra

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13 Feb 2018, 07:05

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Lead Engineer, Samsung, 40 months
730, Q50 V38
NIT Rourkela, CSE, 7.08/10

I left early, due to the fear of Bangalore traffic, reached the hotel 2 hours early *sigh*. It was lunchtime
and unfortunately, my interview call came an hour late. P1 came to call me around 3 PM (slot was at 2
PM). When he asked me how I was, I gave an honest reply, “Extremely hungry!”. He apologized and gave
reasons for the delay. Anyway, here is the debrief to my interview:

P1: Man, Co2010
P2: Woman, Alum, much younger
P1: So tell me something about yourself

Started off with a brief introduction but I was interrupted halfway and they jumped directly at
work-related questions.

For around 25 minutes, they asked me questions related to my project (Samsung Pay), its rivals, how to
improve the product, what my role has been specified in the global team, etc. (Basically they left no
stones unturned to verify and understand everything I wrote in my JD and essays) Then they asked
people management related questions, challenges that I have faced with people or in the project, how I
overcame, how do I use the learnings in my day to day life, etc. I was able to answer each question with
relative ease and confidence.

~25 minutes gone…

P2: So I am done, P1 do you have anything to add?
(I was so glad to hear that since the interview had gone excellent up until this point)
P1: (Looking at me and then my application) I just need 2 more minutes. (me: gulp!)

So, Rohan, you have had an excellent career till now, and have been working with product managers.
(my goal revolved around becoming a PM) Why can’t you just try to get a Product Manager at your
current workplace?
With utmost confidence, I gave an answer that I had prepared and refined over and over again but the
panelists had a poker face.

P2: Ok, so we understand that why you need an MBA but why ISB?

*grilling starts*

They negated every point that I stated :
Diversity: 90% of ISB students are engineers out of which 70% are from Tech, so diversity goes for a toss
Specific courses: You’ll get those courses online
Study groups: There are online forums/blogs for discussions, you can meet people online or offline, etc.
Brand name: You already have a good pedestal at Samsung

They grilled me for some time and I tried defending, but sometimes they didn’t even let me finish my
sentence or speak at all. (very IMP to keep a straight/smiling face during stress interviews) Then, they
asked that if I were to join ISB what electives would I take. I told them a few, but it was here things
actually went south.

P1: So what major do these fall under?
Me: Sorry, I don’t know
P1: Ok, do you know what majors you want to do at ISB?
(I couldn’t remember a damn thing)
Me; Sorry, I don’t know
How many majors does ISB offer, what are they… -> don’t know
Grilling for a few more minutes!!
P2: Is ISB a university or an institute?
Me: University… Oh no, sorry its an institute.
P1: What body is ISB accredited by?
Me: Sorry I don’t know.

P1 went into a rage stating that in his n years of interviewing experience he had never come across such
a batch of interviewees who didn’t even know what major they want to do or what ISB is or has to offer
( apparently he had faced this situation with a lot of candidates this time ). They both went on for 5
minutes explaining that I shouldn’t be paying so much money to study at a place I don’t know about. All
the time I was silent because I knew that my dream had to wait another year.

P2: So, I guess we have nothing more to ask. Do you have anything else to ask?

Given how the interview had gone I had a lot of things to say, but I just asked a question regarding ELP
on which we had a 2-minute discussion. When it ended, we got up and shook hands while they said that
they understand that I have done pretty good work and that I want to become a PM, but I should
seriously consider other options.
25 minutes of cloud 9, then 10-15 minutes of grilling and I was back to square 1, feeling terrible about
myself. Most of the people, with whom I shared this experience, said that its ok, you still have a chance,
it was a normal stress interview, etc. etc., but I could remember the panelists' faces and words, and
knew my fate.

2.5 weeks later, I got the accept mail