ISB Interview Debriefs.

Question

We just finished a mock-to-real comparison with few of the applicants whom we mentored and who were interviewed at the Delhi ISB admissions panel today. Thought I’d share some detailed insights for those preparing for their own interview rounds.
 
 Tell me about yourself 
 Tell us more about the dorm room initiative that you had started 
 What kind of books do you read. The interviewer had read one of the same books and asked a few related points 
 Walk us through your journey since you have switched three firms in your career 
 Why ISB now 
 You mentioned a skill gap tell us more about your undergrad specialization 
 How will ISB be different from your undergrad learning 
 ISB is a mix of practical and theoretical learning. How do you think you will benefit from it 
 Can’t you learn from industry experts in your current job 
 Why not go abroad or to IIMs or Masters Union 
 Do you want to learn more from professors or industry experts 
 Give an example of cross team collaboration Not the one from your essay tell us a different example 
 What is one weakness you have how did you come to know about it and what have you done so far to work on it 
 What kind of people do you not like working with. How will you handle a group project if such a person is in your team 
 What were you known for in your undergrad among your peers 
 How do you generally interact with people 
 Can you please read four lines from the screenplay you have written

Most candidates underestimate how deeply conversational yet layered the ISB interview can get. We help applicants simulate this exact tone and unpredictability in Mock Interview sessions including curveball questions, follow-up traps, and personality calibration.If you’re targeting ISB this year and want a realistic mock + feedback based on the latest panel trends (like this one), feel free to DM us.

CrackAdmission · Answer

Collection of Debriefs of some of the applicants we mentored for the ISB Interviews held in Mumbai today / 1st Nov 2025

• What will you do if you are not selected for ISB this year?
• There are a lot of people we have interviewed from your organization, ZS. How is your work different?
• Why do you want to do an MBA now considering Data Science and ML are the booming sectors.
• Management Consulting is poised for a massive downturn. Why do you want to touch a falling knife?
• Have you considering doing a Data Science focused program instead of MBA?
• You have mentioned that you want to do MBA to get knowledge of Finance, Ops, HR etc. You can take up courses on Udemy for them while still pursuing your professional career. Have you considered that?
• You have mentioned that you are super excited about the intersection of GenAI and Management Consulting. Can you tell us a couple of things GenAI can’t do.
• You play the guitar. Who are your favorite guitarists and why?
• You have mentioned that you started a NGO for Disaster Management and Relief. Why such an initiative when there are so many Govt. schemes already existing.
• How do you balance between self-growth vs team development?
• Which is one course from your undergrad that you have applied in your professional career and how?
• You are so passionate about building data science models. We fear that an MBA will actually digress your from this. Any thoughts?
• What according to you are the Top 3 Attributes of a successful Hardware Product manager.

Wishing all applicants who have their in person interviews tomorrow and virtual interviews the next weekend all the very best !!

Feel free to DM us in case you are looking for mock interviews as part of your preparation.

Cheers !

CrackAdmission · Answer

Collection of Debriefs of some of the applicants we mentored for the ISB Interviews held Remotely last weekend.

1. We’ve gone through your application, but why don’t you start by telling us about yourself?
2. Can you walk us through the Not For Profit cause you started in college ; how it started and what you’re trying to solve?
3. What is the long-term vision for the initiative?
4. Where do you see your students progressing from today? What’s the end-state you want for them?
5. What metrics do you currently track, and what specific targets have you set for the next phase?
6. Why is student retention difficult for you at this stage?
7. How are you managing funding and your commercial partnerships for the initiative?
8. What does leadership personally mean to you?
9. What is your role at Visa, and how do you apply your leadership principles in your day-to-day work?
10. Why do you want to pursue an MBA now, and why specifically ISB? What are your post-MBA goals?
11. What would your plan be if you don’t go to ISB or any business school this year?
12. If you want to move into an APM role, why not do that now instead of pursuing an MBA?
13. Tell us about a situation where you faced a team conflict.
14. And during that conflict, were things handled smoothly or did it get confrontational?
15. What do you hope to learn at ISB, and how do you see yourself contributing to the community?
16. How have you contributed to your undergraduate alma mater (NSUT) as an alum?
17. How do you balance your full-time role at Visa with running the Not for Profit?
18. What’s one thing your team or beneficiaries criticise you for?
19. How do you stay updated with the ed-tech or youth-development landscape in India?
20. What’s one uncomfortable truth about your work style that you haven’t openly acknowledged yet?
21. Tell us about a time you made a decision purely on instinct. Looking back, was it foolish or courageous?
22. Tell us one thing about yourself that has not been mentioned anywhere else in your application.
23. What would your closest colleague say is the one reason you should not be admitted to ISB?
24. You are one of the last bunch of applicants who ISB has shortlisted in R1 this year. How have you spent the last few weeks – was it anticipation / hope / dejection etc. and why?

Feel free to reach out to us via arijit.biswas@crackadmission.com / +919701215544 if you have been shortlisted for Interview this weekend and looking at ways to ace it.

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