Round - 1 2008-09 Bangalore Interview Experience - 1

Here is teh interview experience of a candidate whose interview was in Bangalore

Profile:

Sex: Female

GMAT : 730 / 5.5

Work ex: 2+ yrs in IT some involvement with family biz

My interview was scheduled at 11:30 AM. I reached thevenue at 10:30 ( yeah didnt want to take a chance withBangalore traffic). There was a lady sitting near thereception kinda place of the interview area. I gave her the copy of my interview email. She verified my timings and handed a paper which had the topic for the essay - "Composed". I just wrote whatever came to my mind in the next 10 mins and expected the lady to tellme to stop writing the essay after sometime. But nothing of that sort happened and I realized that I coulda gone for like another 30 mins easily writing/editing the essay. The scene after writing the essay:Spoke to some fellow candidates outside the panelrooms, read (acted :) to show im cool) some mags,stared around, tried analyzin the reaction of the pplcomin outta the panel after interview etc.

Inside the interview room:I1 : The person who greeted me outside I2 : The observer I3 : The lady. There were 3 ppl (2 guys 1gal)...all looked reallydignified

I1: Tell me abt ur family biz

Me : Blah blah...

I1 : whats ur role in it

Me : Blah blah...

I3: wots the diff factor abt ur family biz's prod (ihad mentioned tat its a new tech tat we hadintroduced)

Me : tried drawin some stuff in paper to tell the techaspects I3 handed over a marker... without even seeini was abt to start drawin some crap when I1 told metat the marker is not for boards n I3 gave me theproper one ( i felt tat it was a test of my presenceof mind n i had failed...tried to forget that thoughtn went ahead with the blah blah..)

I1 : stuff abt my team skills

Me : blah...

I2 : (speaks for the 1st time) u say tat u r a gudmotivator..tell me in terms of points as to how do ugo abt motivatin ppl

Me : (blank mind) fumbled some crap .. but wasconfidently tellin the crap n said in the course tat idont follow a structured process n hence cant put myans in terms of points ( i was happy with thefrankness :) )

I3 : i ll give u a case...after isb u wan 2 choose 5ppl for u biz...wat qualities wud u want in them

Me : I chose a manufacturing firm...Since she toldqualities i was conc more on that than just tellin oneshd be a fin person, one HR ...ex: one person shd ve exp with startups, one shd knowhw to handled white collared n blue collared workers,one shd be jack of all trades, one shd be ve worked inthat field ...etc

I1 : u forgot to mention abt the person whose gonnatake care of the production

Me : told tat the 1st person(one with tech exp in thatfield both in india n abroad) whom i had mentionedwill do tat

I1: what abt marketin??

Me : (accidentally) the 1st person...(then) apologizedn said that i had forgotten to include that person :)

I3 : where do u see urself as a mgmt person?

Me : didnt clearly get the question...n asked her toexplain... I1 came to rescue n rephrased it...

I1 : what do u think are ur best mgmt skills (somethinlike tat)

Me : total crappy ans

I1 : whos ur fav CEO?

Me : i actually told them "i think u ll be bored askinthis q frm mornin cz almost all s/w guys wuda told the same ans n prob shd stop askin ... yes NRN itis....blah.. ."

I2 : wat kinda companies u lookin for post isb?

Me : no company on mind...more interested in the rolen responsibility

I1 : any questions?

Me : asked them abt the entrepreneurship prog isb has(apparently i refered to the wrong prog name when iasked the question n they were wonderin wat itis...then i explained them the prog I1 kinda smiled nconsulted I2 n told the name n answered my question)I tried gettin their focus outta my blunder with theprg name n conc more on my questions with the prg...so hope they pardoned me for thatIf u see i had fumbled many places...but tried to beconfident(not over confi though) abt the fumbling nerrors :)

abt the interviwers:cool ppl... will make u feel totally comfy