IIM Interview 3 - IIM Bangalore

Now is the turn for the dearest and most coveted of all interviews this season - IIM Bangalore. It was again a morning slot (seems like the entire IIM fraternity wanted me to have early mornings) and started right on time. There was only a single panel of two professors this time. It was a different atmosphere all together as the air had more competitiveness in itself and everyone seemed geared up to a level higher than the other interviews. It could be very well be my biased perception but still is not surprising when you are there to be chosen for one of the most premium business school in the country.

We were called for a group discussion to start with. The group had 8 guys in all and we had a discussion on "whether foreign companies be allowed to establish centers in India". We got 10 mins to read the caselet and put down points on a paper. Then a vocal discussion followed where I chipped in 5-6 times with 2-3 good points, that I believe were good at that time :) At the end we were asked to wait outside and were called for interview in order as we were called for discussion. Guys went and came out and unlike all other interviews (IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode ones), no-one seemed to be any helpful to guess what was going on inside. The maximum they could yield was a bit of probability and no idea after that. This was enough to frighten in most of the candidates in itself. I was the last guy in the row and hence had to undergo a wait untill 1'o clock to be grilled.

Finally came the moment and I was called in and then started the dreaded interaction with the two highly intellectual beings for the moment.

Panelist - Introduce yourself!
Me - Blurted out the prepared one
Panelist - Ambition in life?
Me - The usual me globe-tutter blah blah..
Panelist - Why to go for an MBA now?
Me - ..fundas
Panelist - ...coaching for MBA?
Me - ..further fundas involving around lack of time and opportunities in a residential campus
Panelist - (now ready to throw a blooper and grill me to their best)...If no coaching then where did you pick all these stereotype answers..?
Me - No idea Sir....These are not funde but I m true in what I say here...
Panelist - So where have you been placed?
Me - Sir so and so company (it was a business analytics firm)
Panelist - ..hmm and what is you work profile going to be..?
Me - Sir software development.
Panelist - So is it anything related to your graduation?
Me - Strictly speaking, no sir.
Panelist - So you wasted all your time during your engineering?
Me - (confessing I wasn't prepared for this question) Answered with recession fundas..lack of companies...
Panelist - Do you know companies like this are basic reason for this recession?
Me - Agreed and gave my logic for the relation of those companies to recession.
Me - Yes Sir in fourth semester we have a specialized course on probabilities and related concepts.
Panelist - ...What were you taught there?
Me - Answered.
Panelist - So how do you define random process..random variable..?
Me - Some arbit yet relevant stuff was my reply.
Panelist - Then what is area under a pdf?
Me - Sir 1 (enough perturbed by the grilling and not sure of the answer only thing I knew was there is only one answer when a specific number is asked in a probability question).
Panelist - Okay..something about your hobbies..
Me - Finally the relief!
Panelist - Do you wish to tell us something?
Me - No sir (I just want to run out of here and take some air..:D)

Thus ended the seemingly long grilling session and my third interview. God knows if it was a stress interview or were they really pissed off by my stereotypes and the company I was placed with.

God help....

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