Frequently asked questions in Interviews

50 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: IIM INTERVIEWS

The student MUST prepare complete and convincing answers to the following questions.

1. What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives,

when and why did you establish these goals, and how are you preparing yourself to achieve them?

2. What specific goals, other than those related to your occupation,

have you established for yourself for the next 10 years?

3. What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

4. What do you really want to do in life?

5. What are your long-range career objectives?

6. How do you plan to achieve your career goals?

7. What are the most important rewards you expect in your career?

8. Which specialization would you like to take in MBA? Why?

9. Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?

10. Which is more important to you, the money or the type of job?

11. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

12. How would you describe yourself?

13. How do you think a friend or a professor who knows you well would describe you?

14. What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?

15. How has your education prepared you for a career?

16. What are your reading habits? Favourite book? Favourite author?

17. What qualifications do you have that make you think that you will be successful?

18. How do you determine or evaluate success?

19. What have you learned from your hobbies?

20. In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our institute?

21. What qualities should a successful manager possess?

22. Describe the relationship that should exist between a supervisor and subordinates.

23. What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why?

24. Describe your most rewarding college experience?

25. If you were the interviewer, what qualities would you look for?

26. Why did you select your college or university?

27. What led you to choose your field of major study?

28. What academic subjects did you like best? Least?

29. Do you enjoy doing independent research?

30. If you could do so, would you plan your academic study differently?

31. What changes would you make in your college or university?

32. Do you think that your grades are a good indication of your academic achievement?

33. What have you learned from participation in extracurricular activities?

34. Do you have plans for continued study?

35. In what kind of an educational environment are you most comfortable?

36. How do you work under pressure?

37. In what part-time or summer jobs have you been most interested? Why?

38. How would you describe the ideal job for you following post-graduation?

39. What are the three major characteristics that you bring to the job market?

40. What do you know about our Institute?

41. What two or three things are most important to you in your job?

42.Are you seeking employment in a company of a certain size? Why?

43. What criteria are you using to evaluate the company for which you hope to work?

44. Why did you choose our MBA Institute for your higher education?

45. What have you done in the past year to improve yourself?

46. Why should we take you rather than another candidate?

47. Give an example of something you have done in the past that 

demonstrates your initiative and willingness to work?

48. Who are your role models? Why?

49. What major problem have you encountered and how did you deal with it?

50. What have you learned from your mistakes?

Top 50 b-schools of the world

1.      Harvard Business School
2.      Stanford Graduate School of Business
3.      University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)  
4.      Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)  
5.      University of Chicago (Booth)   
6.      Columbia Business School
7.      Northwestern University (Kellogg)
8.      INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires)  
9.      Dartmouth College (Tuck)
10.    London School of Economics   
11.    London Business School   
12.    Yale School of Management
13.    New York University (Stern)  
14.    University of California - Berkeley (Haas)  
15.    Duke University (Fuqua)   
16.    Purdue University (Krannert) 
17.    University of Michigan (Ross)  
18.    University of Virginia (Darden)  
19.    Cornell University (Johnson)   
20.    IMD (IMD (International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne)  
21.    Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)   
22.    University of Oxford (Saïd) 
23.    IESE Business School (University of Navarra)   
24.    Thunderbird School of Global Management 
25.    University of Texas - Austin (McCombs)   
26.    University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson)  
27.    HEC Paris (École des Hautes Études Commerciales)   
28.    University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)   
29.    Georgetown University (McDonough) 
30.    Indiana University (Kelley)   
31.    University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) 
32.    ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas) 
33.    IE Business School (Instituto de Empresa)  
34.    Babson College (Olin)  
35.    University of Southern California (Marshall) 
36.    Vanderbilt University (Owen)
37.    University of Toronto (Rotman)  
38.    Emory University (Goizueta)  
39.    University of Western Ontario (Ivey)  
40.    Queen's School of Business (Canada)
41.    Brigham Young University (Marriott)  
42.    University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign  
43.    Southern Methodist University (Cox)   
44.    Boston University School of Management   
45.    Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management
46.    Washington University - St. Louis (Olin)
47.    Ohio State University (Fisher)    
48.    Michigan State University (Broad)  
49.    University of Rochester (Simon)
50.    University of Minnesota (Carlson)

Ten tough Interview Questions and their answers

Ten Tough Interview Questions and Ten Great Answers

The following are some of the most difficult questions you will face in the course of your job interviews. Some questions may seem rather simple on the surface--such as "Tell me about yourself"--but these questions can have a variety of answers. The more open-ended the question, the wider the variation in the answers. Once you have become practiced in your interviewing skills, you will find that you can use almost any question as a launching pad for a particular topic or compelling story.

1. Tell me about yourself.

My background to date has been centered around preparing myself to become the very best _____ I can become. Let me tell you specifically how I've prepared myself . . .

2. Why should I hire you?

 Because I sincerely believe that I'm the best person for the job. I realize that there are many other college students who have the ability to do this job. I also have that ability. But I also bring an additional quality that makes me the very best person for the job--my attitude for excellence. Not just giving lip service to excellence, but putting every part of myself into achieving it. In _____ and _____ I have consistently reached for becoming the very best I can become by doing the following . . .

3. What is your long-range objective? Where do you want to be 10 or 15 years from now?

Although it's certainly difficult to predict things far into the future, I know what direction I want to develop toward. Within five years, I would like to become the very best _____ your company has. In fact, my personal career mission statement is to become a world-class _____ in the _____ industry. I will work toward becoming the expert that others rely upon. And in doing so, I feel I will be fully prepared to take on any greater responsibilities that might be presented in the long term.

4. How has your education prepared you for your career?

As you will note on my résumé, I've taken not only the required core classes in the _____ field, I've also gone above and beyond. I've taken every class the college has to offer in the field and also completed an independent study project specifically in this area. But it's not just taking the classes to gain academic knowledge--I've taken each class, both inside and outside of my major, with this profession in mind. So when we're studying _____ in _____, I've viewed it from the perspective of _____. In addition, I've always tried to keep a practical view of how the information would apply to my job. Not just theory, but how it would actually apply. My capstone course project in my final semester involved developing a real-world model of _____, which is very similar to what might be used within your company. Let me tell you more about it . . .

5. Are you a team player?

Very much so. In fact, I've had opportunities in both athletics and academics to develop my skills as a team player. I was involved in _____ at the intramural level, including leading my team in assists during the past year--I always try to help others achieve their best. In academics, I've worked on several team projects, serving as both a member and team leader. I've seen the value of working together as a team to achieve a greater goal than any one of us could have achieved individually. As an example . . .

6. Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor? How was it resolved?

Yes, I have had conflicts in the past. Never major ones, but certainly there have been situations where there was a disagreement that needed to be resolved. I've found that when conflict occurs, it's because of a failure to see both sides of the situation. Therefore, I ask the other person to give me their perspective and at the same time ask that they allow me to fully explain my perspective. At that point, I would work with the person to find out if a compromise could be reached. If not, I would submit to their decision because they are my superior. In the end, you have to be willing to submit yourself to the directives of your superior, whether you're in full agreement or not. An example of this was when . . .

7. What is your greatest weakness?

I would say my greatest weakness has been my lack of proper planning in the past. I would overcommit myself with too many variant tasks, then not be able to fully accomplish each as I would like. However, since I've come to recognize that weakness, I've taken steps to correct it. For example, I now carry a planning calendar in my pocket so that I can plan all of my appointments and "to do" items. Here, let me show you how I have this week planned out . . .

8. If I were to ask your professors to describe you, what would they say?

I believe they would say I'm a very energetic person, that I put my mind to the task at hand and see to it that it's accomplished. They would say that if they ever had something that needed to be done, I was the person who they could always depend on to see that it was accomplished. They would say that I always took a keen interest in the subjects I was studying and always sought ways to apply the knowledge in real world settings. Am I just guessing that they would say these things? No, in fact, I'm quite certain they would say those things because I have with me several letters of recommendation from my professors and those are their very words. Let me show you . . .

9. What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?

The key quality should be leadership--the ability to be the visionary for the people who are working under them. The person who can set the course and direction for subordinates. A manager should also be a positive role model for others to follow. The highest calling of a true leader is inspiring others to reach the highest of their abilities. I'd like to tell you about a person who I consider to be a true leader . . .

10. If you had to live your life over again, what would you change?

That's a good question. I realize that it can be very easy to continually look back and wish that things had been different in the past. But I also realize that things in the past cannot be changed, that only things in the future can be changed. That's why I continually strive to improve myself each and every day and that's why I'm working hard to continually increase my knowledge in the _____ field. That's also the reason why I want to become the very best _____ your company has ever had. To make positive change. And all of that is still in the future. So in answer to your question, there isn't anything in my past that I would change. I look only to the future to make changes in my life.

Important:

• Do not reproduce the answers verbatim.
• Do not repeat the same answer in each and every company, as this might put you in a tight situation. Research the company well before attending the interview.
• If possible, try to know the area in which you are expected to work and model your answers accordingly.
• Give a small pause before you start answering a question and also in between your answers. This conveys a fact to the interviewers that you are thinking before answering, and not just blurting out the mugged up answers.

If this work of mine has really helped you in any way or if you think this is a very useful reference tool, please send me an e-mail. I will be looking forward for all those gratitude mails. BYE.

CHEERS!!!!!!!!

CAT toppers of 2010 and 2009

CAT (2010) 100 percentiler
Name of the candidate-  Ankit Kala


                                                    score(150)         percentile

Quantitative                                       112                  99.89

Logic and data Interpretation              121                 99.98

verbal                                                 123                  99.91

total                                                     356                 100.00




CAT (2009) 100 percentiler
Name of the candidate-  Pushpak Pusegaonkar


                                                    score(150)         percentile

Quantitative                                       95                   99.50

Logic and data Interpretation              94                  99.53

verbal                                                 100                99.99

total                                                     289              100.00

Some of the good mba coaching institutes in India

Top training institutes, coaching classes for CAT in India

List of top training institutes that offer coaching classes as classroom programs and as correspondence course for CAT, XAT, FMS, IIFT and other MBA entrance exams in India.

Fermat Education's 2IIM - CAT Coaching Classes in Chennai
An IIM Alumni venture, 2IIM offers classroom coaching for CAT in Chennai and a comprehensive correspondence course for CAT including online Mock CATs. The institute also offers CAT GD, PI training. The course director is an IIM Bangalore graduate. One of the core quant faculty members is an IIM Calcutta graduate. Call on 99626 48484. Classes @ Mylapore, Annanagar and Velachery.

2IIM's - CAT Coaching Class in Mumbai
An IIM Alumni venture, 2IIM offers classroom coaching for CAT in Mumbai. The institute is located at Dadar (W). The CAT course director, who is also a quant tutor is an IIM Ahmedabad graduate. Call on 080970 48484.

2IIM's - CAT Coaching Classes in Bangalore
2IIM offers classroom coaching for CAT in Jayanagar, Bangalore. The CAT course director, who is also a quant tutor is an XIM Bhubaneswar graduate. Call on 091419 48484.

Career Forum
Headquartered in Pune, Career Forum is a training institute that offers training program for CAT, XAT and other MBA entrance exams in 6 cities.

Career Launcher (CL)
Headquartered in Delhi, Career Launcher is a training insitute for CAT with a nationwise presence. Offers its Pegasus program for CAT and other MBA entrance exam preparation.

IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd
One of the oldest coaching classes for CAT, XAT, CET and other Indian MBA entrance exams. Based out of Mumbai, IMS offers courses in over 50 cities in India. Offers both classroom and correspondence course for CAT.

Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt Ltd (T.I.M.E)
An IIM, XLRI alumni venture headquartered at Hyderabad offers classroom coaching for CAT, XAT, MCA, Engineering Entrance and wide range of entrance exams in various cities and towns in India.

Raking of MBA colleges in India

List of Top MBA Colleges in India

1.   Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
2.   Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
3.   Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
4.   Indian Institute of Management Lucknow
5.   Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
6.   Indian Institute of Management Indore
7.   XLRI Management Institute Jamshedpur
8.   IIFT – Indian Institute of Foreign Trad
9.   FMS – Faculty of Management Studies Delhi
10. NMIMS – Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and Higher Studies
11. ISB – Indian School of Business Hyderabad
12. MDI – Management Development Institute
13. SPJIMR – S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research
14. SIBM – Symbiosis Institute of Business Management
15. IMT – Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad
16. TAPMI – T.A. Pai Management Institute
17. Nirma Institute of Managemen Ahmadabad
18. JBIMS – Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
19. IRMA – Institute of Rural Management Anand
20. MICA – Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad