IIM Lucknow "HELL" WAT & GDPI Experience

My first IIM interview.I hardly got time to prepare for it & so was quite worried.I will write my profile in short.
School & junior college
10th-92%-20th in Pune merit list
12th-92%-Missed merit rank by 1 mark :(
Graduation
FE-First in college
SE-3rd in Pune University in mechanical engineering
TE-4th in Pune University in mechanical engineering
BE-7th in Pune University in mechanical engineering
Topper in 3 subjects,2nd in college

Work experience- Whirlpool Corporation
Engineering Design
2 years

CAT 2011 -99.53%ile

Let us directly start with my experience.

Day-10^th Feb 2012

Centre –Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai

Time- 2pm

 

First of all, we were asked to sit in a room, where we checked our panel numbers & then we were waiting for further instructions.

At 2pm sharp, we were asked to gather inside room for GD. out of 10 members in a panel, only 5 showed up!I was happy as the competition itself got reduced & I was supposed to fight with 4 intelligent creatures! Even the panellists were surprised. But 3 more came in after the start of the essay. :(

Essay Topic-If one can’t die for something then he is not fit to live… (15min)

We were provided with A4 sheet ruled on both sides.Writing 2 page essay was an uphill task considering that last time when I wrote essay,I was in 10th STD!I think I did fairly well,with introduction,my opinion,few examples & then conclusion.Our sheets were taken away after 15 minutes & then we were asked to discuss the same topic

GD-We were given 12 minutes(1.5*8)Our group talked really well.No crossing,no fish market,ample number of examples etc etc.I couldn't get an opportunity to start GD,but was the 2nd person to talk & then pitched in frequently.In all,I talked 6 times,everytime with new point.Panellists were happy to see that there was mature discussion rather than heated debate, the way Arnab Goswami conducts it on Times Now!

PI-Yours truly was the first to be interviewed!

Total time - 37minutes.This was the longest interview that I ever experienced.My interview revolved around Mechanical engineering as I worked in the field of Engineering design for 2 years & completed BE in Mechnical Engineering.

 

There were 2 members in the panel.

Left- Arunabha Mukhopadhyay – Head of the admissions committee

Right – Kashi Naresh Singh – Operations Management.(IIT stud) Both were smiling throughout the interview. So the left one is AM, Right one KNS & me :)

AM- Please come in Nikhil, Please have a seat.

Me- Good afternoon Sirs, Thank you,

KNS- So what is the pronunciation of your surname?

Me- told him.

KNS- What is your specialisation in Engineering?

Me – told

KNS- Your College is MIT, Pune. Is it Maharashtra Institute of Technology? Is it Govt College?

Me- told

KNS- Ok, Nikhil you are from Engineering Design field. Tell me what is Engg design?

Me- I started with my answer. Told him the procedure followed by design engineers.

KNS- Then he started talking about many engineering components cranks, connecting rod, engines etc. I sensed the upcoming questions like how do you design Connecting rod… & yes, he asked, how will you design a connecting rod?

Me- I started with compression forces acting from crank end, then gaseous compression forces from piston end, that are exerted by air fuel mixture etc. etc… he cut in… didn’t allow me to complete.He liked cutting me short before completing my answers.His sadistic pleasure must be overflowing at that point.

KNS- no no now tell me the cross section of connecting rod.One more bouncer or let us say beamer from his side.

Me- I was blank. He didn’t tell me the section about which I was supposed to tell. I told him that it will be variable section, considering its 2 circular ends & middle tapering end.

KNS- Are yaar, you are a mechanical engineer; you should know it (His face was like "Who gave you BE Mech degree kind"…then he drew a picture.

Me- It can be circular or rectangular

KNS- Circular is fine. But rectangular? It is I section & there is a reason behind it that I don’t know.

Me- I didn’t persist. I thought I was taking my interview in unwanted direction. But then came the help…

KNS- On what kind of project you worked in your company?

Me- Sir I worked on heat transfer.It is my favourite subject & I was lucky to get an opportunity to implement my learning on actual project.I am also university topper in it.Showed him my certificate.(I was quite sure that after doing this much show off,an IIT prof would be really interested to rip my knowledge,but I was prepared)

KNS- ah Heat transfer… We have number of ratios & numbers in HT. Can you tell them? Tell me about Nusselt number. (He was taking multiple pauses & was not allowing me to speak)

Me- told about Nusselt number & explained it by using formula & detailed explanation. He smiled..

KNS- What is Grashoff’s number & what is its significance?

Me- told.Again full to gyaan for 1.5 minutes.

KNS- Why do we see these fins on the surfaces of engines & other components? I don’t like them. Why?

Me- told, gave explanation. I drew figure; told him about the increased effective area & how it was useful.

KNS- No no but what is the use of it?

Me- told. Again diagram for explanation. Both were smiling.

KNS- So what is Biot number?

Me- Sir I don’t really remember about Biot number. But I can explain you fin efficiency.

Then I explained Fin efficiency with formula & 3 possible cases & how 2 of them are useless. He was impressed.

KNS- Ok. Fine. Then he said something which I don’t remember.

During this time, AM was checking my certificates. Suddenly he came in

AM- See Nikhil, you are so good in Engg. You still remember formulae from your subjects & you are able to use them in your work also. Why are you leaving Engg? After 2 years at IIM L, you will be mad. You will forget all this. Why do you want to go for MBA?

Me- told about my company experience. My working in cross functional teams. How certain individuals having knowledge of multiple domains were good…. KNS Cutting me short…(Man this guy was irritating me!!!)

KNS- no no… see after getting experience in Engg you will be also good in other areas, why MBA? AM was smiling

Me- Sir, I need to consider future goals also… blah blah...

KNS- who told you this answer….? Coaching institute?

Am- CL or TIME? Both were smiling.

Me- No Sir, This is the answer which I got as I worked & observed keenly…blah blah…they were still smiling…then AM said..Arrre yarr we are just making fun yaar... don’t take it seriously. Anyways which coaching institute?

Me- told that I am from TIME… (I don’t know its implications) Then AM said something like they talk with each other these days & something like that.

Then there was a call for AM, & he left the room…KNS showed irritation on his face for intervention.

KNS- So where does the production of your company take place?

Me- told.

KNS- What do they manufacture at these plants?

Me- told.

AM came in

AM- Where does your company have manufacturing plants?

Me- told…

Am- So your company is Korean?

Me- No Sir, it’s American

AM- Then why do you see that we Indians are not in this business? Why they are succeeding?

Me- told that actually Indian business is looked upon by Indian engineers & managers only… We got award for innovation from our global arm… blah blah...

AM- Ah …innovation. You guys these days talk about entrepreneurship, innovation…good…but what is it? See refrigerator will be refrigerator only... How can you make it innovative?

Me- Sir there is a concept of Smart Kitchen. Told him about internet connectivity. How refrigerator can be made innovative… They smiled again.

AM- So why we Indians are not doing this? You explained me nicely all the Engg calculations & blah blah…What if you are a CEO of home appliance company? What do you think is the failure of Indian brands?

Me- told that our company itself bought it. Told that TVS was also in the business. But how they loss it. Why US based & Korean companies are winning…money.. Talked that we are not able to compete in the global market…I knew that it was not impressive. He allowed me to speak.

KNS-then he said something related to products, quality etc.

Me- On that I told him about how LG was winning over our company… on which he disagreed. (I sensed the other direction & stopped talking…thank god AM came in)

AM- Did you leave job? Why?

Me- told…They were convinced. Then KNS cracked a joke that you are actually following our GD topic. You are dying for IIms…All laughed.(I know this was a PJ.But IIM ka interview hai yaar...haso sab log)

Am- Ok Nikhil, you must be reading newspaper. What is the difference between Indian economy & Chinese Economy?

Me- A bit tensed as I didn’t know much about Chinese economy…I mean I could have told about GDP, Sectorial percentage. But forgot about it completely…Then started telling him about similarities in economies, how both are facing inflation. How RBI helped India… CRR cut…etc. he showed an “impressed face” I don’t know whether it was sarcastic or genuine.

AM- Nikhil, why don’t we see people from other parts of Maharashtra? I didn’t see anyone from Nagpur, Aurangabad…why? (KNS was trying to answer him… I don’t know why…) AM said let him tell... I want to know his answer.

Me- told. So do you think that we IIMs are still “elitist”?

Me- told…

AM- Ok what do you do during whole day?

Me- told…

AM- Which other calls do you have? & when?

Me- told

AM- So now you don’t have to appear for WAT PI of 6 new, right? You already done with L. Well we wish you all the best for your future interviews also.

Me- Thank you, Sir…smiled. They also smiled.

(They both looked at each other…& said We are done.  Please ask other candidate to be ready)

It was a bit stressful in the beginning. Became free flowing during academics, job life, why MBA… Then became sort of discussion in company policies, competitors etc…& ended on typical questions)

Verdict - Converted.:) & definitely joining!