IIM CALCUTA GD/PI EXPERIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL DETAILS:
Name: Gaurav Dhir
Education:.B. Tech Computer Science
Year of passing out: 2005
WORK EXPERIENCE: None
Duration of Total work experience:
Company last worked for:
Position:
CAT PERCENTILES:
Overall: 99.53
Verbal: 95.55
Quantitative: 98.90
DI/Reasoning: 98.88
IIM C calls: PGDM/PGDCM/BOTH Both
Final calls: PGDCM
GD/PI venue: New Delhi
GROUP DISCUSSION:
Topic of the GD: Are women activists ruining the cause of women.
No. of participants in the GD: 8-10
Time Limit and any other instructions: 12-15 minutes.
Whether asked to summarize the GD: Yes
Whether a written summary of the GD was asked: No
THE GD EXPERIENCE: (please provide at least 5 lines of description)
We had a healthy discussion with not much of a fish market. Every one participated. All except one (Vipin
Gupta) spoke against the topic. Almost everyone from my GD group got final calls from IIM C.
I started on a poor note. I opened my mouth to start the discussion but gave way to some one else. But
later I brought in a few good points and one or two examples. Although one of my best points was
highjacked by the only lady in the group. People spoke about how women activists provide a voice to
fellow women to Arindhati Roy and Medha Patker being icons. Vipin spoke about how the women
activists only look for a platform to attain popularity. In the end, we were asked to summarize in a

specified time. People were called in a random order. Me and Nischal Mohnot (100 percentile)
summarized within our allotted time whereas most others overshot their stipulated time.
How would you rate the Chaos level in the GD (on a scale of 1-10, 1 being most peaceful 10 being most
chaotic): 5/10
Any observations on mistakes you committed in the GD: I let my points slip away. I also started but then
kept quiet when others took the lead
Any observations of what you could have done better in the GD: Could have been more assertive
Any tips for GD preparation: It pays to be well read. And it is equally important to know how to listen.
PERSONAL INTERVIEW:
No of interviewers in the Panel: 2
List of the questions asked and your responses:
(Intro questions/acad based questions/work experience based/general awareness/personal questions)
I was asked quant questions. 4 in all. 2 were picked straight from that years CAT paper. I solved the 1 st 2
but couldnt solve the others. In fact I made a very silly mistake of trying to differentiate x!. Then the prof.
made me realize that it was a discontinuous function. In fact, as soon as he saw that I was faltering, he
started putting pressure and by the time I gave up on the 4 th question, I was thoroughly under stress. By
this time, I had had a very pathetic interview. Then the prof asked me about whether bottled water should
be allowed or not (there was a Kinley bottle kept on the table). We had a discussion on private players in
industries.
Then I was asked to do a SWOT analysis of myself. I faltered and then the prof asked me to list out 3
strengths and 3 weaknesses. I could give only 2 each. Finally the prof asked me a question to test my
ethics.
Any observations on mistakes you committed in the PI: got stressed too easily
Any observations of what you could have done better in the PI: TRY NOT TO GET STRESSED
Any tips for Personal Interview preparation:
Pick out your favorite subjects in engineering/graduation and prepare them well. Concentrate on how you
explain the techy concepts to the panel in a simplified/ illustrative manner. For example, if you are a
comp sci engineer, think of how you would explain a techie funda like Data encryption to your kid brother
at home. You can check of howstuffworks.com to practice this.