INTERVIEW PREPARATION

IIT Bombay
6th October 2012
Anant Gupta (IITB ‘03)
WHAT QUESTIONS COME TO MY MIND?

 Should I “Suit Up”?

 What should I carry for the interview?

 How can I make a positive connection as soon as

I enter?
 “The Real Deal”

 How can I show I am keen?

SHOULD I SUIT UP?
 Dressing is Important
 What should I wear?
 “I don’t have any ties”
 “I got this from my wingmate; it does
not go too well with my orange shirt but then
they are recruiting me for who I am and not
for my tie”
 Safest options:
 Shirts (white or blue) with a good tie
 Black trousers (no browns or khakis)
 Black shoes
 What should I carry with me?
 Never hurts to carry the basic essentials: a pen, a scratch
pad, copy of your resume and if you have some claim to
fame (like some media coverage on what you did at IIT etc)
 Don’t carry a thick folder with hanging papers though
HOW CAN I MAKE A POSITIVE CONNECTION AS
SOON AS I ENTER?

 A firm handshake – No “fishy” handshake

 No discrimination
 Eye contact
 Good to meet you

 Small talk help open up but be careful with the

questions you ask
 BODY LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT
 How should I sit in my interview?
 How can I use my body to increase

the impact of what I am saying

 Nobody likes to work with people

who lack energy and enthusiasm

THE REAL DEAL - PREPARATION
 Preparation is the key
 General Preparation
 Write key questions you think could be asked
 Prepare bullet point answers
 Practice talking through them
 Toughest interviewer is the mirror

 Mock interviews – Set up small teams and interview with your

batch and senior batch if someone is around
 Take feedback and build on it

 Company Specific Preparation

 Why are you excited about this Company and this role?
 What in your past helps you bring out the point that you have
always looked for this role?
 Who all have you met or who all inspired you about the
Company?
 “Dropping names” might help as well
THE REAL DEAL – PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
 In every personal interview, 60%-70% of questions never change
 Long term / short term goal
 Leadership and Team work experience
 Challenging Experience
 Internship Experience
 Why us?
 Stress questions
 Why didn’t you get a PPO?

 Why is your GPA low?

 Almost in every interview, someone will ask you to “Walk him

through your resume”
 Practice before hand
 “Most decisions on recruiting someone are made in the first few minutes
of the interview. The rest of time is spent in validating and confirming
the hypothesis”
 Be ready to deliver the story in 2-3 minutes
 What you did?

 What was your role?

 What did you achieve?
THE REAL DEAL – TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
Technical Interviews (Core-based Firms)
 Discuss with your immediate seniors on what sort of
technical questions are asked?
 Prepare before-hand
 Knowing is one thing and communicating is another
 Have an interview prep group where you question each
other on explaining various aspects
 In many cases people will be keen to understand what

you did in your technical internship. Practice walking

through that
THE REAL DEAL - TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
Technical Interviews (Non Core Firms)
 Consulting
 Cracking the case is the key
 Prepare solving cases of different types
 A large number of case studies available online
 Practice different “guesstimates” types
 Have case-prep groups
 Financial Services
 Keen on understanding the analytical frame of mind you have
 Energy and enthusiasm and willing to work longer hours if required
 Biggest concern: Will you enjoy financial services or you are a pure
techie?
 Management
 Leadership and team work
 Real-life problem solving ability
 Technical questions will most be limited to your internship or some
key project you did
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US?

 Never say no – just shows you have not done enough

research or are not keen for the role
 Prepare few questions before the interview –
Interviewers try to judge what you are thinking about
through your interviews
 Sample Consulting Questions
 How are the teams set up?
 How does the firm make sure the analyst get good
experience across industry and functions?
 What sort of training and mentorship programs are in
place to improve your skill set?
 Most of the consulting firms have a 2 year program for
undergraduates – understand what does it take to move to
next level?
 Don’t go overboard in terms of asking too many
questions. Depending on the time, 2-3 questions are
sufficient