ADMISSIONS 2023

Admissions for the BM, HRM & LSCM Programmes for the session 2023-24
Dear Aspirants,

We hope you are all set for the next round! In line with the previous year, there will be a
Personal Interview round. Details regarding the same will be communicated to the candidates
in due course of time. However, to help you prepare for the journey ahead and to give you an
idea of what to expect during the PI round, we have compiled an Interview experience
compendium based on input from 2022 applicants for BM, BM(LSCM), and HRM programs.
Keep in mind that interview experiences vary across panels and years, so view the document as
a collection of experiences rather than an exhaustive list of questionnaires for the upcoming
round.
All the best!

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Table of Contents

1. Personal Interview Guidelines ------------------------------------ 3

2. Interview questions: BM ------------------------------------ 4

3. Interview questions: BM(LSCM) ------------------------------------ 29

4. Interview questions: HRM ------------------------------------ 32

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Personal Interview Guidelines

1. Ensure that your laptop is working correctly and has the required video interview
applications installed in advance and the network bandwidth necessary to conduct the
interview before the interview day

2. Select a quiet place and try to cut out noise and distractions during the interview. Ensure
that you are in an isolated room and no one else is in the room during the interview

3. Keep your phone switched off/ silent for the duration of the interview. Candidates are not
allowed to operate their phones or any other electronic gadgets or devices during the
interview.

4. Make sure that you are facing the light. Your background should not have the lighting.
The objective is that your face should be well-lit and clearly visible to the interviewers.

5. Have a clean and interview-appropriate background - it is recommended that candidates

set a plain white image as their video background or have a clear background without
any objects

6. Dress professionally – strictly in business formals (including lowers!)

7. Try to look directly into the camera while speaking to ensure that you have eye contact
with the panelist(s)

8. Position the camera appropriately so that your face and upper torso occupy (roughly)
two-thirds of the screen

9. Try to keep a rough sheet of paper and pen for doing any rough work that the interviewer
asks you to

10. Always start your interview by greeting the interviewer and ensuring that your video and
audio are on and functional. Also, thank the interviewer after your interview is completed

11. Please be on time for the interview and join a few minutes in advance to avoid any last-
minute technical glitches

12. Try to be confident and composed and avoid accessing any other windows or tabs on
your laptop while the interview process is going on.

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Interview questions: BM

Profile: General, Engineer, Male, Experience at Hindustan zinc;

Panelists- 1F, 2 M

F: Tell me what you exactly do in Hindustan zinc

Me: Answered
F: Explain the process, what is froth flotation, your role; equipments..
Me: Answered
F: Do you have any idea of de that you studied in college
Me: Remembered a simple equation told
F: Explain integration to a child
Me: Answered
A lot of questioning about concepts of differentiation and integration

M1: Tell me about your interests.

Me: Answered about basketball, badminton an,d swimming
The conversation revolved around this for about 20 mins (leadership, pressure situations, stress
relieving)
M1: what are the changes in rules of basketball since invention!
Me: Answered
M1: who invented basketball?
Me: Answered

M2: So tell me why pb and zinc are found together!

Me: Had a little bit idea. Answered but was not convinced.
M2: How can you differentiate between 2 samples (cast iron and steel) without performing any
tests?
Me: I said without performing anything on the samples we can’t distinguish between them
M2: Tell me do you follow any technology other than metallurgy and sports.
Me: Told about metaverse
M2: Have you heard about the news regarding blockchain and basketball.
Me: Had no idea; said was not aware

Overall a pleasant conversation and a very long interview ( 52mins )

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Profile: GEM, BTech - VJTI, Mumbai (2021 passout);
(9.5/8.5/6.5 )
XAT - 99.5%
Experience: Working in dad's Business

A: Good Evening sir!

P1: (Didn't wish back); You've written that you invested in the stock market last year. What was
the stock price of AstraZeneca in Feb ?021.
A: Sir I'm not sure.
P1: Have you really invested?
A: Yes sir. I can...
P1: Okay what was the price of Zydus around the same time last ye?r.
A: Answered correctly.
P1: Bitcoin?
A: Answered.
P1: So tell me about AstraZeneca?
A: (Really couldn't recall and had to take a guess), Around 3k but I'm not sure sir.
P1: It's wrong. Okay, tell me why did you invest in AstraZeneca, Zydus, panacea, Dr. Reddy's.
A: Answered.
P1: The stock market opens at 9, but we can start trading only after 9:15. Why?
A: Answered Partially.
P1: If you don't know the complete answer, say you don't know.
Why did the name of VJTI change?
A: Answered.
P1: Who are the stakeholders?
A: Answered.
P1: Who are the stakeholders of a private B school
A: Answered.
P1: Who are the stakeholders of the stock market?
A: Answered, but didn't look satisfied.
P1: Difference between trading in NSE and BSE?
A: Answered, but seemed frustrated and said okay I'm done!

P2 ( Extremely chilled and smiling)

How are you feeling?
A: I'm feeling great sir, Thank you!
P2: Tell me, how do you get a chess rating?
A: Answered.
P2: Risk vs Reward in Poker?
A: Answered.
P2: Why did you learn cooking and not Painting or something?
A: Because it's a life skill and it'll be very useful in life when there are no restaurants around.
P2: So do you know to grow vegetables, rice, and wheat?

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A: No sir, But I assumed that I would never get to see war-like situation where I find it difficult
to get the raw materials to cook.
P3: Do you know swimming?
A: Yes sir.
P3: Okay, What else do you do?
A: I love to work out sir. I started in 12th and lost 25 kgs in 6 months.
P2: So how many calories in a day did you burn and consume?
A: Answered, explaining calculations. Should I tell the weight of protein, carbs and fat
consumed to sir?
P2: Laughed and said that'll be enough. I'm done.

P3 ( Was in a rush, but was chill and smiling)

Tell me what you do in your father's business?
A: Answered.
P3: Why didn't you mention work-ex in the form?
A: Said I started working since Jan this year and the work I did during graduation cannot be
considered work-ex. I didn't work in a corporate sir, so it would be wrong on my part to show
that I'm getting income and have work ex in a family business.
P3: Okay, What else should I ask you? Academics? (Smiled)
A: I regret having not studied well in UG, but sure sir you can ask anything you want sir.
P3: Okay tell me some business news.
A: Talked about Amazon-Future deal.
P3: What do you think about the whole thing?
A: I think what future group did was correct because it needs to keep itself and its employees on
priority.
P3: Sure no academics?(Again smiled)
A: Anything you want sir. (Smiled)
P3: Okay you may log off.

I maintained my composure and smiled throughout the interview.

Profile: XAT-98.68%
Panelists:3; all male

P1
What does your father do?
What is the revenue?
What is net margin?
Why did you mention your income lower?

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You’re a commerce student you should know this. (Grilling here)
What is your best equity investment?
Why HDFC?
What is its revenue?
What is its net margin?
Name conglomerates with high revenues
What are the 2 advantages of trading on BSE vs NSE?
What is the full form of SGTB?
Who are the stakeholders of your college?

P2

You mentioned economics as your favorite subject. what did you learn?
Why mention it as your favorite subject when you only know the basics?
Asked a question I couldn’t understand it he said let’s move on
Tell me about another subject.
What is the concept of the time value of money?
If there is no inflation and no interest would the PV still be more than FV?

P3
Anything you would like to mention?
I said I like to play football and chess.
(General discussion here. Asked about the sponsor in LaLiga vs premier league and more)

Very nice talking to you! You can log off

Profile: General, Non-Engineer (Lawyer), Male.

XAT: 99.91 percentile
Previous Academics: 95 (10th), 95.6 (12th), First Class (UG)
Panel Composition: 3M (30s, 50-60s, 60s)

Major Questions:
1) You keep an inventory of all your items at home. What are the highest cost items and highest
volume items? (SOP related) <some grilling here>
2) What do you think is the annual revenue of your firm? How many people work there?
3) What are your sources for legal research?
4) Which brands do you prefer?

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5) Give me an example of something that is ethical but illegal and something that is illegal but
ethical.
6) Should the super-rich get away with parking their wealth in tax havens?
7) Why MBA?
8) Define stakeholders.
9) Some discussion about crypto and its legal status.
10) Quite a bit of discussion on consumer law.
11) Any questions for us?

Total duration: about 30 minutes.

Overall impression: neither friendly nor hostile.

Profile: 17 Months of Work exp as Machine Learning Engineer/ Data Scientist,

92.83/89.23/78.2
XAT 97.6 percentile
3 Panel Members, (P1, P2, P3)

P1: Where are you joining from

P1: Your education branch
P1: Your job tag and company
P1: What do you do in your job?
Me: Answered about forecasting project.
P1: Tell me that in banks whether you need to do forecast in account level or branch level.
P1: A car company should forecast sales at city level or at shops (present in that city) level.
Me: Answered shop level with some points.
P1: Don't you think city level is better?
Me: No, told that those parameters would change for every shop.

P2: Tell about your family

P2: Tell me about your responsibilities.
P2: How would your parents manage if you do MBA for 2 years.
P2: Best achievements in your career
P2: Most difficult situation

P3: Your branch

P3: Tell about your work in technical terms
P3: Tell all types of classification algorithms.
P3: Compare logistic and decision tree approach.

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P3: Which libraries and languages do you use.
P3: Tell me about other ML algorithms.
P3: Which library has those algorithms?
P3: Tell me about your hobbies.

Interview lasted for 22 minutes.

Profile: BTech in Mech, Work-ex of 17 months in data analytics.

(9/9/8)
Panel: 3 male profs.
XAT: 97.1%

P1:
-Where are you joining from?
Tell me something not in your resume. (Told about interests in documentaries related to
cosmos/engineering, poems, and current affairs)
-How would you gauge these different fields on certain parameters? (Lengthy discussion on
this)
-Why didn't you join IIT or NIT? Do you think you missed out on anything by not joining IIT/NIT?
-If I say "COVID-19 was good for humans", tell me a few arguments supporting this.

P2:
-Where do you work and what grad background are you from?
-How would you apply your knowledge gained in college in the professional context today? (to
and fro on these questions, with a bit of grilling since he was trying to negate any response from
me)
-People say "Management education is useless in realthe world". What's your take on this?
-What changes should be brought to our college education system to make students ready to
face the corporate world?

P3-
Diff between ETL & ELT?
Any questions from us?

I asked how the virtual interviews have changed the perception and gauging process of a
candidate and what exactly is looked into in a candidate as compared to F2F interviews.

P3: (in a dead serious tone) We have certain parameters.

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P2 kicked in and calmly responded that these are tough times and it's true we have to adjust but
we do the best we can.

P1 was cooperative. P2 was in light mood with laughing sometimes and a bit of grilling too. P3
was acting uninterested and serious/angry.

Profile - Work-ex - 20 months in a telecom company

(9/9/8)
XAT - 98.89
Panel - P1, P2, P3 all male

P1 - Where are you joining from? (Told)

P1 - When is your company calling you back (Told - Late April)
P1 - You want to go to office? (Yes) Why? (Explained)
P1 - Explain what work you do? (Explained about the WFMS Digitization program that I look
after)
P1 - Explain work force (Explained)
P1 - Engineers are the ones who physically go to sites? (Yes)
P1 - Are sites not owned by Indus? (Told)
P1 - Then what Airtel does? (Answered)
P1 - How many antennas can you place? (Told)
P1 - Are there just your equipments on the sites? (Told)
P1 - Joked and asked So your guys must be pulling out other operator's cables (Answered
about the policy agreement)
P1 - Explain to me as a layman about tower sites. (Told. Some genuine cross-questions from
his end)
P1 - Explain the economics of renting your space for a mobile tower. (Explained)
P1 - Explain what is spectrum. (Explained by taking classroom as an example)
P1 - Can 5G work in diff spectra? (Told)
P1 - What about the interoperability issue between devices? (Told)
P1 - Have you heard about the news from IIIT Hyderabad regarding 5G (told no, but would look
it up)
P1 - Tell me about UPL (My father works there, but I'd nowhere mentioned it. Came as a
surprise) (Told)
P1 - What does UPL do? (Told) Went in more depth and asked about the products (Told)
P1 - Why is it in news? (Answered about a potential merger)

P2 - Tell me about your strengths and you as a person? (Told)

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P1 interrupted - How did you find me? Intelligent or dumb - (Told I found him inquisitive. Joked
that if I'm politically correct, he'd give me a zero. I told him that I found his questions and cross-
questions intelligent.)
P2 - Your opinion on chemical usage? (Talked about agrochemicals, polymers and micro-
plastics)
P2 - What do you read? (Told that I started reading fiction, but it did not interest me. So shifted
to current affairs)
P2 - Any latest news? (Talked about the Karnataka Hijab row)
P2 - Anything else? (Answered)

P3 – Do you work in the same domain you studied? (Yes)

P3 - Tell me your favorite subjects. (Told)
P3 - Difference between analog and digital communications? (Told)
P3 - Why digital communication? (Told. Emphasied on encryption)
P3 - Hypothetically, you want to encrypt an analog signal, what would you do? (Surprised by
this question, told 2 approaches - P3 seemed satisfied)
P3 - What else do you do? (Told shayri and poetry)
P3 - What do you write about? (Told)
P3 - You perform anywhere? (Told about open mics and IIM Ahmedabad experience)
P1 interrupted again - You mentioned geopolitics, where do you read it from (Told Twitter and
YouTube)
P1 - What channels on YouTube? (Told)
P3 - So would you write a shayri or poetry about this experience?
P1 - Anything that comes to your mind right now? (Told not currently, but surely would try to
write something)
P1 - Send us what you write and joked that don't write anything bad (Smiled and said Sure sir)

P3 - You can log off now!

Profile: Business Economics

Fresher

P1: Where are you joining from?

Me: Panipat
P1: What is your city famous for?
Me: The three battles of Panipat
P1: What are the current battles the world is facing? Not talking about the physical battles.
Talked about the problem of poverty, illiteracy, equality, etc.

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P1: How will you battle poverty if you were an advisor to the PM?
P1 got an important call and had to answer that. So, when he came back he asked a different
question.
P1: I believe that poverty exists because of laziness. Then why should the govt try to fight it.
Had a good discussion on this topic for 4-5 minutes.

P2: You talked about “Libertarian society” in one of your answer. what is it?
Answered
P2: Have you studied it in your course?
I said that I had little knowledge about it through newspapers and magazines and never had a
proper course on it.
P2: You are a student of business economics then why are you not pursuing master’s in it.
Answered
P2: You mentioned dramatics in your SOP. Why is it called dramatics society and not drama
society?
Didn’t have an exact idea but talked about how drama is a piece where as dramatics is an
activity and a wider concept.

P3: You didn’t have any plan to pursue a career in dramatics, then why did you join it? Wasn’t it
a waste of a seat? Shouldn’t it have been better for society to have a member who would have
wanted to make a career in the field?
Answered

Profile: XAT - 99.71

Panelists. All male. 40s,30s,30s

P1
1) You look like a kid. You remind me of my 11yr daughter. Don’t you think this is an
impediment? People in MBA are very aggressive and all. How will you survive? You will have to
work hard and all that stuff.
A lot of cross-questioning on this
2) Tell me about your father’s business.
Cross-questioning on this.
3) How will you make a brand of your father’s pulses?
Cross questioning
4) Don’t you think this is selfish of you to abandon your father’s business and go for MBA. For
business, legacy is important. Are you a selfish person?
Cross-questioning on this.
5) what all calls did you get?

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6) Rate your interview with me.

P2
1) Are you done with B,C interviews?
2) How was B?
3) Tell me about the questions asked.
4) You are very critical of yourself. You accept criticisms easily. Isn’t it bad? Something like this.
Can’t remember the exact question.
Cross questioning
5) Disadvantages of being open to criticism
6) Should a leader be open to suggestions?
7) Give an example where a leader shouldn’t be open to suggestions.
8) In North India farmers are moving from pulses and lentils to other commodities. How will you
convince them to increase the farming of lentils and pulses?

P3 didn’t ask me anything.

XAT:99.3 %ile
Profile: 5 month Work ex; B com
(92/93/57)

P1 - Tell me something about yourself that's not mentioned on the Application and be precise.
Told Basketball / F1 / Music / Movies.
P1 - Tell me the difference between all these four. Stated like 3-4 still didn't seem convinced.
Talked a bit about background and college and What not.
Learnings from Work Ex
He seemed happy and said Very good.
P2 - Gave me 2 written questions to solve. One was on Margin and One was on Debt Equity
ratio
P3 - Would you like something to add or wanted to tell us about.
Told him something about the NGO I am connected with, coz I didn't have anything to add
more.
P3 Asked why did you think it was important to mention it.
Answered, I think it was okay.

Yeah Idk how I feel about this interview. Saw the panel members smiling couple of times.

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Profile: 9.8 / 73.5 / 8.39; GEM fresher (2021 Grad)
XAT - 99.45:
Pannel: 3 prof Males

M1 - where are you joining from

- How is the weather there?
- Which other states you travelled to?
- Eastern India States and capitals
Couldn't recall all seven sisters
- Asked about conflict states with China
Told one. Missed J.K and ladkah.

- Fav subject: Machine Learning

- What all you learned - Told
- Why Deep learning takes so many layers?
Tried to answer by using cat-dog differentiation example. Said use a new example.
- Told me to explain NLP.
- Neural networks use numbers. But text is characters. How to solve that problem
Answered
- You seem an expert in ML. Why not join a company?
Told. Not properly convinced.

M2 M3 join in

- Discussion on Hobbies.
- Again why not join a company.
- Are you running away from coding?

- Why MBA?
- What difference would be going into a company as a plain graduate vs as an MBA graduate.

- Discussion on Hobbies again

- Asked about the current activities that I'm doing.
Seemed interested. A little bit of discussion.
Concluded here.

Friendly panel. Listened with patience.

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Profile: 9.6/9.6/7.3
33 months of work ex as lead maintenance manager
XAT - 98.967
Panel - M, M3-60+; M2-40ish

M1 –
- Where are you joining from?
- Okay, so which division of reliance are you working in?
- Do you know about the VIMAL brand of RIL, is it still there?
- Tell me about your favorite subject.
- Do you know about IC engine?
- Can you tell me about the difference between engineering and technology.
a. explained with an example.
Could answer most questions satisfactorily, he ended by saying interesting, very good, I'll be
watching you.

M2 - Okay, so tell me about first angle view and third angle view
- couldn't recall.
- tell me about your job roles
- Oh, you do financial budgeting as well, please explain with an example
grilled here a bit, ended satisfactorily
- Gave a situation about reliability of a spare which was just codified,
-how we can give data about it so that someone 5yrs down the line can take decisions
about buying it or seek alternatives
-gave solution with an example. He started smiling, said it was a trick question
and you handled it well.

M3 - started grilling on Carnot cycle - did not remember much.

- Asked me about my interest-told about option trading
both M2 and M3 were shocked,
M3 - give me a strategy and I'll trade for the next 3 days if it is profitable, I'll write to the
admissions office.
- Told that my system would take 1-2 months and explained the system.
- Asked me if my interview was a put or a call-Told the questions were like Put.

Overall good experience, M1 had a straight face, M2 was smiling, M3 was joking and grilling
throughout his questionnaire.

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Profile: 95/91.6/7.4 - NIT Trichy
2.5 years work ex as a software engineer in a financial services company.
XAT - 95.64%

M1-
- Where are you joining from?
- Why is Durg called Durg? ( I joined from Durg, Chhattisgarh)
- Common you are giving childish answers, tell me some other reason.
- Why is Chhattisgarh called Chhattisgarh?
- What is the significance of women's day, don't tell me the obvious things( discrimination ,
blah blah)…
- You are telling the obvious things, tell me something different.
(He mentioned men will get more freedom if women start joining the workforce , I
agreed and said that is another aspect of it that I did not think about)
- Tell me the gender ratio in your company?
M2 - You have done majors in metallurgy, minors in computer science, and doing CFA, tell me
which out of these you are passionate about?
I mentioned finance.
- Talk about a subject in finance?
- Don't tell me the syllabus, tell me why finance interests you?
M1 - What is the significance of debt to equity?
- How will you use the debt to equity information for making an investment Decision?
M2 - Which out of yoga and exercise is more relaxing? ( Have mentioned about yoga and
exercise in SOP)
M3 - If you want to organize a yoga camp in your company how will you do it?

You can log off

Overall a chill interview. M1 and M3 were very friendly and were satisfied with most of the
answers, M2 had a poker face and did not agree with my few answers.

Profile: GEM - Experienced - 20 Months

10 / 88.8 / 9.69
XAT – 95%
Panel: Three panelists - M1 (30's), M2(50+), M3(50+)

M1
- You graduated from Thapar University, Could you please explain your responsibility for the
POC work you did for the release cycle at GE Power?

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- What if something got stuck during deployment?
Exapained complete deployment process , my role and he seems satisfied.

M2
- What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?
- Why is Salesforce a CRM?
- Why is GE Gas Power using CRM?
- Explained to him the complete defamation, how commercial and sales manager of GE
Power use the App we build… nodded head and told me that "got it"
- What are the Pros and Cons of using Salesforce ?
- Pros - It's a CRM, Configuration and Customization, Out of Box functionality
- Cons - Licence cost is very high as compared to Other CRM such as Oracle / Adobe &
Microsoft.

- What are you developing in your team?

- Gave a very basic example how Commercial managers create outages and I am
creating Outage Creation Modal for GE using Salesforce.
M3 ( Poker face)
- Which company will use Salesforce more? GE or an automobile company?
- Clearly told him an automobile company because they will sell so many vehicles and
their parts, hence use of SFDC will be more. Seems satisfied.
- What ERP your company is using?
- I said Oracle.

- Then he asked me Salesforce Acquired "Tableau" and "Slack Why?"

- I told him that, Salesforce is now not limited to CRM, they are creating many more
things / Out of box functionality. Tableau is used to build Einstein analytics and Saleck
I don't know. He pushed me for slack, but I was blank. He said okay

- Overall, M1 and M2 seem satisfied. M3 IDK. 20-25 mins interview. I liked the complete
conversation.

Profile: 91/81/ 8.66; Working for a payment gateway as a product analyst.

XAT 98.33%
Pannel: 3 male professor

M1
- Where are you joining from?
- What was your undergraduate degree?
- What does your company do?

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- What is your job role?
- How is your company different than others?
- What different products does your company offer?
- Is it true that these PAPG companies are one and the same and are interconnected?

M2
- After demonetization how has the industry changed?
- What are the risks associated with online payments?
- How can we minimise the risk associated with online payments?
- Asked a scenario based question.

M3
- How does your company make money?
- Who bares the cost of the online payments made?
- Give examples of different scenarios.
- When do we call a company a unicorn?
- What do you think about the unicorn race?

No grilling, lasted for 17-18mins. Very chilled panelists, no questions based on academics or
GK.

Profile: 99.68%ile 18 months work-ex software development

Pannel: 3M (very senior professors)

M1: what is Bayes theorem and applications?

A: defined with an example and explained Bayesian regression.
M1: your example got me nervous. You took 3 variables. Please go back to your example.
A: tried to explain
M1: Umm okay. Tell me why would you not take mean as a central tendency?
A: sensitive to outliers and gave an example.
M1: what will you take there?
A: Median
M1: Why did you switch?
A: needed startup experience...new team...exciting projects...autonomy
M1: okay that's great. what other calls? * Told *
M2: who was first non congress prime minister?
A: Morarji Desai from Janata party after the emergency was lifted.
M2: how much time does sunlight take to reach earth?
A: 7-8 minutes

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M2: Tell me about your job.
A: Told about company and what it offers. Interrupted before I could get to JD.
M2: do you do personal finances?
A: yes. Stocks ETFs MFs
M2: I'm retiring next month and I have 50L capital. What should I do?
A: talked about it for good 2-3 minutes.
M2: ok nice. So you are from computers background. Technology is making poor people poorer
and taking up jobs. How can we curb the situation?
A: change is inevitable... adjust adapt. we are very privileged so it's our responsibility....told
about upskilling initiatives by government in the budget.
M3: why don't you have calls from other colleges?
A: I applied for 8 colleges only.
M3: what is your path doing an mba?
A: touched finance here
M3: what other colleges could you have filled?
A: new generation IIMs spjain etc
M3: why didn't you? was it a right decision mathematically? Consequences?
A: reason was psychological than mathematical. Helps me focus better. (Lots of cross
questioning here but seemed satisfied in the end. Concluded with risk taking abilities)
M3: will you also run business in the same way? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of the same.
A: plan B to fall back on... Shareholders, money and people's jobs...
M3: what are the risks with taking exams and doing business?
A: told about market, liquidity, operational, credit risk. Systematic and non systematic risk. In
exam talked about general points.
M3: do you follow cricket? What is India women situation in the World Cup?
A: won against Pakistan, lost to NZ and scored 317 runs against WI today.

Ok you may log off now.

No expressions nothing. Could hardly hear P3 as he was not wearing headphones and was not
loud enough.

Profile: 96/88/9.43, BTech CSE

8 months work-ex

P1: So you're working in JPMC, many people go there after mba. Why do you want to leave?
P2: tell me 3 good and 3 bad things about JPMC
(didn't have 3 points for bad but he kep insisting to tell)
P2: whom do you admire in your organization.

19
P2: okay, how would they rate you
P2: no don't give subjective scale, give me a number, 1-10 how would they rate you. (asked if I
can take diff parameters and then rate, he said no take 360° view and give me a number)
(I gave a small range, anywhere between these values)
P1: no give me one fixed number
(gave, tried to explain the method behind deciding it but he wasn't interested)
P1: okay how would your colleagues rate you?
P1: how much would you rate yourself?
P1: why your own rating is lower than your managers'?
(explained how I feel there is scope for learning more every day)
P1: this is opposite, most people rate themselves higher.
P2: if you didn't do engineering and you didn't have the option to do management, what
alternate work would you do
(tried to mention something in sync with my past education but he interjected)
P2: no, assume you don't any option of tech/mba anything. What will you do
(gave 2-3 possible things I'd like to do)
P3 interjects here and says, you're giving us too many possibilities, why can't you be specific
and give just 1 thing you would do instead of exploring so many.
(eventually told 1 alternate profession )

P2: you're from Mumbai, what are the issues that you'd change if let's say you were a mayor
(told few things)
P2: you need funds for that, where will you get it.
(tried mentioning state govt, civic bodies etc)
P2: they have funds right now also, why haven't they done anything. Find some other way
(fumbled a little, told something eventually)
(here P3 interjects, makes some snarky comment about my answer)
(I asked for some more data before I gave answer here)
P2: How will you fund it then if these weren't the options
(made some rude comment about me being a bad mayor if I need to explore these many
options. I tried to smile through it)
P3: tell me one specific incident where you took some decision and it's impact. And be specific
this time, don't give multiple possible outcomes.
(told)
P3: OK what criteria did you use to decide.
(mentioned 2 then took a minute and mentioned 1 more)
P3: (grilled a little on this answer)
P3: your biggest achievement?
(told)
P3: what criteria were used.
So you're saying I can use a linear equation to fit this criteria?
(said no, there are other micro factors that were considered too)
P3: but you mentioned only few initially, what micro factors
(told)

20
P3: then why wasn't this considered the 1st time
(told that I tried to list the major ones first, few more mins on this topic)

Felt like a stress interview many times. I tried to smile throughout the weird parts. They kept
trying to refute my points, convince me that my answer wasn't valid, interrupted me sometimes
and made some comments that felt rude but maybe to them it didn't.
Not sure what to make of this

Profile: GEM FRESHER

94/70/78
XAT-96%
Panel- Three panelists- M1(60's), M2(50's), M3(30's)

M1
Q1. Where are you joining us from?
Q2. What degree are you currently pursuing?
Q3. Did you sit for placements? Why not?
Q4. What will you do if you don't get selected here?
Q5. What other calls do you have? Have you had your HRM? How'd it go?
Q6. What was the most difficult question asked?
Q7. Do you think you'll give a different answer to that now? (Grilled a bit)

M2-
Q1. What are the qualities you'll be looking for while downsizing your team? (Kept cross
questioning for around 5 mins)
Q2. What is the basic psychological difference between the selection criteria during recruitment
and laying off.
Q3. You say here your favorite subject is Thermodynamics. What is Carnot Cycle? Explain its
stages.
Q4. What values are constant during what stage
Q5. How does its graph look like?
Q6. How does its graph look like for T-S axis.
Q7. What is reverse Carnot Cycle? What is the difference between Carnot and reverse Carnot?
Q8. What are the applications of Carnot and reverse Carnot Cycle.
M1 swoops in-
Q1. What was the subject you didn't like in your undergrad? Why?
Q2. How will you manage if you're given a managerial responsibility related to that industry, but
you don't know about that subject?

21
Q3. What industry would you pick if you had to take a job related to Mechanical Engineering.
Q4. What are the Internships that you did?
Q5. What technical domain are you interested in apart from your core degree.
(Kept grilling a little)
M3-
Q1. You mentioned about that Nestle Ad. What was it about?
(Related to something I mentioned in SOP)
Q2. How will you transit from a technical degree to a specialization like Marketing?
Q3. You've mentioned about this book on your SOP. Are you more inclined towards Finance or
Marketing?
Q4. What is your dream company?

Interview lasted for around 25 mins. Overall the panel was friendly. Professor M1 seemed a bit
strict, but M2 and M3 kept smiling throughout.

Profile: Family buissiness, BBA graduate

Panel: 1 Female (around 40-45), 1 Male (50+), 1 Male (seemed to be in his 30’s)
Referring to student as C.

Greeted them.
F - What business do you have?
C - Clarified if she meant my family business. She said yes. Answered, a couple of follow-up
questions about how the business is doing, what’s the revenue model and how is money
earned, major expenses for the business.

F - What’s your role at the company you are working in?

C - Answered.

F - How is your company different from its nearest competitors?

C - Mentioned 2 competitors and the difference. A few follow up questions since I mentioned
that the competitors focus more on using big data while my company focuses more on day-to-
day operational activities and less on big data.

F - Why do you think the competitors are focusing more on big data and not your company?
C - Mentioned why big data is important and how it helps businesses, then mentioned how my
company has also started a new department for data analytics since they realised it’s a growth
opportunity.

F - How many employees at the company? Where are they based?

C - Answered.

M1 - Specifically, what do you do in your role, please mention with a example

C - Answered. Got interrupted in between.

22
M1 - Since you mentioned you come across a lot of CIMs, any business you came across
where you thought this is out of the ordinary, any major insights you got from it?
C - Answered. Talked about an example, mentioning an industry which seems to be getting a lot
of attention and growth over the past few years.

M2 - You’re already a BBA graduate and have a degree in Business Administration, why do you
need another one?
C - Answered.

M2 - What are the different segments of a business?

C - Answered.

M2 - How is Finance different from Accounting? If you have to explain it to a layman?

C - Answer, fumbled a bit here, but managed to recover.

M2 - What was your specialisation in BBA? Finance or Accountancy?

C - Answered that it is Financial Management. He said but your document says accountancy. I
said that as far as I remember it’s FM, but I will need to check that again. (It is in fact Financial
Management). He said no problem, thank you!

Please log off.

Overall, a friendly panel, seemed interested in my answers and asked a lot of follow up
questions based on them.

Profile:
XAT: 99.74%
(89.54/75.69/92.3)
Panelists: 3 panelists (M1,M2,M3)

After exchanging pleasantries.

M1: From where are you connecting?

H: Mumbai
M1: Okay, select one number from 2,4,6 and tell me the reason for selection
H: 2 because it’s the only even prime number.
M1: What if I told you it was 2 crore rupees, 4 crore rupees and 6 crore rupees.
H: I smiled and said it would be stupid for not selecting 6 crore rupees
M1: Why did you change your selection?

23
H: Additional information changed the situation.
M1: Okay, suppose you have to select one of us for Deloitte, who would you choose?
H: Mentioned would select the one who fits the role and aligns with deloitte’s values perfectly.
M1: Tell me 3 values of Hardik and 3 Values of XLRI
H: Told
M1: Don’t you think you and XLRI are going on completely different parts?
H: Tried to link Empathy (one value I mentioned for myself) to Social cause.
M1: What social activity have you done?
H: Told
M2: Don’t you think that this is selfish as this is only helping people around you and not
everywhere ?
H: I tried saying that I am doing my best.
M1: Give me a monetary number for the extent of your contribution.
H: Told
M1: How much do you earn?
H: Told
M1: That's barely 5%. What do you do with the rest of the 95%?
H: Told.
M2: I want to know your monthly expenses. Can you list them out?
I was about to start when M2 stepped in and started pointing out things in the frame that
I didn’t need like my Blazer and tie, and said I could have avoided spending that money and
donated that to someone. M2 even pointed out that I am connecting from Mumbai, so AC would
be on. I said no sir there is no AC in our house. Here even M1 was saying to M2, let him speak.
Then they guessed the brand of my Blazer was Raymond and I mentioned it’s not Raymond
and I bought it when I started my engineering. I don’t even remember all the things they pointed
out. After one point I just let them finish and said with smile that I will look into my expenses and
ensure I cut out some unnecessary things>

M2: What would be the criteria for evaluating an empathetic person?

H: Told
M1: Suppose you have to evaluate the President of Russia on the basis of his empathy. What
will you do?
H: Told
M1: Who is the person in front of him?
H: I first confirmed if he was asking about the President of Ukraine and gave the name.
M1: How would Putin practice empathy if he wants to?
H: Told.

M3 takes over.

M3: Suppose, the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues for more than 2 months, what do you think
will be its effect on the Indian economy?
H: Told
M3: What about the International relationships?

24
H: Told
M3: But India is part of Quad, don’t you think India should support the west ?
H: Told. Mentioned Quad is not a military alliance.
M3: Why was Quad formed by the way?
H: Told. Mentioned it was formed to form a united stand against China whose influence was
increasing in the Indo Pacific region.
M3: So Quad can take a united stand against China but they can’t stand up against Russia ?
H: Told. Talked about the friendly relation that India share with Russia and that is absent in the
case of China
M2: Do you remember any instance when the Soviet Union used its Veto power in favor of
India?
H: Mentioned, I don’t know sir. I was referring to friendly relations based on their support during
the 1971 war.
M2: Russia vetoed multiple resolutions of the UNSC from 1957 in favor of India.
H: I will definitely read about it sir. (The answer is 6 times between 1957-1971)
M3: Thanks for your time!
Logged off!

P1
1)What is your name and meaning?
2)You work with infosys since 8 months , what has been the most exciting thing that happened
in the past 8 months?
3)What were three major learnings?
4)What was most challenging aspect of the meeting where you failed and how did you handle
it?
5)You mention about being honest, don’t you get labeled as incompetent if you are honest?
6)Is honesty contextual?
7)What did you do when someone disagreed with your policy/thought process?

P2
1)Revenue and Profit margin of Infosys
2)The corporate governance issue which is going on, your take
3)Lets assume you are the Chairman, justify the decision of you sacking your CEO in 3 points

P3
1)What will you like to learn in next 5 years
2)Can you perform a classical song for us(i am a classical singer)

P1

25
1)Ways to remove Carbon from Steel

Very friendly and conversational panel…

Profile: GEM Fresher (2020 passout)

93.1 / 83.6 / 82
XAT - 98.05
Panel -(3 males)

Panel members (P) were cross questioning simultaneously

P - Where are you joining from?
K - Nagpur Sir
P - So, which stream of engineering?
K - Mechanical Engineering.
P - So what you did last year
K - Explained about the gap and told that I did some freelance projects. Mentioned about my
reasons to drop plans for MS aftergiving GRE and shifting focus of MBA.
P - So why this sudden shift from MS to MBA. Why waste your hardwork of giving GRE and
college applications only to ditch it?
K - explained the difference and told how MBA would better suit my future goals. (Had told that I
intended to pursue my career in India and not abroad. Due to uncertainty in foreign countries
students generally have difficulty in transitioning back to home country)
P - Why this patriotism for India. When did you realise
K - would not call it patriotism sir but I just want to continue my studies and build a career in
India, with the end goal being the same (to get into the field of ops/supply chain/logistics).
(Panel gives mixed reactions but agrees)
P - When did you decide to go abroad and why
K - Post the 3rd year of my engg, when I had just comeback from the US after attending a
competition there. Naivety took over career plans and I planned to go abroad because my
friends had planned so too. Due to herd mentality I did not realise my true path.
(Few cross questioning here) - told how COVID in hindsight has given me the time to explore
my true interests.
P - So do you think herd mentality is good or bad?
K - Gave examples of when it can be good and bad. Told about how a team thinking/ working
towards a common goal and having a rationale can be a good example of herd mentality (HM)
P - So what is the difference between group thinking and herd mentality
K - Told.
P- Why then does the whole world brush in the morning. Isn't this HM? Why do I need to know
the history behind toothbrush and toothpaste?

26
K - agreed that yes it is part of HM but is backed by science for why to brush your teeth in the
morning.
P - why does the younger generations nowadays do things in their own timeline ( bath in the
evening , sleep at 3-4 am and wake up late) . Are they considering themselves revolutionaries
by not following HM
K - told about how this is about exercising personal choice and that selective instances do not
determine the complete scenario.
(Debated about this for a while sharing some laughters)
P - Ok Karan, I will give you name of 5 states, you have to rate them on the basis of
infrastructure building and what process flow would you follow. Take 20 seconds and answer.
Will tell the state names after you explain your thinking
K - thought and told the factors of resources, population, poverty&education and governance of
the particular state which will determine how it can be built
P - any 2 variables which will affect majorly
K - told about geographical location as one factor which will determine trade routes . Couldn't
think of another
(Some 1 min discussion here)
P - Ok Karan thanks . Nice talking to you. You can log out

Overall no questioning about undergrad projects, internships or the SOP (which mentions
everything). No grilling but good amount of debates. I have mixed expectations. 22-23 mins

Profile: GEM Mechanical 32 months work ex

92/95/81
XAT-97.8
Panel-Three panelists- M1(60's), M2(50's), M3(30's),A ( me)

M1
Q1. Where are you joining us from?
Q2. What is your profile at Bajaj Auto?
A- Answered. Bit of grilling here and there.
Q3. Why want to pursue MBA in ops or supply chain specialization.

M2-
Q1. ( From SOP) I see you are interested in calculus. Gave me a couple of questions to solve.
Q2. How do you apply calculus in mechanical and your job field.
A- Couldn't answered convincingly.long discussion.
Q3- What are your hobbies
A- Cricket and football.

27
Q4- tell me, why benefit of doubt is given to batsman.
A- couldn't answer, then he told the answer and then bit of discussion.
Q5- tell me, similarly if a panel is having doubt on student. Then to whom benefit of doubt is to
be given whether whether institutions or students.
A- lot of grilling on this. He was not convinced at all and atlast he gave up.
M3
Q1) - (from sop) why do you trade and how do you deal with losses
Q2) - What is your character and character building.
Q3)- shouldn't be a point where you should quit after heavy losses.

Conclusion: Entire interview was from SOP.

No GK no current affairs no opinions on diff topics. All the best to everybody.

28
Interview questions: BM(LSCM)

General questions:

- Introduce yourself.
- Why LSCM?
- What is Logistics and Supply Chain?
- What is the difference between mean, median and mode and why is one better than the
others?
- Did you make it into interviews for other programs? Why didn’t you convert?
- Basic questions from Calculus.
- Questions from Statistics and Probability (Basic) as they are important topics for the course.

Profile specific Questions:

Profile: Male, Commerce, 1 year of Corporate Work-ex and 3 years of Entrepreneurial Exp.
XAT: 99.48 percentile,
Pannel: 2 panellists, both male.

M1: Why XLRI now, after 4 years of work-ex?

Ans: Explained how even after multiple shortlists, I was still feeling that I was not ready for an
MBA and gave my perspective and motive of knowing the corporate world before stepping up the
ladder. Understanding the question was two parts, for why XLRI, it was simple answer that, I was
quite selective when it came to education and learning scope. Apart from academics, a lot of other
factors were very important for me like Culture, Learning scope, etc. When weighted among all of
these, my list only had a few institutes in the list with XLRI being the cherry top.
M2: What other institutes have you applied for this year?
Ans: This year, I wanted to join HR or LSCM in XLRI only. Informed that I was already on the
waitlist for HRM.
M1: What brings you to Supply chain? Cause on one side, you are a commerce graduate, and
interested in HR, why Supply chain?
Ans: Answered about how my interests and skills matched with the curriculum. Got crossed about
how interest started in this sector and answered them as well.
M2: Tell us why you should not join this program?

29
Ans: Was frank and said that HR was my top most priority.
M2: That’s quite obvious with all, but other than that what other two reasons would you state?
Ans: Didn’t skew towards my skills, but answered it with the fact that my family was not very
interested for any out of the country career options. And the second was that I founded a firm a
few years back which could be the only other reason if at all there was.
M1: Can you say something about the job you had before your own business?
Ans: Explained about the JD and responsibilities of the first job and how I landed it.
M1: you mentioned about Freelancing in your CV, what’s it about?
Ans: Answered how I pitched an idea at my first job and the same company offered me a
freelancing project for the idea.
M2: Tell us very briefly what does your business do.
Ans: Explained the business model of my firm.
M2: What is the role of Supply Chain in your business?
Ans: Explained how it was not similar to a regular business model, but still had so much to work
with Supply Chain.
M2: Is your firm a proprietorship, or a partnership, or something else?
Ans: It’s a Private Limited company, sir.
M1: What about your other shareholders?
Ans: I was the majority shareholder and me pursuing masters was speculated before
incorporating the firm, and coincidently the other shareholder was also pursuing admission in
XLRI.
M1: During your undergrad, what all quantitative subjects you had?
Ans: Explained the subjects and the learnings.
M2: Any questions you have for us?
Ans: I asked about the objective of this particular course, and what all specific skills of factors are
they looking for in a candidate. A bit of discussion happened here but they were polite and
explanatory about the course.
They wished me luck and ended the interview.

Profile: Engineer, Male, Fresher

XAT- 97.3%

- General Questions
- Why an MBA after Engineering?
- Why didn’t you pursue work ex. Before MBA?
- How good is your aptitude for maths and statistics? Questions related to statistics.
- Questions about my academic projects and internships. Then built the interview from there.
- Define pi (22/7 or 3.14).
- Some basic calculus questions - focus on application derivatives and integrals (again basic
only)
- Since the course is math related, asked whether I liked math or not.

30
Profile: MS, Male, Fresher
9/7/6
XAT – 99.3%

- What were the career prospects in your research? Why didn't you pursue it?
- What do you understand about supply chain?
- Which company is the first to come in mind when talking about supply chain? Describe their
business model.
- No Maths question, just casual behavioral..(Strange!)

Profile: Engineer, Male, 3 year work-ex in Reliance Industries.

9/9/8
XAT – 94%

- What are the initiatives taken by my organisation in terms of sustainability.

- New initiative/guidelines/investments by manufacturing sector in green hydrogen/energy
- How is optimisation of processes done in my organisation.
- How is modelling done and was given a scenario to model the conditions.
- Learnings from work-ex.
- Projects that I worked on.
- Some questions on calculus like differentiation, integration and differential calculus.
- Calculus application questions.

31
Interview Questions and Experience: HRM
Profile: Biotechnology engineer; 2 year experience on a startup idea based on
Hydroponics.
1-year work-ex in Sales
9.4/89.3/86.8.
XAT: 99.9+%ile

3 panelists p1 (Male in 50's) P2 ( male in 40's) P3 ( female in 50's)

P1:
- How are you?
- Are you currently working?
- What is your role about?
- Are you an employee or the job is based on commission?
- How is performance calculated?
- Based on your profile, you will fit for BM program, you are already done with BM interview
right?
- Don't you think appearing for HR will be a distraction for you?
- Don't you think appearing for this interview can have a negative impact on your selection for
BM?

P2:

- Where do you rank yourself on the basis of performance?

- What can be parameters for measuring performance apart from sales?

P3:
- What are your interests?
- What do you cook?
- How do you make that
- What was your YouTube channel about?

P2:
- I don't think you are looking to pursue HR, all your answers and your work. Do you really
want to pursue HR?

- You may leave now.

Casual conversation, no grilling.

None of them were convinced whether I wanted to pursue HR

32
Profile: General, Non-Engineer (Lawyer), Male.
XAT: 99.91 percentile
Previous Academics: 95 (10th), 95.6 (12th), First Class (UG)
Panel Composition: 2M (70s, 60s), 1F (40s)

Major Questions:
- Tell us about yourself.
- Why HRM?
- A lot of discussion on criminal law.
- Difference between right and title.
- Some discussion on Interpretation of Statutes.
- Difference between restraint and confinement.
- Difference between intimidation and criminal intimidation.
- What legal compliances are there to be observed in a company/corporate environment?
- Difference between judgment and precedent.

Total duration: about 20 minutes. Overall impression: a panel in the mood to grill, but I kept my
composure.

Profile: Male; 92.4, 91.5, 80

XAT: 96.5%

Q1. Where are you joining from?

Q2. Where are your roots from?
Q3. Asked me about my startup
Q4. Why do you want to be in business school if you running a profitable enterprise alread
Q5. Any top 10 startups founders who have mba?
Q6. What is your defining quality
Q7. What is integrity and ethics?
Q8. Tell us about some business news.
Q9. Why hasn't Maruti entered EV market yet?
Q10 Maruti vs Tata business strategy comparison

Good interview, super friendly panel, listened properly to my answers.

33
Profile: GEN MALE BSC STATS HONS
92.8/91.2/74.9
XAT- 96%ile.
4 panelists.: 2-M, 1-F

M-1
- What is the meaning of Milind?
Answered
- Why HRM? Don't tell me you want to help people, college fest etc.
Told
M2 - UGC has created a new rule(was referring to CUCET)
- Tell me in bullet points merits and demerits.
Told
- You mentioned heading the placement cell. Suppose your voice chancellor endows you with
the responsibility of drafting a placement policy for your University.
- Who are the stakeholders who you will consult?
Told
F2 - What are your hobbies?
Told
- You talked about inclusivity. Have you seen any examples?
- How will you make your organization inclusive?
Told.

M3 said a very passionate good bye at the end. Never showed his/her face.

Profile: BBA graduate

91/89/3.3
XAT: 90%
Panel: 2Male, 1Female

Pleasantries exchanged.
M1- So where are you joining us from?
Me- Jamshedpur
M1- You graduated in 2020. What did you do from then.
Me- Said I had gotten placed but due to covid onboarding happened late and I got covid. I
prepared for exams, did internships and course, participated in olympiads,
M1- What was your parents' reaction when you said you want to do MBA and not a job?
Me- they are supportive of my decision. elaborated how in the past they supported my decision
to shift from science in 12th to BBA in graduation.

34
M1- Favourite subjects in graduation?
Me- HR, OB, strategic management.
M1- Any concept in ob that you liked?
Me- Change management. Lot of questions and cross questions on this.
M1- okay how is Tata steel affecting your health?
Me- No visible effects but in recent times the air quality has decreased. but tata is trying to offset
it by its csr activities- planting trees, etc.
M1- What is the air particulate matter level in Jamshedpur?
Me- I don't know sir. will look it up after the interview.

M2- Do you know the motivational theories?

Me- Yes sir.
M2- Critically evaluate Maslow's hierarchy.
Me- explained.
M2- do you know about the 2-factor theory?
Me- I got confused between this one and another theory of x and y. but then I got the right one.
the two factors are hygiene and motivational factors.
M2- Why are these factors called hygiene factors?
Me- little cross questioning, in the end I said cannot think of any other reason why they are
called that.
M2- okay. any news in hr.
Me- I could think of 4 labour laws so said that.
M2- how is occupational safety, health and others important.
Me- explained

F1- what is your dream job and company?

Me- I said I don't have a dream company but my dream job profile will look something like this-
talked about strategic HRM, how I would helpthe organisation grow through it's people policy.
F1- describe yourself in 3 words.
Me- problem solver, creative, I am a great cook.
F1- anything creative you did?
Me- told about an incident in college.

M1- How can we empower women more in the workspace?

Me- explained.

All- Thank you, we are done.

Me- Thank you for your time.

M1 was grilling. I could maintain a calm composure. M2 was the sweetest interviewer, I got till
date. Overall, it went fine. Could have had a better dream job answer.

35
Profile: Mechanical engg, 17 months work-ex in Analytics.
XAT: 97.1%
Academics: 95/93/8.47
Panel: 3 male:

Note: My birthday was on the next day, which completely slipped out of my mind.

P1:
-So full on smiling and all? What makes you so happy today? (Told)
-So ready for the big day? (I asked what is he talking about?)
-You really don't remember? It's your birthday. (Lol... How could I!!)
-Okay so your interview starts now. What is the significance of birthday? (Clarified that is it my
birthday or is it in general to which he said mine only. Answered in the lines that it holds a
greater significance to my family than to me who have been by my side no matter in
failure/success)
- How're you going to celebrate it? (Told. Stressed that its not about eating in fancy
restaurants/gifts but being happy with whom you are)
- What are the 3 things that define u? (Told)
- Give examples of such scenario.
- One HR policy each you liked and disliked in your company?
(A little bit of cross questions on some topics)

P2:
- you have lived in 3 different states? Why did you move from WB to Bihar for 12th?
- What is your company's registered name?
-Why have you mentioned just the 1st word in your SOP then? (I didn't mention Pvt ltd)
-What is the meaning of Pvt and ltd. (Guessed and luckily got it right)
- What are you up to? (I asked in what sense). A bit of praise from P2 that he liked this attitude
of clarification before answering any questions which I did with P1 multiple times.
- Never mind, do you follow news? Can you tell any news apart from Russia Ukraine clash.
(About to say about Japanese investment and India buying Russian oil) Can you mention some
topics of Budget 2022? (Answered)
- This was an expected question. It shows that you prepared for it. (Said thanks with a cheesy
smile)
- Why HR? (gave prepared answer but he didn't let me finish)
- What if you are selected for both BM and HR?
(gave prepared answer and used the phrase it's a 19-20 thing)
- What are the things you expect to learn from HRM? (Started answering...) P1 jumps in and
jokingly said: Did you go through the course? Tell me truly? ( I said I did but I remember the
essence of the course and not the exact name) P2 supports me saying that "Even if he is
guessing it's an intelligent guess" (What a savior!!)
- What are you currently learning from this interaction? ( I said some things about experience
and perception... Also jokingly added I remembered it is my b’day tomorrow)... They laughed.

36
P3:
- you said it's 19-20. As we know it originates from Hindi, why do we assume everyone knows
everything? (Answered it's true that everyone doesn't know everything but if we think that way
and stop bringing such things out, people might never come to know....)
- What's your family background?
- Is ECL govt or private? ( Told)
- Is CIL govt or private? (Guessed)
- What are your hobbies? (Answered with one of them being poem)
- What does "Mubasshir" means? ( Answered)
Oohh... Now I understand why do you want to be an HR!!
- Which language do you write poems in? (English)
- Why not urdu? ( I said I know how to read/write urdu but I don't write poems)
- (in hindi) Yaar tumko urdu mei likhna chahiye na. Achcha... Kuch bolo urdu mei. Anything
rhymes you have heard in past. (Thankfully remembered one famous stanza)
- Do you know who wrote it? (I didn't)
- Have you been to any place? (Answered didn't go anywhere in the last 2 years but has been
to Mysore)
- Which all kings ruled Mysore? ( Said Tipu Sultan. He was looking for more names but I didn't
know)

P1:
That's all from our side. Happy birthday and best of luck!! A roller coaster ride. Takeaway: Don't
forget your bday.

Profile: BCOM(HONS), 8 months experience in Sales at shapoorji pallonji

Academics: 8/8/7
XAT: 98.10%

P1: Introduce yourself.

P1: Have you been travelling a lot (told my schooling and college was both from delhi and
currently working at Gurgaon)
P1: Why HR? Have you also applied at other HR programs like Symbiosis etc. ( told just the XL
and MDI HR and have not applied for any program at symbiosis, then talked about how a part of
my job role which is similar to HR generated my interest in the program).

P1: Is it a B2B Or B2C role?(Answered)

P1: Do you even need a sales pitch, is the brand name not enough? (Talked about product is
the first priority and brand just acts as an initial attraction)

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P2: Give an instance where you faced the most difficulty in selling to a customer? (Talked about
an instance where the client was acting on emotions and how I understood and pacified their
apprehension) Tried to grill on why it was difficult but was later convinced.
P2: Are even you eligible to provide discounts as you have been in the role for less than a year?
(Told yes) Asked questions on the discount components to verify (Answered) , was satisfied.
P3: So you work at Shapoorji Pallonji a huge and profitable company? (I said currently we are
not profitable but are trying to become one) he Smiled and said okay.
P3: what is the warranty period for the construction ? (Answered)
P3: where is it mentioned and is there any authority that governs it? ( answered, mentioned
RERA)
P3: What is RERA? (Answered)
P3: What is the designation of a RERA official who heads the corporate office(Didn't know, took
a guess)
P3 : What law governed Real Estate before RERA(said didn't know, he said don't worry about it)
P3 : Aren't you more interested in BM (Tried to grill on why HR but was satisfied in the end)

Profile: GEM : B-Tech - VJTI, Mumbai (2021 Passout) ; Working in dad's Business - [ Eco-
friendly Bags]
Academics: 9.5/8.5/6.5/
XAT - 99.5%

P1 :
- What do your friends call you?
- Tell me about your family history from your grandparents, about your siblings and the books
you read.
- What do you like watching?
- Do you think psycho thrillers make money by feeding on people's fear?
- What is the biggest news in Sweden in the past 2 years, related to HR? (Said they tried 4
day week model which failed).
- No, a bigger one? (Didn't know)

P2 :
- Tell me about the family business?
- Environmental laws?
- Biggest achievement?
- Biggest challenge?
- Why Mba?
- He asked 2 specific environmental + HR policies (Didn't know, had heard those terms for the
first time)

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- Why is the government struggling to eradicate plastic and what other steps can it take to
protect the environment?

P3 :
- Biggest regret?
- Why do 90% engineers do not do well in Btech?
- HR Curriculum of XLRI?
- Why HR?
- Why BM over HR?

Overall a very pleasant experience. (H1) Panelists were extremely friendly and will make you
comfortable.

Profile: BBA Fresher (8/8/9)

XAT – 89%

P1
Where are you joining from?
Tell me about your family.
Extracurricular activities done by you.
Which books do you read? Any book you read in the recent past.
Do you follow news? Why were Japan and Sweden in news the recent past?

P2
Good SOP. You wrote here - Conflicts are bound to happen in organizations. After how much
time does it happen? 1 week / 2 weeks? And here the grilling started. I talked about conflict of
opinions. So you mean if we have 100 people in a room, so we’ll have 100 conflicts. Even in
harmony, people will have conflicts. Etc etc. This continued for around 10 mins.

P3
Why only HR?
What do you love in Talent Acquisition? (I have interned in companies in the domain)
You managed a database of 700 people. Any flaws of the database?
You managed a lot of interns in your organization. In bullet points, tell me their view point on the
pros and cons of the company.

Thank you! That’s it from our side.

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XAT: 97th%ile
4 panelists

P1 - Introduce yourself and everything about you we would love to know

Told

- What are your readings other than education books etc.

Told that I read about The last Mughal by William dalrymple, life of Hieun Tsang and
Siddharth Gautam

P1 - where did Tsang used to teach?

- How many students and teachers were there
Told at Nalanda and exact figures but he said the no. Of teachers were not exact

P1- Your background relates to BM, have you done anything related to HR?
Told that every extracurricular had foundations of HR etc.

Some cross questioning as I mentioned my work etc.

What were the 3 problems that HR had to face in this Covid Time?
Mentioned 2 and can remember these only. Forced me to get a third thing. It luckily
clicked and I mentioned it. (A slight smile and banter)

P2 - what did you do after your graduation in 2021

Told the normal memorized answer

P2 - You mentioned about your work of HR in Enactus. Tell us about what an HR does?
Told all the work and processes of an HR

- Asked me to tell the difference between recruitment and selection

Told(was happy and saying very nice)

P2- as you've done this work, tell me about the parameters and selection criteria
Told 4 different parameters with examples and he seemed quite satisfied with it.

(Few more questions I don't remember exactly)

P3- So Vaibhav you mentioned AR, tell me a way to use AR in an organisation by HR

Was not sure exactly so tried to mention some basic things
He asked for a specific area.Told an Initiative I would like to conduct in an organisation.
(seemed like he was not very satisfied with it)

P3- any HR specific news you've been following in past 6 months

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 Told nothing specific last heard about Leena Nair only

P3 - Have you mentioned your AIR in CA foundation in the application form

I said no. There was no place to specifically mention it.

P3 - When you reflect back, what different/extra you could have done after your graduation?
Told nothing specific was already engaged in different things

Asked then in your entire life things you could reflect back upon. Things you love like to change
or do differently
Told about something related to personal life

P3 - tell me about any famous person who gave somewhat similar statement
Told Rishabh Pant
- Asked me to tell about a specific business leader.
Sir not sure of any particular person

Thankyou and asked to log off

was very chill interview, they were interested in knowing things and gave ample time
I have missed a few questions for sure

Profile: 17 Months Work exp as Machine Learning Engineer/ Data Scientist,

Academics: 92.83/89.23/78.2
XAT 97.6 percentile
3 Panel Members, (P1, P2, P3)

P1: Good afternoon, how are you?

Me: I am good, how are you ?
P1: Where are you joining from?
Me: Said
P1: Difference between I am good and I am fine.
Me: some discussions on it.
P1: Introduce yourself.
Me: Told
P1: Which company had any good policy
Me: Told
P1: Consider one policy and tell it's impact.
Me: Told about unlimited leaves policy. Some discussions on it.

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P2: How are you feeling today.
Me: I am excited.
P2: Asked about other interviews I have.
Me: Told
P2: Your choice between HR & BM
Me: Told
P2: Tell me something about XLRI
Me: Told
P2: What is meaning of Father, when it is used as salutation?
Me: Told

P3: You told about similarities in courses of BM & HRM. Tell me about it.
Me: Told
P3: But they are minors in HRM.
Me: Told for me all branches of MBA are new, told how can I do better in HRM.
P3: When does employee come to HR.
Me: Told some instance.
P3: That can be managed by management committee, why there is need to HR.
Me: Some more discussions on this topic.
At the end P3, didn't look satisfied with all my answers.

Interview lasted for 20 minutes.

Profile: BTech ECE, Work-ex - 20 months in a telecom company

Profile - 9/9/8
Panel:P1, P2, P3 all male

P1 : Hope you are fresh and ready to start

P1 : Tell me something that's not on your resume
P1 : Why HRM since BM is your first preference? (Told)
P1 : That is fine, but why HR exactly. What do you know and can you contribute? (Told about
LnD and CSR activities I was involved in)
P1 : What exactly is done in CSR? (Told)
P1 : Are more schools required as the enrollment ratio is going 100 % (as I had mentioned CSR
activities in the field of education) (Told about the secondary dropout ratio and how the CSR
foundation is financially helping for secondary education)
P1 : What are the % students of the foundation that have enrolled for secondary education?
(Smiled and told that I didn't know the exact number)

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P2 : What is Twenty Fifth Hour and what do you do? Mention the setback that you have
mentioned? (Had mentioned in my SOP. (Answered)
P2 : How do you build a team? (Answered.
P2: Tell strengths and weaknesses of your organization (Told)

P3 : Why are so stiff. Smile more, you look good while smiling (smiled)
P3 : Tell me what changes would you bring in the HR policies in your company? (Told about the
changes in the learning policy and CEP)
P3 : What you are talking about is about technical training. What else? (Told)
P3 : Identify 2-3 things that India INC should do to make it more "human"? (Told about purpose
driven startups . Told that work should be done at grassroots)
P3 : You write poetry. How would you rate yourself? (Told that I consider myself a beginner.)
P3 : What meter do you follow? (Told not a particular one. I try to write in rhythm that is
comfortable to read)
P3 : So you think that people who write without meter are less skilled? (Told that poetry is about
expression of thoughts and meaning should be conveyed)
P3 : Tell me how would this skill of yours (poetry) help as a HR head of an organisation?
(Answered)
P3 : What else do you do in your free time? (Answered. Told that I follow news and politics
actively. P3 said, let's not get into that and chuckled :P)
P3 : Any last statements on your candidature (Told)

P2 : Thanks, you can log off now!

Profile: BBA Grad, 40 months work-ex

9.4, 92.5%, 7.84,
Panel: 3 Males (40’s, 50’s, 50’s)
XAT: 98.05%

As I joined, heard one of the panelists say “Isko comfortable banaiye”

Greeted them.

M1 - What are you doing?

Ans - Answered.

M1 - So what was your profile? Can you share briefly?

Ans - Gave prepared introduction.

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M1 - Okay, then it looks like this is a very relevant question to ask you. So I have noticed that
most startups are paying their employees equity but they are not listed companies. So how can
they give their shares to employees and how are these shares of unlisted companies traded? Is
it possible in India?
Ans - Answered.

M1 - What’s the benefit of these shares? As an employee, I have received shares and now I am
leaving the company. So how will I be compensated then if I cannot trade these shares?
Ans - Answered.

M1 - I heard somewhere that there are certain brokers through which you can trade shares of
unlisted company. Is it true or false?
Ans - Answered and gave an example of unlisted shares of Chennai Super Kings (IPL team).
Mentioned how some investors can buy them and the risks/concerns involved with it. Seemed
satisfied.

M1 - There is a ratio of wages and salaries as a % of total operating expenses. So in a

company, for the last 5 years this ratio is not changing. What does it mean, what are the
implications of this ratio?
Ans - Answered with one, asked for one more, said I can’t think of anything else right now.

M1 - Okay, let’s say revenue and operating income of a company is increasing, can we say that
this company is doing well?
Ans - Answered. Seemed satisfied.

M1 - Okay last question, suppose there is a real estate company and they want to create an
incentive plan for their relationship managers (those who will sell the flats to clients). So they
have a pure commission based compensation plan. The question is, should commission be
based on a % of total revenue generated or a certain % of contribution margin. Which one is
more reliable?
Ans - Answered. Some cross questioning, I made a small mistake in defining contribution
margin which he mentioned and rectified. I apologized for it and continued with the answer.
Seemed satisfied, then asked what if it is a FMCG company? A stationary business? I said
irrespective of the industry, it should always be based on the contribution margin. So you are
saying fixed costs for all industries are same, whether constructing a house, manufacturing a
truck or a FMCG product. I clarified that the absolute numbers would definitely vary but what
matters is how much Variable cost increases with incremental sales. Seemed satisfied at the
end.

Okay, that’s all from my side, sir please continue.

M2 - So Jai, you were working in Mumbai? Where were you staying and where was your office?

44
Ans - Answered. This was followed by a discussion on my Setback answer in the SOP. Asked
about the problems faced, what went wrong, and what were the key learnings from this
experience? Answered. Back and forth went on for 5 mins, seemed somewhat satisfied by the
end.

M2 - Okay so tell me which one would you choose, as a young 22-24 year old, out of the
following two. Living in a city where cost of living, earnings and spending is very high (Eg -
Mumbai) or a small town in the same state where you earn less and save more, but with less
growth opportunities. You can take 30 seconds to think and answer along with reasons of your
chosen option.
Ans - Said Option 1 (he smiled), centered my answer around 2 key points - maximising growth
opportunities and no financial dependents at a young age so risk tolerance (of lower savings) is
higher.

M2 - But with very less savings, how long can one survive in such a city even when you know
growth opportunities are bright?
Ans - Answered with my personal example. Seemed satisfied by the end.

Academics: 9.6/95.2/7
XAT-98.68

P1- What are you doing?

M- In what sense sir ?
P1- maybe I should have framed it better(chuckling)
M- currently I’m working with xxx whatever
( a lot of back forth sort of mild grilling)
- Why in advertisement technology after bcom?
- Had you been a 12th pass would you be able to do justice to your job ?
- What is the most boring part of your job?
- What is your enjoyment at workplace?
- Is your enjoyment related to your seniors enjoyment?
- How long would you be able to do this job?
- How far is you job from your home?
(Seemed convinced at the end)
P1- I’m done sir you may take over

P2- Did you take any coaching for this interview?

- What are the questions they prepared you for?
- How many mock interviews did you give?

45
- How did it go?
- Have you ever repeated something in your life?
- Do you believe in probability
- What do you think are you chances of getting into XLRI?
M- I said going by the numbers 450/3000 after the interview I may have to factor in the
experience
P2- so what do you think it would be in your favour or not
M- I would only know after the interview sir xD
- What are your hobbies?
- Are you into reading?
I said recently got into reading non fiction
P2- why not mention it in the first place?
M- because I am a beginner and if I mention it as a hobby you would expect me to have good
knowledge on it

Everyone smiled
P3 (first time he spoke)- Okay Dhruv you can log off now nice talking to you.

Overall decent experience

P1 was trying too hard to grill me and put me under pressure with weird questions( I was aware
of this)
P2 - Chill and smiling and having a conversation. P3 Camera on. But didn’t speak at all
Profile:Bsc. Computer Sci, MA Public Administration, 8/7/6/6
4years of UPSC Preparation
XAT 96.2percentile.
Panel: All 3 Males

P1.
- Every year 3-4 students come to our programme from UPSC background, what do you think
you people bring to your batch like what qualities and experiences that differentiates you all
from the rest?
- You have post-graduation in Public Administration, why did you choose that subject? Is it
because it is a high scoring subject in UPSC or you have real interest?
- Tell me two theories of Pub Ad that you find very interesting.
- Do you know about the Farm laws and Farmers’ protests?
- So, first Govt tried to supress the farmers’ voices and then surrendered to them. What do
you think are 3 pros and cons of both these actions? ( lots of cross questioning on that on
the basis of the answers I gave like involvement pf politics, election timings etc).

P2.
- You are from St. Xaviers’ Kolkata, so tell me How was your college life? What kind of extra-
curricular activities did you participate in?
- (Based on my answers) asked about Village visit programme, participation in sporting
events.

46
- Do you think is it really necessary to have NSS, NCC activities in colleges?
- You mentioned empathy in your answer, tell me do soldiers have empathy in them? If yes
then how can they fire bullets and kill people? (cross questioning on my answer but finally
seemed convinced and asked p3 to take over).

P3.
- Suppose you are a CHRO of a MNC, in one board meeting CFO is telling you that the
company has to lay of 20% of the workforce. So what will be your response and actions.
- What parameters you would choose to select employees for lay off?
- What is the role of CHRO between employees and employers?
- Tell me about the highest point/achievement of your life till now.
- Based on my answer asked “ chapatis tastes best when ……………………..” I told them as
a Bengali it tastes best with a spicy nonveg home cooked mutton/chicken kosha especially if
it is made by my mother.
- Then asked How I prefer to eat fish? I said with rice not chapati.
- Everyone started laughing. P3 said you should have said that chapatis taste best when
eaten with friends. Everyone started laughing again.
- Then p3 said we have to cut you short here as it is already lunch time and one of the
panelist is feeling very hungry after listening all this.
- P1 said it was nice talking to you. You can log off.
- Very friendly panelists. Seemed very interested in my answers and nodding their heads
along with it. Interview lasted for 22-23 minutes.
Panel:3 Panelists

P1: Where are you joining from? Importance of that place. Any family member working at BSP.
I am from Bhilai and it's known for Bhilai Steel Plant.

- Questions around how much I know of Bhilai steel plant. HR policies of Bhilai steel plant.
- HR policy differences from two companies I have worked with.

P2: Biggest challenges faced in my jobs.

- 2 learnings from the job.

- Reason for joining the companies I have worked with.
- Asked about Dalli rajhara, if I am aware of it's history, why it is important?
- Some incident happened there, is that the reason for me to applying for programs at XL. (I
have no idea about that incident)
- What other calls I have.

P3: Asked about my employment gaps, my perspective about how it would effect my career,
what can I do about it.
- Asked abour labour unions, polictical affiliation of labour unions.

- Learnings from my failures.

47
- Questions around the decisions I have made after graduation. Is it justified what else could
have been done.

Overall a good interview, conversational in nature. One professor was smiling through out,
other two had neutral expressions

Profile: Btech, ECE; Work ex- 2.5yrs in IT

Academics: 10/83/8.5
Panel: P1(40s) , P2(50s) , P3(50s) all male

Pleasantries exchanged
P1
- Where are you joining from?
- And your office is in?
- Are you on wfh or on leave?
- So you wrote about appreciation policy in your SOP can you think of how it could be bad
( I thought about it, but could not think of anything, said in my tenure I did not feel it
brought something counterproductive)
- Okay so why do you think they restricted it to the team level and did not implement it like
you suggested?
- So this was pre covid also or started post covid?
- What did your org do to help you in covid times?
- How have you helped someone in your org?
- I'll make a statement comment on it: I think giving you the responsibility of mentoring is
wasting company time and you should be only involved in your core job.
- Okay I am done.

P2
- So why are you interested in HRM?
- Then why is your first preference to BM?
- Okay have you gone through HRM programs on our website?
(Mentioned 6-7 core+electives) smiled and seemed satisfied
- How do you see yourself in the future not short term?
- Talk about a contemporary topic and your opinion on it.
( Talked about recent report on how YouTube creator community added 6800cr to the
economy and created work akin to 6.7L full time jobs. My opinion that we should support
and promote it more)
- So how will you solve the problem?
- Healthy back and forth discussion on this for 5 mins.

48
- He was smiling and countering my points. Did not feel like grilling.

P3
- Do you read anything?
- Talked about interest in non-fiction and mentioned books
- This feels like pre-interview reading, how will you convince me otherwise? (He was smiling
and said in a casual sense)
( Said I started reading when I was 14 and I have read most of chetan bhagat if that
counts)
[All of them started laughing]
- What type of authors you like?
(I mentioned more of what kind of writing I like than authors)
- Okay anything else you want to tell which was not discussed?
(Talked about my activities in sports and NGO)
- So this NGO work is with samsung?
( Told yes they also have CSR programs but I did it in college)
- So why did you stop getting involved in this after college?
(Said I was occupied with work and studies but I donate in whatever capacity I can which
I feel is a better way for me to support currently when I can't physically volunteer)
- Okay.. just before leaving he said so why did you smile talking about chetan bhagat don't
you think he is a good writer? ( He was smiling while asking this)
(Told it's something everyone relates to that's why but no, I'm actually thankful to him, it
was the reason why I started reading. And have read all his books except maybe the last
two)
- Why did you not read the last two?
- ( Said I grew and my interests changed that's why)

- Thankyou. All the best. You can log off

P1: Hi where are you joining from

Me: Answered
P1: Have you travelled outside India.
Me: No
P1: What about in India? Which is your favourite place?
Me: Jharkhand since my maternal family. Childhood time and Deoghar.
P1: You explained emotions. I am asking about place
Me: Told various sights in MP. Tiger reserves etc
P1: I see you have worked in 3 companies. Where did you like HR policies most and why

49
Me: Answered
P1: What do you recommend hybrid, work from home or office.
Me: Answered
P1: You think productivity has increased.
Me: Answered
P1: Do you read? Can you suggest a book.
Me: Told outliers. Some examples and how society should provide equal opportunity to
everyone.
P2: I saw that you didn't qualify for XAT 21. What your learnings? You qualified this year.
Learning?
Me:(Sop question tha) Answered the
same as sop.
P2: Asked about my stones surgery and health right now(Mentioned in SOP).
Me: Answered
P2: what topic do you want to talk about
Me: Russia -Ukraine
A lot of back forth on this. History, oil, west propaganda. I tried to draw analogies. In the end
west ki burai
End

All The Best!!!

- Team ExLink

Contact us at: exlink@xlri.ac.in

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