ISB Interview Experiences

[admin]

This is a place where you can share your interview experiences with others.... post comments and discuss interview gyan....

[ramandeep]

"Just 15 min before my scheduled time of interview, I was given an essay of 100 words on FACADE. I dont think that carried any significant marks as every candidate was given the same word and there was nobody to check how the applicant is responding to the question. After 15 min I entered the interview room...there were two people inside..one lady from Admission Committee and other one, a sikh Gentleman ( ISB alumni). lady asked first question to me on why i left my previous company..I responded to that. After that the alum asked me why i wanted to do MBA. I responded to that also. Noticeable things were that they were not asking anything from my application and were not cross questioning me. I was told they grill people on essays. But nothing like that happened on that day...this was same with other applicants also. Everyone was coming out smiling. So its very difficult to say what they are looking for this time. My third question was related to my strength sand weaknesses...again, no cross questioning and no examples were asked. Most of the questions were from the alumni. After that there were a few questions on consulting domain as i said that i m interested in that domain. The interview ended in 30 min. I feel that GMAT will play an important role as interviews are cool for almost everyone.

Best of luck

[shishir]

R1 - Interview for Class of 2010

I reached about 1 hr before the scheduled time but would advise others to be there 30 min before the given time.... Idle time makes you nervous... I was handed over an essay about 30 minutes prior to the interview... the abstract essay that I had to write was a good time pass and helped reduce anxiety.... Finally I was called in and there were 3 interviewers in the panel... one from the Adcom and other two seemed to be alums... The atmosphere eased when they started interacting.... It was more of a conversation than a formal interview... and this made me feel very comfortable... the only thing you need to do is to give a good start... stay calm and confident and that will take u through..... sequence of questions asked to me....

1. Tell me in brief what your company does and what is your role....
2. What do you see as your strengths at work....
3. Cite and example for the strengths you are talking about....
4. Tell us something about your venture... why didn't it do well...
5. You have 3.5 years of IT experience with some experience in entrepreneurship... why do u still want to do an MBA
6. What is your dream company post ISB....
7. Case study... You are the head of a group which has to market an airplane with automated pilot system.. what will be your strategy....?

The interview lasted about 25 min...

[amitr]

The entire interview process was very relaxed, much more than I could think of. My interview lasted for about 35-40 minutes (slightly towards higher side of timing). They asked me a series of questions. With my homework done, I was decently prepared to answer most of them. Here it goes:

- Tell me about the career after the BE.
- Why so many awards?
- for how long are you leading the teams?
- Any crunch situation u faced and how did you resolve it?
- What kind of work do I do?
- How do you handle the pressure of the sev 1s?
- Calculate - how many cups of coffee are consumed at ISB in 1 day?
- Any sev 1 u faced in last 6 months and how did you resolve it?
- Some more ques on my work ex only that I do not remember.
- any Ques for us.

Amit

[animeshl]

My interview started with normal exchange of greetings. The interview panel consisted of 2 people- One of them was an Adcom member and the other was an Alum.

The following set of questions were asked to me:-

Job related: The question asked was about a project i had mentioned in my application
Career switch: Why did you move from Manufacturing into analytics?
What is your career plan after MBA? Why ISB?
Guess Estimate: Estimate the revenues of an upmarket restaurant in South Delhi
Three Strengths and Weaknesses - i think this is is something one MUST prepare
Finally they questioned if i had some questions?
The interview went very cool. As expected, the panel did not grill me at all on any of the points mentioned in my application. Moreover, they did not counter my statements during the interview.It looked like that they were verifying the genuinity of whatever i had written in the application.

-Animesh

[atikajain]

This is a place where you can share your interview experiences with others.... post comments and discuss interview gyan....

Hi... gud to see others' experiences... here is mine
Profile: IT Engineer – 4 years

I was the last candidate to be interviewed for the day. My interview started at sharp 6:30 (as was communicated to me in my interview call) and lasted for only about 20 minutes. I was led into the interview room from the waiting hall by one of the interview panelists, who I discovered later was an alumnus of the school. There are 3 men in the interview panel. (2 are alums, in the middle seat is a grim looking Professor)

As soon as I entered, they all stood up to shake hands with me and promptly greeted me as “Welcome Madam editor”. (I had mentioned in my first essay that Written Communication was my strength and that I was the editor of my college magazine).

1. Alum: What was the last article you wrote?
Ans: I wrote an article on “Ways of Learning”

2. Same Alum: Tell us more about the article.
Ans: I mentioned the types of learners and what professions are suited to each kind of learner etc.

3. Different Alum: Started pointing out the weaknesses of my article and what more could I have included.
Ans: I was very cool and either agreed or disagreed with his points exactly the way I honestly felt about each point.

4. Prof: What do you think is the way of teaching at ISB? Are you in sync as a learner with that kind of teaching?
Ans: I knew in detail about this. I mentioned Case studies, negotiation classes, leadership classes, presentations etc.

5. (The interviewer is quite surprised by the depth of my knowledge). We don’t put all that on our website. How do you know so much?
Ans: My Boyfriend is from ISB. I have been to ISB earlier and attended one of the classes.

6. Professor: I don’t want to ask his name.
Ans: I don’t mind telling though. It will only add to my interview. He is a good performer 

7. Alum(changing the topic): Tell us about your international stint. What was different in UK?
Ans: (Yes! I am prepared with this one). Social Responsibility, respect blah blah

8. You have to choose a boss and a team mate from an Englishman and an Indian. Who would you want as what?
Ans: English man as the boss- more organized.
Indian as a teammate – smarter. I like to work in a challenging environment. (I am impressed with myself. That’s a smart answer)

9. Alum: You have mentioned that you are managing 2 projects in your job. What will happen if we select you? Who will take care of those?
Ans: My Boss already knows that I am appearing for ISB. He is prepared. Moreover, as a good leader I have groomed my second in command very well. And then of course I will have 2 solid months after the result for knowledge Transfer

10. Prof: Why don’t you join IIMA?
Ans: (I am prepared with this… I know what you want to hear… IIMA sucks!) I give some well practiced bullshit.

11. Professor: Aha! I know why you want to come. From your boyfren you know about the kind of parties we have!!

12. Alum: Would you like to go back to your organization after MBA?
Ans: (Honest reply) Yes. It has given me the following opportunities… blah blah.

13. Professor (wants to trap me). All the applicants from company Y (main competitor of my employer) say they don’t want to go… all the applicants from your company say they want to go back. Why?
Ans: (Another smart SPAM answer) Sir, if they all are saying it then it must be true!

14. Do you have any questions for us?
Ans: (Of course, I am prepared with this) Do you think that IIMA Exec course is a competition for ISB?

A discussion follows abt this.

15. Professor: Tell me your boyfren’s name.
Ans: Sir, ABC. (No reaction from the Prof)…. Sir, do you know him?

16. I have the humble task of placing the students at ISB… what do you think, I wont know him? Anyway, nice meeting you.

Shake hands. Leave.

[AMEEN]

This was a wonderful interview i had ever known. Hands off to your guts and witty answers! GOOD JOB!