CAT 2014 topper Real PI account at IIM Indore: Could be your personal interview in coming days

Updated on April 13, 2015

Archana has been a student of MBAUniverse.com online CAT 2014 preparation module and was shortlisted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore to attend the PI round on April 7

Archana belongs to the category of few selected MBA aspirants who wish to join management programme only at one of the best IIMs

One of the high scorers in CAT 2014, Archana belongs to the category of few selected MBA aspirants who wish to join management programme only at one of the best IIMs preferably IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Lucknow & Indore apart from FMS Delhi where she has also been shortlisted for personal Interview round.

Archana has been a student of MBAUniverse.com online CAT 2014 preparation module and was shortlisted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore to attend the PI round on April 7, 2015 at New Delhi in morning session. She has also been shortlisted by IIM Kozhikode but the B school does not fall in her preferred domain.

A working professional equipped with an Engineering degree, Archana has been very clear in her goal to crack CAT 2014 with high percentile through her preparation journey and has taken all care to get answers to her various queries related to CAT 2014 preparation from the MBAUniverse.com faculty and mentor. In the process she never forgets to thank Prof S K Agarwal, Expert on verbal Ability and mentor on CAT preparation as he has been helpful to guide her steer through the CAT 2014 well leading to PI round at IIMs and FMS. She would prefer taking admission in FMS Delhi to any other IIM than IIM A,B & C.

Could be your PI as well, read carefully

This personal interview round of Archana Panwar could be yours also. It is a must read to gain the first hand knowledge and update yourself on various relevant points to face the PI session in near future. The excerpts of the personal Interview are shared below for the benefit of MBA aspirants going to appear in final admission round at the IIMs and other top rated B schools.

This real PI account and the subsequent tips will enable the candidates to know their strengths and weaknesses and will help them to boost their confidence level. The PI sessions at IIMs are opaque enough to enable other candidates to get ready for this enjoyable session.

Reporting time: 8 AM

Archana was supposed to report at the PI venue India Social Institute, Delhi at 8 AM on April 7, 2015, she reached at 7.45AM. The document verification process started exactly at 8:00AM and concluded at 8.30AM. There were 6 members in the document verification panels. The documents were verified with utmost care. In case of incomplete documents, the students were asked to fill a Proforma containing the assurance from the candidates of the date by which the document would be submitted by them to IIM Indore office.

WAT preceded Personal Interview

With the document verification process coming to end at 8.30AM, the process for Written Ability Test (WAT) began at the venue. Archana was asked to write on the WAT topic ‘Is it good to convert India from a fundamentally agrarian society to an urban one; environmentalist being against it’
Time allotted was 30 minutes to write the well worded essay on the topic. Good piece of writing is expected to be of around 400 words with well thought of process presented in coherent form.

The Personal Interview (PI) round

There were 5 panels for the interview. Archana was allotted panel 2. She waited for 10 minutes outside the interview room after which she was called for the PI round.

Archana opened the door softly, asked for the permission before entering the room and moved in smartly upright. She stopped at a greeting distance from the table behind which 3 panelists were seated watching her movement carefully.

The PI panel comprised a calm looking Lady panelist; one senior male panelist and one younger male panelist. While the Lady panelist did not ask too many questions, the senior looking panelist asked a number questions on Core Electronics and younger panelist preferred asking questions on Current Affairs, banking and economic terms.

Archana: Good morning Sirs, Good morning Ma’am

Lady Panelist: A very good morning dear, please have a seat.

Archana: Thank you Ma’am

Lady Panelist: So, Archana what is special about you?

Archana: Maa’m, I have positive attitude and devote good volume of energy to achieve my goal. Most important among other qualities is that I believe in my abilities.

Lady panelist: Why do you want to pursue MBA?

Archana: Because I love my job, Ma’am. At present, I am working as a management trainee with Aspiring Minds for the last 5 months. I got the opportunity to work as an HR, I look after Marketing programs, face book page of Aspiring Minds. I put my back to accomplish my work to my best. I believe in my ability which inspires me to learn more and do the task better.

Lady panelist: Why follow this old beaten trend of B-tech than MBA? Why not go for BBA and then MBA?

Archana: No, offence but I strongly believe this is not an old beaten trend. On the contrary it is the most fruitful and right career path. Take for example Mr. Raghu Ram Rajan a B Tech and then an MBA. B Tech enables one to learn how to study. And now when I have all those technical things, I want to learn new skill sets on management and grow further in my career.

Senior panelist: What is Aspiring Minds all about?

Archana: Sir, Aspiring Minds popularly known as AM is a startup by two learned brothers Mr. Himanshu Agarwal and Mr. Varun Aggarwal. Graduates from different streams register with us to find their dream job. AM is mainly known for its flagship test AMCAT. In AMCAT we check students in Quant, Verbal, reasoning and domain knowledge. Based on the various companies’ cutoffs, we share students profile with them. These students are called for direct interview process.

Senior Panelist: Which is your favourite subject?

Archana: Digital Electronics

Senior panelist: What is the difference between QUAM and PSK?

Archana (Explained PSK but didn’t know about QUAM): Sorry sir, I haven’t heard about QUAM.

Senior Panelist: Say if I have to call students from another room, which modulation would be most cost effective?

Archana explained all modulation techniques AM, FM, PM and answers convinced the panelist.

Senior Panelist: What is the difference between Digital and Analog receiver?

Archana explained the difference well that convinced the panelist.

Senior Panelist: Draw the Analog Receiver (handed a piece of paper to Archana)

Archana drew the Analog Receiver which satisfied the panelist to large extent.

Senior Panelist: What is the difference between Digital and Analog signal?

Archana explained the difference.

Young panelist: Who is the Finance Minister of India?

Archana: Mr. Arun Jaitley

Young panelist: What are his responsibilities?

Archana: He is responsible for all the financial and budgetary plans. Finance Minister presents Budget in the Parliament, looks after its implementation and frames Fiscal policies for the economic betterment of the country.

Young panelist: What is the difference between Fiscal and Monetary policy?

Archana: Sir, Fiscal Policy is related to revenue and expenditure of the Government while Monetary policy is to regulate money supply in the economy.

Young Panelist: Who forms the Monetary policy of the country?

Archana: Reserve Bank of India. In fact the responsibility to form monetary policy in almost all the countries in the world rests with the Central Bank of that country.

Young panelist: Who heads RBI?

Archana: The Head of RBI is called the Governor. At present Dr. Raghu Ram Rajan is the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

Senior panelist: Why is Smriti Irani in news?

Archana told him about the incidence of camera in female changing room episode at Fab India showroom in Goa.

Senior Panelist: Why are the people arrested by Police have been given bail?

Archana: Because sir, the incident is seen as a mischief by some of the employees of that particular branch of Fab India.

Senior Panelist: What is the biggest International crisis going on?

Archana explained the Yemen evacuation

Young Panelist: You have a biased coin with the probability of getting a head as 1/3 and tail as 2/3. What is the probability of getting at least 5 heads in 10 toses.

Archana: Sir, it is 1-(1/3)^5

Lady Panelist: We are done, thank you Archana. Any question you wish to ask from us.

Archana: No Maa’m, thank you. It has been a great learning session for me.

Gets up, thanked the panelists again and after taking their permission moved out of the room. According to Archana “When I came out of the interview room I had mixed feelings. Any how I thought that I had convinced the panelists to a good extent although I couldn’t answer so well a few questions.”

The result is awaited and hopefully Archana with excellent academic profile, work experience and bonus for gender diversity would convert the call.