ISB interview season kicks off

First Interview details for 05 admissions posted at B-Week.
http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools/messages?msg=44446.1205


1) Deepak Ganapathi
Profile:
"B.Com grad from Chennai, worked for 4.5 yrs and have a GMAT score of 620 and am 24.5 yrs old.Story wise, I have worked in Colombia, S. America for a yr and in Norway for 2 months with a start-up venture with which I still work in, based out of Chennai heading their Indian operations. This venture is essentially into Intl Marketing. Prior to that, I worked with a non-profit organization and an MNC in sales and business development. I speak fluent spanish and have travelled around the world during my previous stints as well. "

Experience:
From: dganapathi 5:26 am
To: ALL (1205 of 1206)
44446.1205 in reply to 44446.1204

Hi all

I just completed my ISB interview today and I thought I would share my experience with those who could be interested in knowing how the ISB interviews could go:

The interview was supposed to be a 30 min interview , but went on eventually for abt an hour. There was a panel of 3 ppl who interviewed me, including Mr. Menon, the Director-Admissions.

Unexpectedly, I was very nervous in the first few min of the interview, but as the interview moved, i warmed up. My interview was quite focused on my work experience and the job that I currently do. I would in fact say, I was grilled on my knowledge on my industry and my knowledge on the markets I have worked in. I can safely say that this formed a major portion of the interview. Since I come from a sales and marketing background, they even asked me to talk developing a marketing strategy for a glass (the glass where we drink water from!) that was in front of me!!:)

Expectedly, I was asked abt my low GMAT score. Also, I was asked abt my academic background and where I stood in the class in my B.Com.

There was only one question on my Post-ISB plan.

Finally, I was also given the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about ISB.

In all, I think it was a very professionally conducted interview, but definitely more formal than the interviews I have done in the past with some other schools in the west. Surprisingly, there were no questions put to me on working in teams or leadership or anything like that, that are normally asked in all B-school interviews.

I would like to wish all those who have got interview invites all the best. If there is anything more specific that any of you want to know about my interview, kindly write me an offline email.

Cheers!

Deepak

2)Pankaj
Profile: IIT,"not much work ex"

"Interview went well.. was for abt. 30 mins.. and panel
composition admissions-diro n manager n an alumnus.

I dont have a gr8 amt. of work exp. behind me... they
asked me abt. my btech/IIT/projects/job etc., then,
DRDO experiences n why am I working in consultancy now
which is non-techie.... i am enjoying the present work
n job - why ISB? Why not IIM? Q's n discussion on
future career goals... how wud ISB fit in to the
scheme of things.. any questions for ISB?

This was the major chunk of the discussion.. I
remember these things rite now.. I'd drop in a line or
two if something else comes to my mind. You can send
me a mail for any specifics or gimme ur contact no.
sothat I can call u up sometime n discuss/chat.

All the best people... just remain cool n composed
before n during the intv.. They just want to know you
better. Dont stress up much, be yourself and speak wat
u r..

chalo..cya
panks."



3)Archana Reddy
"GMAT : 690
Work exp : 3.5 yrs in a chinese company - Huawei
College : REC, Warangal 2001 batch Electronics.< top 5 among class consistently >
+2 : Stood 7th in Andhra Pradesh
Other interests : have been a classical dancer ,public speaking , crosswords < The Hindu of all of them >

Reached the venue a full half hour before schedule ...
met three guys already waiting there....<< everybody
is with the isb group >> Kept talking about our
profiles and ISB for a while .... my interview was
scheduled at 11 but i was summoned in at around 12:15
...the panel consisted of the adcom dir Mr.Menon and
two alumni... the interview went on for half an hour
.... it started on a tell me abt urself note ....from
there why isb ? why mba ? abt my work ex, interests ..
since i work for a chinese firm they wanted to know
why only one chinese company is in india ? ...my long
term and short term goals.... since politics happens
to be one of my long term goals ... the interview took
off on that front for a while ... what plagues indian
politics today .... what would u suggest to improve
the political scene ...

i was given a chance to ask them questions abt ISB at
the end. asked them a couple of questions ...

It was very professionally conducted and was very
profile based ... my only advice to those who are yet
to attend the interview ... be urself and let the
panel know all u want to tell them... dont assume its
already in the resume or the essay so i neednt mention
it... good luck !"



4) Sudhama.Vemuri
720:GMAT,REC Calicut,4.5 Years IT ,Wipro


"Hi all,

Finished my interview just now.. about an hour back...
Met a fellow wiproite (Abhishek) at the venue (The Oberoi). The interview lasted for about 20 mins.. a panel of 3.. . went along expected lines.. I wasnt asked anything that I wasn’t prepared for .. luckily.. ;-))..
The usual Q about .. what is unique about u ??.. how do you stand out from the large pool of IT guys.
Fellas.. if you are in the IT industry... be ready with a good answer... I am sure everyone will be able to find something or the other in his/her profile.. project it with confidence..
Apart from that they wanted to know more about my professional experience.. short-term and long-term goals… etc etc
In the end.. I asked a couple of questions to wrap it up...
All in all.. it was pretty ok I wud say..
My advice.. just be calm.. and clear in what you say out here… and also have a good set of Qs ready for them ...
Best of Luck everyone…
Suds.




5)Chandra Interview:
Hi Folks ,

Interview Experience -

Scene 1 -
I "thought" that the interview was to held in Taj Residency .. so i
went there .. realised it isnt taj residency .. cursed my self about
my sloppiness ... cursed myself that i became so happy reading the
mail .. that i didnt bother to double-check where the interview is to
be held. .. ran to taj gateway because interviews were being held
there also ( learned from the forum ).. meanwhile i get a call on the
mobile that asks .. where are u .. we are waiting in the taj oberoi.
All this because i am terribly tied up in work , am getting married
next week and running a bad temperatur ( Excuses ). Made it to venue a
good 25 minutes beyond scheduled time. Perfect start to Phase 2.

Scene 2 -
The interview panel had Mr Ajit Rangnekar ( Deputy Dean, ISB ) and a
member from the adcom and an alum. As expected , the first question ,
what punishment should we give you for coming late ?

Scene 3 -
Apart from the first few minutes , i thought i had a rocking time and
was able to answer most of the questions to my satisfaction. But again
.. it is like those interviews .. where you can never make out how you
did .. the more you think about it, you think you could have improved
on some aspects .. at the same time .. you are generally optimistic.

Scene 4 -
Total interview time 45 minutes , current affaris , explain job
hopping ( 4 jobs in 4.5 years ), how would you sell a solution to a
client , since i had something "Different" in the essays .. there was
some amount of "leg-pulling" about the same. Technical challenges ,
managerial challenges , in fact so many areas that i probably dont
recollect.

Summary - You can't prepare beyond a certain point , It has to be
natural , you might come prepared with a lot of answers to stock
questions like "Why MBA" , "Why ISB" .. but there could be other
questions that they ask , whose answers could contradict your "well
prepared" answers. So be your natural self ..

The folks on the panel were awesome .. because they were so
friendly .. i could recover in 1 mintue from the "flustered state "
that i was in. These guys rock ..

Preparation -
last week of bachelorhood .. so have been having major parties and saw
swades the day before the interview and collated data from various
forums and blogs about possible questions and interviews. Very minimal
preparation

Advise -
Make a list of all the Taj brand hotels the route maps. Keep a vehicle
handy , in case you want to roam around the different hotels like
me.

Apologies for the typos and grammatical errors .. have a train to
catch in a few hours. Best of luck to all the folks having interview
calls and to those who are waiting for them. Also all the best to
folks who have finished interviews.

rgds
chandra



6)Vijay Kumar:
Finished my interview this afternoon in Taj West, B'lore. The panel
consisted of Mr. Menon (adcom director), a girl (current student) and
an alum. They were very professional and cordial through out. Most of
them were standard questions such as "Tell us about yourself", "why
did you switch over the job 3 months back", "what is the difference
between previous job and this", "long term goal", "Post-ISB immediate
goal", "who is the IT leader whom you admire" and finally "how would
you rate George Bush".I felt I was very relaxed through out the
interview since the panel was very friendly.

I felt the interview went decently well, but feel I could have done it
better. Keeping the fingers crossed....All the best for other
candidates...

Regards,
Vijay.