Anisha has done MBA in Marketing from NMIMS And Executive Management(PMNO) from Harvard Business School. She has been instrumental in growing CATKing Digital with her experience with Marico and Henkel in the past.
SOIL was established in 2008 when top executives of several corporations and spiritual thinkers got together to address the most difficult challenge of changing the reality of our current times, for a better tomorrow. SOIL was co-created by 32 leading companies and supported by 32 NGOs with the aim to build Leaders with character, competence, and enthusiasm. SOIL has graduated over 1400 alumni who are working across 300+ companies, startups, social sector across the globe.SOIL follows a profile-based selection process for its PGPM & PGDM Programs. Overall academic performance, work experience, achievements and leadership potential are considered while shortlisting, apart from entrance scores.
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Interview Experience 1 Program Applied for – 1 Year PGPM Essay Questions ‘If you had all the time and resources in the world, and were to build an organization of your own, what would you like to create’ ‘Recall a time when you have been at your best and did your best work. What does this teach you about your own strength and gifts?’ Interview Questions P1: So you are from ECE. You were in Telecomm Testing. Talk about the marketing startegy of Reliance Jio infocomm. Me: Sir by introducing free tariff plans initially, they have gained a lot of subscribers that were earlier using mostly Airtel, but their service is not upto the mark because of lack of Interoperability towers (for which present telecomm operators are responsible). So most people are using JIO as an alternate sim. Though, many people who had not been using 4G earlier have subscrbed because of JIO. (At this point P2 enters) P1: So you say Jio has absorbed Airtel's subscribers? Me: No sir. Most people are using Jio as an alternate sim. P1: Name an expensive product you have bought?
Me: Sir regaring telecomm or..? P1: Anny product which you have bought. Me: Sir Lakme youth infinity cream (I am a girl :D). It costs Rs 700 for 300mg. P1: Now what if this cream is available for Rs 300. Will you buy it? Me: Sir by Lakme or some other company? Because Lakme is a reputed brand. P1: Some new company say. Me: I wouldn't want to take chances with my skin with a new brand sir. P1: Now what if Lakme starts selling it for Rs 300. Me: Sir even then I would think that probably this product is not doing well among masses so they had to slash prices. P1: What are your future plans? Me: Sir a few years from now I wanna be in a position to lead. P1: So you could get married then? Me: (smiled) I meant sir leading a business firm. That's why I have applied for the general mgmt program...so i can learn all aspects of a business- marketing,Finance etc. P1: Which specialisation would you want to go for?
Me: Sir first i will learn about all specialisations in my 1st year and then opt one on basis of how I am doing in those subjects. (At this point they were trying to make me chose a specialisation but I didnt because I knew it would invite Technical questions) P2: have you prepared for this interview? Me: Yes sir. P2: what have you prepared? Me: Sir current affairs, acads etc. P2: What's share buyback? It was in news recently. Me: Yes sir. TCS and Cognizant have bought back their shares. (told definition of share buyback) P2: Why would a company buyback it's shares?
Me: Sir shareholder sentiment was low because of Brexit, Donald Trump which had hit IT sector..to in order to mantain consumer sentiment (he was about to cross question me and then suddenly switched) P2: Who are sharelholder's of Unilever? Me: Sir dunno. P2: But this contradicts your statement that you have prepared for this interview. Me: Sir probably it's something that I have not looked up. I know somethings some I don't. P2: Which Unilever product you use? Me: Hindustan Uniliver product would be Dettol (Incorrect, it's Reckitt Beckinser's) P2: What have you read in current affairs? Me: Tamil Nadu politics. Legislative ass elections. P2: Why didn't they make Sasikala CM? Me: Sir she had a disproportionate assets case against her. P2: Who decided that? Me: SC P2: No it was not SC.
Me; Sir i think it was SC only as HC had granted bail to Jaya and Sasikala after spending one month in jail. P2: SC has awarded the jail sentence! Who decides the CM of a state? Me: The political party that we chose to power.(not exact answer...Legislative members decide through a vote, P1 even gave me a hint but I dint't catch it) P2: Why are we even discussing politics in a B school interview? Me: Sir becuse politics affects businesses. P2: Give such an example. Me: Sir I wouldn't take names. But when an Ayurvedic FMCG wanted to introduce it's products in market, existing noodle brand was embroiled in a controversy) P2: But that was not a political decision (Was about to give justification, the P1 said interview is over you can leave)
Interview Experience – 2 Program Applied - PGDM Design Thinking Exercise – First we were shown the basics of design thinking and they asked us to draw some sketches to warm us up. Then our interview group was split into groups of 4 and my group topic was How do you create a wallet for the visually impaired?
Personal Interview p1: Tell me about your current job responsibilities; the technology that you work on. What kind of code changes do you make? (Since i am doing maintenance work). p1: What is your favorite subject? me: DBMS. p1: what is DBMS? Draw a flowchart to show how a DBMS works. What is a file manager? What is a query language? Name the various query languages. What is relational algebra? What is tuple relational calculus? me: (I could answer most of them but not with the fluency with which I would have answered it last year had I been questioned on the same) p1: What are your other favorite subjects? me: Data structures and algorithms. p1: What is sorting? What are the various sorting algorithms? Explain heap sort.
Compare heap sort and quick sort. Derive the running time of heap sort algorithm. What are the various searching algorithms that you know? Wat search algorithm do we use when we look up a word in the dictionary? me: (the same problem as above) p1: asks p2 to take over. p2: What is a social networking site? What are the search engines that you have used? How do you search only for ppts or only for docs? How do you modify your search to get results only from .edu sites? Have you tried advanced search? How are binary operators used in search queries? me: (knew some. He asked how come the DBMS expert does not know about the advanced search options. I could only smile about the joke that he cracked ) p2: you read books on history? (Had mentioned it in the form).
What are the books that you have read? me: (mentioned about the Soviet Union and world war). p2: What is the full name of Lenin? Who was Stalin? What was the Bolshevik revolution? Why haven't you read about Indian history? Not interested? me: (Told him about how it was covered in school ) p2: Oh, you are from Madurai.. What about the color TV scheme? Is it good for the people? me: No. Then explained why it is not good. p2: Ok. thank you.
Interview Experience 3 Program Applied for – 1 Year PGPM P1: Tell me something about yourself..about where you were born and where you live...and where u studied... P1: Ok so you are from Karnataka...where in Karnataka P1: Ok so what language do u speak at home. P1: Tell me something more about the place u currently reside at. P1: Tell me something about your engineering...wat subjects u studied n stuff. Note: discussion about college but he was interested to know was I taught in college P1: Should DSP be taught to students in college? Is the subject required
Note: some discussion about DSP why I thought it was taught in college P1: Tell me something about ur job. Note: here some discussion as to wat my team does By this time P2 has joined us and has gone through my file. I had a certificate from ISKCON for a course i had done with them in college. P2: ISKCON was founded by Swami Prabhupada....whom was he influenced by Note : could not answer the question : P2: never mind...have u read the Bhagavad gita
Me: no sir P2: It’s a conversation between two ppl...can u tell me their names. Me: Krishna and Arjun P2: my dear friend i would like to correct u that is not krishna but krishn Note : then he was telling me and the other panelist as to how the foreigners can’t pronounce krishn and they made it to krishna P2: wat was the course about? Me: told that it was about stress management and said that we were taught abt how to use meditation for relieving stress. P2: ok so do u practice all that today? P2: can u tell me wat dateline is?
Me: tried to answer but waste every sure..told him that i had heard about it and i knew about GMT timeline P2: I'll give u a choice amongst three topics: social, economic n political...u can select any 1 for questions. Me: told him that i was not comfortable with ne topic and that he could touch upon all the three n i would try n
answer :| P2: Can imports help in growth? Note: there was some discussion here about imports with him cross questioning me...i guess he wanted to know something specific which i probably could not answer :| P2: Do u know wat a cartel is? P2: can u give me an example of a cartel. Me: Me spoke about OPEC here :| P2: Ok tell me about OPEC...which countries r there in OPEC...why was it formed? Me: tried my best to answer...could only remember the names of a couple of OPEC countries :| P2: Can u tell me something abt ASEAN P2: How about SAARC Note : tried to answer to the best of my knowledge ..could name only a few countries in both the organizations :| P2: Ok can u tell me about more such organizations around the world Me: Could recollect only EU P2: Ok can u tell me how many states are there in the USA Me: 50
P2: How are they geographically located Note: i told him i could not get his question as to wat he wanted to know...he gave me an example about India n told me how India is more than just states from Jammu to kanyakumari and had andaman and nicobar islands as well Me: i talked about how hawaii islands and alaska is a part of the USA but not connected to the main land :| P2: Can u tell me how many states n union territories r there in India? P2: can u name the union territories? Me: could name only a few out of the seven P2: Is delhi a state or a union territory? Me: UT P2: ok...u can take your file n best of luck
Interview Experience 4 Design Thinking Exercise – The exercise started with a presentation on Design Thinking and few examples of how design thinking works. Then we were divided into groups of 4 and topics were given (which were basically a problem), our topic was How to reduce food wastage in restaurants? Program Applied - PGDM Background – Electrical Engineer
Personal Interview: Prof 1: Asked about micro-processor and block diagram Me: Explained Prof 2: Why sun has black spots? Me: No Idea Prof 2: Why Moon is white? Me: Gave some explanation but was not satisfied Prof 1: What is Elnino Effect? Me: No Idea Prof 2: You did your graduation from Kurukshetra Me: Yes Prof 2: Significance Me: Famous for Epic of Mahabharat and has many a sarovars in and around kurukshetra Prof 2: What is the significance of Brahma Sarovar? Me: Explained relating to history i.e. famous for a bath by Duryodhan before a war between duryodhan and bhim. Also, nowadays famous for bath during solar eclipse. Prof 2: You have gaps between your education?
Explain why? Me: Gave the reason was not satisfied but later on while going through the form completely got satisfied. Prof 1: Can we ask something from your Engineering Curriculum. Me: I said yes you can but since i am out of touch for more than 4 years I might not be in a position to answer very specific queries. You can ask me about my work - ex as it is altogether from a different industry Prof 1: Ok!! Tell me something about your industry and achievements Me: Talked about the industry and my contribution to it (I am working as a AM- Product Management for Prepaid Services Industry and has handled various departments ranging from Customer Support, Back End Operations, IT Operations,
Business Reviews, Procurement etc...) Also had reco letters from my ex-bosses ranging from Directors to President Corporate. Prof 2: Do you have your 11th Mark Sheet Me: Told them that it's a school report card and not conducted by CBSE. If you want, I can provide the same later on. Prof 1: Admission Office will notify you if they require it!!! Prof 2: Thank you MR. JAIN. Please take ur certificates along. Prof 1: Do u know something about Economic Union. Is India a member of any EU. Me: Since I was not very sure on this question. Told them about ASEAN and SAARC. Prof 2: What is ASEAN? Is it a word or abbreviation Me: It’s an abbreviation Prof 2: Expand ASEAN and SAARC Me: Done!!! Prof 2 looks at Prof 1 and finally bid me bye!!!
Interview Experience 5 Design Thinking Exercise – It was a 30 min exercise, it started with introduction to design thinking concept and how companies around the world are using it to solve problems. This was a group exercise and I had 3 members in my group. Each group was given a particular problem to solve using design thinking approach. Topic for our group was How to reduce the number of defaulters for a credit card company? Program Applied - PGDM Background – Mechanical Engineer P1: Goes thru mark sheet and asks. What did u you study in Numerical methods? Me: We studied something about interpolation, extrapolation and how to obtain details from a given data.
Actually, sir I don't remember much of it. P1: He flips through the mark sheet. Sees Fluid dynamics. And asks me if I remember Fluid dynamics. Me: Yes sir. (what is it man I was expecting him to ask me something from core mechanical. Had not gone thru much of this) P1: Define ideal fluid Me: (Think for a few seconds.. )I cannot recollect it sir. P1: Define Newtonian fluid Me: I don't remember sir. P1: Then what is non Newtonian Fluid? Me: ( I start smiling and say as a matter of fact) I don't know sir. P1: What is viscosity? Me: (At last something I know..) Tell him P1: What is buoyancy? Me: Tell him. P1: What is efficiency of carnot cycle? Draw the carnot cycle. Me: Take a paper and draw that. Actually took some time to draw and get the eqution. P1: Efficiency of reverse carnot cycle Me: Tell him. P1: What is all this T1, T2 etc.?? Me: Tell him it is the temperature of the source and the sink P1: What are the types of refrigeration. Me: Sir there are three. One is vapor absorption and other is ammonia something.. ( told him, don't remember now). Told him don't remember the third one ( I dint have to commit myself in the first place saying there were three types !!) P1: What if refrigerator is kept open inside the room. Me: Told him.
P1: Diff bet Ref and AC Me: Told him. P1: Factors you consider for designing an AC. Me: Told him a few things, but did not appear satisfies. P1 says that's it with him. Asks P2 to take over. P2 was silent all this time. P2: Why was Chennai renamed? Me: People or the politicians here felt that the name Madras was given by the British and the earlier name was of Chennai city was Chennappatinam.. Before AP and TN were together called as Madras constituency. Then when AP and TN were separated, TN was called so. Later the now Chennai was called Madras. This is a similar reason why Mumbai and Kolkotta got their names. P2: Which constituency is Tamil Nadu's CM from? Me: Chepauk - Chennai P2: Which constituency is Jayalalitha from? Me: Andipatti. P2: Where is it? Me: I Do not know its exact location sir. P2: So you play the mridangam, who do you think is the most influential mridangam player today. Me: Told them..
Interview experience 6 I attended the GE-PI process virtually. It started around 8:40 AM with the morning circle and then a series of activities followed which helped in getting a deeper understanding of SOIL
Design Thinking Exercise – After the introductory session, I had my Design Thinking exercise. It started with one of the faculty introducing us to the Design Thinking process and asking us to draw few things like cow with boots, etc. Then we were given a topic to work on using design thinking approach. My topic was Designing mobile screen for visually impaired people. It was supposed to be a group activity if the process was held on campus. Program Applied for – 2 year PGDM Interview questions:
- Tell me about your self
- Why business design
- Your role model
- What is your satisfaction
- change in technology in last 5 years
- future plan for next 10 years
- Tough thing to handle as Manager in marketing
- Which company or sector you want to work in & Why?
Interview Experience – 7 Program Applied – PGPM P1: Vijay u have work experience. Tell me about ur job. Me: Told about automation division in titan. my job profile. What business we do etc. P1: Titan is into life style business. How machine building come into picture? Me: Told it started as in house manufacturing for machine requirement in watches plant then developed as separate business. P1: What is the business of titan? Annual turnover? Me: Told along with percentage share of each division. P1: Whether watches still has its shine today? Who uses watch today?
Me: Watch has a personal connect and we at titan are trying to market it as an accessory not a time piece. (P2 suddenly wakes up :P) P2: so y separate business for watch and jewellery? Both can be merged? Me: No sir.. finally what's inside a watch is time piece. The manufacturing part of it can't go along with jewellery. They had to be separate P2: What about smart watches? Whether they will replace traditional watches? Me: No sir.. watches till date had a sentiment attached with it but smart watch is just another gadget. I don't think they will replace traditional watches.
P2: Then why all companies are launching it? Even titan launched its own smart watch right? Me: Ya sir u r right.. technology improving day by day.. so people are trying to venture into that field. But my opinion is it won't replace traditional watches. P2: Ok what and all u can show in a smart watch? I will leave my mobile in my home and just carry a watch. Whether can I use it as an alternative? Me: Explained how smart watches function.. and told for ur application u need a wireless transmitter receiver module along with a battery in watch. It will take up more space and size will increase.
It will be difficult to wear then. P1: (Heard me speaking few technical terms and picked up from there ) Vijay tell me technology behind 4G, 5G Me: Told about TDMA, FDMA and OFDMA. Why orthogonality plays an important role in increasing speed in 4G. P1: What are your fav subjects in ECE? Me: Digital electronics and wireless communication. P2: What do u do then apart from work? Hobbies? Me: I said teaching and started explaining about it.. P2 not interested in that topic. Interrupted me in the middle. P2: (starts a rapid fire round) National animal of India, National Bird, National aquatic animal, National Game and National Language.
Me: Whatever I answered he told you are wrong (I later realized Hindi is just a official language, not national L ) P2: started asking names of urban minister, industrial minister.. Me: I don't remember the names now.. (I could recall only rajnath singh and smiti irani ) P2: which states have presidential rule currently? Me: I remember only arunachal Pradesh. P2: Tell something about zika virus. Me: Told. P2: what were reasons behind it? Me: Told about mosquitoes. P2: No 1 more cause is also there.. Me: No idea sir. P2: What news paper u read? Me: Hindu. P2: Recently there was an article on water problem.
U know? Me: ??? No.. P2: ok what are the water problems in India? Me: Told about perennial and non perennial rivers.. dispute between states.. poor water body management in Chennai and merging of rivers. P1: So u went to gym right.. tell name of some workouts? Me: Told something about pushups, squats.. told my motto of joining was not to build muscle but to get out of my comfort zone. I had lot of physical work in my job and that was not something I was good at. My stint at gym helped me increase my confidence level and got rid of some inhibitions. P1: OK vijay we r done..u can take a toffee and leave.
Interview experience 8 Program -PGPM P1 : Hi You are interested in Football? As in Soccer? Me: Yes sir, my favourite team is Manchester United. P1 : Okay Shrinivas, that's nice. You focussed on all your activities, achievements; but what about your social contributions? Have you done anything for the soceity? Me: Sir, I have. In my middle school, I mobilized funds for the Indian Leprosy Foundation. Now, I am doing a project for removal of fluorides from hand pump water that will touch the lives of many poor people in rural MP and Rajasthan when implemented. P1 : But you never mentioned all this earlier. Does this mean you do not consider your social responsibility to be equally important?
Me: Not at all sir., Even the other day, I saw this orphan on the road,selling earbuds. We aren't supposed to buy such earbuds, as they are harmful. But I thought, by buying a couple of packets, I will at least give him money for one square meal. P2 : That's nice to know. Ok. So what do you think are the problems faced by India today? Me: Sir, it is tough to pinpoint just one problem. In my opinion, poverty and corruption are the most important problems faced by India today. Also, I feel that both are interlinked. Corruption leads to poverty. Poverty also fuels corruption. P2 : Wait wait wait. Ambanis are corrupt. But I don't think they are poor! Me: Sir, that wasn't what I meant. What I meant to say was that poor people also become party to corruption indirectly.
Take the example of the PDS in India. Most people who are eligible to get 20 kg rice, get only 15 kg. But they do not complain, because complaining will lead to them losing out on even the 15 kg that they get. In this way, they indirectly fuel corruption. P2 : Everyone is corrupt. But since your mother is in the police department, you wont agree that the police is corrupt, will you? Me: No sir. Even the police department is corrupt except for a few people. Even in politics, it is a sewage. Once you get in,you become part of it. P2 : No, not necessarily.
There are many honest leaders. Me: Yes sir, Exceptions are there in all cases. P2 : Okay, name a woman police officer who faced a lot of problems due to being straightforward. Me: Sir, It would be Mrs Kiran Bedi. At TN, it would be Ms. Letika Saran and Mrs. Thilagavathy, the first IPS from TN. P2 : Hmm. Do you know Mt Abu? Me: Yes sir, It is in Rajasthan. P2 : What is the speciality of Mt Abu? Me: I am not very sure sir, but I think there is a Jain temple there. P2 : Are you sure? Me: No sir, I am taking a guess. P2 : Have you heard of Bramhakumaris? Me: I have heard of them, but do not know much about them.
P2 : Sir Creek? Me: I'm sorry sir. P1 : Have you travelled around the world? Me: Sir, I haven't had the chance to travel so far. P1 : In india? Me: Yes sir, I have travelled extensively. P1 : Okay, where do you think India is headed for in the next 20 years? Me: P2 : You said Chennai is the Detroit of India. Why? Me: It is the car manufacturing hub of our country sir. P2 : Do you know what happened to Detroit recently? Me: Yes sir, in the recession period, lots of car manufacturers had problems. Like General Motors. P2 : Do you want the same to happen to your Chennai? Me: Sir,
I don't think Chennai will face that problem, as most cars manufactured here by Ford, Hyundai etc are exported. Also, India is a developing country. The demand will only keep increasing. P2 : Are you sure? Me: I did my training in Chennai port Trust. There, the highest import-export volumes are for Coal and then Hyundai's cars.
Interview 9, PGPM PI Details:Started with questions about work ex.Kept on asking about nature of work & challenges faced in work.
Questions: Q1. So you already have some management related experience . What do you do exactly.? Q2.What is the basis of your costing? Q3. How does the two industries ( Project & Manufacturing) where you have worked in differ in their Procurement Modus Operandi? Q4. What are the challenges you faced?- Started explaining was blocked in between asking if my work was only technical related. Then shifted to purely cmmercial challenges. Q5. How do you chose the suppliers? How do you negotiate? Q6. How do you benchmark? Q1. You told every process gets adulterated over a period of time . How can you say like that?- Linked it to How Jallikkattu used to be & how ineffective control has adulterated the sport.
Linked it to how continuous improvement is vital for any process. Q2. You told the Jallikkattu issue is an HR issue ? How?- Answered Q3. Do you know UCC? Q4. Whats your stand on UCC? - Very sensitive and to be handled with great care. Q5. Talaq issue ? Do you think government should go ahead with a ban or let the culture continue.- Answered how a middle ground is the best exit possible. *Both Professors smiled and told you are speaking like a consultant. Come on we want to know your stand*. Answered. Professor 2 -YESS!!!..Good!!.. Thats all from my side. Asked the second professor if she wanted to ask something. P1- You may leave.
Interview Experience 10, PGDM Design Thinking Exercise – It was a 30 min activity. We were divided into groups of four after the introduction of design thinking and each group was given a real life problem to solve. The problem that our group tried to solve was How to ensure smooth flow of traffic at the toll plaza? P1: how are you chetan? M: fine sir. P1: so how many questions did you ask from your predecessors. the ones who came in before you? M : none sir. P1: why? are you scared? M : No sir. i am not scared. i just don't discuss because every individual has his own personality and every individual gives the answer according to their own perception. so no point in asking, when i have to face it all by myself.
P1: from which part of India do you belong? M : north India sir. P1 : can you tell me how many states are there in North-east? M : 7. known as 7 sisters. P1: name them. i asked you two questions. number of states and name. don't worry, I'll help you out. M : names 4. he names 4. P1: so which of these is not the part of 7 sisters? M: sikkim P1: good. it's simple. so what is your work ex? M : 7 months including January. P1: where are you now? M : i am currently based as a GET in bundi under the rotational program of Adani. P1: tell me more.
M : sir, adani has a 9 month rotational program in which i am relocated to new place after every 3 months. at first I was sent as a GET to meda Adraj, in ahmedabad. then after three months, to mangalore and now in Bundi, rajasthan. P1: what is the difference in each three? M : yes sir, i was coming to that. in Meda Adraj I learnt about the non-edible section of the oil business which mainly dealt with castor oil. in mangalore, i looked after and learnt about the edible oil i.e. palm oil and sun flower oil. and in bundi i am looking after electrical maintenance as it my core. P1: so in castor oil, what is commodity derivative? M : sir except the oil, the portion that is remained, is a good fertilizer. it is called DOC.
it is of two types. normal and high proi. it is used as per the yields required. P2: what is the full form of DOC? M : it has no scientific name. just de-oiled cake. P1: what do you understand by commodity derivative? M : according to me, it must be something that is produced apart from the main product of the company. P1: no, that's not right. you have 4 years of experience, don't you? (looking at my profile) M : no sir. only 7 months. P1: ohh then you won't be able to answer it. so your background is electrical? M: yes sir. P1: i have this thing messed up in my mind. when i go to buy an appliance. like AC. should I say electrical gadget or electronics?
M : sir I'll start with the definition. anything that uses electrical components like resistors, capacitors, etc are electrical gadgets and those which use sensors, PLCs, diodes are electronics. P1: i know this thing. how can I distinguish between the two. what is AC or a fan. M : sir fan is an electrical device. it runs on a single phase induction motor with capacitive start. AC is a combination of both. the power that it consumes comes from distribution transformer, that is electrical. and sensors and switches involved in it are electronics. P1: But what is the difference? M : sir electronics deal with power of very less voltage like 5 volts and sometimes millivolts. electrical deals with very high power. P1: okay agreed. one is power other is? M : sir sensors, made out of fast switching circuits since they use less power like thyristors and all. P1: see you are limiting yourself to one gadget. in fan also, if i change the regulator number, the speed will change, just like i press button to change the temperature in AC. there must some intelligence to it.
M : no sir, there are no sensors. P1(cutting in between): arre leave it. this can go on and on. you gave me one point. i am not convinced on further. P1: how many states are there in india? M : 28 P1: which is the latest one? M : telangana P1: what is it's capital? M : i am confused sir. i don't know. P1: Hyderabad M : sir i was confused that's why i didn't say anything. P1( to P2): you want to ask anything? P2: ever heard of amravati? M : no sir. P2: what will you do after going out? M : I'll check about Amravati. P1: you are interested in HR too. why not IM M : sir i am not eligible. it requires 2 years work ex. P1: okay. great. have a nice day. M : may i leave now? P2: yes you may. have a nice day M : thank you sir. you too have a nice day sirs.
Jay Parekh
Personal Interview Experience:
At SOIL, I had a virtual interview with the panel. The Admissions Team informed the candidates about the interview process about two weeks before the interview. I was both surprised and excited to learn that the Admissions Teams planned a one-of-a-kind interview process. Members of the Admissions Team explained the interview process. I must say that this was extremely useful and informative. Throughout the PI process, I interacted with my group members as well as our assigned group mentor, and the experience was very similar to how a person interacts with a group of people in real life. Aside from that, each candidate was assigned a mentor who was a current SOIL student. If the candidate has any questions about the interview or admissions process, he or she could contact his or her mentor.
The interview process was very different from what I had previously experienced at other B-schools. While waiting for his/her interview turn, a candidate could talk with other candidates as well as Admission Team members to learn more about SOIL, making the overall interview experience very similar to the real thing. I went on the interview call after a smooth document verification process. My interview panel consisted of three people. All of them were quite supportive and patient with me, asked me about myself and a mix of academics, work experience, and personal questions to know my subject knowledge and possibly to analyze what kind of person I am and would be a good fit,
I felt heard even when I knew I was just blabbering with confidence, I was cross-questioned several times but was fortunate not to be drilled. The interview lasted about twenty minutes, and the entire process took about two hours, after which I was told to log out. It took some time with the results and the waitlist movement, but it was well worth the wait when I received the email informing me that I had been selected for the upcoming batch, and I was overjoyed to be a part of the institute and the incredible journey ahead.
Gayatri
The admission process in SOIL was truly unique and challenging for me since this is something I have personally not experienced before.
Essay Writing: As a part of the application process, I had to write 2 essays which made me scratch my head. I hadn’t written essays in a long time and the topics – ‘If you had all the time and resources in the world, and were to build an organization of your own, what would you like to create’ and ‘recall a time when you have been at your best and did your best work. What does this teach you about your own strength and gifts?’ really made me scratch my head, think a lot, and reflect on a lot of experiences from the past. I took my time to write the essays since I wanted to have substantial material on it.
STAT exam – the SOIL Talent Appreciation Test: The exam was a culmination of an aptitude test and a personality test. The personality test has been the most unique part of the admission process since I am not aware of other business schools that conduct this. It is a great way to determine and understand the diverse personalities that would be a part of the upcoming batch. The best part about the STAT test was that we got a report with detailed feedback on it. The report spoke about my response style, provided a summary of my strengths and areas of development, evaluated my competencies in a detailed manner, gave me an individual competency score and a behavioral interview guide which would only help me align better with my strengths and work on my areas on improvement.
Business Round: This was especially a fun round because I also got a chance to interact with potential batchmates. A set of 6 students were given a situation and had to role-play the same. The situation was that a set of testers had to justify the delay of a product to the client on the day of the launch and the reason for the delay was a failure to complete quality control. I was a part of the ‘client’ team and I performed well with clear and concise reasoning while also acknowledging the other team. It was great exposure and a good experience.
Personal Interview Experience: The final step was the Personal Interview round. I was very nervous before my interview round and I was told that there would be 2 panelists which really scared me, but as soon as I joined the assigned meeting room, I was greeted by Mr. Vijay Ghei and Mr. AN Bhattacharya. The entire process was very seamless and smooth. I managed to have a great conversation with both the faculty members. They asked me why I wanted to pursue finance and what my aspirations were in the field. We spoke about my essays and my interpretation from them. They answered all my questions very well and cleared my doubts and made me comfortable throughout the entire interaction.
They gave me great feedback which I understood how to work on with the help of my mentors when I joined college. The entire process was interesting. Every step of the admission procedure seemed to lead me the right way. It was very well planned and well-executed. I am glad I was part of the entire process and could execute it well.
Rohit
Appreciation Test & Essay Writing Test: The very first process to get into the SOIL started with SOIL Appreciation Test where the report helped to assess my work relevant personality traits. The second round of process included an essay writing round where the topic to be written was: 1. Recall a time when you have been at your best and did your best work. What does this teach you about your own strength and gifts? 2. If you had all the time and resources in the world, and were to build an organization of your own, what would you like to create?
Key Takeaways 1. Appreciation Test helped me in analysing the strengths and areas of improvement and where I need to work upon so that I can be a better version of myself. 2. The essays helped me retrospect about the events and bring out a sense of empathy towards it and write about the teachings I learnt from it.
Business Problem & Personal Interview Experience: We were divided into a group of 2 where we were given a classic case of IT business problem and we had to do a roleplay and bring out an analysis of the problem and present it to our client. The entire conversation was judged by our esteemed faculties Mr. A.N. Bhattacharya and Dr. Debabrata Das. After the first phase of the final interview took place then came the PI round where it was a normal conversation between the interviewer and me and was mostly related to my day to day work activity and a thorough discussion on the two essays I have written. So, overall it was really a good experience from its very initial phase till the time I got my offer letter to take part in this institution.
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