Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow Placement Interview Questions

• Q1. Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
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• Q2. Why do you want to join Deloitte and enter consulting? How have your buddy interactions been?
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• Q3. Can you talk about your projects at Axis Bank?
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• Q4. What were the various positions of responsibility at college and key learnings from each of them?
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Our client is an online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip and is facing issues in customer service. They have asked us to help them to respond in the short-term.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: Our client is an online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip and faces issues in telephonic support & customer service. They have asked us to help them respond in the short-term.

C: For how long has the client been facing this issue, and do we have any data on the service levels or any other KPI affected? Also, what time frame do we consider as short-term for the given situation?

I: Assume that the case was around March 2020 when the lockdown was imposed. Our service levels have decreased, and we cannot service all the calls. We need a quick solution to be implemented in phases in one week to one month.

C: Got it. So, we need to focus on the contingencies created due to the lockdown and find the immediate short-term fixes.

I: Yes.

C: So, before we move onto the case, I would like to understand a few factors about the client and the situation.

I: Go ahead.

C: I would like to understand the client's business model, its location, and its scale.

I: Our client is based in Gurgaon and serves customers nationwide. You can consider it like any other online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip, Go IBibo, etc. What do you think are the kind of services do these aggregators offer?

C: From my understanding of the aggregators mentioned above, I understand that they offer travel booking and hotel booking broadly. Do we have any information on any of these segments which are facing an issue?

I: Both the travel booking and hotel booking segments are facing the issue. Can you elaborate on the major issue which both customers might be facing across both segments?

C: If we are focusing on the time just after the lockdown was imposed, the major issue which both corporate and retail customers were facing was the cancellation of travel plans. For retail customers, the plans of leisure travel and meeting friends/family were cancelled while for the corporate customers, the meetings requiring travel were canceled. The trip cancellations would lead to a demand for a refund and related customer service queries.

I: Correct, so what do you think maybe the broad reasons for the client is facing the issue?

C: To diagnose the issue, we can look at the customer service from the perspective of people, process, and technology. Later, we can see if the problems exist for the competitors too or not.

I: Our competitors are also facing similar issues and hence let us focus on our client only. Can you list the probable issues in each of the buckets mentioned above?

C: In terms of the customer service, we can have issues in terms of #people *#hours*productivity. The number of people might have decreased as people might not be able to work from home due to maybe travelling to hometown, permanent migration to hometown combined with attrition, etc. I assume that the call center employees are mainly from the low and middle-income families trying to earn a quick buck. Hence, they might have space constraints at home due to the smaller home sizes at times.

Thus, the number of hours might be reduced as people might not be able to work late nights, especially in shared spaces at home. Productivity may be reduced too, as the home environment needs time to adapt and might not be conducive for operations. In terms of the process, the management, coordination, and resolution of WFH related issues might be a problem.

In terms of technology, we can have issues in terms of the hardware (laptop, router, etc.), software (call center management software, VPN, video/audio call), and internet (availability, speed, and reliability).

I: Yes, our client has been facing issues because of the lack of people due to migration of people to hometowns and/or the lack of proper infrastructure. A major issue is that we have not provided laptop to most of the employees working from home due to cost considerations. Some of the people have been facing problems in installing various software required to operate. Moving ahead, why do you think a customer calls customer service in our business?

C: A customer calls our service center mainly for help regarding booking a ticket, queries regarding travel booking, and cancellations.

I: So, which of these queries might have increased or decreased during the period.

C: The queries regarding booking a new flight and related follow-up may have decreased as no new flights were allowed for a month or so. At the same time, the queries for flight cancellations, rescheduling, and refund processing will have increased.

I: Fair enough, our client is facing issues due to many cancellations and problems in refund processing. Can you suggest some quick fixes for the same?

C: Sure. To reduce customer dissatisfaction, we can focus on either increasing the no. of many hours and productivity of call center, or we can get a quick solution with the same set of people. Since the time frame is short, can we proceed with a solution using the same number of people?

I: Yes, that is correct.

C: The main point we need to keep in mind here is to do things quickly and clearly communicate with the customers. So, with the same number of people and their efficiency in the short-term, we can have a few changes in the app or processes which can be implemented at the earliest. We can make the self-induced ticket refund process easier for the customer and put it on the front page of the app or announce it before a call begins, we can auto-refund the customer and send an email without any customer intervention or we can give customers a coupon for future purchases instead of instant cash if we have limited cash.

• Q1. Why consulting, why Bain & Co.?
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• Q2. Why consulting over finance?
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Your client is a cable manufacturer operating pan India. It is one of the 3 largest players in the country. For the last few years, his/her costs have been higher than industry standards. Can you help him/her figure out why is it so?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Reiterated the problem statement and asked some scoping questions. How high have the costs been against the competitors? What is the value chain of the client? Understanding more about the product of the client. What are the costs to be looked at in a particular segment (process leg, geography etc. or at an aggregate level)? Who are the consumers? Have the competitors operated in a similar manner?

I: Let us look at what the various heads of costs can be.

C: Sure. So as per my understanding, the costs incurred can be broken down into the following heads- Raw material acquisition, Inbound logistics, Production and processing, Outbound logistics, Distribution, Marketing & after sales services, others such as depreciation, financing cost etc. Is there any particular cost head I should look at?

I: Do you mind taking a guess?

C: Since it is a high-volume industry, I believe the cost of raw material and logistics (inbound) must be high.

I: That's right, the cost of raw materials and logistics is a major chunk of the client's total cost. Can you maybe figure out why do we have a higher cost?

C: Sure, there can be few reasons for the same, quantity, quality, and suppliers.

I: The quantity we buy has been in line with our processes. We have also had the same suppliers for the last 10 years or so. Is there anything else you can think of?

C: If the quantity we are buying is not an issue, that rules out possibilities of efficiency related costs. We are essentially incurring higher cost per unit which might be because of difference in the quality, form etc.

I: Yes, that is right. While we are buying aluminum in form of sheets. Our competitors are buying it in the form of blocks.

C: That's interesting, is there anything else you want me to look at in this process?

I: No, this should be fine. (Had some discussion about how this industry works and the manner in which this case was actually solved.)

Client is a steel rod manufacturer who wants to reduce costs by a target amount.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: Client is a steel rod manufacturer who wants to reduce costs by a target amount. You need to help the client.

C: I would like to start by listing down the major cost heads for the manufacturer. Starting with the procurement of raw material, logistics, manufacturing, storage, and distribution are the major cost heads. Is there anything I am missing here?

I: Safety costs are also a major part of the overall cost. We also import 100% of our raw materials which again is a major cost head.

C: Understood. We can domestically source the raw material required to reduce the cost. Moving on I would like to understand more about the manufacturing process. Is the manufacturing output uniform across or is it cyclic as per the demand?

I: Our client has a uniform output across the year, but the demand is not uniform. This leads to higher holding costs during low demand period. The factory generally operates at 60% of max output.

C: As I understand, the fixed cost and the holding cost are high and there is a scope to optimize it. Instead of uniform production we could look at cyclic production and lease out our factory area to other players. This would also help us get the transportation costs down and we could operate closer to max capacity, optimizing the operating costs as well.

I: Correct, we could plan to move the production process to cyclic process rather than uniform and also revisit the procurement costs. Thank you, that would be it.

Rank 15 items as plane crash survivor in a forest.
We managed to rank all 15 without arguing or overshooting the time. Was the last to enter but gave logical reasoning for 4-5 items which made my case stronger. Listen patiently and respond logically instead of just trying to speak.

HR questions previously submitted for the application.

I was asked why did I leave Singapore for India and questions on similar lines.

Do you have any experience in supply chain industry?
I don’t have direct work-related experience in supply chain however my Industrial Engineering specialization was in Logistics and Supply chain hence I have been interested in working in similar field since then but didn’t get a chance to.

What is the difference between efficient and responsive supply chain?
Efficient supply chain is one which focuses on costs minimization while responsive supply chain is more time based on customer needs.

What is the relation between responsive and efficient supply chain?
(I didn’t know this but was given some time to think on it) I think considering how efficient focuses on costs and responsive is supposed to be more expensive I believe they are inversely related.

Can you name something cutting-edge supply chain tech or process being followed?
(wasn’t sure what he was asking here so talked about 1PL to 5PL logistics systems but wasn’t what they wanted to hear)

Do you know what is IoT in supply chain?

How will IoT help India’s supply chain?
(I had talked about my long-term goal of setting my fresh produce supply chain so talked using that example).

So how will IoT help your mango supply chain?
IOT will allow me to monitor goods temperature throughout the cold chain and also enable me to utilize GPS tracking for various shipments, times etc. IOT will also allow me to forecast demand based on direct tracking of sales.

Alright suppose I want to setup a mango juice manufacturing plant in UP vs Maharashtra. What factors would make you choose UP or Maharashtra?
This was like a mini case discussion, where I listed multiple factors like transportation, labor, availability of raw material, etc.

The interviewer assumed of these factors as constant and probed more factors until I reached at ease of doing business, getting land and labor laws basically political climate of doing business.

If you were sent to a remote location would you mind working there?
Sir, I left Singapore to come back to Lucknow, and I’m enjoying every moment of my life back home. Even if I’m sent to Ballia I wouldn’t
mind as long as I get to learn how supply chain works in India.

• Q1. Questions regarding Infosys.
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TATA wants to enter the OTT Space. Devise a strategy.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: Introduced himself & asked me to talk about myself.

C: * answered * (Every company asks this so best to prepare beforehand)

I: What kind of work did you do at Infosys?

C: Mentioned about the European client I worked for, building AWS-based analytics engine, and leading a team within just 2 years.

I: Favorite subject in Term-1

C: Marketing Management-I

I: Asked a case on pricing a new OTT platform by TATA.

C: Asked scoping questions to narrow down the scope of the problem & gave broad level buckets (content, analytics, marketing, technology, legal, etc.), asked if the focus should be on anything specific.

I: Asked to pursue subscription-based pricing & further distribution of cost objects for OTT.

C: Gave approximate numbers (not to the extent of a guesstimate though)

To buy Flipkart, what price would I pay?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

I: Mentioned about getting feedback from the team. Asked about the reason behind dip in 12th grade performance.

C: Explained clearly since the question was anticipated.

I: Asked about work experience in Norway and what was difference there as compared to here.

C: Explained in terms of work culture, ethics, etc. without showing either of them in a negative light.

I: Jumped to straight into a case - If you were to buy Flipkart, what price would I pay?

C: Asked questions about who I am in this case, what is my background, objective, etc. Divided the cost factors that will be dead weight for me & further cost benefit analysis involving perceived value too.

I: Asked about Capability Network and my understanding.

C: Asked about some of the recent projects he had been working on & in what direction does Accenture see the technology spectrum growing.

Test on aptitude, logical reasoning and psychometric

Case based GD.

• Q1. Number of interviewers: 2 + 1 (HR individual - sitting in one corner of the room and observing our discussion)
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• Q2. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q3. Your background is different from the industries we are operating in. Why did u choose ABG? Why ABG?
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• Q4. If given a chance, which industry would you pick to work in ABG?
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• Q5. Where do u see yourself in 5 years?
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• Q6. If I ask your previous manager, what will the negative points that he will say about you?
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• Q7. If you were given a chance to work in manufacturing industry, You need to work in place which will be very far from the city and also you would be the only girl...read more
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• Q8. Who is ur favourite CEO and why?
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• Q9. Walk us through your work in previous company. ( Also some questions related to my previous work culture).
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• Q10. Something about you which is not there in your CV. Any questions you want to ask us? It was pleasure talking to you. The discussion was fun and we enjoyed it. C...read more
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• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q2. How has the journey at IIM Lucknow been until now?
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• Q3. Why Consulting over Finance given your background?
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• Q4. How was your experience while working in Europe?
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The client is a bank in UAE looking to expand to South Asia and seeks your advice on the same.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Asked clarifying questions ranging from the objective, timeline, past experience of expansions, if any, current operations, target audience etc.

I: Briefed about the above, mentioning that the banks major clients in UAE are corporates, dealing in international transactions.

C: Asked if the target audience is to be the same or can be different and proposed to concentrate on India.

I: You may focus on India as the target. What factors would you evaluate for different regions and businesses to be targeted?

C: Since it was established that the Indian market was to be entered, confirmed whether an evaluation of India as a country was required.

I: Assume India is the best possible country to go ahead with. Let us focus on the business plan.

C: Evaluated the banking industry and confirmed if the related regulations and requirements could be met by the client. Inquired regarding competition and the presence in international transactions space.

I: Please consider the actual scenario of banking industry in India and evaluate the competition accordingly.

C: Given the presence of MNCs and the export intensive software & IT industry, concluded existence of aggressive competition. Also, differing nature of transactions compared to Oil and Gas industry would also be a barrier preventing the client from using the expertise gained earlier.

I: Valid point. What could be the other alternatives the client has?

C: Suggested targeting Indian origin employees from the middle east countries with their families in India. As they would require assistance with money transfers, deposits, withdrawals, etc., this space could be the point of focus.

I: Sounds good, Which parts of India do you think should be looked at?

C: Suggested the South-Indian states with special focus on Kerala with reasons for the same.

I: Good case, lets end it here. Can you summarize the case for me?

C: Summarized the case and exchanged pleasantries.

Client is a cloth manufacturer with presence in Europe and South Asia facing growth issues due to the pandemic. Help them.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Confirmed the exact timeline and was told it is a real time scenario. Asked other scoping questions such as the operations, difference in Europe and other regions.

I: Europe is primarily used for high end fabric processing and the Asian manufacturing units are for the medium and low end

C: Inquired regarding competition and was given to understand that the one major competitor was facing similar low growth rates while the other players experienced a fall in revenues.

I: What according to you could be the different strategies to improve revenue numbers?

C: Suggested reduced pricing and entering unexplored geographies considering promotion and marketing actions would not garner additional demand due to the pandemic.

I: Let us explore them further.

C: Initiated with price reduction and suggested parallelly targeting reduction in costs to be able to sustain margins. Discussed how the same could be achieved and I presented a few ideas for the same exploring each section of the production and supply chain.

I: What factors would you consider for choosing a location and the strategy to be adopted for that particular location to increase sales?

C: Bifurcated the solution offered into two using Ansoff matrix i.e. 1) New product in existing markets like Asia and Europe with price/product modifications, 2) Exploring new countries where the client currently does not have any presence.

Discussed briefly on each of the two.

• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q2. What did you do at BCG for 36 months? Which team were you a part of?
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• Q3. Tell me 3 good things about your experience at BCG and 3 not-so-good things about your experience at BCG.
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• Q4. A few questions related to basketball and undergrad PCom experience.
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Your client is the CEO of an FMCG company. The profitability of the hair oil product is a problem. Please look into it.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Sure. I have a few clarification questions here. I wanted to understand more about the company and the product. (Asked specific questions here).

I: It is a typical FMCG company with many brands and many products. We are here to study the profitability of the hair old product. The oil is available in 3 SKUs- 50, 100, and 300 ml. (no special trend across the three SKUs)

C: I wanted to understand more about our customers and understand if the product is targeting any particular set of people.

I: Yes, this oil helps in re-growing hair. There is not a lot of competition, but one of our major competitors is priced at 2x. Oil is sold widely across India.

C: Thanks. Now I want to look at the profitability. Since we are talking about profitability and not profit, I would want to look at both revenues as well as costs.

I: Sure. Go ahead.

C: So, looking at the gross margins, first, I want to look at costs. Can we look at optimizing costs by achieving some sort of economies of scale?

I: Costs are optimized, nothing else can be achieved.

C: Okay. Now, looking at the revenues. Looking at it from units x price per unit angle, and since the price has remained constant (confirmed this), units can be increased, but I do not think that will increase the gross margins.

I: That's right. What else?

C: I want to look at the channels via which the product is selling.

I: Great. We sell via 3 channels: general trade, modern trade, and e-com. The percentage distribution of quantity sold is 50%, 30%, and 20% respectively. And the margins in the 3 channels are 70%, 50% and 20%.

C: Thank you for sharing the data. It seems that general trade is best for business. If the sole focus is on increasing the profitability, maybe we can think of selling even more volume via general trade channels, considering e-com has considerably lower margins.

I: That's great. I think we are done here. Asked few more questions from CV.

Your client is trying to create a logistics company, which will use something like a TATA Ace to deliver materials from one place to the other, and they plan to use EVs to do this. However, to make it commercially viable, the client realizes that they will have to run the EV almost 16 hours each day, which seems unrealistic. What can be done?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Sure. Could you help me understand who exactly the client wishes to serve?

I: It will basically transport standard FMCG stuff to kirana stores, retailers etc.

C: Okay, I want to clarify the question. What exactly does the client need help with?

I: Oh. So, during the normal delivery process using a diesel-based vehicle, it used to run for about 7-8 hours each day and be commercially viable within a certain time period. However, if we switch to EVs, even if we work for about 16 hours each day, it will still take us more time than before to be commercially viable. What can the client do about this?

C: Thanks for explaining. I want to understand what a typical day looks like for the vehicle, as in, how many clients are supposed to be touched, any quality checks, any mandatory factory visits etc. Where and how much does a vehicle travel each day?

I: Okay. Why don't you prepare a detailed travel route for the vehicle? Make it as detailed as possible, think about everything from the start to end of day.

C: Tried to create a typical day for the vehicle including loading, unloading, maintenance, sign-off during delivery, mealtimes, travel paths, etc.

I: Now just tell me, where all can you cut time and how?

C: Gave some ideas to cut down time at each step.

• Q1. Tell me about yourself in short.
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• Q2. Why consulting (and not finance)?
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• Q3. Which practice areas you are interested in?
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• Q4. Tell me about your work experience.
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The Government of Delhi is looking to outsource the operations and management of Qutab Minar as they are running in losses. Your client is a Global company, should they bid on this or not?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: (reiterated the problem statement) Okay I would like to understand more about the situation. Can you tell me a bit more about this company? Where is it based? What is the competitive scenario for it?

I: There are 3 companies worldwide that do this. We are a US company and have the largest market share. Others are European companies.

C: Okay. And what sort of monuments/sites have they managed before?

I: They have managed sites in US and Europe both. They have the capabilities to manage Qutab Minar as well.

C: Who usually manages the monument sites in India? Are there any domestic players or just managed by government?

I: Managed by Archaeological Survey of India, which comes under the Government.

C: What is the duration of the contract for managing Qutab Minar?

I: 30-year contract.

C: And the ticket price mentioned, Rs.2, is it the same for all visitors or does Qutab Minar follow differential pricing for foreign tourists?

I: Same price for all

C: Okay so we can probably evaluate India as a whole, the market attractiveness, and then specifically the revenues and costs associated with this contract and sort of understand if this will be a profitable venture for us to bid on. Does that sound alright?

I: We do not need to look at the market. We can look at the contract specifically. You can assume we would have the same costs.

C: Okay so Rs. 150 cr for 30 years. That’s Rs. 4500 cr. We can look at the revenue then. Which can be further divided into Ticketing and non-ticketing revenue. Should I look at ticketing revenue first?

I: Yes

C: Since currently the ticket revenue from Rs. 2 is too low to cover the costs incurred, can we explore the idea of differential pricing for foreign tourists? That we can look at in terms of price, then we can also look at trying to increase footfall to the monument.

I: We can look at differential pricing. Assume we are already getting the maximum footfall.

C: Do we know the split of the footfall in terms of domestic and foreign tourists?

I: 80L domestic, 20L foreign

C: To look at the price to be charged to the foreign tourists, we can look at the 3 broad pricing strategies – cost based, competitive pricing and value-based pricing. Looking at cost based, we can divide 150 cr by (paused here). Ok we cannot determine for domestic and foreign tourists separately from this. But we know average would be minimum of Rs. 150.

I: Yup. Does that help?

C: Not much. I will move on to competitive pricing then.

I: Sure.

C: Okay so we can look at the prices charged for domestic and foreign tourists at other key monuments in Delhi such as Red Fort. Do we have any information around that?

I: You can assume the maximum charged for domestic tourists is Rs. 5, and there is a cap on that by the state government.

C: (conversation about if monuments come under state or central government) We can also compare with monuments in other states of India.

I: We can charge Rs.10 at the maximum let us say.

C: Sure, so revenue from that would be Rs. 8 cr. The rest of Rs. 142 cr also has to be recovered. So, 142 cr/20L = Rs. 710 per foreign tourist. But this does not include any margin we would want to make.

I: Do you think that is a reasonable price to charge them?

C: As per my experience, since my Father has been mistaken for a foreigner a couple of times, around Rs. 500 is charged for foreign tourists. We can also see in comparison to ticket prices for monuments in other countries. I have been only to the US and there at Empire State the ticket price was more than $30. Rs. 710 at the current exchange rate is just about $10. So as per me that should be fine.

I: Fair enough. Let us say we can only charge maximum of Rs. 10 for domestic and Rs. 500 for foreign tourists. Should we bid on the contract?

C: There is a gap of 42 cr still. To bridge that we can look at non-ticketing sources of revenue sources, if we are allowed, such as parking.

I: But do you think that will cover up the gap plus the amount we bid on the contract?

C: Most likely not.

I: So then should we bid on the contract?

C: Since the contract is not profitable, we should not bid on the contract.

Since we have both worked in the energy sector, let us look at the launch of a new alternate fuel. A green Hydrogen based fuel, created using electrolysis and does not use any fossil fuel. I want you to estimate the market for it in India and tell me what factors should be considered to arrive on an investment decision. Does India make sense for such a fuel?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: We want to evaluate how suitable India is for the launch of a new Hydrogen based fuel – the factors to look at and the market size. To do so, can you tell me what sort of uses are we looking at for this fuel?

I: What uses do you think there could be? So mainly it can be used in Transportation and as an input into refinery/chemical processes, hence industrial demand.

C: Sure. Is there any segment I should try to look at first?

I: In terms of transportation what all segments can we look at?

C: Road, rail, air, and water transport. And within that public/commercial and private vehicles would be there?

I: Okay, let us focus on road transport first. Within that what all would come?

C: Commercial and personal vehicles – cars, 2 wheelers, buses, trucks…

I: Okay what all factors should we be looking at for a Passenger car owner?

C: Okay so 5 main factors as per me would be – current fuel mix in the category, cost associated, availability, safety, and utilization (mileage). Is there anything I should focus on first or anything else I should look at?

I: Let us compare these factors for this Hydrogen fuel vs electric car and discuss them further. (Discussed on the different factors and whether EV or Hydrogen fuel fared better, and if it made sense).

I: Let us discuss the factors that should be looked at for Commercial vehicles – trucks.

C: Some factors that would be more key in case of trucks would be Utilization/time, infrastructure, and safety. (Discussed on these, interviewer mentioned a couple of other factors such as cost and asked if clean quotient mattered here. Ruled out commercial vehicles as a good market.)

I: Let us look at the chemical industry and the market size there.

C: Could you tell me a bit more where exactly it is used in the refining process?

I: It is used to remove sulfur from crude oil.

C: We need to find the market size and its growth, for which we can look at the demand side from the refinery sector or the supply side. Supply side as per me would involve more assumptions.

I: We can look at demand side as supply is not a problem since it is formed from electrolysis.

I will tell you this that for 15 MN tons capacity, 1 MN ton of Hydrogen is required in a year. Fuel demand is growing at 3-4% every year.

C: So, if we know the number of refineries and their capacity, we can calculate the demand.

I: If there is a capacity of 300mn tons then what is the market?

C: 20mn tons.

I: Yes. What all factors will these refineries look at while switching to a clean and green hydrogen?

C: They will probably look at cost, contract and its terms, reliability of supply, differentiation (clean), volume incentives and ease of use. (Further discussion on these – determined additional capex costs would be the biggest hindrance in adoption.)

I: How would we persuade the refineries to switch to this?

C: (asked a little more about how exactly hydrogen is used and refinery process) We can construct the necessary pipelines, provide the convertor from our own expenses so that they do not have to make those capital expenditures. Use the clean quotient as a differentiator.

I: Fair enough. We could also look at making the capex costs variable or payable over time. Thank you.

Tell me about yourself.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C - Standard prepared answer

I- Asked how I used data in my work experience (As my work ex revolved around data analytics)

Explained the relevance of data at my firm and how it is used. Now he jumped to the situation-based questions.

Situation 1:

I- How will you identify whether a person who had earlier defaulted on paying the credit card dues can now pay assuming we have all the data sources?

C- 1. Reduced it to know if the person has the ability to pay or not.

2. Broke it down to 2 things: Expenditure and Savings.

3. For savings, we can look at bank balance and earnings. Then deep dived into how can we know these things.

4. For Expenditure, I broke it into necessity and luxury and then looking at how can we identify these.

Situation 2:

I- Suppose you have to open a store for musical instruments and you have access to all the data, what all sources of data can you think of and how will they be relevant?

C- 1. Firstly, I started by looking at some direct connection to the music industry like previous purchase of musical instruments they have made or their affiliation with some music-related society.

2. Listed 5-6 different ways but the interviewer kept on asking for more so then shifted to indirect connections like time spent on TV watching music channels. Listed 4-5 indirect ways and the interview ended.


It was a 20 min round with 8 min for each of the situation.

I- How will you build an IPL fantasy team for a match using the Cricbuzz data?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- 1. I asked about constraints like there are only 100 points.

2. Decided on a structure for the team to be made: 4 batsmen, 1 keeper, 3 bowlers, 3 all-rounders.

3. Reduced it into a utility maximization problem where each player will have some utility and cost associated with them. Now I had to devise a method to tell about the utility of each player as costs are already given.

4. Started with batting, listed various factors.

5. Then I deep dived into each factor as in how to quantitatively represent the data for every factor.

It went on for around 25 min and the entire interview revolved around this particular case.