Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Your seniors at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur were your true well-wishers, they shared their placement interview questions for you. 🙏
Filter interviews byIndian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur Placement Interview Questions
Updated
27 Dec 2024
411 interviews found
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Since it is a Finance profile, it would help if you have any finance /economics/ MBA projects to write about. DB looks for a good CPI and decent projects or extra curriculars and interest in the finance sector. It also wouldn't hurt to mention your technical skills here.
Round: Test
Experience: Since most of the finance work in India is back office (with all due respect to all those who have been placed in this sector), you have to be comfortable with numbers and calculations. The test is a typical CAT type paper mostly concentrating on quantitative analysis and data interpretation. There is also a bonus finance section for those who have knowledge on the subject.
Again practice cat type papers well and sit with a knowledgeable friend of yours to discuss topics in finance.
Tips: The short listing for the interview is based on both the performance in the test and the resume. (More on the test)
I never got through any of those tests. people who prepared seriously for CAT breezed through the test and I was left to bite their dust. I didn't make it into any of the good (read well paying) jobs during on the first 4 days.
Realize when you are in a recession period, no job comes easy. Most of us who are not insanely intelligent like that one dude in your wing need to practice hard for the test to get through. In a recession/slack scenario core companies save the day. Don't neglect your core courses.
General Tips: Internship: (attention third year people!)
When it comes to the placement interview, internships play pivotal role. There are rarely any interviews where the interviewee isn't drilled on their internships. So, please don‟t treat an internship as a paid vacation. Good work done during the internship gives one the confidence that can very well bowl the interviewer over (as it did in my case :D). Believe me confidence does much more than get you a job; it determines success and failure in mostundertakings. Internship gives you the first chance to build that up … use it!
Pre Placement Talks:
Please attend the ppts of at least those companies which fall into your sector of interest. At ppts you get to see a lot more things than the boring presentations and the pay package. Most companies bring along with them alumni who have spent a few years in the company. Observing or interacting with them will give you a good assessment of what you are going to be a few years from now if you join that company. For example I observed that alumni of XYZ Company were not as upbeat and confident as alumni of ABC Company (names have been hidden on request ;) ) even if XYZ was paying plenty more than ABC. I knew then and there that I would want to join ABC and never applied to XYZ. Be sure to utilize them and be sure to clear all your doubts and conceptions. Once you start attending presentations you will observe junta asking questions just to score brownie points with the speaker. Believe me it won't help one bit in landing them a job!
Resumes:
Making an appealing resume is the single most important step in the placement process and IITK is notorious for its bad resumes, so attend workshops. Like most IITK junta I sucked at making a resume (and still do), but whatever little skill I have, I got through workshops. One workshop I would advise everyone to attend is the resume making workshop of McKinsey. Get your resumes checked and edited by those who have been through placement especially by those from other IITs (I know this will hurt a lot of egos, but IITB's resumes are some of the best. Those dudes have mastered the art of making an impact with whatever little they've got, while we excel at doing exactly the opposite :P). Prepare an impactful resume and don't submit the same resume to every company, make changes based on the profile.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Since it is a Finance profile, it would help if you have any finance /economics/ MBA projects to write about. DB looks for a good CPI and decent projects or extra curriculars and interest in the finance sector. It also wouldn't hurt to mention your technical skills here.
Round: Test
Experience: Since most of the finance work in India is back office (with all due respect to all those who have been placed in this sector), you have to be comfortable with numbers and calculations. The test is a typical CAT type paper mostly concentrating on quantitative analysis and data interpretation. There is also a bonus finance section for those who have knowledge on the subject.
Again practice cat type papers well and sit with a knowledgeable friend of yours to discuss topics in finance.
Tips: The short listing for the interview is based on both the performance in the test and the resume. (More on the test)
I never got through any of those tests. people who prepared seriously for CAT breezed through the test and I was left to bite their dust. I didn't make it into any of the good (read well paying) jobs during on the first 4 days.
Realize when you are in a recession period, no job comes easy. Most of us who are not insanely intelligent like that one dude in your wing need to practice hard for the test to get through. In a recession/slack scenario core companies save the day. Don't neglect your core courses.
General Tips: Internship: (attention third year people!)
When it comes to the placement interview, internships play pivotal role. There are rarely any interviews where the interviewee isn't drilled on their internships. So, please don‟t treat an internship as a paid vacation. Good work done during the internship gives one the confidence that can very well bowl the interviewer over (as it did in my case :D). Believe me confidence does much more than get you a job; it determines success and failure in mostundertakings. Internship gives you the first chance to build that up … use it!
Pre Placement Talks:
Please attend the ppts of at least those companies which fall into your sector of interest. At ppts you get to see a lot more things than the boring presentations and the pay package. Most companies bring along with them alumni who have spent a few years in the company. Observing or interacting with them will give you a good assessment of what you are going to be a few years from now if you join that company. For example I observed that alumni of XYZ Company were not as upbeat and confident as alumni of ABC Company (names have been hidden on request ;) ) even if XYZ was paying plenty more than ABC. I knew then and there that I would want to join ABC and never applied to XYZ. Be sure to utilize them and be sure to clear all your doubts and conceptions. Once you start attending presentations you will observe junta asking questions just to score brownie points with the speaker. Believe me it won't help one bit in landing them a job!
Resumes:
Making an appealing resume is the single most important step in the placement process and IITK is notorious for its bad resumes, so attend workshops. Like most IITK junta I sucked at making a resume (and still do), but whatever little skill I have, I got through workshops. One workshop I would advise everyone to attend is the resume making workshop of McKinsey. Get your resumes checked and edited by those who have been through placement especially by those from other IITs (I know this will hurt a lot of egos, but IITB's resumes are some of the best. Those dudes have mastered the art of making an impact with whatever little they've got, while we excel at doing exactly the opposite :P). Prepare an impactful resume and don't submit the same resume to every company, make changes based on the profile.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: McKinsey looks for a spike in your resume, people who have commendable achievements is their field of choice, academics, extra curriculars or sports. So be sure to make your resume accordingly. McKinsey adds a lot of weight-age to formal awards, scholarships, achievements (like inter-IIT) etc. But if you don't have them (like me) you just have to make extra effort to show that you have equivalent achievements.
Round: Interview
Experience: First, I was asked about myself and mostly my connection to dance and the dance club. (Some interviewers do this to make you comfortable at the same time analyzing your personality). In the first interview I was given an estimation case about the dish TV industry. Here the interviewer was mostly interested in my approach to solving the problem and if applicable my numerical skills.
The second interview was a pure business case about the printing business. Here my creativity and business sense (read common sense as applicable to a business situation) was put to test.
Tips: McKinsey interviews are mostly case study based. So prepare accordingly. Once you get shortlisted they send you a ton of material, search for a “Vault” case book amongst this pile. Reading that should be enough ;). First read the basic material by you and once you are confident enough make a group of around 3 people and practice case studies.
I guess this job opportunity meant a lot to all of us and it did to me too. I became nervous and that severely affected my performance and moreover I looked under confident. Take on every interview as if that job doesn't mean anything to you.
General Tips: Internship: (attention third year people!)
When it comes to the placement interview, internships play pivotal role. There are rarely any interviews where the interviewee isn't drilled on their internships. So, please don‟t treat an internship as a paid vacation. Good work done during the internship gives one the confidence that can very well bowl the interviewer over (as it did in my case :D). Believe me confidence does much more than get you a job; it determines success and failure in most
undertakings. Internship gives you the first chance to build that up … use it!
Pre Placement Talks:
Please attend the ppts of at least those companies which fall into your sector of interest. At ppts you get to see a lot more things than the boring presentations and the pay package. Most companies bring along with them alumni who have spent a few years in the company. Observing or interacting with them will give you a good assessment of what you are going to be a few years from now if you join that company. For example I observed that alumni of XYZ Company were not as upbeat and confident as alumni of ABC Company (names have
been hidden on request ;) ) even if XYZ was paying plenty more than ABC. I knew then and there that I would want to join ABC and never applied to XYZ. Be sure to utilize them and be sure to clear all your doubts and conceptions. Once you start attending presentations you will observe junta asking questions just to score brownie points with the speaker. Believe me it won't help one bit in landing them a job!
Resumes:
Making an appealing resume is the single most important step in the placement process and IITK is notorious for its bad resumes, so attend workshops. Like most IITK junta I sucked at making a resume (and still do), but whatever little skill I have, I got through workshops. One workshop I would advise everyone to attend is the resume making workshop of McKinsey. Get your resumes checked and edited by those who have been through placement especially by those from other IITs (I know this will hurt a lot of egos, but IITB's resumes are some of the best. Those dudes have mastered the art of making an impact with whatever little they've got, while we excel at doing exactly the opposite :P). Prepare an impactful resume and don't submit the same resume to every company, make changes based on the profile.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: McKinsey looks for a spike in your resume, people who have commendable achievements is their field of choice, academics, extra curriculars or sports. So be sure to make your resume accordingly. McKinsey adds a lot of weight-age to formal awards, scholarships, achievements (like inter-IIT) etc. But if you don't have them (like me) you just have to make extra effort to show that you have equivalent achievements.
Round: Interview
Experience: First, I was asked about myself and mostly my connection to dance and the dance club. (Some interviewers do this to make you comfortable at the same time analyzing your personality). In the first interview I was given an estimation case about the dish TV industry. Here the interviewer was mostly interested in my approach to solving the problem and if applicable my numerical skills.
The second interview was a pure business case about the printing business. Here my creativity and business sense (read common sense as applicable to a business situation) was put to test.
Tips: McKinsey interviews are mostly case study based. So prepare accordingly. Once you get shortlisted they send you a ton of material, search for a “Vault” case book amongst this pile. Reading that should be enough ;). First read the basic material by you and once you are confident enough make a group of around 3 people and practice case studies.
I guess this job opportunity meant a lot to all of us and it did to me too. I became nervous and that severely affected my performance and moreover I looked under confident. Take on every interview as if that job doesn't mean anything to you.
General Tips: Internship: (attention third year people!)
When it comes to the placement interview, internships play pivotal role. There are rarely any interviews where the interviewee isn't drilled on their internships. So, please don‟t treat an internship as a paid vacation. Good work done during the internship gives one the confidence that can very well bowl the interviewer over (as it did in my case :D). Believe me confidence does much more than get you a job; it determines success and failure in most
undertakings. Internship gives you the first chance to build that up … use it!
Pre Placement Talks:
Please attend the ppts of at least those companies which fall into your sector of interest. At ppts you get to see a lot more things than the boring presentations and the pay package. Most companies bring along with them alumni who have spent a few years in the company. Observing or interacting with them will give you a good assessment of what you are going to be a few years from now if you join that company. For example I observed that alumni of XYZ Company were not as upbeat and confident as alumni of ABC Company (names have
been hidden on request ;) ) even if XYZ was paying plenty more than ABC. I knew then and there that I would want to join ABC and never applied to XYZ. Be sure to utilize them and be sure to clear all your doubts and conceptions. Once you start attending presentations you will observe junta asking questions just to score brownie points with the speaker. Believe me it won't help one bit in landing them a job!
Resumes:
Making an appealing resume is the single most important step in the placement process and IITK is notorious for its bad resumes, so attend workshops. Like most IITK junta I sucked at making a resume (and still do), but whatever little skill I have, I got through workshops. One workshop I would advise everyone to attend is the resume making workshop of McKinsey. Get your resumes checked and edited by those who have been through placement especially by those from other IITs (I know this will hurt a lot of egos, but IITB's resumes are some of the best. Those dudes have mastered the art of making an impact with whatever little they've got, while we excel at doing exactly the opposite :P). Prepare an impactful resume and don't submit the same resume to every company, make changes based on the profile.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: I thought I had not done very well. They were looking for good performance in the Quant Section which had many questions on Probability and Statistics. I did not do well in this section. However, I was short-listed.
Round: Interview
Experience: By the time my interview turn came for the interview, the interviewers were running out of time. They just had 10 minutes per person. (They had a flight from Lucknow!). As I entered, I was told to quickly tell about me, why finance and why not a PhD. He asked a question from the test paper. I think the interview lasted less than 10 minutes.
Round: Interview
Experience: This round also lasted for about 10 minutes. This time it was more finance oriented. He asked some basic questions on Forwards, Futures and Options.
Tips: Deutsche Bank did not select me. I thought it was mainly because of my test score. I was later told that it was because they thought I did not fit the profile well.
General Tips: The Decision Making Process: Like most people at IITK, I was in a dilemma of what to do after my graduation. Broadly, I had two options in front of me – Core (PhD/Job) and Non-Core (MBA/Job). I had already had some research exposure. I had worked on some good research projects during my internships and also at IITK. Although I thought I was good at research, I wanted to explore working in a corporate environment as I had never done that before. Also, the life as a PhD and thereafter, seemed less action packed and less dynamic for me. Maybe I could do it at a later part in my life, but for now I decided to explore the Non-Core sector. I was looking for a company which would give me business exposure as well as an opportunity to learn and develop my skill set.Amongst the non-core sectors, Consultancy with its varied exposure seemed the best to me. I thought FMCG gave a wonderful leadership experience and was my second preference. Finance involved too much numbers and probability (something I’m not good at). But still it was my third preference (amongst the options available) as I am quite interested in the financial world. Analytics and then IT followed. Despite the heavy pay-package, the Oil sector did not attract me a lot. I did not prepare for it but still applied as we had very few good options this year.
Experiences:
1. In general, I would say that my preparation was good as 5th year had a lot of time.
2. It’s fun to prepare, especially HR and giving and taking mock interviews.
3. Shocks and Surprises – I was told that anything can happen during placements and it turned out to be true. The McKinsey shortlist came out in early October and I was not short-listed. I had not expected this at all and had even started practicing case studies long before. This left me really disappointed.
4. Try to do things early, November gets really busy – End Sems, CAT, Revise everything (I was not able to revise Fluid Mechanics).
5. Prepare for tests well, they matter a lot – if you score very well in the test (top few), the interview process would just check that you can talk, solve puzzles and you are interested (you will join). Besides, sometimes it is difficult to judge who is better by the interview process – the tests score matter then as they are the only objective score that they have (apart from CPI).
6. Know Probability well – learn Probability and Statistics and maybe even Stochastic Processes if you have not done these courses and you want a job in Finance/Analytics.
7. Don’t just prepare for consultancy / finance / FMCG – less than 10 people got placed in these companies. Prepare for other companies as well. Have a backup plan ready and do not lose hope, the scenario is bad – it’s not your fault – things will improve!
Skill Tips: 1. Make a good resume – bug your seniors.
2. Practice for aptitude tests – otherwise the one’s preparing for CAT have distinct advantage.
3. Improve communication skills – do lots of mock interviews and GDs.
4. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst – the scenario is bad – even the best can be in for a long placement season, and feeling bad about it will only make matters worse – it’s just your first job – in the long run of your career, these fluctuations won’t matter; what will matter is, how you handle these fluctuations.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: I thought I had not done very well. They were looking for good performance in the Quant Section which had many questions on Probability and Statistics. I did not do well in this section. However, I was short-listed.
Round: Interview
Experience: By the time my interview turn came for the interview, the interviewers were running out of time. They just had 10 minutes per person. (They had a flight from Lucknow!). As I entered, I was told to quickly tell about me, why finance and why not a PhD. He asked a question from the test paper. I think the interview lasted less than 10 minutes.
Round: Interview
Experience: This round also lasted for about 10 minutes. This time it was more finance oriented. He asked some basic questions on Forwards, Futures and Options.
Tips: Deutsche Bank did not select me. I thought it was mainly because of my test score. I was later told that it was because they thought I did not fit the profile well.
General Tips: The Decision Making Process: Like most people at IITK, I was in a dilemma of what to do after my graduation. Broadly, I had two options in front of me – Core (PhD/Job) and Non-Core (MBA/Job). I had already had some research exposure. I had worked on some good research projects during my internships and also at IITK. Although I thought I was good at research, I wanted to explore working in a corporate environment as I had never done that before. Also, the life as a PhD and thereafter, seemed less action packed and less dynamic for me. Maybe I could do it at a later part in my life, but for now I decided to explore the Non-Core sector. I was looking for a company which would give me business exposure as well as an opportunity to learn and develop my skill set.Amongst the non-core sectors, Consultancy with its varied exposure seemed the best to me. I thought FMCG gave a wonderful leadership experience and was my second preference. Finance involved too much numbers and probability (something I’m not good at). But still it was my third preference (amongst the options available) as I am quite interested in the financial world. Analytics and then IT followed. Despite the heavy pay-package, the Oil sector did not attract me a lot. I did not prepare for it but still applied as we had very few good options this year.
Experiences:
1. In general, I would say that my preparation was good as 5th year had a lot of time.
2. It’s fun to prepare, especially HR and giving and taking mock interviews.
3. Shocks and Surprises – I was told that anything can happen during placements and it turned out to be true. The McKinsey shortlist came out in early October and I was not short-listed. I had not expected this at all and had even started practicing case studies long before. This left me really disappointed.
4. Try to do things early, November gets really busy – End Sems, CAT, Revise everything (I was not able to revise Fluid Mechanics).
5. Prepare for tests well, they matter a lot – if you score very well in the test (top few), the interview process would just check that you can talk, solve puzzles and you are interested (you will join). Besides, sometimes it is difficult to judge who is better by the interview process – the tests score matter then as they are the only objective score that they have (apart from CPI).
6. Know Probability well – learn Probability and Statistics and maybe even Stochastic Processes if you have not done these courses and you want a job in Finance/Analytics.
7. Don’t just prepare for consultancy / finance / FMCG – less than 10 people got placed in these companies. Prepare for other companies as well. Have a backup plan ready and do not lose hope, the scenario is bad – it’s not your fault – things will improve!
Skill Tips: 1. Make a good resume – bug your seniors.
2. Practice for aptitude tests – otherwise the one’s preparing for CAT have distinct advantage.
3. Improve communication skills – do lots of mock interviews and GDs.
4. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst – the scenario is bad – even the best can be in for a long placement season, and feeling bad about it will only make matters worse – it’s just your first job – in the long run of your career, these fluctuations won’t matter; what will matter is, how you handle these fluctuations.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. About myself, my family, my learning and my experiences at IITK
- Q2. What did I know of the roles offered by Fair Isaac and why did I think that the Research and Development profile suited me. (He also tried to gauge my interest ...read more
- Q3. My plans for a PhD and if I had decided a few areas that I would like to do a PhD in
- Q4. Any questions I wanted to ask
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: The company was recruiting for three profiles – Software, Analytics and R&D. They took two tests. The first test was compulsory for all. The second test was for the R&D profile. On the basis of the score they short-listed me for the Research and Development profile.
Round: Interview
Experience: The interviewer asked me to take him though my resume and then asked about my thesis and projects. Then there were several questions on probability (the ones I had got wrong in the test paper!) and computer algorithms.
Round: Interview
Experience: I was selected in Fair Isaac (R&D). They use Genetic Algorithms (GAs) in their finance work. I have done many projects in GAs and also have some papers published. I think that helped me a lot in getting selected.
General Tips: The Decision Making Process:
Like most people at IITK, I was in a dilemma of what to do after my graduation. Broadly, I had two options in front of me – Core (PhD/Job) and Non-Core (MBA/Job). I had already had some research exposure. I had worked on some good research projects during my internships and also at IITK. Although I thought I was good at research, I wanted to explore working in a corporate environment as I had never done that before. Also, the life as a PhD
and thereafter, seemed less action packed and less dynamic for me. Maybe I could do it at a later part in my life, but for now I decided to explore the Non-Core sector. I was looking for a company which would give me business exposure as well as an opportunity to learn and develop my skill set.
Amongst the non-core sectors, Consultancy with its varied exposure seemed the best to me. I thought FMCG gave a wonderful leadership experience and was my second preference. Finance involved too much numbers and probability (something I’m not good at). But still it was my third preference (amongst the options available) as I am quite interested in the financial world. Analytics and then IT followed. Despite the heavy pay-package, the Oil sector did not attract me a lot. I did not prepare for it but still applied as we had very few good options this year.
Experiences:
1. In general, I would say that my preparation was good as 5th year had a lot of time.
2. It’s fun to prepare, especially HR and giving and taking mock interviews.
3. Shocks and Surprises – I was told that anything can happen during placements and it turned out to be true. The McKinsey shortlist came out in early October and I was not short-listed. I had not expected this at all and had even started practicing case studies long before. This left me really disappointed.
4. Try to do things early, November gets really busy – End Sems, CAT, Revise everything (I was not able to revise Fluid Mechanics).
5. Prepare for tests well, they matter a lot – if you score very well in the test (top few), the interview process would just check that you can talk, solve puzzles and you are interested (you will join). Besides, sometimes it is difficult to judge who is better by the interview process – the tests score matter then as they are the only objective score that they have (apart from CPI).
6. Know Probability well – learn Probability and Statistics and maybe even Stochastic Processes if you have not done these courses and you want a job in Finance/Analytics.
7. Don’t just prepare for consultancy / finance / FMCG – less than 10 people got placed in these companies. Prepare for other companies as well. Have a backup plan ready and do not lose hope, the scenario is bad – it’s not your fault – things will improve!
Skill Tips: 1. Make a good resume – bug your seniors.
2. Practice for aptitude tests – otherwise the one’s preparing for CAT have distinct advantage.
3. Improve communication skills – do lots of mock interviews and GDs.
4. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst – the scenario is bad – even the best can be in for a long placement season, and feeling bad about it will only make matters worse – it’s just your first job – in the long run of your career, these fluctuations won’t matter; what will matter is, how you handle these fluctuations.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: The company was recruiting for three profiles – Software, Analytics and R&D. They took two tests. The first test was compulsory for all. The second test was for the R&D profile. On the basis of the score they short-listed me for the Research and Development profile.
Round: Interview
Experience: The interviewer asked me to take him though my resume and then asked about my thesis and projects. Then there were several questions on probability (the ones I had got wrong in the test paper!) and computer algorithms.
Round: Interview
Experience: I was selected in Fair Isaac (R&D). They use Genetic Algorithms (GAs) in their finance work. I have done many projects in GAs and also have some papers published. I think that helped me a lot in getting selected.
General Tips: The Decision Making Process:
Like most people at IITK, I was in a dilemma of what to do after my graduation. Broadly, I had two options in front of me – Core (PhD/Job) and Non-Core (MBA/Job). I had already had some research exposure. I had worked on some good research projects during my internships and also at IITK. Although I thought I was good at research, I wanted to explore working in a corporate environment as I had never done that before. Also, the life as a PhD
and thereafter, seemed less action packed and less dynamic for me. Maybe I could do it at a later part in my life, but for now I decided to explore the Non-Core sector. I was looking for a company which would give me business exposure as well as an opportunity to learn and develop my skill set.
Amongst the non-core sectors, Consultancy with its varied exposure seemed the best to me. I thought FMCG gave a wonderful leadership experience and was my second preference. Finance involved too much numbers and probability (something I’m not good at). But still it was my third preference (amongst the options available) as I am quite interested in the financial world. Analytics and then IT followed. Despite the heavy pay-package, the Oil sector did not attract me a lot. I did not prepare for it but still applied as we had very few good options this year.
Experiences:
1. In general, I would say that my preparation was good as 5th year had a lot of time.
2. It’s fun to prepare, especially HR and giving and taking mock interviews.
3. Shocks and Surprises – I was told that anything can happen during placements and it turned out to be true. The McKinsey shortlist came out in early October and I was not short-listed. I had not expected this at all and had even started practicing case studies long before. This left me really disappointed.
4. Try to do things early, November gets really busy – End Sems, CAT, Revise everything (I was not able to revise Fluid Mechanics).
5. Prepare for tests well, they matter a lot – if you score very well in the test (top few), the interview process would just check that you can talk, solve puzzles and you are interested (you will join). Besides, sometimes it is difficult to judge who is better by the interview process – the tests score matter then as they are the only objective score that they have (apart from CPI).
6. Know Probability well – learn Probability and Statistics and maybe even Stochastic Processes if you have not done these courses and you want a job in Finance/Analytics.
7. Don’t just prepare for consultancy / finance / FMCG – less than 10 people got placed in these companies. Prepare for other companies as well. Have a backup plan ready and do not lose hope, the scenario is bad – it’s not your fault – things will improve!
Skill Tips: 1. Make a good resume – bug your seniors.
2. Practice for aptitude tests – otherwise the one’s preparing for CAT have distinct advantage.
3. Improve communication skills – do lots of mock interviews and GDs.
4. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst – the scenario is bad – even the best can be in for a long placement season, and feeling bad about it will only make matters worse – it’s just your first job – in the long run of your career, these fluctuations won’t matter; what will matter is, how you handle these fluctuations.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: Questions on C++(Virtual fns, inheritance). Two on probability, 12 on Algorithms.
Round: Other Interview
Experience: There were 4 rounds to my interview.
Round 1(Madhuresh Agrawal):
He asked a lot of puzzles. Apart from knowing how to approach a problem, you should also know the mathematical reasoning for their correctness.
Round 2 (Abhishek Gaurav):
He asked some more puzzles and some probability (expectation) questions. Then, he modified one question asked in the written test and asked me write code for it on paper.
Round 3 (Anand Sinha):
He asked questions related to graphs. Several times, he tried to trick me by asking questions like "How would you tell whether a graph has a node with n degree?" whereas no node can have degree = n.
Round 4 (Anand Sinha):
He asked me write 2 programs: 1. Given k and DFS traversal string for a k-ary tree, construct the tree. The String contains P (if a parent) and L (if a leaf). E.g. - k=3, str="PPLLLLL" 2. All the strings are arranged in the following order: A,B,..,Z,AA,...AZ,BA,...,BZ,... That is, first according to length and then according to alphabet (assume there are k alphabets instead of 26). Now, given a string, finds its position in the mentioned sequence.
Tips: First of all, prepare all the questions asked in the test before going for the interviews.
General Tips: Well, for my story, I'll start right from the 3rd year. For me that was the time when I started thinking about what to do after graduation. Believe me, this is the toughest and the most important question that needs to be answered. For most people, they have a clear idea about what they want to do in future. But, if you are not one of those lucky ones, you should really spend some time thinking about your future. There are of course, some people who are confused and try their luck at everything. Take my advice, don't be that person. You would
end up nowhere that way. Now, the question remains, how to decide which way to go. Well, being an IITian, we all are good at problem solving. I tried something similar here. Try to know more about the various options available to you. To name a few: MBA, Civil Services, PhD, Job (core, IT, Consulting, Analytics, Finance, FMCG), NGO, Journalism etc. Although I've mentioned MBA and PhD in the list above, I didn't consider them as options. Those are merely the means for achieving a higher goal. So, I looked at the bigger picture, what I really wanted to do in my life. I attended some of the PPTs (don't worry 3rd yr. students are allowed to attend PPTs). And to clarify my doubts about a corporate life, I also chose a company intern. When I had enough information about my options, I matched them with my likes/dislikes. Now, you shouldn't chase big money unless it is the only thing that you
want. Even simple likings like partying, travelling or free time in evening do matter. If your job doesn't give you all that you won't be happy with your life. And if you are not happy with your job, you won't do well there as well. I didn't apply for McKinsey, ITC or Deutsche bank as that is not the kind of life I want to live. So, choose what you want to be (you may not be able to pinpoint it but at least narrow down your options). Then, find out what you
need to get there. For example, if you want to be a researcher or a professor, you would need
at least a PhD.
Then, came the task of deciding which companies to sit for. Once you know your goal, you can decide what type of companies you want to apply for. Attending the PPTs and the notes I made of them came in handy for this purpose. Don't just look at what company does; find out exactly what your role would be. Then comes the threshold. Shortlist the companies in which you would actually be interested in going. Don't apply in a company which you won't join if you get the job.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Questions on C++(Virtual fns, inheritance). Two on probability, 12 on Algorithms.
Round: Other Interview
Experience: There were 4 rounds to my interview.
Round 1(Madhuresh Agrawal):
He asked a lot of puzzles. Apart from knowing how to approach a problem, you should also know the mathematical reasoning for their correctness.
Round 2 (Abhishek Gaurav):
He asked some more puzzles and some probability (expectation) questions. Then, he modified one question asked in the written test and asked me write code for it on paper.
Round 3 (Anand Sinha):
He asked questions related to graphs. Several times, he tried to trick me by asking questions like "How would you tell whether a graph has a node with n degree?" whereas no node can have degree = n.
Round 4 (Anand Sinha):
He asked me write 2 programs: 1. Given k and DFS traversal string for a k-ary tree, construct the tree. The String contains P (if a parent) and L (if a leaf). E.g. - k=3, str="PPLLLLL" 2. All the strings are arranged in the following order: A,B,..,Z,AA,...AZ,BA,...,BZ,... That is, first according to length and then according to alphabet (assume there are k alphabets instead of 26). Now, given a string, finds its position in the mentioned sequence.
Tips: First of all, prepare all the questions asked in the test before going for the interviews.
General Tips: Well, for my story, I'll start right from the 3rd year. For me that was the time when I started thinking about what to do after graduation. Believe me, this is the toughest and the most important question that needs to be answered. For most people, they have a clear idea about what they want to do in future. But, if you are not one of those lucky ones, you should really spend some time thinking about your future. There are of course, some people who are confused and try their luck at everything. Take my advice, don't be that person. You would
end up nowhere that way. Now, the question remains, how to decide which way to go. Well, being an IITian, we all are good at problem solving. I tried something similar here. Try to know more about the various options available to you. To name a few: MBA, Civil Services, PhD, Job (core, IT, Consulting, Analytics, Finance, FMCG), NGO, Journalism etc. Although I've mentioned MBA and PhD in the list above, I didn't consider them as options. Those are merely the means for achieving a higher goal. So, I looked at the bigger picture, what I really wanted to do in my life. I attended some of the PPTs (don't worry 3rd yr. students are allowed to attend PPTs). And to clarify my doubts about a corporate life, I also chose a company intern. When I had enough information about my options, I matched them with my likes/dislikes. Now, you shouldn't chase big money unless it is the only thing that you
want. Even simple likings like partying, travelling or free time in evening do matter. If your job doesn't give you all that you won't be happy with your life. And if you are not happy with your job, you won't do well there as well. I didn't apply for McKinsey, ITC or Deutsche bank as that is not the kind of life I want to live. So, choose what you want to be (you may not be able to pinpoint it but at least narrow down your options). Then, find out what you
need to get there. For example, if you want to be a researcher or a professor, you would need
at least a PhD.
Then, came the task of deciding which companies to sit for. Once you know your goal, you can decide what type of companies you want to apply for. Attending the PPTs and the notes I made of them came in handy for this purpose. Don't just look at what company does; find out exactly what your role would be. Then comes the threshold. Shortlist the companies in which you would actually be interested in going. Don't apply in a company which you won't join if you get the job.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Tell me about yourself
- Q2. Your experiences on being the part of your team
- Q3. Your knowledge gathering
- Q4. Handling of your subordinates
- Q5. The good and bad experiences of being a part of the team
- Q6. About your experiences of the internship
- Q7. The work you did, the projects given to you, the efforts you made to finally complete the project, the outcome of your work etc
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Other Interview
Experience: So the call came at 8 in the morning. Important note again, the call can come anytime on a predefined date, so be prepared with all your documents, a pen and a few A4 sheets, calculator and calendar. Note down the name of the person calling you. Forgetting the name of your interviewer is a bad sign and it’s not rare to happen as the call may prolong to over an hour, mine being around 75 odd minutes. The interviewer generally decides the layout of the interview so stick to it. Also the interviewer is a HR personnel and he/she will be jotting down each and everything you’ll be saying so think before you speak. At times it may happen that you may be saying something but there will be no response from the interviewer, don’t panic. He/she may be busy writing down your sayings so don’t pause. If it’s awkwardly long, then you can stop and ask for a response.
First fifteen minutes will be the settling time, you’ll be answering questions related to you which won’t be judged, so calm down, relax and have a normal conversation with the interviewer. The next half an hour/45 min will be the one on which they will ask questions related to your work, your achievements and your experiences which will be judged and
noted. The last 15 min will be a general topic will be given to you and your views will be asked about on the topic. Remember, no one is omniscient. So if you don’t know about the topic, you can obviously ask the interviewer to give a general idea on the topic. DON’T GOOGLE. The interviewers are trained people who know when you are reading and saying the answer. It’s better if you give your perspective and the process you take to know and speak about the new topics is better as it will show how you learn as well as give YOUR idea on the topic.
The interview is generally HR based so technical knowledge is not required but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know about your projects. Review your projects, know the nittygritty of your work and describe it in such a way that the person on the other end can understand, appreciate and indulge himself/herself in the talk.
Tips: Once my resume was over, I got a notification from Shell that I will be judged over a telephonic interview. Again an important notice, telephonic interviews are not that easy and simple, as they seem to be. Also in my case it was tough as I was competing against 17 other equally qualified people for one or two positions. Here your knowledge about the company, its background, its requirements come into picture. You should be able to tell why you are better than the others without criticizing them, in fact by showing your true skills in a positive manner.
General Tips: The Preparation:
Since the start, I was reading about the companies coming at IITK, reading about their work, their new challenges, the opportunities that I would have with them. Shell, of all companies, captivated me the most. I came to know about the Gourami challenge from the seniors selected and since I was in dual degree, it also gave me the time to prepare for it.
There are three modes of recruitment in Shell namely (1) Internships (2) Gourami Business Challenge and (3) SRD (Shell Recruitment Day). The most enchanting one as I felt was the 2nd one. But all play and no work makes Jack stupid. So prepare hard, it’s a single opportunity of your lifetime.
First of all, you should work on your resume; it’s your first impression. Prepare a master resume and as many companies have their own format, try to fit into their requirements. Don’t overindulge in various activities if you can’t handle studies with extra curriculars. A good CPI shows your determination towards your academics, which is by far the most important thing in the campus. But two different students with almost same CPI are differentiated on the basis of extra curriculars and internships. So these things are not unimportant.So, resume is a very important part of the application. It should show your abilities to their full extent. Not to mention, it is you telling about yourself in absence. Add your strong points, make it delightful to read, use simple plain English so that a non-technical person is also able to understand. FYI the resumes are generally short listed by HR members so you have to make them understand your skills. Don’t repeat your stuffs, sort out and order your important achievements as per the requirements.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: So the call came at 8 in the morning. Important note again, the call can come anytime on a predefined date, so be prepared with all your documents, a pen and a few A4 sheets, calculator and calendar. Note down the name of the person calling you. Forgetting the name of your interviewer is a bad sign and it’s not rare to happen as the call may prolong to over an hour, mine being around 75 odd minutes. The interviewer generally decides the layout of the interview so stick to it. Also the interviewer is a HR personnel and he/she will be jotting down each and everything you’ll be saying so think before you speak. At times it may happen that you may be saying something but there will be no response from the interviewer, don’t panic. He/she may be busy writing down your sayings so don’t pause. If it’s awkwardly long, then you can stop and ask for a response.
First fifteen minutes will be the settling time, you’ll be answering questions related to you which won’t be judged, so calm down, relax and have a normal conversation with the interviewer. The next half an hour/45 min will be the one on which they will ask questions related to your work, your achievements and your experiences which will be judged and
noted. The last 15 min will be a general topic will be given to you and your views will be asked about on the topic. Remember, no one is omniscient. So if you don’t know about the topic, you can obviously ask the interviewer to give a general idea on the topic. DON’T GOOGLE. The interviewers are trained people who know when you are reading and saying the answer. It’s better if you give your perspective and the process you take to know and speak about the new topics is better as it will show how you learn as well as give YOUR idea on the topic.
The interview is generally HR based so technical knowledge is not required but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know about your projects. Review your projects, know the nittygritty of your work and describe it in such a way that the person on the other end can understand, appreciate and indulge himself/herself in the talk.
Tips: Once my resume was over, I got a notification from Shell that I will be judged over a telephonic interview. Again an important notice, telephonic interviews are not that easy and simple, as they seem to be. Also in my case it was tough as I was competing against 17 other equally qualified people for one or two positions. Here your knowledge about the company, its background, its requirements come into picture. You should be able to tell why you are better than the others without criticizing them, in fact by showing your true skills in a positive manner.
General Tips: The Preparation:
Since the start, I was reading about the companies coming at IITK, reading about their work, their new challenges, the opportunities that I would have with them. Shell, of all companies, captivated me the most. I came to know about the Gourami challenge from the seniors selected and since I was in dual degree, it also gave me the time to prepare for it.
There are three modes of recruitment in Shell namely (1) Internships (2) Gourami Business Challenge and (3) SRD (Shell Recruitment Day). The most enchanting one as I felt was the 2nd one. But all play and no work makes Jack stupid. So prepare hard, it’s a single opportunity of your lifetime.
First of all, you should work on your resume; it’s your first impression. Prepare a master resume and as many companies have their own format, try to fit into their requirements. Don’t overindulge in various activities if you can’t handle studies with extra curriculars. A good CPI shows your determination towards your academics, which is by far the most important thing in the campus. But two different students with almost same CPI are differentiated on the basis of extra curriculars and internships. So these things are not unimportant.So, resume is a very important part of the application. It should show your abilities to their full extent. Not to mention, it is you telling about yourself in absence. Add your strong points, make it delightful to read, use simple plain English so that a non-technical person is also able to understand. FYI the resumes are generally short listed by HR members so you have to make them understand your skills. Don’t repeat your stuffs, sort out and order your important achievements as per the requirements.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
5 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Tell me about yourself which is not mentioned in your resume
- Q2. Why Citigroup?
- Q3. In an urn there are 100 balls. 60 white, 40 black, 50 spotted 50 non-spotted. What is the probability that a white ball chosen at random will be spotted?
- Q4. You did well in the test. So did you appear for CAT?
- Q5. What are your plans for higher studies?
- Q6. Suppose we do not offer you a job, then what?
- Q7. Where do you see yourself 3 years from now? 10 years from now?
- Q8. One trait you would like to improve upon
- Q9. Why not a PhD?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: Most of the questions were from DI and Quant. It was a speed test. The questions were easy, just that one had to do the maximum number of questions to qualify.
Tips: CAT preparation will help one to breeze through the test.
Duration: 30 minutes
Total Questions: 45
Round: Other Interview
Experience: It was a 20-minute one to one interview.
It started with the normal question “Tell me about yourself”. I had done my internship in one of the analytics firms, so she was interested in my project. I explained the work and she seemed impressed.
Round: Other Interview
Experience: Again, it was a 20-minute one to one round. The interviewer was interested in my internship project and asked me to explain it.
A few puzzles like the one mentioned were also asked.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: This interview was also a 20-minute one to round.
Another subsidiary of Citigroup had visited the campus the earlier day so she asked me if I had applied for it, I told her “No.” She asked “why ?” .. then I told her “I have my seniors at Citigroup and would love to work with them.” She seemed quite
impressed. She took the names of the seniors. (So if you have seniors in a company who know you, you can always mention their names. It shows you have a keen interest towards the company).
For the non Maths students there was a common question that, “If you were so interested in Maths (Analytics) why you didn’t choose Mathematics and Computing as your branch?”
Round: Other Interview
Experience: It was a 30-minute panel interview. This was a puzzle cum HR interview where all my previous interviewers were present.
Tips: From my experience I could feel they were for recruiting genuinely interested candidates, also recruiting someone who was good at problem solving.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).Dilemma: Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps. I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.Resume for Analytics Companies:Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: Most of the questions were from DI and Quant. It was a speed test. The questions were easy, just that one had to do the maximum number of questions to qualify.
Tips: CAT preparation will help one to breeze through the test.
Duration: 30 minutes
Total Questions: 45
Round: Other Interview
Experience: It was a 20-minute one to one interview.
It started with the normal question “Tell me about yourself”. I had done my internship in one of the analytics firms, so she was interested in my project. I explained the work and she seemed impressed.
Round: Other Interview
Experience: Again, it was a 20-minute one to one round. The interviewer was interested in my internship project and asked me to explain it.
A few puzzles like the one mentioned were also asked.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: This interview was also a 20-minute one to round.
Another subsidiary of Citigroup had visited the campus the earlier day so she asked me if I had applied for it, I told her “No.” She asked “why ?” .. then I told her “I have my seniors at Citigroup and would love to work with them.” She seemed quite
impressed. She took the names of the seniors. (So if you have seniors in a company who know you, you can always mention their names. It shows you have a keen interest towards the company).
For the non Maths students there was a common question that, “If you were so interested in Maths (Analytics) why you didn’t choose Mathematics and Computing as your branch?”
Round: Other Interview
Experience: It was a 30-minute panel interview. This was a puzzle cum HR interview where all my previous interviewers were present.
Tips: From my experience I could feel they were for recruiting genuinely interested candidates, also recruiting someone who was good at problem solving.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).Dilemma: Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps. I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.Resume for Analytics Companies:Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Tell me about yourself from the day u were born till today
- Q2. What is a Brownian motion? Properties of Brownian motion?
- Q3. What is a Martingale? What are Markov Processes? Is Martingale a Markov Process? Are Markov Processes Martingales?
- Q4. One trait of yours that you're not proud of?
- Q5. Puzzle: m2 = n2 + 32294
- Q6. In a group would it be better for me to assume a leadership position or simply be a part of it? Why?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: There were 4 sections: Maths, Finance, English, DI and Quant, No negative marking.
The Maths section had questions on basic probability and statistics. Also the Maths section had a higher weight age than the other sections (Questions carrying 3 marks each while other sections had 1 or 2 marks for each question. They were here, offering a quant profile so that justifies the distribution.)
The DI/Quant (2 marks each) and English (1 Mark Each) section were similar to CAT.
The finance section had questions on Basic Accounting.
Tips: Anyone who did well in the Maths section could find his name in the shortlist.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was a 20-25 minute round. There were 2 interviewers, one of them was the HR manager and the other was a Quant Guy.
In the first question, they stopped me mid way when I mentioned the finance course.
The puzzle was also asked in last year’s interview.
Tips: I’m still not sure about why I did not qualify for the next round but one of the possible reasons was, I had mentioned my short temperedness as my weakness and later I came to know, this is considered to be a highly undesirable trait in the Investment Banking jobs. So be a bit careful while answering this question.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).Dilemma: Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps. I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.Resume for Analytics Companies:Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: There were 4 sections: Maths, Finance, English, DI and Quant, No negative marking.
The Maths section had questions on basic probability and statistics. Also the Maths section had a higher weight age than the other sections (Questions carrying 3 marks each while other sections had 1 or 2 marks for each question. They were here, offering a quant profile so that justifies the distribution.)
The DI/Quant (2 marks each) and English (1 Mark Each) section were similar to CAT.
The finance section had questions on Basic Accounting.
Tips: Anyone who did well in the Maths section could find his name in the shortlist.
Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was a 20-25 minute round. There were 2 interviewers, one of them was the HR manager and the other was a Quant Guy.
In the first question, they stopped me mid way when I mentioned the finance course.
The puzzle was also asked in last year’s interview.
Tips: I’m still not sure about why I did not qualify for the next round but one of the possible reasons was, I had mentioned my short temperedness as my weakness and later I came to know, this is considered to be a highly undesirable trait in the Investment Banking jobs. So be a bit careful while answering this question.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).Dilemma: Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps. I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.Resume for Analytics Companies:Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Test
Experience: DI based questions were asked. Guys preparing for CAT will breeze through the test. Just make a note that the cutoff of Cap One Test is pretty high (Around 22). So try and attempt as many questions as possible.
Duration: 30-45 minutes
Total Questions: 30
Round: Interview
Experience: It was a general HR cum Case interview.
I had done my internship in one of the analytics companies. So, he seemed interested in the project I had done. Then there was a case “I had to estimate the profitability of a car loan in the city of Texas. Given was the population of
Texas and the Loan amount. Any further data required was to be asked.
Tips: I had breezed through one of my mock interviews a couple of days ago. So I got a bit over confident and made calculation mistakes. These guys are edgy about calculation mistakes and don’t expect you to commit one. So be a bit careful while solving a case.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).
Dilemma:
Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps.
I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.
Resume for Analytics Companies:
Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: DI based questions were asked. Guys preparing for CAT will breeze through the test. Just make a note that the cutoff of Cap One Test is pretty high (Around 22). So try and attempt as many questions as possible.
Duration: 30-45 minutes
Total Questions: 30
Round: Interview
Experience: It was a general HR cum Case interview.
I had done my internship in one of the analytics companies. So, he seemed interested in the project I had done. Then there was a case “I had to estimate the profitability of a car loan in the city of Texas. Given was the population of
Texas and the Loan amount. Any further data required was to be asked.
Tips: I had breezed through one of my mock interviews a couple of days ago. So I got a bit over confident and made calculation mistakes. These guys are edgy about calculation mistakes and don’t expect you to commit one. So be a bit careful while solving a case.
General Tips: I would like to start this article by telling you something about your major concern, and that is “Will this economic crisis has a telling effect on your job prospects ?”. And the answer is both Yes and No. I am a 5th year Mathematics student and have closely seen the placements of 3 batches and from my experience, I can surely say that “One who prepares well , gets through, No matter how tough the situation is". It happened with my batch and your batch won’t be an exception (Unless a catastrophe happens).
Dilemma:
Most of you guys sitting for placement shall be in your 7th semester which is considered to be one of the most hectic of all the semesters. Many of you might be preparing for CAT, others for GRE, some of you would have got a tough guide for your final year project. So you need to prioritize things. You need to think it through; “A Realistic Self Analysis” always helps.
I’ll share what I did. I did join coaching classes for CAT but my first priority always was placements and accordingly I planned and executed things. Getting a 99+ percentile and then clearing the GD and PI’s was too much of a risk for me to take. So this might be one of the better times to go for your MBA but always have other options ready just in case.
Resume for Analytics Companies:
Most of the analytics companies have a lot of Statistical Analysis and Data Management work. So, candidates having an experience in Data handling are preferred. If some project of yours involved Data Handling, mention it in detail. If you have done some of the applied Statistics courses in the Maths/IME department, mention it in your resume.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
5 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Group Discussion
Experience: We were supposed to come up with a solution whether this subsidy cut should take place or not. Initially everyone was given 1 minute to speak, 12 people in the group and I was the 10th to speak, this gave me sufficient time to think but on the same hand I had to make sure that I say something which the 9 people before me haven’t spoken, so it was a bit tricky. After that the floor was open for discussion for 10 minutes, make it a point that this is not a debate so its not necessary that you take a positions for or against the topic, I had made points both in the favor of the issue and against it and it was appreciated by the moderators.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I had to tell something about myself in not more than 45 seconds, so I focused more on my extra curricular activities and the volunteering work instead of academic achievements which I felt most of the other candidates too had a decent one.
Case: “Delhi airport has a terminal which is being utilized only upto 60% of its potential, still the authorities are planning to make a new terminal, what could be the reason behind it.” There can be numerous reasons to this, I gave a few good reasons and I was through. Like, the international flights are concentrated on a particular time of the day like at the night or early in the morning so during that time only one terminal might not be sufficient. Having more terminals would reduce the transit time and that will result in an efficient use of the runway and would smoothen the air traffic. I gave only these two reasons and tried to explain it in detail.
Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: It was only me to whom a puzzle was asked and the interviewer assured me that he won't evaluate me on this. The puzzle was “there are 10 lions and a sheep on a lonely green island, sheep can eat grass and survive, lions can also survive on grass but that is they would like to do the least. Lions can eat the sheep but the catch is that which ever lion eats the sheep would turn into a sheep, now I am one of the lions so will I eat the sheep? Assume that all the lions are equally intelligent.” Although I had no clue how to solve this but I went ahead with the problem logically and the interviewer helped me, at the end I answered the question. There could be some tricky answers also to such questions which one should definitely say if you can think of any, like I said that “in the minds of all the lions there would be an element of fear for eating the sheep so I would think a step ahead and eat the sheep and the other lions
don't eat me due to this fear in their minds.”
Round: HR Interview
Experience: As soon as I entered the interviewer said “I remember you”, this was because we had some exchange of views during the ppt. In this round they made all the nine candidates solve the same case. It was about the truck industry in US, I was shown some data and graphs related to various business sectors in the industry and was asked to interpret things like why the profit margins are different in any two sectors, what would be the effect if a Japanese player comes in etc. To answer this having a basic knowledge of the terminologies would help a lot.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Experience: We were supposed to come up with a solution whether this subsidy cut should take place or not. Initially everyone was given 1 minute to speak, 12 people in the group and I was the 10th to speak, this gave me sufficient time to think but on the same hand I had to make sure that I say something which the 9 people before me haven’t spoken, so it was a bit tricky. After that the floor was open for discussion for 10 minutes, make it a point that this is not a debate so its not necessary that you take a positions for or against the topic, I had made points both in the favor of the issue and against it and it was appreciated by the moderators.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I had to tell something about myself in not more than 45 seconds, so I focused more on my extra curricular activities and the volunteering work instead of academic achievements which I felt most of the other candidates too had a decent one.
Case: “Delhi airport has a terminal which is being utilized only upto 60% of its potential, still the authorities are planning to make a new terminal, what could be the reason behind it.” There can be numerous reasons to this, I gave a few good reasons and I was through. Like, the international flights are concentrated on a particular time of the day like at the night or early in the morning so during that time only one terminal might not be sufficient. Having more terminals would reduce the transit time and that will result in an efficient use of the runway and would smoothen the air traffic. I gave only these two reasons and tried to explain it in detail.
Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: It was only me to whom a puzzle was asked and the interviewer assured me that he won't evaluate me on this. The puzzle was “there are 10 lions and a sheep on a lonely green island, sheep can eat grass and survive, lions can also survive on grass but that is they would like to do the least. Lions can eat the sheep but the catch is that which ever lion eats the sheep would turn into a sheep, now I am one of the lions so will I eat the sheep? Assume that all the lions are equally intelligent.” Although I had no clue how to solve this but I went ahead with the problem logically and the interviewer helped me, at the end I answered the question. There could be some tricky answers also to such questions which one should definitely say if you can think of any, like I said that “in the minds of all the lions there would be an element of fear for eating the sheep so I would think a step ahead and eat the sheep and the other lions
don't eat me due to this fear in their minds.”
Round: HR Interview
Experience: As soon as I entered the interviewer said “I remember you”, this was because we had some exchange of views during the ppt. In this round they made all the nine candidates solve the same case. It was about the truck industry in US, I was shown some data and graphs related to various business sectors in the industry and was asked to interpret things like why the profit margins are different in any two sectors, what would be the effect if a Japanese player comes in etc. To answer this having a basic knowledge of the terminologies would help a lot.
College Name: IIT KANPUR
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