Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Your seniors at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai helped you with their notes. Now they're helping you with their placement interview questions. 🙏

filter iconFilter interviews by

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai Placement Interview Questions

Updated 22 Dec 2024

267 interviews found

Interview Questions

user image Ankur Gulati

posted on 4 Feb 2015

1 Interview Round

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: HR Interview
Experience: UBS had shortlisted about 12 candidates. Out of which 5 were shortlisted after round 2, final offer was made to only 1 candidate. 
Round 1: Was asked only 2 questions: Why IB? Why UBS? I coudnt answer both satisfactorily as I never wanted banking. At the same time I was not very formal. Always remember that banks DO NOT tolerate informality at ALL! Round 2: He was American and was basically testing my communication/leadership skills. He asked me to explain my DDP in plain English. He asked me about my interest in Development Economics. He also asked me about my GOA trip..FINALLY! At the end of the two rounds, I think, UBS realized that I wasn't really interested in IB. I wasn't shortlisted further.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 4 Feb 2015

3 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: A) I put a lot of thought into it. A LOT. I started top-down. In a sense, I always knew I was gonna target only 2 types of companies: Consulting and Banking. So made my 2 resumes accordingly. Basically I conveyed what needed to be conveyed. For this, I talked to a lot of people in Oct/Nov and researched a bit from previous editions of BePrepared. Being a DD helped. And then I spent a lot of time thinking how best to convey it. For example, I knew that my success in strategy competitions was crucial for Consulting Firms, hence I put those above my projects/extracurrics. 
b) Sent it to many people for feedback. Some of the points were accepted, some not. Its always our call in the end. But more often than not, external views make up the MOST important part of Resume Making.
Tips: Advice: Make a rough copy first and then start thinking. If you think without it, it will take up a lot of time. DON’T LIE IT WONT HELP YOU IN THE INTERVIEW. Be very serious in your resume. Avoid any kind of humor. Also don’t try to squeeze in too much.. you wont be coherent. Know what you want to convey and convey exactly that. At the end of it.. Look at your resume page by page. And see what it conveys at a VERY MACRO level. For ex: In my resume, Page 1 conveyed Decent Acads with Success in Strategy Competitions and Page 2 conveyed A lot of positions of responsibility with decent results and excellence in dramatics.

Round: Interview
Experience: BCG was 4 rounds, 30 people shortlisted initially out of which 14 were shortlisted after round 2. 4 offers were made.
BCG was very collegial in interviews. The partners were warm. In my first interview he asked me about my DDP andsummer internship. Then jumped on to a case wherein a cement manufacturer was losing profit. I had to dig around and realize that ultimately the costs of power were increasing due to the government’s load-shedding. I was also then asked to solve a basic LP optimization problem (the manufacturer had different plants at diff. locations. He wanted to know how much should he make at each plant). He told be a bit about BCG and the kind of work they did.

Round: Interview
Experience: I got 2 cases in this one. One was pertaining to a tractor manufacturer whose revenues in Maharashtra were very low. The key was to recognize that Maharashtrian soil is harder which causes the pin connecting the plough and tractor to break. The second case was about why amongst 2 refrigerator manufacturers in Pune, ones transportation costs were much better than the other. Again a LP problem was formed. He asked me if I had any questions. I asked a few. I got a case about a realty developer tying up with a bank for home loans in his project. The bank wanted to know how much should they pay him. I did finally solve this. I recalled the concept of Opportunity Cost right at the end. I kept blabbing a lot about risk/return/maturity in general. He steered me back on track every time. He spend 40 minutes trying to convince me about BCG. I was very tired by now. The case was about a retail chain who wanted to enter India. I had to advice on the potential. I analyzed the case. I tried to structure my thoughts and delve into different sections. He wanted precise, specific answers. I gave some of them. The interviewer appeared disinterested. Being tired myself, I think I kind of messed up this one. I was told that I would not be given an offer by BCG.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 4 Feb 2015

3 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: a) I put a lot of thought into it. A LOT. I started top-down. In a sense, I always knew I was gonna target only 2 types of companies: Consulting and Banking. So made my 2 resumes accordingly. Basically I conveyed what needed to be conveyed. For this, I talked to a lot of people in Oct/Nov and researched a bit from previous editions of BePrepared. Being a DD helped. And then I spent a lot of time thinking how best to convey it. For example, I knew that my success in strategy competitions was crucial for Consulting Firms, hence I put those above my projects/extracurrics. b) Sent it to many people for feedback. Some of the points were accepted, some not. Its always our call in the end. But more often than not, external views make up the MOST important part of Resume Making. Advice: Make a rough copy first and then start thinking. If you think without it, it will take up a lot of time. DON’T LIE – IT WONT HELP YOU IN THE INTERVIEW. Be very serious in your resume. Avoid any kind of humor. Also don’t try to squeeze in too much.. you wont be coherent. Know what you want to convey and convey exactly that. At the end of it.. Look at your resume page by page. And see what it conveys at a VERY MACRO level. For ex: In my resume, Page 1 conveyed Decent Acads with Success in Strategy Competitions and Page 2 conveyed A lot of positions of responsibility with decent results and excellence in dramatics. I attended some of PPTs. Basically, from the beginning my focus was only on Consulting and Banking companies. In all I attended about 6 PPTs. But they do help. I know some of them are more than 90 minutes long. But its worth it in the end. There are some 5-6 important lines in every PPT and a wasted 90 minutes is worth those lines. Do catch the opportunity to talk to the presenters after the PPT informally. I found it to be quite valuable. Ofcourse, this meant less pizza consumed by me. But that’s okay.

Round: Interview
Experience: 2+ 2 rounds of interview after resume short-listing. Total 22, After 2 rounds: 6 Final Offer: 3 (out of which 2 accepted). My McK interviews were scheduled immediately after my 2 BCG interviews. So I was not tense going into them. Round 1: It started off with general HR. Which is how all interviews typically are. This is to make the interviewee comfortable. I was asked about my dramatics and my economics project. He was looking for short, precise answers. Then came the case: I was asked my sport of preference. I said Football. He asked me to Guesstimate (Guess + Estimate) the number of footballs in Europe. (For those of you who are not familiar with guesstimates: It basically involves coming to a number logically. You can either approach it from the supply side (involves estimating the total capacity and multiplying with a capacity utilization kind of a thing.) or the demand side (estimating the number of users and then multiplying by the frequency of use). I told him about how I can approach from the demand and the supply side. I said I would like to use the demand side as I thought it was easier. He asked me to instead use the supply side. This came as a shock as I had hardly practiced anything from the supply side (Lesson: Be prepared to think about novel problems – which you have never practiced). I made a hash of this one. I made a lot of mistakes. But the good thing was I was speaking aloud whatever was going inside my mind. So if I said: “costs at all London shops will be the same”, my interviewer would interject and ask “Would they”.. after thinking for a bit I would realize that they wont be since the transportation costs are different for different shops (unless they are competing) . I think he got impressed by my ability to recognize that I have made a mistake and the ability to rectify it. After this he asked me if I had any questions about McK. I had a few and asked him the same. .
Tips: Lesson Learnt: Don’t have any conceived notion of an interview. You can be asked anything. Go with an open mind. For Cases, Speak aloud. Don’t be stubborn on your findings. You could be wrong.

Round: Interview
Experience: Immediately after round 1, I was whisked away for the round 2. This was a senior partner. He grilled me about how my CPI was low (8.48) . He asked me whether I was against McKinsey taking up govt. studies. I said No and explained him the reason. He was happy. Quite literally. After that came the case: “A and B are the two top Cement manufacturers in India. A foreign cement behemoth C has bought both of them. C is now wondering how to integrate the HR of the two purchasing departments of A and B. What are the possible options? What should it do?” The case was 2-pronged. I had to identify the possible options first and then suggest one. An important learning was that I established the various “parameters” on the basis of which C must decide which one is the best first. I thought I did pretty well with this. The interviewer seemed very happy. After the 2 rounds, I was called by McK people for feedback. I was told that sometime I come across as too Assertive and that should be avoided. I found this feedback very helpful. And later on I realized that a consultant is typically a quiet, analytical, serious character and not a bubbly, flamboyant one.
Tips: Lesson Learnt: Don’t be overtly aggressive against some of the firm policies (govt. work in this case)

Round: Interview
Experience: It Was with a partner, again. I was told in this interview that my temperament and way of speaking was to b observed. He asked if I wanted some tea since I looked tired. I said yes. He jumped straight to the case. “A boiler co. wants to go global. Advice.” I didn't have much information about the boiler industry and hence clarified a few doubts. Every second I nagged myself to be less assertive and be more open and unbiased to information. He didn't let me solve it completely. Stopped in between and said I did okay. Ambiguous statements, very typical of consultants. :)
Tips: Lesson Learnt: Respect the client (in this case the interviewer). He knows much much more than you do.

Round: Interview
Experience: Was with a German partner. As I entered the room he said how everyone is very keen on me.. but then said he was not sure and had to see for himself. There was no case in this interview. It was mostly fit. We talked about cars and football. I have never had so much fun in an interview. It was awesome. In the end we agreed that Germany played some kick ass football in the world cup and deserved to at-least reach the final. I was told in the interview that I would be made an offer.
Tips: There are no ready-made formula. However, to get shortlisted he/she must have spikes in his/her resume/CV. The person should be hyper-analytic, open to ambiguity, a person who never gives up and above all should be able to communicate well. You need to also present yourself very professionally in front of this company. It tolerates no informality. Know why you want McKinsey/Consulting etc. Prepare case-studies well. Don’t over-prepare. And you definitely need some luck. Looking back, you realize its only one or two statements that you make which makes you unique.

General Tips: I think the biggest learning was the fact that each company has a different work culture. You should do some research on this also before. I hadn't done much research on UBS and it showed. You will also need to prepare the “Why XYZ?” type of questions from the bottom of your heart. You cant fool the interviewer. Also, always always respect the interviewer. I was down in energy later on. One should have a proper meal before coming for placements. Always be in touch with your seniors (wherever they may be). They can really throw gems of advice at the important instances. Do not worry about your interviews. Its futile. I think overall, I could have researched a bit more on the company cultures. Carry Red-Bull if you have more than 4 interviews. Also keep a sophie/thirdie always at your disposal. Switch off your cell phones when inside. I would prefer that you wear a suit. It gives a good impression. Don’t wear it for the first time on that day itself though. Do check if its good morning/good afternoon/good evening.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview

4 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: For resume preparation I took help from my seniors as well as batch mates. A very effective method which I got to know from a senior was to first make a list of all the different activities I have done in my life and then writing down, corresponding to each of them, what quality of mine is getting highlighted and what would I like to get highlighted. After preparing this list I could clearly see what are my strengths and how can I highlight them. Then came the writing part, generally there is a perception that you should first write your academic projects and then extra curricular activities. But what I have learnt is that you need to show on your first page something that will make the person look at your second page also, otherwise the resume reviewers don’t have much time that they can go through every resume completely. You need to show something interesting may be academics or may be extra curricular activities. Also, a very important consideration is the company you are applying to. You should show in your resume what the company is looking for. For instance if a company is looking for a technical profile then obviously they will be more interested in your academic achievements and not extra-curricular activities.
Tips: Taking help from the resumes of some successful seniors is a nice way to start. Later on you can mold it according to yourself .Also, it is very necessary to get the resume reviewed at least 3-4 times by someone.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: It had a GD first and then an interview. For GDs I had a few practice sessions with my friends and since I had joined TIME for CAT coaching, so I had some GD sessions there also. The first round was a GD session. There were eight people in my group. The topic given was “Role of Media in the society”. The judges of the GD session were also a part of the GD and it was made clear that no shouting and no stopping others is acceptable. So overall it was a nice discussion for about 40-45 minutes. After the session judges called a few people in the room one by one. I was also called and asked my opinion about the company and would I like to join.

Round: Interview
Experience: The second round was an interview. I was asked general HR questions like “why I came to IIT” and “what are my future plans” and then one or two resume based questions. Then they asked me 2 puzzles, one was a probability related puzzle with fair and unfair coins. Overall I had a very small interview of only 20 minutes compared to few other people’s interviews. I though I was going to make through but it was the other way round.

General Tips: If someone is appearing for any of the Data Analytics and Consulting firms, he should be very nicely prepared for the typical HR questions, just feel confident and speak what your heart says. He should be very thorough about whatever he has written in the resume. Also, puzzles are very important part for such interviews, so practicing general puzzles from internet would be very helpful. And if someone is appearing for a core company, be ready for very basic technical question of your field.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 2 Feb 2015

4 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Test
Experience: There was an online written test of 55 multiple choice questions in 70 minutes. This included:
20 questions of aptitude
15 questions of programming
25 questions of basic C++/operating systems
Duration: 70 minutes
Total Questions: 55

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: My interview was a technical interview. It had questions from my core branch which was electronics. The other topics which were discussed in the interview were:
OOPs concept
Operating System
Compiler
Bit related questions
There were also some other questions like puzzles and some pretty easy case studies which were based on logical reasoning and quantitative ability.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: There was a HR interview in which they asked me about myself, my family, my strengths and weaknesses and also why was I suitable for the company. According to me if you could have impressed them with your technical skills you would have won half the battle.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 1 Feb 2015

4 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: For resume preparation I took help from my seniors as well as batch mates. A very effective method which I got to know from a senior was to first make a list of all the different activities I have done in my life and then writing down, corresponding to each of them, what quality of mine is getting highlighted and what would I like to get highlighted. After preparing this list I could clearly see what are my strengths and how can I highlight them. Then came the writing part, generally there is a perception that you should first write your academic projects and then extra-curricular activities. But what I have learnt is that you need to show on your first page something that will make the person look at your second page also, otherwise the resume reviewers don't have much time that they can go through every resume completely. You need to show something interesting may be academics or may be extra-curricular activities. Also, a very important consideration is the company you are applying to. You should show in your resume what the company is looking for. For instance if a company is looking for a technical profile then obviously they will be more interested in your academic achievements and not extra-curricular activities
Tips: Taking help from the resumes of some successful seniors is a nice way to start. Later on you can mould it according to yourself. Also, it is very necessary to get the resume reviewed at least 3-4 times by someone.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: For GDs I had a few practice sessions with my friends and since I had joined TIME for CAT coaching, so I had some GD sessions there also. For interview preparation, I read a few books like 64 Interview questions;The complete QA job interview book by John Wiley. For case studies Tuck guide to case interviews is good and for puzzles internet I guess is the best source.

Round: Interview
Experience: They had two general interviews after GD

College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 1 Feb 2015

4 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I consulted some of my batchmates and some seniors. Saw their resumes also and got a general idea of formatting, structure etc and general googling was always there.I attended almost all PPTs. Too much is not necessary, but Yes you should attend ppts of at least those companies whom you are interested in. it gives you the proper idea of kind of job profile and company and sometimes is decisive if you are not very sure for that company to sit for. I got some materials for case studies etc from my friends only. That material is very common in institute during placements. I also got some from my seniors. I prepared for psychometric test on internet. You can just google for some free psychometric test. Attaching a file which has some fundaes on HR and general interview preparation.
Tips: I would suggest to start writing resume around a week before so that one gets enough time to consult seniors also.

Round: Test
Experience: Procedure started with a general resume shortlist for written test. Written test was CAT based. Interviews were a mix of HR and guesstimates in 1st round followed by case studies in 2nd round

Round: Interview
Experience: This was followed by a shortlist for interview about 52. there were two round of interviews. Around 25 people went for 2nd round and finally 16 offers were made 12 in S&O division and 4 in TI division.
Tips: I believe preparing in groups is always beneficial as you will get to know at what point you are going wrong and for example while discussing case studies or guesstimates, you will get to know different approaches for the same problem. This would definitely help you if in case you get totally new situation during interview.

General Tips: Resume first of all. You never know which point of your resume is of interest of the interviewer. Secondly for a consultancy profile, Guesstimates and case studies are necessary. And general HR questions like about yourself, strengths weakness etc. Be confident. Never come in nbd. Stay cool. Try to keep eye to eye contact with the interview. General Tips Overall, any particular mistake that you committed during the whole process?
Don't under estimate yourself. Have patience.. dont go for any damn company just for the sake of getting a job. Be clear in which kind of companies you are going to sit for. Any key tips for interview-day, viz. dressing, etiquette. From my friends experience, reach on time for interview and switch off your cell phone.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 1 Feb 2015

4 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I attended the PPTs, they were helpful in knowing about the companies and helped me alot in preparing my resume.

Round: Test
Experience: After I was shortlisted, I was required to write an aptitude test.

Round: Interview
Experience: There was a general round of interview after the aptitude test.

General Tips: Be well dressed and confident.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview
user image Anonymous

posted on 29 Jan 2015

1 Interview Round

Interview Questions

  • Q1. CASE:About a telecommunication firm and it's distribution network
  • Q2. Few questions on my internship and Mood Indigo
  • Q3. About the kind of person I am
  • Q4. Long and short term goals
  • Q5. The kind of books I like to read
  • Q6. CASE: Merger and Acquisition i the cement industry
  • Q7. CASE: About the scope of broadband internet in India by 2010
  • Q8. CASE: About a plastic cup manufacturer complete with numbers, chairs and figures

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: She had already marked points in my resume to ask questions on.
I asked couple of questions at the end.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: He didn't allow me to use the paper pad. I was a litte unnerved as I hadn't heard of the case before. He kept asking questions continuously and didn't seem to be too satisfied with the answers that I gave. Told me that the real life cases are much involved etc.
Asked me if I had any questions. I asked a few.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: We discussed numerous issues and he kept digressing to different topics. We stopped after 7 smaller sub cases.
I asked if this was the first case where the point in discussion changed along the case and does it happens normal in industry.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The final solution was to redesign the cup so that more can be stacked in the same height. I asked a few questions .
Was made an offer. Final offers to 4 people.

General Tips: RESUME: Start working on this early and keep making improvements by taking inputs from seniors/friends.
PREPARATION HELP:
1.Prepare typical HR questions.
2.Prepare your resume well.
3.Prepare cases. Brush up DI.
4.Do your groundwork on the firms interested in.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview

3 Interview Rounds

Interview Preparation Tips

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: After I finished answering my first case she went on to ask if I would like to run a coaching class someday. Then she asked me about the kind of job I would like to take up and why.
She finally asked if I had some questions for them and I asked 2-3 questions. I thought I did really well and came out confident

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked him a couple of quetions on the same before jumping into the case. Didn't let me finish the case, just saw the approach and left it at that.
The next half hour was a discussion on how to make career choices and how he chose between 3 consulting firms he interviewed with through IIMs.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I said I liked power and he asked me about power industry in India and about what I thought about possible products etc.
Then he asked me about my views on India's potential as a manufacturing superpower vs China. I presented my views and then he corrected me massively with his ideas. He went on to explain the kind of work Mck does and how it can help in my long term career objectives.

Later, he asked me about my perception of consulting firms and the reason behind it.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: No questions. Just a discussion on how I should make career choices and what factors I must consider.
He told me a little about his experiences with the firm etc.
Tips: 1.It is important to dress up bright and early on the interview day.
2.Dress up well. It adds immensely to your confidence.
3.Make sure you appear energetic and excited about the job.

General Tips: RESUME: Start working on this early and keep making improvements by taking inputs from seniors/friends.
PREPARATION HELP:
1.Prepare typical HR questions.
2.Prepare your resume well.
3.Prepare cases. Brush up DI.
4.Do your groundwork on the firms interested in.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
share interview