Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Telangana
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Filter interviews byIndian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad Placement Interview Questions
Updated
22 Sep 2024
228 interviews found
I applied via Referral
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Case type- Abstract .Q :- The oil price has been falling for some time. What do you think will be the impact?
- Q2. Tell me about yourself
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Since the case was very open ended, I took a couple of minutes to structure my thoughts. Luckily, the recently concluded course on GSB ( Govt, Society & Business ) came to my rescue and I started by saying that I would like to explain the impact on these three1.
Govt
– It would primarily mean a lower oil bill. I mentioned that since oil bill forms a major chunk ~ 90% of the forex outflow, this would lead to increase in $ reserves with the govt and reduce the current account deficit ( everything else being constant ofcourse) - principles of macro economics helped here
2.
Society
– The petrol bill of households would reduce and hence and increase in disposable income. Since Indians have a higher marginal propensity to save ( another macro / micro economic funda ), we could expect the banks to see a higher CASA ( current and savings account) balance. Also, the unsaved cash could be channeled towards retail/ tourism ( based on a recent article I read in the economist ) 3.
Business
– Business could be basically of two categories – those which have oil as a revenue ( drilling & allied services – BP, Halliburton etc ) would have a hard time as the revenue will drop and the ones which have oil as a cost (airlines) who can look forward to improvements in margins. He was very satisfied and asked me that how did I expect the Indian stock to behave given the drop in stock price. I wasn’t very sure and requested the interviewer to guide me. He very patiently explained that the stock market had
so witnessed a decline. He then asked me to explain the reason for decline. I said I wasn’t sure but would like to hypothesize. Basically the stock market would decline if investors would withdraw their money. Since FIIs ( Foreign Institutional Investors) are responsible for a major chunk of the investments, it might be that they are withdrawing their investment and using the money for some other purpose. At this point, I checked with the interviewer if the hypothesis was correct. He smiled and nodded and asked me to continue. Now, I said I would need to see who exactly are these investors to ascertain why they were withdrawing their money ( since because of the Modi govt. the business outlook was very positive). Here, he said that these investors were mainly sovereign wealth funds of OPEC countries. Now the picture was clear . Due to declining oil price, the governments in these countries were facing revenue pressure and had to recall the investments in order to continue funding the operations. The interviewer again smiled and said that given the situation, would I invest my money in the Indian stock market. I said that I would invest in specific sectors like airlines, but not in the market as a whole. The case ended here.
Tips: A relaxed state of mind goes a long way in helping crack the case as well as forming a connect with the interviewer. So, keep calm and read the economist / FT and then keep calm again on the D-day!I was able to even hold a conversation here because I had been reading up the economist / financial times. Hence, please make it a habit to please read at least one journal during ISB, especially a couple of months before Day 1
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Only one PI question this time also – Tell me about yourself. The interview was mainly case based.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Since the case was very open ended, I took a couple of minutes to structure my thoughts. Luckily, the recently concluded course on GSB ( Govt, Society & Business ) came to my rescue and I started by saying that I would like to explain the impact on these three1.
Govt
– It would primarily mean a lower oil bill. I mentioned that since oil bill forms a major chunk ~ 90% of the forex outflow, this would lead to increase in $ reserves with the govt and reduce the current account deficit ( everything else being constant ofcourse) - principles of macro economics helped here
2.
Society
– The petrol bill of households would reduce and hence and increase in disposable income. Since Indians have a higher marginal propensity to save ( another macro / micro economic funda ), we could expect the banks to see a higher CASA ( current and savings account) balance. Also, the unsaved cash could be channeled towards retail/ tourism ( based on a recent article I read in the economist ) 3.
Business
– Business could be basically of two categories – those which have oil as a revenue ( drilling & allied services – BP, Halliburton etc ) would have a hard time as the revenue will drop and the ones which have oil as a cost (airlines) who can look forward to improvements in margins. He was very satisfied and asked me that how did I expect the Indian stock to behave given the drop in stock price. I wasn’t very sure and requested the interviewer to guide me. He very patiently explained that the stock market had
so witnessed a decline. He then asked me to explain the reason for decline. I said I wasn’t sure but would like to hypothesize. Basically the stock market would decline if investors would withdraw their money. Since FIIs ( Foreign Institutional Investors) are responsible for a major chunk of the investments, it might be that they are withdrawing their investment and using the money for some other purpose. At this point, I checked with the interviewer if the hypothesis was correct. He smiled and nodded and asked me to continue. Now, I said I would need to see who exactly are these investors to ascertain why they were withdrawing their money ( since because of the Modi govt. the business outlook was very positive). Here, he said that these investors were mainly sovereign wealth funds of OPEC countries. Now the picture was clear . Due to declining oil price, the governments in these countries were facing revenue pressure and had to recall the investments in order to continue funding the operations. The interviewer again smiled and said that given the situation, would I invest my money in the Indian stock market. I said that I would invest in specific sectors like airlines, but not in the market as a whole. The case ended here.
Tips: A relaxed state of mind goes a long way in helping crack the case as well as forming a connect with the interviewer. So, keep calm and read the economist / FT and then keep calm again on the D-day!I was able to even hold a conversation here because I had been reading up the economist / financial times. Hence, please make it a habit to please read at least one journal during ISB, especially a couple of months before Day 1
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Only one PI question this time also – Tell me about yourself. The interview was mainly case based.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. What is the basic business model of the company?
- Q2. How do we define the effectiveness of the agents?
- Q3. Tell me about yourself
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Firstly, I asked the interviewer if I could proceed to draw the value chain of a complete transaction and then do a comparative analysis with a competitor to understand the difference. Upon drawing the value chain I realized that agents involved their kin / family members and registered them as agents of different insurance companies. Essentially, each agent was employed by different insurance companies but mainly promoted competitor / market leader’s product. Post this, I went through the sales force efficiency framework. The interviewer was not looking for a particular issue but how widely I could cover the possible issues. He was convinced with the coverage and then told that this was a case he had worked on and mainly the difference in brand value and ease of completing a transaction were the reasons for lack of effectiveness.
Tips: It is important to practice a wide variety of cases- the general wiCandidateom being 100 cases
A relaxed state of mind goes a long way in helping crack the case as well as forming a connect with the interviewer. So, keep calm and practice cases and then keep calm again on the D-day!
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Only one PI question – Tell me about yourself. The interview was mainly case based.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Firstly, I asked the interviewer if I could proceed to draw the value chain of a complete transaction and then do a comparative analysis with a competitor to understand the difference. Upon drawing the value chain I realized that agents involved their kin / family members and registered them as agents of different insurance companies. Essentially, each agent was employed by different insurance companies but mainly promoted competitor / market leader’s product. Post this, I went through the sales force efficiency framework. The interviewer was not looking for a particular issue but how widely I could cover the possible issues. He was convinced with the coverage and then told that this was a case he had worked on and mainly the difference in brand value and ease of completing a transaction were the reasons for lack of effectiveness.
Tips: It is important to practice a wide variety of cases- the general wiCandidateom being 100 cases
A relaxed state of mind goes a long way in helping crack the case as well as forming a connect with the interviewer. So, keep calm and practice cases and then keep calm again on the D-day!
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Only one PI question – Tell me about yourself. The interview was mainly case based.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. First was the structured case round which was a pharma related case where a company was launching a new drug in the market; The problem had various facets of sa...read more
- Q2. Second round was an unstructured case round followed by a presentation: The case was related to a chain of movie theatres (cineplexes) that wanted to expand or ...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The focus is more on structured approach and your analytical skills (i.e. the way you interpret the given data). PI was the last round and taken by the Principal/senior person. It is an equally important round and aims to check whether you are the right fit for the role or not. So, questions will be asked to check your situation handling skills and leadership capabilities. .
Tips: Round 1: Be hands on. Do the calculations as for market sizing they are looking for a number. For other questions also, listing down your ideas would be a good idea. The questions are not very hard. They want you to think clearly and logically, with some data analysis.
Practicing a few market sizing/new product launch/market entry/ pricing cases was helpful. Knowing those frameworks comes a little handy.
Round 2: Allocate some time to read all the material and the remaining to make the presentation. (It was not like the usual cases we get in class. But a real world scenario with the different reports, survey results and so on.) Create a clear structure for your presentation. During the presentation, defend your point with good logic. I made an incorrect recommendation as I had missed some piece of information, but then corrected myself there. So, I feel its better to course correct rather than sticking to the wrong point.
Skills: Ability To Handle Situations, Analytical Skills, LOGICAL THINKING ABILITIES, team leader, Team Player
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: The focus is more on structured approach and your analytical skills (i.e. the way you interpret the given data). PI was the last round and taken by the Principal/senior person. It is an equally important round and aims to check whether you are the right fit for the role or not. So, questions will be asked to check your situation handling skills and leadership capabilities. .
Tips: Round 1: Be hands on. Do the calculations as for market sizing they are looking for a number. For other questions also, listing down your ideas would be a good idea. The questions are not very hard. They want you to think clearly and logically, with some data analysis.
Practicing a few market sizing/new product launch/market entry/ pricing cases was helpful. Knowing those frameworks comes a little handy.
Round 2: Allocate some time to read all the material and the remaining to make the presentation. (It was not like the usual cases we get in class. But a real world scenario with the different reports, survey results and so on.) Create a clear structure for your presentation. During the presentation, defend your point with good logic. I made an incorrect recommendation as I had missed some piece of information, but then corrected myself there. So, I feel its better to course correct rather than sticking to the wrong point.
Skills: Ability To Handle Situations, Analytical Skills, LOGICAL THINKING ABILITIES, team leader, Team Player
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Talk about a challenging project at work and what you took away from it
- Q2. How will your friends describe you?
- Q3. What else did you do apart from maintaining a good GPA at ISB
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Was comfortable with PI What was good: Confidence What could be better: Did not have knowledge on the projects / kind of work done by different divisions
Skills: Personnel Management
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Was comfortable with PI What was good: Confidence What could be better: Did not have knowledge on the projects / kind of work done by different divisions
Skills: Personnel Management
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Estimate the size of the pre-owned LCV market in India
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q. Confirm understanding of LCVs – Is it like the Tata Ace?
Yes
Q. Estimate the market or only for our company?
Do it only for our company, and assume we have last 10 years of sales data
Tips: The case was not hard, but I was taken aback when asked to stop. Interview lasted for only 15 minutes which unsettled me What was good: PI, scoping and structured approach What could be better: Speed in solving the case.
Skill Tips: Before jumping into size, I identified factors that would drive sales of pre-owned vehicles like total cost of ownership, emergence of a better vehicle, expansion of alternate use by customers etc. Was asked to concentrate on TCO and I probed for yearly data of costs. Did not come up with a number as he abruptly stopped the interview Summarize the case. [Not more than 30 seconds!]
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Q. Confirm understanding of LCVs – Is it like the Tata Ace?
Yes
Q. Estimate the market or only for our company?
Do it only for our company, and assume we have last 10 years of sales data
Tips: The case was not hard, but I was taken aback when asked to stop. Interview lasted for only 15 minutes which unsettled me What was good: PI, scoping and structured approach What could be better: Speed in solving the case.
Skill Tips: Before jumping into size, I identified factors that would drive sales of pre-owned vehicles like total cost of ownership, emergence of a better vehicle, expansion of alternate use by customers etc. Was asked to concentrate on TCO and I probed for yearly data of costs. Did not come up with a number as he abruptly stopped the interview Summarize the case. [Not more than 30 seconds!]
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. There is an international bank (US based) that has been operating in Asia for the past 10 years. However, recently it has noticed that a lot of its customers ar...read more
- Q2. Tell me something about your work and what you exactly did?
- Q3. What did you do in relation to financial products?
- Q4. Which horizontal and vertical do you see yourself working in at Accenture?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Stress Interview
Experience: The company focuses on Heavy on cases relevant to your past work experience and functional expertise. Structured approach while solving the cases rather than exact solution.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q. Is there anything that has happened in the economy that is resulting in this change?
No, nothing has happened in the economy.
What does the company do? What are the products provided?
Company provides deposits, lending, but major into processing of payroll related data.
Q. What are the various sources of revenue?
Payroll related services and processing capabilities to other companies.
Q. Is the processing of payroll data carried out differently in the USA as compared to the Asia Pacific region?
Yes, that is exactly what it is. In the US, majority of the processing is being done manually, and this process has been copy pasted in the Asian subsidiaries. However, in Asia, technology and automation is being used by other regional and local banks, hence they are able to provide faster and better service.
Q. Where all does the firm operate in the Asia pacific region?
All over.
Q. Who are the competitors and are they offering any different services?
Not relevant.
Tips: As you can see the case isn't much hard. The focus is more on structured approach and the way you are involving the interviewer. This was the feedback that I received. 4) Good approach with the economy, company and market 5) Could have been a bit faster with the questions In general for Accenture, prepare for cases from your industry as there is a high probability you will be put in an interview with someone with that particular industry expertise.
General Tips: Interviewee can start by repeating the case to the interviewer in order to make sure he/ she has understood the objective properly (very very important). Then start of by describing the economy of the country in which the client is in (read the papers) and ask if any external change is resulting in the issue. Then move onto the company and ask about what the company does, product mix, revenue and cost trends over time. Then move onto the market scenario (industry analysis) and ask about market size and growth rates, competitors and market shares. Use this data to start solving the case and involve the interviewer as much as possible. Summarize the case. [Not more than 20 seconds!
Skill Tips: In general for Accenture, prepare for cases from your industry as there is a high probability you will be put in an interview with someone with that particular industry expertise.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: The company focuses on Heavy on cases relevant to your past work experience and functional expertise. Structured approach while solving the cases rather than exact solution.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q. Is there anything that has happened in the economy that is resulting in this change?
No, nothing has happened in the economy.
What does the company do? What are the products provided?
Company provides deposits, lending, but major into processing of payroll related data.
Q. What are the various sources of revenue?
Payroll related services and processing capabilities to other companies.
Q. Is the processing of payroll data carried out differently in the USA as compared to the Asia Pacific region?
Yes, that is exactly what it is. In the US, majority of the processing is being done manually, and this process has been copy pasted in the Asian subsidiaries. However, in Asia, technology and automation is being used by other regional and local banks, hence they are able to provide faster and better service.
Q. Where all does the firm operate in the Asia pacific region?
All over.
Q. Who are the competitors and are they offering any different services?
Not relevant.
Tips: As you can see the case isn't much hard. The focus is more on structured approach and the way you are involving the interviewer. This was the feedback that I received. 4) Good approach with the economy, company and market 5) Could have been a bit faster with the questions In general for Accenture, prepare for cases from your industry as there is a high probability you will be put in an interview with someone with that particular industry expertise.
General Tips: Interviewee can start by repeating the case to the interviewer in order to make sure he/ she has understood the objective properly (very very important). Then start of by describing the economy of the country in which the client is in (read the papers) and ask if any external change is resulting in the issue. Then move onto the company and ask about what the company does, product mix, revenue and cost trends over time. Then move onto the market scenario (industry analysis) and ask about market size and growth rates, competitors and market shares. Use this data to start solving the case and involve the interviewer as much as possible. Summarize the case. [Not more than 20 seconds!
Skill Tips: In general for Accenture, prepare for cases from your industry as there is a high probability you will be put in an interview with someone with that particular industry expertise.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Was asked to name the world champion of Table tennis
- Q2. In the partner round of interview, I was asked to name my favorite subject during chemical engineering. When I told him the name of the course he asked me to na...read more
- Q3. An on-line travel agency has a call centre. Recently they have been receiving complaints that the waiting time has increased. What could be the problem?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: I guess he was trying to test how I would handle unexpected questions.
Tips: Keep your cool.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Approach:
Q. What is the call centre for? Is it only for customer complaints or is it also for booking?
The call centre is for handling customer complaints and post booking transactions such as re-scheduling, cancellations etc.. It is not used for booking.
Q. Apart from the complaints about waiting time, is there any other objective that I need to be aware of?
No. Focus only on the waiting time.
Q. Have the customer complaints been validated?
Yes. The waiting time has indeed gone up.
Q. Now I want to look at demand side. Is there an increase in number of callers?
No
Q. ls there a change in the average time spent per customer.
No
Q. Has there been a change in the variability in number of incoming call?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the variability in time per call?
No
Q. Is there any seasonality in demand?
There is, but not relevant for period we are discussing.
Q. OK. Now looking at the Supply side. Has there been any change in average number of people working on shifts?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the Number of shifts per day?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the duration of a shift?
Yes. Last month, shifts were changed from 9 hours shifts to 8 hours shifts.
Q. Has there been any measures taken to compensate for the reduction in shift timings?
No.
Tips: The candidate should understand the objective first and establish if there are any other objectives. Then the candidate should explain what approach s/he is looking at to look at the problem. In this case, the increase in waiting time indicates issue with the operations. The candidate can consider using the waiting time equation from the operation management course. However that may be difficult to remember and hence one can look at the drivers of demand and supply. Demand = No of callers per day * Average Time spent per customer * Seasonality Supply = Average No of call centre employees per shift * No of shifts * Duration of the shift * Efficiency in effective working hours per actual working hours Also need to consider demand and process variability. The demand variability is the variability in number of incoming calls and the process variability in the variability in the call time of each call. Ask questions about each of the drivers to understand where the issue lies. Summarize.
Skill Tips: The solution should be in a detailed way. Shouldn't arrive at the solution quickly. Each and every factor must be considered. Follow a systematic way of analysis.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I guess he was trying to test how I would handle unexpected questions.
Tips: Keep your cool.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Approach:
Q. What is the call centre for? Is it only for customer complaints or is it also for booking?
The call centre is for handling customer complaints and post booking transactions such as re-scheduling, cancellations etc.. It is not used for booking.
Q. Apart from the complaints about waiting time, is there any other objective that I need to be aware of?
No. Focus only on the waiting time.
Q. Have the customer complaints been validated?
Yes. The waiting time has indeed gone up.
Q. Now I want to look at demand side. Is there an increase in number of callers?
No
Q. ls there a change in the average time spent per customer.
No
Q. Has there been a change in the variability in number of incoming call?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the variability in time per call?
No
Q. Is there any seasonality in demand?
There is, but not relevant for period we are discussing.
Q. OK. Now looking at the Supply side. Has there been any change in average number of people working on shifts?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the Number of shifts per day?
No
Q. Has there been a change in the duration of a shift?
Yes. Last month, shifts were changed from 9 hours shifts to 8 hours shifts.
Q. Has there been any measures taken to compensate for the reduction in shift timings?
No.
Tips: The candidate should understand the objective first and establish if there are any other objectives. Then the candidate should explain what approach s/he is looking at to look at the problem. In this case, the increase in waiting time indicates issue with the operations. The candidate can consider using the waiting time equation from the operation management course. However that may be difficult to remember and hence one can look at the drivers of demand and supply. Demand = No of callers per day * Average Time spent per customer * Seasonality Supply = Average No of call centre employees per shift * No of shifts * Duration of the shift * Efficiency in effective working hours per actual working hours Also need to consider demand and process variability. The demand variability is the variability in number of incoming calls and the process variability in the variability in the call time of each call. Ask questions about each of the drivers to understand where the issue lies. Summarize.
Skill Tips: The solution should be in a detailed way. Shouldn't arrive at the solution quickly. Each and every factor must be considered. Follow a systematic way of analysis.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. PI questions:Tell me something about yourself?
- Q2. How would your team members at work describe you?
- Q3. What is your most memorable achievement in life?
- Q4. Some discussion about the article I had written in WSJ about Green Business
- Q5. Case Questions:How should India reduce its Carbon Intensity by 25%? (Case type:Public Policy)
- Q6. PI questions: Questions about my work experience at ITC
- Q7. How was life at ISB?
- Q8. Some questions about my co-curricular activities at ISB
- Q9. 5 words that my team members would use to describe me
- Q10. General discussion about ITC and whether everybody in ITC smokes
- Q11. Case Questions: Valuation for a hotel chain that has existing hotels and new hotels in different stages of completion (Case type:Valuation)
- Q12. PI questions: Tell me something about yourself?
- Q13. Why Mckinsey?
- Q14. Life at ISB
- Q15. My most significant leadership experience
- Q16. Questions about work experience at ITC
- Q17. Case Questions: How do you improve the performance of a Call Center? (Case type:Operations)
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer was leading the Climate Change Special initiative and so he was visibly intrigued by my WSJ article and we had a good discussion around that for a few minutes. He is a very nice and articulate person and he put me at ease immediately. The case started off as an extension of that discussion. I asked him a few initial clarification questions:
• What is Carbon Intensity? How is it measured?
• What is the level of GDP that needs to be maintained while reducing the Carbon Intensity?
• What is the time frame for the implementation?
To this he said that Carbon intensity is the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP produced. No compromise in GDP growth from the current trend of 7-8%. Time frame was next 3-5 yrs. I laid out the following approach:
• Identify sources of CO2 emissions
• Disaggregate them by sectors and geographies within India
• Prioritize these based on Amount of CO2 that can be reduced and the impact on GDP that would occur
• Implement steps to reduce Carbon intensity for the prioritized areas
He was visibly happy with this approach. I detailed out the emission sources and identified the following sectors as the major contributors to emissions:
Power, Transportation, Construction, Cement, Steel and Agriculture. As I was discussing the remaining steps in my approach, he said that he understood them and asked me to quickly synthesize the case. I did that and the case ended there. After that he asked a couple of PI questions which I mentioned above. I asked him a few questions about what Mckinsey had done in the Climate Change Special initiative. I also asked him what still keeps him going in the firm after so many years.
Pretty much everything. Connected well with the interviewer as he was leading the Climate Change Special Initiative of Mckinsey and had a good discussion about Carbon Emissions and the fall outs of the Copenhagen Conference. Also did the case very well.
Didn’t answer the question about team members that well.
Tips: Please read up about the interviewer’s interest areas at work or otherwise and try to have a knowledgeable discussion around that.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was a long drawn out case with lots of details and numbers. Can’t recollect it completely as interviewer asked me to leave my working sheets with him. So, I’ll mention whatever I can recollect. There is a hotel chain whose revenues and EBITDA margins are known. It is also currently expanding with 50 new hotels in different parts of the country in different stages of completion. I was asked to do a valuation. After asking a couple of initial questions about the hotel and its operations, I suggested the following 2 approaches for valuation:
• DCF based valuation
• EV/EBITDA multiple based valuation
Interviewer asked me to use the 2nd approach. I did the calculation for the existing hotels based on their EBITDA margins and the multiple values (which I was asked to guess and I told him it could be in the range of 5-10 and he said use 7). While I was doing the numbers, he shot some quick calculations at me and I was able to respond to them. Clearly, my quant skills were being tested here. After completing the calculation, he told me that for the new hotels the chain was looking for Private Equity investment and I had to present a case for this investment. We discussed about the different new hotels that were being planned and the factors that were needed to be considered like location, competition, region specific macroeconomic factors like income levels, purchasing power, etc. Here it was more of a qualitative discussion and he wasn’t looking for any numbers. The case concluded here. Since interviewer was initially not scheduled to be a part of the interview team, I didn’t have any idea about his profile and the work he does in
Mckinsey. So, I asked him a few questions about that.
The case was a bit unusual, so I wasn’t completely sure whether it went well or not. The PI was good and he seemed to like my answers.
Tips: Keep your cool even if the case is unusual and is filled with a lot of details and numbers. Show the interviewer that you can handle the
ambiguity and still come up with a logical approach.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer is one of the nicest and most humble people you’ll ever encounter in an interview. He makes you feel so comfortable that you just don’t realize that you are talking to a Mckinsey Director. He is also probably “the decision maker” when it comes to recruitments at ISB. We were discussing about my experience in ITC in implementing Operations Performance Improvements in a manufacturing setting. As an extension of that discussion, he asked me to apply the same to services industry, specifically in a Call Center. I told him that we could use the following metrics to measure performance – cost, call quality, delivery (meeting customer demand). He asked me to use Cost per employee as the performance metric. I laid out the following structure
• Understand the components of Cost/employee
• Analyze the process drivers for each component
• Suggest suitable recommendations and an implementation plan
He was satisfied with this structure and we started off discussing the 1st point. I disaggregated the cost components as follows:
• Salary & Compensation
• Long-term benefits
• Training & Development
• Infrastructure
We then had a discussion about how can Compensation & Other benefits, which he told me were almost 60% of the costs, could be
reduced. We started discussing aspects of motivation and during this I figured out that Attrition is the single biggest problem in Call Centers due to which high levels of compensation are paid to employees and it is difficult to reduce the cost of this component. At this stage, he ended the case. Since interviewer was involved in the design of ISB, I asked him a couple of questions about that and then we had a chat about what ISB should do to further reinforce its position as a top tier global school.
Interviewer is one of the nicest and most humble people you’ll ever encounter in an interview. He makes you feel so comfortable that you just don’t realize that you are talking to a Mckinsey Director. He is also probably “the decision maker” when it comes to recruitments at ISB. We were discussing about my experience in ITC in implementing Operations Performance Improvements in a manufacturing setting. As an extension of that discussion, he asked me to apply the same to services industry, specifically in a Call Center. I told him that we could use the following metrics to measure performance – cost, call quality, delivery (meeting customer demand). He asked me to use Cost per employee as the performance metric. I laid out the following structure
• Understand the components of Cost/employee
• Analyze the process drivers for each component
• Suggest suitable recommendations and an implementation plan
He was satisfied with this structure and we started off discussing the 1st point. I disaggregated the cost components as follows:
• Salary & Compensation
• Long-term benefits
• Training & Development
• Infrastructure
We then had a discussion about how can Compensation & Other benefits, which he told me were almost 60% of the costs, could be
reduced. We started discussing aspects of motivation and during this I figured out that Attrition is the single biggest problem in Call Centers due to which high levels of compensation are paid to employees and it is difficult to reduce the cost of this component. At this stage, he ended the case. Since interviewer was involved in the design of ISB, I asked him a couple of questions about that and then we had a chat about what ISB should do to further reinforce its position as a top tier global school.
Pretty much everything. Connected well with interviewer during PI and he seemed to be impressed with all the answers I gave. The case went very well as I could relate to my Operations experience and knew how to approach the problem and the related issues.
Tips: Please enjoy the interview experience and show the interviewer that you are genuinely interested in solving the case
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Interviewer was leading the Climate Change Special initiative and so he was visibly intrigued by my WSJ article and we had a good discussion around that for a few minutes. He is a very nice and articulate person and he put me at ease immediately. The case started off as an extension of that discussion. I asked him a few initial clarification questions:
• What is Carbon Intensity? How is it measured?
• What is the level of GDP that needs to be maintained while reducing the Carbon Intensity?
• What is the time frame for the implementation?
To this he said that Carbon intensity is the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP produced. No compromise in GDP growth from the current trend of 7-8%. Time frame was next 3-5 yrs. I laid out the following approach:
• Identify sources of CO2 emissions
• Disaggregate them by sectors and geographies within India
• Prioritize these based on Amount of CO2 that can be reduced and the impact on GDP that would occur
• Implement steps to reduce Carbon intensity for the prioritized areas
He was visibly happy with this approach. I detailed out the emission sources and identified the following sectors as the major contributors to emissions:
Power, Transportation, Construction, Cement, Steel and Agriculture. As I was discussing the remaining steps in my approach, he said that he understood them and asked me to quickly synthesize the case. I did that and the case ended there. After that he asked a couple of PI questions which I mentioned above. I asked him a few questions about what Mckinsey had done in the Climate Change Special initiative. I also asked him what still keeps him going in the firm after so many years.
Pretty much everything. Connected well with the interviewer as he was leading the Climate Change Special Initiative of Mckinsey and had a good discussion about Carbon Emissions and the fall outs of the Copenhagen Conference. Also did the case very well.
Didn’t answer the question about team members that well.
Tips: Please read up about the interviewer’s interest areas at work or otherwise and try to have a knowledgeable discussion around that.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was a long drawn out case with lots of details and numbers. Can’t recollect it completely as interviewer asked me to leave my working sheets with him. So, I’ll mention whatever I can recollect. There is a hotel chain whose revenues and EBITDA margins are known. It is also currently expanding with 50 new hotels in different parts of the country in different stages of completion. I was asked to do a valuation. After asking a couple of initial questions about the hotel and its operations, I suggested the following 2 approaches for valuation:
• DCF based valuation
• EV/EBITDA multiple based valuation
Interviewer asked me to use the 2nd approach. I did the calculation for the existing hotels based on their EBITDA margins and the multiple values (which I was asked to guess and I told him it could be in the range of 5-10 and he said use 7). While I was doing the numbers, he shot some quick calculations at me and I was able to respond to them. Clearly, my quant skills were being tested here. After completing the calculation, he told me that for the new hotels the chain was looking for Private Equity investment and I had to present a case for this investment. We discussed about the different new hotels that were being planned and the factors that were needed to be considered like location, competition, region specific macroeconomic factors like income levels, purchasing power, etc. Here it was more of a qualitative discussion and he wasn’t looking for any numbers. The case concluded here. Since interviewer was initially not scheduled to be a part of the interview team, I didn’t have any idea about his profile and the work he does in
Mckinsey. So, I asked him a few questions about that.
The case was a bit unusual, so I wasn’t completely sure whether it went well or not. The PI was good and he seemed to like my answers.
Tips: Keep your cool even if the case is unusual and is filled with a lot of details and numbers. Show the interviewer that you can handle the
ambiguity and still come up with a logical approach.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer is one of the nicest and most humble people you’ll ever encounter in an interview. He makes you feel so comfortable that you just don’t realize that you are talking to a Mckinsey Director. He is also probably “the decision maker” when it comes to recruitments at ISB. We were discussing about my experience in ITC in implementing Operations Performance Improvements in a manufacturing setting. As an extension of that discussion, he asked me to apply the same to services industry, specifically in a Call Center. I told him that we could use the following metrics to measure performance – cost, call quality, delivery (meeting customer demand). He asked me to use Cost per employee as the performance metric. I laid out the following structure
• Understand the components of Cost/employee
• Analyze the process drivers for each component
• Suggest suitable recommendations and an implementation plan
He was satisfied with this structure and we started off discussing the 1st point. I disaggregated the cost components as follows:
• Salary & Compensation
• Long-term benefits
• Training & Development
• Infrastructure
We then had a discussion about how can Compensation & Other benefits, which he told me were almost 60% of the costs, could be
reduced. We started discussing aspects of motivation and during this I figured out that Attrition is the single biggest problem in Call Centers due to which high levels of compensation are paid to employees and it is difficult to reduce the cost of this component. At this stage, he ended the case. Since interviewer was involved in the design of ISB, I asked him a couple of questions about that and then we had a chat about what ISB should do to further reinforce its position as a top tier global school.
Interviewer is one of the nicest and most humble people you’ll ever encounter in an interview. He makes you feel so comfortable that you just don’t realize that you are talking to a Mckinsey Director. He is also probably “the decision maker” when it comes to recruitments at ISB. We were discussing about my experience in ITC in implementing Operations Performance Improvements in a manufacturing setting. As an extension of that discussion, he asked me to apply the same to services industry, specifically in a Call Center. I told him that we could use the following metrics to measure performance – cost, call quality, delivery (meeting customer demand). He asked me to use Cost per employee as the performance metric. I laid out the following structure
• Understand the components of Cost/employee
• Analyze the process drivers for each component
• Suggest suitable recommendations and an implementation plan
He was satisfied with this structure and we started off discussing the 1st point. I disaggregated the cost components as follows:
• Salary & Compensation
• Long-term benefits
• Training & Development
• Infrastructure
We then had a discussion about how can Compensation & Other benefits, which he told me were almost 60% of the costs, could be
reduced. We started discussing aspects of motivation and during this I figured out that Attrition is the single biggest problem in Call Centers due to which high levels of compensation are paid to employees and it is difficult to reduce the cost of this component. At this stage, he ended the case. Since interviewer was involved in the design of ISB, I asked him a couple of questions about that and then we had a chat about what ISB should do to further reinforce its position as a top tier global school.
Pretty much everything. Connected well with interviewer during PI and he seemed to be impressed with all the answers I gave. The case went very well as I could relate to my Operations experience and knew how to approach the problem and the related issues.
Tips: Please enjoy the interview experience and show the interviewer that you are genuinely interested in solving the case
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Case Questions: He said our client owns a hospital that has 10 Operation Theatres. There are three types of diseases for which they are used : Cardiac surgeries...read more
- Q2. PI questions:Tell me about yourself
- Q3. If I am given a chance to change one thing about India, what it would be.
- Q4. What I believed was the ability common to all the leaders?
- Q5. Case Questions:I have forgotten exactly what case it was but it was about market entry. It wasn’t very different from the standard market entry cases you will h...read more
- Q6. PI questions:Any specific reasons for choosing IIT Roorkee?”
- Q7. Looking at your engineering entrance exams ranks, UG record and GMAT, why are you not 4.0 here?
- Q8. Give me an example where you led people
- Q9. Case Questions:He told me that our client was some iron and steel company who used coal extensively in their operations. Currently was their plant capacity that...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In PI, Interviewer was pleasant. I was waiting in the corridor. He came out of the conference room and before getting into the interview room, we first went out to get some coffee for him. Perfunctorily, I started the conversation with simple ‘How is your day
going? When did you come to Hyderabad – this morning or last night? How do you like the quality of candidates this year?’ type of questions. To my third question he replied he liked the quality of this year’s batch. I said yes the quality of ISB batch was improving year by year. He asked me why it was so to which I replied that as the ISB brand got stronger, even better students chose to come to ISB. He agreed. He started looking at my resume and complimented me on an impressive one. Intrigued by some of the stuff, he asked me to tell more about myself. I had thought my points for this question and framed a good impromptu response around these. The mistake I made was perhaps that I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style (leading by example). It was so noticeable that he grilled me on leadership nuances and my style in particular for the next 5 minutes. At one point, in flow, he even said “…and consider your team your slave.” It was unexpected, so I took a couple of seconds to think and was about to defend my point when he laughed and said he was kidding. But this indicated me that I had been too strong on my leadership point and needed to correct it whenever I got a chance. He then said alright why don’t we do some free consulting.
For case, because the problem statement was short, initially it involved some questioning to find out the details of hospital operations to figure out the processes, bottlenecks, resource requirements, current resource allocation, etc. In between, I brought in my experience with hospitals to support my analysis and recommendations. In the end, my final recommendation was around building an efficient queuing based process for operation theatres much like the assembly line for an automobile manufacturing plant. Operations theatres were to be used for the most critical activities with much of the preparatory and post operative work done at other points (similar to different stations in a factory). I also borrowed some principles of just-in-time. I think interviewer liked me modeling the OT process around a factory assembly line. I may have been successful at indicating an ability to link diverse areas to build a solution. In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
My personal interview part was very strong. Secondly, because my nervousness had gone in the first two interviews of the day with other consulting companies, I was very confident and smiling in this interview. Thirdly, even as I was framing my response, I kept my calm when he took me by surprise by his strong comment on my leadership style.
I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style. Apparently, interviewer went in and asked the next interviewer to check me more on leadership. I think so because my next interview started from leadership points again.
Tips: During the preparation phase, I wanted to know how much does PI play a role in McKinsey interviews. Everybody seemed to emphasize only on cases. I was doing cases well enough but my PI was very strong and I really hoped it would carry some weight in the interview. Further, most in the McKinsey shortlist of 39 people were so strong in academics and in their analytical abilities that I wasn’t sure how to bring a differentiation solely by case solving. You’d look at any of these 39 and say this person is definitely making it to McKinsey. As I realized from my own experience, there is no set rule. What might get a person into McKinsey would vary from person to person. It depends on what points you use to sell yourself and how well you use them in making the pitch. Go back into your past and look for things that have made you the kind of person you are today. These things differentiate you. Realize that even the McKinsey director sitting before you is a person and he wants to see more than a case solving machine in you. He should remember you when he goes back into the conference room where all of them discuss their experiences with candidates after each interview. The likelihood of anyone remembering you just for cracking a case is relatively small. Moreover, if many people are doing well on cases, a good PI can really differentiate you.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer was also very pleasant. He also started with a ‘tell me about yourself’. And I told him almost the same thing as I had told previously Then he asked me if I am given a chance to change one thing about India, what it would be. (And here I was helpless. After the previous interview experience with previous interviewer, the last word I wanted to use was ‘Leadership’ and here I was about to go with the same word again. I had no choice but to say this because changing leadership was what I felt would change everything in a cascading effect) I thought for a few seconds and replied I would change India’s entire political leadership.
Some conversation followed on this. Then he asked what I believed was the ability common to all the leaders (There you go again dude! I thought). I thought for a while and replied that it was context specific. Abilities of a military leader, a political leader and a business leader are very different. He agreed but still said there is some common thing across all. It was clear that he had something in mind but I was convinced by my own answer. The thought in my mind at the point was that if I insist on my point, it might go against me. Already I had gotten myself into trouble with previous interviewer on leadership. And even if I don’t insist on my stand and say something which is not what he is looking for, I wasn’t sure how that would be. Overall, I didn’t know where
my interview was going at that point. Still, as an interviewee my job was to respond in the best possible way, so I thought for some more seconds and went back to the first principles. Then I said it was the leaders’ ability to do justice with the expectations of their teams/followers. And there came the million dollar smile on his face. He nodded and gave me his view on this which was on the same lines. Then he asked me some specific questions on what I had told him in my answer to ‘tell me about yourself’. Apparently, I dealt with them well because in the end, he said that the most important thing for a person was to believe that he is successful, only then he can do really well in life. In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
Here too, my personal interview part was very strong. I was also able to undo the damage done in the first interview. And I think
interviewer’s last line in the PI indicated that I was being seen favorably.
Tips: Be confident but be moderate where extreme opinions can damage your candidature. This is a delicate balance. When the interviewer insists on something different from what you said, think if you can come up with better points. Stick to your first opinion only as a last resort.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: As he studied my resume, he also asked me to tell him about myself. I recited the stuff. He picked up a few points from that and this time the PI questions were on different lines - “Any specific reasons for choosing IIT Roorkee?” “Looking at your engineering entrance exams ranks, UG record and GMAT, why are you not 4.0 here?” I used my answer to this question to bring out my passions in life. “Give me an example where you led people.” (Time for a deep breath man! Here went my leadership again) But I had learned my lessons in the first interview. Handled it well this time and he was satisfied. “Alright, shall we do a case?”
The case exploration went as usual. Basically, the issues were that Govt. is involved in procurement of any new coal mines or increasing the capacity of existing mines. The processes of govt. are long and thus whereas in the long run we can think of lobbying for acquiring a coal mine ourselves or helping our supplier acquire one, something else needed to be done in the short run. All the procurement costs had to be looked at and some cost benefit analysis was also involved in deciding that in the long run our client
would be better off acquiring a coal mine themselves. In the short run, we had to look at alternate sources in the adjacent countries. Some more cost and risk analysis was involved in deciding which source was the best option. In international transportation of coal, shipping costs came into discussion and interviewer specifically asked me to look into the various shipping costs. At one point, we even came down to listing the various costs involved in shipping. When I had exhausted my possibilities, he said that he didn’t expect me to come up with all the possible costs because I was perhaps not acquainted with the shipping
industry and he just wanted to see how I went about recognizing various costs (structure?). He then told me some more costs that are involved in shipping. Medium term strategy involved a plan on how to manage the migration from short to long term procurement strategy. After this, he talked for a while about this case and the strategies he thought were possible. He told me he had taken it from one of his real assignments. In the end, he asked me if I had any question.
Some of my answers brought out my passion for my hobby – Workout. I realized later that these answers stayed with interviewer even after the interview was over.
Tips: If you feel strongly about a hobby or any other thing, try to subtly fit that into some of your answers at appropriate places. People have different passions and this differentiates them. Bring out yours. Questions can come from anywhere and many of them will be
unexpected. You can’t prepare for every question beforehand. I think a better way to prepare for your interviews is to think a lot about how your life went and made you what you are. Have a consistent story right from childhood to the interview day ready. Then whatever question the interviewer throws at you, just take a thread off your story and frame your answer impromptu. This means you can’t lie but I think being yourself in the interview helps differentiate you because you are unique. I also don’t think it necessary to write down your PI answers during preparation. Just think a lot and have your story ready in mind.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: In PI, Interviewer was pleasant. I was waiting in the corridor. He came out of the conference room and before getting into the interview room, we first went out to get some coffee for him. Perfunctorily, I started the conversation with simple ‘How is your day
going? When did you come to Hyderabad – this morning or last night? How do you like the quality of candidates this year?’ type of questions. To my third question he replied he liked the quality of this year’s batch. I said yes the quality of ISB batch was improving year by year. He asked me why it was so to which I replied that as the ISB brand got stronger, even better students chose to come to ISB. He agreed. He started looking at my resume and complimented me on an impressive one. Intrigued by some of the stuff, he asked me to tell more about myself. I had thought my points for this question and framed a good impromptu response around these. The mistake I made was perhaps that I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style (leading by example). It was so noticeable that he grilled me on leadership nuances and my style in particular for the next 5 minutes. At one point, in flow, he even said “…and consider your team your slave.” It was unexpected, so I took a couple of seconds to think and was about to defend my point when he laughed and said he was kidding. But this indicated me that I had been too strong on my leadership point and needed to correct it whenever I got a chance. He then said alright why don’t we do some free consulting.
For case, because the problem statement was short, initially it involved some questioning to find out the details of hospital operations to figure out the processes, bottlenecks, resource requirements, current resource allocation, etc. In between, I brought in my experience with hospitals to support my analysis and recommendations. In the end, my final recommendation was around building an efficient queuing based process for operation theatres much like the assembly line for an automobile manufacturing plant. Operations theatres were to be used for the most critical activities with much of the preparatory and post operative work done at other points (similar to different stations in a factory). I also borrowed some principles of just-in-time. I think interviewer liked me modeling the OT process around a factory assembly line. I may have been successful at indicating an ability to link diverse areas to build a solution. In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
My personal interview part was very strong. Secondly, because my nervousness had gone in the first two interviews of the day with other consulting companies, I was very confident and smiling in this interview. Thirdly, even as I was framing my response, I kept my calm when he took me by surprise by his strong comment on my leadership style.
I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style. Apparently, interviewer went in and asked the next interviewer to check me more on leadership. I think so because my next interview started from leadership points again.
Tips: During the preparation phase, I wanted to know how much does PI play a role in McKinsey interviews. Everybody seemed to emphasize only on cases. I was doing cases well enough but my PI was very strong and I really hoped it would carry some weight in the interview. Further, most in the McKinsey shortlist of 39 people were so strong in academics and in their analytical abilities that I wasn’t sure how to bring a differentiation solely by case solving. You’d look at any of these 39 and say this person is definitely making it to McKinsey. As I realized from my own experience, there is no set rule. What might get a person into McKinsey would vary from person to person. It depends on what points you use to sell yourself and how well you use them in making the pitch. Go back into your past and look for things that have made you the kind of person you are today. These things differentiate you. Realize that even the McKinsey director sitting before you is a person and he wants to see more than a case solving machine in you. He should remember you when he goes back into the conference room where all of them discuss their experiences with candidates after each interview. The likelihood of anyone remembering you just for cracking a case is relatively small. Moreover, if many people are doing well on cases, a good PI can really differentiate you.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer was also very pleasant. He also started with a ‘tell me about yourself’. And I told him almost the same thing as I had told previously Then he asked me if I am given a chance to change one thing about India, what it would be. (And here I was helpless. After the previous interview experience with previous interviewer, the last word I wanted to use was ‘Leadership’ and here I was about to go with the same word again. I had no choice but to say this because changing leadership was what I felt would change everything in a cascading effect) I thought for a few seconds and replied I would change India’s entire political leadership.
Some conversation followed on this. Then he asked what I believed was the ability common to all the leaders (There you go again dude! I thought). I thought for a while and replied that it was context specific. Abilities of a military leader, a political leader and a business leader are very different. He agreed but still said there is some common thing across all. It was clear that he had something in mind but I was convinced by my own answer. The thought in my mind at the point was that if I insist on my point, it might go against me. Already I had gotten myself into trouble with previous interviewer on leadership. And even if I don’t insist on my stand and say something which is not what he is looking for, I wasn’t sure how that would be. Overall, I didn’t know where
my interview was going at that point. Still, as an interviewee my job was to respond in the best possible way, so I thought for some more seconds and went back to the first principles. Then I said it was the leaders’ ability to do justice with the expectations of their teams/followers. And there came the million dollar smile on his face. He nodded and gave me his view on this which was on the same lines. Then he asked me some specific questions on what I had told him in my answer to ‘tell me about yourself’. Apparently, I dealt with them well because in the end, he said that the most important thing for a person was to believe that he is successful, only then he can do really well in life. In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
Here too, my personal interview part was very strong. I was also able to undo the damage done in the first interview. And I think
interviewer’s last line in the PI indicated that I was being seen favorably.
Tips: Be confident but be moderate where extreme opinions can damage your candidature. This is a delicate balance. When the interviewer insists on something different from what you said, think if you can come up with better points. Stick to your first opinion only as a last resort.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: As he studied my resume, he also asked me to tell him about myself. I recited the stuff. He picked up a few points from that and this time the PI questions were on different lines - “Any specific reasons for choosing IIT Roorkee?” “Looking at your engineering entrance exams ranks, UG record and GMAT, why are you not 4.0 here?” I used my answer to this question to bring out my passions in life. “Give me an example where you led people.” (Time for a deep breath man! Here went my leadership again) But I had learned my lessons in the first interview. Handled it well this time and he was satisfied. “Alright, shall we do a case?”
The case exploration went as usual. Basically, the issues were that Govt. is involved in procurement of any new coal mines or increasing the capacity of existing mines. The processes of govt. are long and thus whereas in the long run we can think of lobbying for acquiring a coal mine ourselves or helping our supplier acquire one, something else needed to be done in the short run. All the procurement costs had to be looked at and some cost benefit analysis was also involved in deciding that in the long run our client
would be better off acquiring a coal mine themselves. In the short run, we had to look at alternate sources in the adjacent countries. Some more cost and risk analysis was involved in deciding which source was the best option. In international transportation of coal, shipping costs came into discussion and interviewer specifically asked me to look into the various shipping costs. At one point, we even came down to listing the various costs involved in shipping. When I had exhausted my possibilities, he said that he didn’t expect me to come up with all the possible costs because I was perhaps not acquainted with the shipping
industry and he just wanted to see how I went about recognizing various costs (structure?). He then told me some more costs that are involved in shipping. Medium term strategy involved a plan on how to manage the migration from short to long term procurement strategy. After this, he talked for a while about this case and the strategies he thought were possible. He told me he had taken it from one of his real assignments. In the end, he asked me if I had any question.
Some of my answers brought out my passion for my hobby – Workout. I realized later that these answers stayed with interviewer even after the interview was over.
Tips: If you feel strongly about a hobby or any other thing, try to subtly fit that into some of your answers at appropriate places. People have different passions and this differentiates them. Bring out yours. Questions can come from anywhere and many of them will be
unexpected. You can’t prepare for every question beforehand. I think a better way to prepare for your interviews is to think a lot about how your life went and made you what you are. Have a consistent story right from childhood to the interview day ready. Then whatever question the interviewer throws at you, just take a thread off your story and frame your answer impromptu. This means you can’t lie but I think being yourself in the interview helps differentiate you because you are unique. I also don’t think it necessary to write down your PI answers during preparation. Just think a lot and have your story ready in mind.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. PI questions:Tell me about yourself
- Q2. Why global eProcure?
- Q3. Where do you see yourself in 2 years?
- Q4. If u suddenly had all the money in the world what would you do?
- Q5. Case Questions: How much would you bid for a taxi license (medallion) in chicago?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In PI, following were my answers :
1. Tell me about yourself
This is quite a standard question and one that must be prepared for. When preparing please do not create a standard answer that you put out in front of every firm. The answer must be tailored as per what the form wants. My understanding was that this firm wants a person that can be easily presented in front of a client on day one and a person who loves to travel. Hence my answer was all about my love for travelling on the personal side and how I managed clients from my professional side.
2. Why global eProcure
My answer to this question stemmed from the CEO’s passion for knowledge development. I said to build a career I would love to work for a smaller org looking to grow it human and knowledge capital. Off-course the same was sugar coated with MBA speak
3. Where do you see yourself in 2 years
In such questions it is my opinion that staying away from job titles is the best way to go. My answer was that in 2 years I intend to learn all the facets of the business and become a go to guy in the company for all people in atleast one aspect of the business. The answer basically harped on generating knowledge capital
4. If u suddenly had all the money in the world what would you do?
My interpretation of this question is that how honest you have been in the interview till now. Nobody in their right minds will be jet setting around the world working for clients if they had a billion dollars. So I kept my answer simple. I said I would buy a house in Scotland and play golf every day.
The case was quite a simple one which had to be tackled as below
1. Estimate revenue
2. Estimate living expenses and costs associated with the taxi
3. Estimate opportunity cost
4. Look at soft aspects (i.e. does the guy want to be a taxi driver to begin with?)
In order to estimate revenue
1. Ask for sources of revenue : Fares, advertisements
2. Ask for work hours, holidays etc
3. Average revenue on weekdays, weekends and holidays etc
Costs
1. Living expenses
2. Fuel
3. Maintenance
4. Insurance
5. Misc
Opportunity cost
1. If not a cab driver then what?
Soft aspects
1. Does he want to be a cab driver. If yes then he can do it at zero profit and zero loss. If no then how much compensation does he want in order to bear the emotional aspects of being a cab driver Then you do some simple math and come up with a figure
I think the way I engaged the interviewer sealed the deal for me. I engaged him in conversation throughout and the interview turned into a discussion instead of a question answer session. Also the fact that I slipped in a few jokes that made the atmosphere a little more casual helped my case. Also my diagrams and pictures helped me make my points in an effective manner I tried to steam role the case into a quick conclusion rather than make it an elaborative discussion. Also my notes were a little haphazard and I noticed a smirk on his face when he looked through them during the end. Go listen to the CEO when he comes down for the talk!!! That is
preparation enough. He will basically tell u exactly what he is looking for.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: In PI, following were my answers :
1. Tell me about yourself
This is quite a standard question and one that must be prepared for. When preparing please do not create a standard answer that you put out in front of every firm. The answer must be tailored as per what the form wants. My understanding was that this firm wants a person that can be easily presented in front of a client on day one and a person who loves to travel. Hence my answer was all about my love for travelling on the personal side and how I managed clients from my professional side.
2. Why global eProcure
My answer to this question stemmed from the CEO’s passion for knowledge development. I said to build a career I would love to work for a smaller org looking to grow it human and knowledge capital. Off-course the same was sugar coated with MBA speak
3. Where do you see yourself in 2 years
In such questions it is my opinion that staying away from job titles is the best way to go. My answer was that in 2 years I intend to learn all the facets of the business and become a go to guy in the company for all people in atleast one aspect of the business. The answer basically harped on generating knowledge capital
4. If u suddenly had all the money in the world what would you do?
My interpretation of this question is that how honest you have been in the interview till now. Nobody in their right minds will be jet setting around the world working for clients if they had a billion dollars. So I kept my answer simple. I said I would buy a house in Scotland and play golf every day.
The case was quite a simple one which had to be tackled as below
1. Estimate revenue
2. Estimate living expenses and costs associated with the taxi
3. Estimate opportunity cost
4. Look at soft aspects (i.e. does the guy want to be a taxi driver to begin with?)
In order to estimate revenue
1. Ask for sources of revenue : Fares, advertisements
2. Ask for work hours, holidays etc
3. Average revenue on weekdays, weekends and holidays etc
Costs
1. Living expenses
2. Fuel
3. Maintenance
4. Insurance
5. Misc
Opportunity cost
1. If not a cab driver then what?
Soft aspects
1. Does he want to be a cab driver. If yes then he can do it at zero profit and zero loss. If no then how much compensation does he want in order to bear the emotional aspects of being a cab driver Then you do some simple math and come up with a figure
I think the way I engaged the interviewer sealed the deal for me. I engaged him in conversation throughout and the interview turned into a discussion instead of a question answer session. Also the fact that I slipped in a few jokes that made the atmosphere a little more casual helped my case. Also my diagrams and pictures helped me make my points in an effective manner I tried to steam role the case into a quick conclusion rather than make it an elaborative discussion. Also my notes were a little haphazard and I noticed a smirk on his face when he looked through them during the end. Go listen to the CEO when he comes down for the talk!!! That is
preparation enough. He will basically tell u exactly what he is looking for.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
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