Columbia Pacific Management Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: Verbal-correction of sentences, 2 passages,antonyms,synonyms logical reasoning - all models are in r.s agarwal
Total Questions: 75

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Regular hr questions like tell about ur self,hobbies,strengths,any team activities, about paper presented and questions on that, questions on leadership qualities, asked to talk about 'conservation of energy' for few minutes, asked abouts functions or events organised.

College Name: NIT WARANGAL

Round: Test
Experience: Questions related to courses of Design, MOS, TOM. It had tough MCQ’s based on formulae that had to be memorized and were calculation intensive.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: it was a 45-minute round with questions about yourself, CPI and extra-curricular activities.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Questions based on resume, internship and 2nd and 3rd year related projects. Short discussion on Extra-curricular activities.

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Test
Experience: Shortlist is done based on the result of the test conducted. The test consists of two parts basic quantitative skills and a short essay to test your English
Tips: Math and Puzzle solving skills are useful They were looking for people with good math skills and team player

Round: Interview
Experience: Interview was held in two rounds. No technical round is held. One should be prepared for basic HR questions, your understanding of your projects etc.
Tips: There is no technical round and no emphasis on technical background
Prepare for all the basic HR questions beforehand, write them down
Get to know your resume very well

College Name: IIT Madras

Round: Test
Experience: There were two parts : Aptitude and English.
The Aptitude part consisted of questions related to Maths which were quite easy.
The English section consisted of reading comprehensions.
Tips: Read the questions carefully because some of them might be lengthy.
Apply quick formulas so that you save time on each question.
Duration: 90 minutes

Round: Group Activity
Experience: We were asked to write an essay on a topic.
My topic was "Global Warming".
This was not an elimination round.
Tips: Writing essay requires a good fair of English and also thinking capability.
Divide your essay into paragraphs and don't forget to assign a title to your essay.

Round: Interview
Experience: The technical round was quite simple for me as the interviewer asked me few simple questions related to basic programming. I am not well versed with programming but then I managed because I did study the previous day.
I was not nervous since I knew I would be able to crack the interview in one go. After waiting for hours and hours, my turn came and finally I went up to the interviewer.
Tips: Be confident and communicate well.
The interviewers are more interested in how you communicate to them.
Learn the basics and revise a little before you go to the interview .

Round: Interview
Experience: This was the most simple and funniest round for me as the interviewer asked me only a single question .
The question goes like " Which place are you from?"
Tips: When you get selected for the HR round, just relax.
This is not an elimination round .
The HR's won't ask questions related to your subjects or any academics.
They would only ask some basic information regarding your life experiences and or will you be able to work in a corporate environment.

General Tips: 1. You need to be confident.
2. Drink lots of water.
3. Dont discuss anything with your neighbours during the interview process.
4. Dont overthink.
5. Be positive.
Skill Tips: You should well versed with english and try to communicate well with the interviewer.
Skills: COMMUNCATION SKILLS, PROGRAMMING SKILLS, TECHNICAL SKILLS, WRITING SKILLS
College Name: SRM UNIVERSITY
Motivation: A highly-motivated, productive and customer-focused team player with strong communication, interpersonal,organizational, time management, analytical and problem solving skills. Reliable and dedicated with the ability to grasp and apply new procedures quickly; organize and prioritize tasks to meet deadlines and adapt readily to new challenges.

Round: Interview
Experience: 1st round: Panel of two. Asked questions about the projects which were mentioned in the resume. A few questions were asked about the core intern which I did. Asked about the family background.10 got selected in the next round of interviews.
I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
No case studies were asked Just my opinion was asked in certain topics in the second interview which was taken by the partner of the firm. He asked my opinion about construction in India.
I did well in the interview and they liked my story about my projects.
Tips: I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
I started preparing in Mid-November. I think placement is more about yourself. Starting earlier doesn't help.

General Tips: 2nd years: Decide where your interest lies. Have a decent CG at least above 8.
3rd years: Know your interest. Have mock PIs and GDs. 

Be genuine. If you don’t know something just tell them, do not act to be over-smart.Just revise your basic level courses. Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
Skill Tips: Just revise your basic level courses.Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Test
Experience: One written test. It contains four sections. Each section is of 15 minutes duration.
Tips: Prepare for general aptitude and learn the basics of C, C++ and Java.
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: HR Interview
Experience: General HR round questions were asked.
Tips: You must show your confidence and maintain eye contact with the interviewer.

General Tips: Brush up all the basics of your core subjects.
Skills: Good technical skills., Good communication skills.
College Name: NA

Round: Test
Experience: The written test was quite similar to the typical CAT pattern. It contained sections on Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Mathematics.

Round: Interview
Experience: There were 3 interview rounds:
There were 2 interviewers in the first interview, one was a technical guy and the other was from HR. They asked me a few
very simple puzzles, a few basic programming questions (swapping the value of two variables etc.), questions related to the development cycle of software products.  The HR guy asked stuff like what do you want to achieve in life? Strengths, weaknesses etc.
The second interview was resume based. He asked me about my thesis, internship, various projects, positions of responsibility etc. The third interview was the most important one (and I guess that was the deciding interview). The interviewer started with questions like why finance? Which companies are you sitting for? Then he gave me a case study: “As a banking organization, you have given house loans to a lot of customers. Given the current scenario, you have to profile the customers to which loans have been given based on the chances that they would pay back.” He started with this scenario and as I gradually started analyzing things and proposing models he kept on increasing the complexity saying you don’t have this data, you can’t make that assumption etc. Ultimately he narrowed down it down to a problem which was almost unsolvable. When I got stuck at that he told me that his idea was to just give me a taste of the toughness of problems they encounter in day-to-day business.

General Tips: After spending three or four years enjoying the IITK adventure, one suddenly feels a jolt when he/she arrives in the final year. You find yourself wondering at times, asking yourself the pertinent question, what next? And seriously, the best way to start preparing for placements, GRE, CAT or any other exam for that matter is answering this question honestly. Take a few minutes of your precious time and think what you want to do with your life? Where does your heart truly lie? I know it’s not that easy to decide on this but at least give this a good thought and prioritize your options. Make a list of them on paper if that helps. Once you are done with this, the real planning starts. Take each option one by one and do a truthful analysis of yourself from the perspective of that option. For e.g., say you have CAT as your first priority, and then analyze your strengths and weaknesses from CAT’s perspective. What all areas you need to improve on? How much time and effort would it take? How much time you have got left? By doing this exercise you will really get to know the work that needs to be done and will help you plan for the remaining time.


Resume:
I am sure you would have heard it umpteen times but still I will repeat it to stress the point, take resume making seriously! A good resume would drive your interview in the direction you want it to go, a bad resume on the other hand might end the chances of you even getting interviewed! Start by trying to remember each and every achievement of your life and write it down. Spend a few days on this part till you are sure you have got almost everything. Now write it down properly in formal language in the form of a master resume. This would serve
as a repository of information for all your subsequent resumes. And on top of that, having a fresh memory of your achievements would help you in answering the questions in interviews (especially HR questions). Ideally you should have a separate resume for every company you sit for. The way to do this is make sector specific resumes and edit them accordingly for the different companies of that sector. For example, make a single resume for all the core CSE companies and then you can probably change the list of projects (or their order of appearance) targeting individual companies.

PPTs:
If you are serious about getting job in a company, you cannot afford to miss its pre placement talk. PPT is not only an opportunity to know about the company, but it also gives you the chance to know what the company is looking for. This will give you the basic idea around which you should structure your resume and preparation for that company.
Preparation:
Core Computer Science Companies: All the core CS companies first take a written test which contains questions on C/C++, may have JAVA, UNIX, Algorithms, Data Structures, basics of Operating Systems and Compilers, some questions on basic networking in case the company works in that field. Almost all the companies have a couple of questions in which you are required to write code on paper. Some companies also have a few questions on aptitude, simple maths or data interpretations. You can find the company specific details in the placement feedback guide. This is the major
shortlisting step for core companies, so you cannot take it lightly. You can start preparing by revising the relevant courses you did (like Data Structures, Algorithms, Operating Systems, and Compilers). Practice a few questions available in the various placement preparation guides on LAN. Most importantly, practice writing code on paper. This is something we are not used to and requires some practice. This not only will do you good in the written test, but also help you in the interviews.
Non Core Companies (Finance, Consulting, and Analytics):
The written tests of most of these companies are quite similar to CAT. So if you are not preparing for CAT, get hold of some CAT preparation material for practice. These tests are more speed based than knowledge, so practice is absolutely essential. Revising some basic mathematics (like probability, progressions etc.) would also do you good. Apart from that, you need to have some basic knowledge and understanding of the field the company works in. For example, if you are appearing for a finance company, learn the basic concepts and common terminologies of finance. The least it would do is show that you are sincerely interested in the field the company works in.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Being genuine helped, they were trying to help out in answering some questions. Being flexible in outlook helped(rather than being rigid about a profile)

General Tips: GD outcome was CV influenced, Enthusiastic about the company and being open to possibilities helped.
Skills: Economics, Banking
College Name: NA