HMSHost Management Trainee Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: ITC usually does case GDs. The cases are fun and pretty interesting. You would be in a group of 8-10 people and you would be given a case on which your group has to come to a conclusion in 30 mins. In our case the GD centred around a village. Where the village was facing a lot many challenges with industries shutting down, people deserting the village etc. And most of them had the root cause to the lack of power. And so the group had to come to a conclusion as to which source of energy would be the best feasible for the village based on certain things that were mentioned there in the case,
Tips: GD there are three tips: - Either start the discussion if you know the topic well. - Or play the role of a moderator and quip in with some important points- Or succinctly summarise all the points everyone mentioned and conclude them in a beautiful way explaining the direction in which the group inclines if you do not have much information on the topic. It is pretty important that the group reaches to a consensus.
Duration: 30 minutes

Round: Interview
Experience: ITC conducts interviews way early on Dec 1. Typically around 6:30 am the interviews start. So I was pretty exhausted by being on a stretch of 3 night outs with MTP report submission, MTP presentation, and then all tests and GDs for companies. On Nov 30th as well the interviews and Gds started and it was going on till Dec 1 5 am for me. Then ITC interview was at 7 am in the morning. Interviewers were 5-7 years experienced people. Questions were related to my internship and some core courses. I answered internship related questions well. Screwed up once on a technical question. Usually they would start with one concept and then grill you in depth to understand your expertise in that.
Tips: - Brush up your core concepts- You should be thorough with your internship stuff

Round: Interview
Experience: The HR interviewers were 25 years experienced. Pretty chill people. Asked me questions around why ITC and why not a startup ? etc.Pretty usual set of questions.
Tips: Be calm. Read 64 interview questions pdf. Usually available on institute LAN

College Name: IIT Kharagpur

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: The initial shortlist was done on the basis of resume, CGPA and Branch.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: It was a case study based GD. Three minutes time was given to read the case which was about a plane which had crashed and the whole scenario was explained. There were 7 survivors and one had to choose an appropriate leader among them who would lead them either out of the jungle to nearest occupied area or help them survive to wait for reinforcements.
It is always good to read the case early and look to initiate the discussion. But be careful to let others read as well. I did the same. Next after putting your points try to steer the discussion in the right direction. People were getting very emotional and excited and were looking to speak without bothering that rest of the participants were listening to them. There was a time in the GD when 5 people out of 8 were speaking at once leading to chaos. I opted to keep quiet and tried to listen as much as I could, appreciating good points put up by few of them. Finally, I interrupted to tell them to speak one by one and passed the discussion to one of them, who was making some valid points. At the end, look to conclude while taking into consideration valid points put up by others (this demonstrates you are an active listener) and add your own creative/innovative points. There were two observers both of whom took my final HR interview.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: In technical round they were three interviewers one was an electrical engineering alumni of IITR who asked me technical questions and rest were mostly observing. Firstly, I was asked Tell me about yourself? I explained about my life at IIT Roorkee, about my participation in Cognizance, about my hobbies like squash and then about my family. I went on speaking for about 15-20 minutes, I was hoping they would interrupt me at some point. Finally, I was left with nothing to say as I had told them everything. They were like Phew!!  As if I was telling them a story. Next, they asked about my internship. What did I do? How as an electrical engineer I gave my inputs to the internship?
Next, they asked about my B.Tech. project? My guides name? What I was doing in the project? I explained it all on a sheet of paper. I don’t think he was able to understand what I was telling, so he interrupted.
Then he asked about my favorite subject in electrical engineering and my grades in that subject. He also inquired about my department rank.
Next he asked me some technical questions: What is floating point neutral? What is earth résistance and some others. I was able to answer most of them and rest which I didn’t know I told him after some deliberation straight away that I didn’t know the right answer. One important thing that helped me here is that I spoke put my thinking process and the interviewer also helped me to reach the final answer. Finally he asked me to tell something interesting about myself? That ended the interview.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: For the next round, there were two interviewers; they asked me why my SGPA had fallen in last semester? I told them as it was a tough semester in EE nd hence my SGPA had dropped. Next they asked me about how I manage conflicting priorities in life. I answered to them in reference to the previous question that after scoring less SGPA in the last semester I was disappointed and in some part of my mind I was blaming my participation in Cognizance as the reason for it. This semester I had to choose to be the convener of the festival. It was an important decision as it would affect my studies. I told them as studies were my top priority in IITR as it always has been. Rather than giving up on the team which I was to lead, I told them I decided to take this as a challenge and correct my mistakes. And now my aim is to score an SGPA over 9 this semester while conducting the festival successfully. They looked impressed and this ended the interview.
Tips: Study your resume well especially internship. Don’t add any internship (2nd year) where you haven’t done anything.Prepare your technical/core subjects practical/application based. Last but not the least, be yourself.

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: They have a resume based selection in the first round. After that they have a group based case study. They have a very limited no. of these case studies and you can browse different interview experiences to have a prior knowledge of these case studies.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: In the interview you have to dazzle them with your core knowledge. Anyways they took the two guys having highest CGPA. They selected 2 out of 5 and one of my friends interview went very well but to my surprise he was not selected. They asked mostly about quality control tests, slump, compaction factor and some common sense questions related to civil engineering.
Though I didn’t get into ITC, what i feel is that they are looking for people who are good at academics but also have certain amount of extracurricular activities to their credit. They want people who have had experience of working in the field and in a team. For them it is very important that you have very good team ethics and extremely profound leadership qualities.

College Name: IIT ROORKEE

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Since I got a Pre placement offer through Internship so my experiences will be in accordance to Internship
procedure. Placement procedure is almost the same. They look for decent
pointers. In addition to this they would consider if you have some good
technical background. They look for committed people who have an experience of
working in teams.For this they float a from of their own which has some questions answers of which more of less lies in the resume. There are some HR questions too like Long term goal , Short term goal, SOP, mind over matter (the most catchy one). If you get selected for interview round your interview will be around this form .

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: It was my first GD. There were around 120 people selected for the GD. We were
divided in the groups of 10. As expected my group was very tough as there were
better speakers. We were given a paper containing the situation and options. We
were given a total of 20 minutes which included the time for reading and
understanding the situation. Someone started speaking after around 5-6 minutes
followed by an another guy. Next , I had to dive in as if I would have delayed
I would have ran out of ideas which would have been taken by the others. I
started confidently and as time passed by I was successfully able to convince
the people towards my option or I must say there were no arguments towards my
option. Out of expectation, I cleared this round. Next round was the interview round.
Tips: - GD is all about convincing the junta towards your option.- Never speak when some one else is speaking.- Don't be negative , always give positive statements- Never take name of any person sitting in the room in the GD even if you know him/her- Never point fingers- Sometime GD can become a fish market. Stay out of it and wait
for the right time to speak.

- Don't shout

- Don't be an orator if you are not a good speaker

- Read the paper carefully and jot down the pros and cons of
every option so that you have many points to speak to

- It does not really matter how much did you speak but what you
speak matters, don't panic if you have spoken less during GD. Sometimes giving
1-2 logical statements gets you through.
Duration: 20 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Around 35 people were selected for this round. We were told there will be 2 rounds of interviews. I got a call for my Technical interview soon. It was a large room with only 3 of us - myself and the 2 interviewers. They started by greeting themselves and asked me to tell something about me. I started confidently and told them about myself, my birth place, interests, college life, IIT B Racing etc. Then the interview shifted to specific questions. I covered every important point in the resume and explained it in a line or two as the questions went. They seemed impressed as I had Cummins on my resume as I was the only one in my batch who did intern over there. Also, having IIT B Racing played a major role in getting me through. They asked some questions around that and I was able to answer them successfully. I could not answer initial questions completely but was confident in whatever I said. This confidence helped me to answer later questions in a better way and they were quite impressed. Frankly , I did not have any hopes till now that I will get into ITC, so I felt stress free during the interview though it was my first interview. After answering every answer confidently they asked me some questions regarding my hobbies - Cricket mostly. Since I have been a die hard fan of cricket and love to play it, my energy level went to a higher level during this discussion. Finally , they asked do you have any questions for us ? I asked what will be my work profile if I get in. They explained me the profile and I liked it. I requested them to work on some project which will create impact on the company rather than doing some research or paper reading work. They smiled and assured me of that. So, finally this interview ended after around 25 -30 minutes. I was expecting the call for second interview. (People who cleared 1st round only got a chance for second HR interview) but not that soon. It was hardly a minute after my interview got over , a person from behind calls out my name and says "You have a second interview in a minute. Are you Ready for it ?" . I was happy but exhausted. I had no other option and said politely "Yes"
Tips: - Be confident
- Don't give arbit answers if you don't know. They are very knowledgeable people and will easily catch you if you are giving vague answers.
- Don't panic if you are unable to answer some questions. Its perfectly fine . Just say politely you don't know/remember.
- Maintain a positive body language
- Show them that you are willing to work for them for a long period of time. Don't give the slightest intention of leaving the company for any reason.
- You should be able to justify every point in your resume or whatever you write.
- Revise the form before interview , the one ITC asked you to fill in the initial process of selection
- Wear good formals. During my time some people gave interview in Jeans. This does not give a professional look. Also carry a pen.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: 1.Case study is based on multiple problem- multiple solution. First decide what will be order of problems to be solved based on there severity since solving one problem might counter affect other problem increasing other problem.  And than give there corresponding solutions. Try to convince whole group about the order of problems. 
2. survival problem based case study is also asked. Try to remember that order of importance of things is based on Water-food-shelter-safety-signal device-any thing promoting movement of survivals (last).
Tips: 1. Try to give logical reasons behind any conclusion. 
2. Try to take group together.
Duration: 25 minutes

Skill Tips: " If from electrical branch make machine a strong point."
Skills: Technical Knowledge
College Name: IIT Roorkee
Motivation: It provides non coding work. it gives you a techno managerial work.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I was a bit nervous in ITC GD which resulted in my loud voice and dominating nature. The case was one of the typical cases of ITC which I missed during preparation; as a matter of fact they haven’t changed it since 3 or 4 years. It did not go that good but I was sure if 4 people would be selected from my group then I would be in. But by that time I was ready for HUL’s GD. It was a fresh new case which I forgot by the way (:P). The group was big (12 students) and I gave some good ideas (I think so). The key is “never give up on quality, safety and ethics”.
Well HUL is famous for taking only one or two guys, on top of that, rumor was that it would take only chemical guys, so I didn't had much hope with HUL, on the other hand, I was 100% sure to get through ITC (my profile and everything just matched with ITC and my friends also boosted me for the same). But I don’t know what was in my fate, at around 10:00 PM, the results of ITC’s GD came, and I was not shortlisted, all my hopes were shattered and everything turned into fume. They took only two students from my group and I was completely hopeless as I wasn't preparing for BCG, screwed up Diamond and ITC was gone. Only chance was in HUL (about which I was not sure) and Opera. I still remember that time, my wing mates helped me through that situation and boosted me a hell lot and soon I saw a ray of hope. 20 minutes later, HUL’s result came out and I was shortlisted for the interview. I decided to prepare as much as I could for HUL and revised all my stuffs all the night. I had 4 interviews next day but I didn't sleep even after going through 2 GD’s and 1 aptitude test. Finally the day came. I couldn't sleep last night.

Round: Interview
Experience: My first one was scheduled with Opera. I was taking it very lightly. The guy was from USA. I did my intern in Canada, so we did a little bit chit chat about that and we had a very nice conversation. He seemed happy with my attitude. He gave me a business case on Casino and after his some help, I finally solved the case and came up with the answer he was seeking. The next interview was with BCG. The bad thing about BCG interviews is that they don’t let you go anywhere else till their process is finished. So instead of going there, I first gave Diamond’s interview and then HUL.Since you would have read a lot about Diamond and BCG interview, so let me come straight to HUL. The first interview was taken by a factory manager. First question was based on pump, he asked about types of pump, NPSH and other relevant things. Then couple of more questions related to thermodynamics. He asked about refrigeration cycle, LMTD, cooling tower, brayton cycle and some more questions. It lasted about 15-20 minutes. I did pretty well and asked about his experience at HUL. It went good and I was sure to get shortlisted for the next round.
After that I was called for second round which was a telephonic interview taken by General Manager of the company Yogesh and there was one more guy whose name I don’t remember. He again asked the questions on pumps, use of pump in our daily life, NPSH, its determination, laws of thermodynamics, perpetual machin, use of second law in our daily life, principle of airplanes, Bernoulli theorem, what happens when you open the door of refrigerator, a heat transfer calculation (I don’t remember exactly) and some more questions in thermodynamics. Finally he asked some questions from my form. He was not satisfied with the answer I gave in one of the questions and he asked me to cite another example. He asked about my strategy on successful conduction of one of my events (Gearloose) and what made it best. Finally there were some formal questions like if I was ready to be posted anywhere and all.

General Tips: I think I answered all the questions very confidently and to the point and elaborated where required. I was very much confident about pumps and cited as many examples as I could. I think this was the best part of my interview. Initially I was a bit nervous but then I contemplated and decided to take proper time to answer each question. I think I satisfied him with every question he asked and that’s why I got selected in the company of which I used to dream since my 3rd year.

Last but not the least, I would like to say that you should know yourself and your shortcomings thoroughly and then do your best to overcome them. This is the single most time when you should devote yourself completely in the preparation (just like JEE time) if you want to get selected in your dream company. As in my case, though I did have good academic background and positions of responsibilities but I used to stammer and was not fluent in English. So I had to work a lot in these two areas in order to do decent in the interviews. I practiced in front of mirror and gave as many mock interviews as I could and that finally gave me result. Remember, nothing is impossible if you want to achieve that. You have to just work very very hard for that.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: It is done based on an online application form, which has questions on basic details, internships, projects and a few HR questions. Each of these questions had a character limit, hence had to be filled carefully, such that you can convey maximum in the least words.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The group is presented with a case study which you get. 15 min to go through. The solutions were already presented and the group has to discuss merits and demerits of the strategies and evolve a consensus.

Round: Interview
Experience: The first interview is technical based on the projects done and questions on the chosen area of interest.

Round: Interview
Experience: The second interview is HR with standard questions like greatest achievement, social work and objective in life.

General Tips: Be thorough with your resume and a very good application.
Sound technical knowledge of the projects and selected area of interest is a must.
PoRs and extra-curricular will be an advantage.
General knowledge should be brushed up.
The short listing for GD is based on the validity of the points presented, the ability to project ideas clearly and convincingly, confidence and the thought process and approach to the problem presented.
Skill Tips: Preparation of core subjects is very important.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: This is the most important part of the placement procedure. All your shortlists are based on how well you can portray what you’ve done in insti and before. Start writing your resume as soon as possible, the first deadline is typically somewhere in October and a resume generally needs 8-10 revisions.
Tips: 1. Start every line with an action verb.
2. Keep the no. of words to a minimum.
3. Remove all the unnecessary words you can. Nobody likes reading stories.
4. Each point should show impact. More than what you’ve done, you should tell them how differently you’ve done it and how it made a difference to the organization and team you worked for. (Common misconception is that impact is only in terms of numbers, this is not the case). I agree this can get very difficult but this is what differentiates and ordinary resume from an extra-ordinary one. So think!
5. Finally, keep the technical part as simple and coherent as possible. Remember an HR is going to be reading your resume.
6. Exaggeration is fine. Say you increased the number of events from 3 to 6. It is okay to write that you brought about a 100% increase in the number of events. But at the same time NEVER write anything in your resume which you cannot explain or substantiate with examples. This gives a very bad impression to the company.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: This is a normal round with a given topic.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: This is a must round in every company.
Tips: An excellent way of preparing this is writing everything down as experiences. Begin from your school days and think about any activity you’ve been part of or anything you’ve mentioned in your resume. Write down three points about what you did as part of the team or project and three points about what you learnt from it. This really helps. Especially the writing down part, since you can’t remember everything you thought about. This becomes a ready reference just a day or two before your interviews. Do not make the mistake of not preparing enough for HR.
This is as important as any other preparation you have to do for placements. And WRITE stuff down!"

Round: Other Interview
Experience: This was a phone interview. Two people on a conference with me. One guy was asking me only core questions randomly from all subjects ranging from IC engines to fluid mechanics. The other guy was asking me about my previous internship and about how my work affected the factory. They also asked me to give examples from personal life, where I exhibited leadership skills etc. This interview went on for about 45 minutes.

College Name: IIT Madras