Mu Sigma Trainee Decision Scientist Interview Questions, Process, and Tips for Freshers

Round: Test
Experience: The aptitude test was conducted as a part of the CoCubes online exam that we were supposed to attempt. It was different than most of the aptitude exams that I have given so far. It consisted of negative marking, so I had to be cautious while attempting each question. They tested us mostly on our English skills and how well could we interpret a particular scenario or a picture followed by basic quant and logic questions. It was interesting yet challenging.
Tips: Since the exam contains negative marking, it's best to attempt questions that we absolutely know the answer to. Any wild guesses can cost us a lot. I was very cautious while attempting the questions. In fact, I left a few questions from each section. It really doesn't matter until you are pretty confident about the questions that you've answered. Make sure that the questions that you answer are 100% correct.
Duration: 90 min minutes

Round: Video Synthesis
Experience: Once I was shortlisted, I was called for further rounds and the first one was video synthesis. I was told that in this round, we would be shown a clipping and we would have to interpret it and that's exactly what happened with me. It was a 17 minute video where the CEO of the company was taking a lecture session. Once the video ended, we were given 10 minutes to write 3 strong points that we understood from the video. I was told before hand, not to explain about what you saw in the video but, what you understood from it and that's exactly what I did.
Tips: There's a reason why it's called video synthesis and not video summary. Best keep your points crisp and to the point. Do not repeat what you've already seen in the video. Write what you understood from it and just keep it short.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: We were a group of 10 students. The duration of the discussion was about 45 minutes. We were given 3 topics. Each spread over 15 minutes. They were all based on general topics. Nothing too fancy or difficult. We were told before we begun the discussion that we would be judged on how well we articulate our thoughts and not based on how much we speak or how many fancy words we use in the discussion.
Duration: 45 minutes minutes

Round: HR Interview
Experience: My HR interview went pretty well. I was not very tensed as my interviewers made me feel comfortable. It was just a basic HR round and I made sure that I put my best foot forward.

Skills: Logical Thinking, Proficiency In English, Ability To Analyse
College Name: GITAM University Hyderabad Campus

Round: Test
Experience: It was a very different and exiting test as compared to other company aptitude tests. It was more of a fun test rather than a quant test. Negative marking was present. The test was divided into two parts: 60 mins and 30 mins.
The 60 mins part consisted of 4 sections:
1. Quant and Logic
2. Language
3. Creativity
4. Personality Assessment
Here, you need to use your time well. You can switch between these sections.
Quant was only 10 questions, which were quite easy.Main questions were based on Number theory, probability, profit & loss.
Then there were logical reasoning questions where you need to put in proper thinking, which requires time. Personality assessment had tricky questions like "would you lie for the company", "would you use office stationery for personal home use", "What is the joke made of you often and how would you rate it?".Answered these quickly and truly.
The 30 mins part also consisted of 2 sections:
1. DATA ANALYSIS(Write what all you infer from the given table)
2. Picture description(What do you infer from the image below)
These sections were very easy. No preparation required as such. Just apply the common sense and linguistic skills. Make sure grammar is correct. Be precise. Long essay not required.
Tips: Do not panic.
The time alloted is plenty. Use it well.
Most of the Personality assessment and quant questions had come from the Mu Sigma sample question list, which is available online through mu apt.
Answer only those questions which you are sure about.
Duration: 90 minutes
Total Questions: 55

Round: Video Synthesis
Experience: A video will be played for 17 minutes. The requirement was to note down in points, what I had inferred from the video. The video played would be of any genre. It may be a short inspirational movie scene or the CEO lecture. For me, it was a promotional and summarizing lecture given by the CEO. I was given 10 minutes and I had to write what I had inferred from the video on a small card, provided by the recruiters.
Tips: Note here that it was expected that we write 3 main takeaways and NOT the summary. Do not fill the card with an essay. Put down three strong bullet points. Do not write what was already there in the video.


Round: Group Discussion
Experience: We were a group of 10 and the GD went on for about 20 minutes.We were told that we would be judged on how much we speak, our understanding of the topic, the amount of factual data we put in etc. The recruiter was observing us all the time and noting down his observations,each time we said a point. At the end of the discussion, the recruiter himself stopped us and asked each one of us to conclude the discussion.
Tips: 1) Use the time given to think properly and formulate proper set of points.
2) Stick to your points and put them forward convincingly.
3) Be loud and confident. Look at your group members while speaking and not at the recruiter.
4) Listen to what the others have to say. Make a mental/written note of all the relevant points discussed, which will help you while concluding. If you disagree with anyone's point, convey it politely.
5) Do not dominate over others.
Duration: 20 minutes

Round: HR Interview
Experience: My personal interview was a combination of HR and a bit of technical. Basic questions like "tell me about yourself", "hobbies", "tell me about your family","are your comfortable coming to Bangalore", "what do you feel about our package" were asked. Apart from that, I was asked how many branches does my college have, Why I chose Information Technology, Which subjects are different between Computer Engineering and Information Technology. The recruiter also asked me what was my favorite subject. He told me to introduce the contents of the subject to him and asked a few technical questions on it. I was also asked "If I am the store manager of McDonald's what will be the day to day decisions I will be taking?". I had already thought of an answer for this question since I had read it on ambition box before the interview day. I thank ambition box for making me acquainted with it.
Tips: 1. Relax. If you have reached this level, you have very high probability of being selected. PI is the easiest and the most fun round in Mu Sigma.
2. Use the "tell me about yourself" as a star question. Cover all the basic things like Name, current ongoing education/job details, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, family introduction, your goals and your values.
3. There is no need to be very formal but maintain politeness and honesty while answering.
4. Be sure that you know why you want to work with an Analytics company. Specially if you are a coder, they ask you why you chose Analytics over Software development.
5. Make sure you are comfortable going to Bangalore, before telling them that you do.

Prepare these basic questions:
1. Tell Me About Your Self?
2. What are your Strengths?
3. What are your Weakness?
4. Why you want to join our company?
5. Why I Should hire you?
6. Are you willing to Relocate or travel?
7. What is the Difference between Hard work & Smart Work?
8. What is the difference between Confidence & Over Confidence?
9. What are your Short term and long term plans?
10. Can you work under pressure?
11. Would you lie for the company?
12. Give me an example of your creativity.
13. What makes you angry?
14. Who is your role model?
15. What was the toughest decision you ever had to make?
16. If you won a lottery of Rs 1 crore, would you still work?
17. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself?
18. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate me as an interviewer?
19. If not selected what will you do?
20. Are you overqualified for this position?
21. Are you already placed in any company?
22. Are you satisfied with the Placement Procedure?
23. How much salary are you expecting?
24. Do you have any questions?


General Tips: Be confident
Go through the MuSigma website to find out their work culture, values, customers etc.
Have patience

Skill Tips: Practise Quant and Logical Reasoning on a regular basis

Skills: Smartness, Personality, Logical Thinking, Analytical Skills
College Name: Vidyalankar Institute Of Technology
Motivation: Fastest growing company, Young and smart peer group, Opportunity to solve the problems of customers belonging to different domains like Technology, Pharma, Banking, Retail etc.
Funny Moments: The presentation showed during HR talk consisted of a section called "why would you join Mu Sigma", which was quite funny. A guy was shown, whose thoughts on the left side said "Fastest growing company",Young and smart peer group","good values" etc, and the thoughts on the right side said "Great package", "girlfriend", "big house, car", "travel round the world" etc. While explaining this, the recruiter said "the left side is why you should join Mu Sigma, and the right side will automatically come haha!"

Round: Test
Experience: Moderate level of questions. Out of 15, 11 was cutoff.
Tips: Don't spend much time on a single question, move to next 1.
Duration: 30 minutes
Total Questions: 15

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Healthy discussion took place. Everyone got sufficient time to put his/ her points.
Tips: Try to think through multiple dimensions. You can use SPELT method (Social, Political, Economical, Legal, Technical aspects of a problem) to generate points.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There was a healthy discussion, all 8 people of the group got enough opportunity to put forward their view. Regarding the topic, a lot many problems were discussed like intracity traffic, transportation, women empowerment, education etc. People got enough opportunity for asking cross question and also people handled cross questions maturely.
Tips: Try to think through multiple dimensions, don't restrict yourself to some specific domain. To generate points u can use SPELT method i.e. try to get points considering Social, Political, Economical, Legal and Technical aspects of an issue. Dont get aggresive give chance to others also to make their point. If you don't have your own points then also don't remain silent, try to add new dimension to the points made by other people. Be a good listener and try to summarize gd in an impressive manner.
Duration: 15 minutes

Round: Test
Experience: There would be 15 questions based on general aptitude. Questions are extremely easy with time management being the key to get shortlisted. The time allotted is 25 minutes. Anyone scoring somewhere near 13-14  marks is sure to get selected.
Tips: Prepare Std X Mathematics. Questions are pretty easy. Scoring is +1for every correct answer and -0.5 for every incorrect answer.
Duration: 25 minutes
Total Questions: 15

Round: Problem Solving & Case Study
Experience: I was given a pseudo code with two nested loops to be operated. The code was extremely easy. This round also had a case study. I was given a case of an e-commerce company.
Tips: Coding part is pretty easy. The real elimination might be happening based on the student's approach to the case given. Case study demands each and every facet of the case to be seen and worked upon.

Round: Video synthesis
Experience: I was shown a video on the principles of Mu Sigma and was asked to synthesize the video in three points.
Tips: The key to crack this round is to understand the difference between synthesize and summarize. At times they even show video clippings of some Hollywood movies so make sure you are comfortable with the accent. One need to simply write the 3 key takeaway from the video.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: I was alloted a team with 8 other people. Mu Sigma's GD is a little different because the moderator becomes an active participant of the GD. My GD went on for more than 45 minutes.
Tips: Just make sure you speak well and deliver worthy points. I spoke only for around 5 minutes in my GD. So the key here is speaking no nonsense.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: The interview round is the final round of selection. Questions were primarily based on my resume.Mu Sigma has this policy of maintaining your marks of each and every round. So suppose you score low in the case study, you might be asked to solve another case study in your interview.I was made to debate on google vs. Bing. I was also asked about my experiences handling different positions of responsibility.
Tips: Be ready to convince the interviewer that data analytics is for you. Questions like why Mu sigma and what if you don't get selected are common. Just be calm and make sure your resume is well prepared because they will ask about everything mentioned in your resume.

Skills: Analytical Ability, Data Interpretation, Inter Personal Skills, Coding ability, Team Work, General Aptitude, Time management
College Name: D.A.V. Jamshedpur
Motivation: Mu Sigma is for people who love the word 'Do'. It has a whole new approach towards data and man machine interaction. People who work at Mu Sigma suggest that it has a steep learning curve compared to other companies. These are reasons enough for a college fresher to apply for Mu Sigma.
Funny Moments: The initial form that they will ask you to fill will have lots of funny questions.