Smollan Group Analyst Intern Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: McKinsey looks for a spike in your resume, people who have commendable achievements is their field of choice, academics, extra curriculars or sports. So be sure to make your resume accordingly. McKinsey adds a lot of weight-age to formal awards, scholarships, achievements (like inter-IIT) etc. But if you don?t have them (like me) you just have to make extra effort to show that you have equivalent achievements.

Round: Technical + HR Interview
Experience: First I was asked about myself and mostly my connection to dance and the dance club. (Some interviewers do this to make you comfortable at the same time analyzing your personality). In the first interview I was given an estimation case about the dish TV industry. Here the interviewer was mostly interested in my approach to solving the problem and if applicable my numerical skills. The second interview was a pure business case about the printing business. Here my creativity and business sense (read common sense as applicable to a business situation) was put to test.
Tips: Take on every interview as if that job doesn?t mean anything to you.

Round: Test
Experience: Syllabus for written test is CMA Syllabus, general knowledge in Computer.

Round: Test
Experience: Offline test. Mostly concerned with data sufficiency, geometry and age relations and such apti questions. In verbal part there was sentence equivalence and completion questions. Small RC passages were as well.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I was mostly asked some problems and approaches of mathematics and I had been asked about an algorithm I implemented in one of my research project.

College Name: Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Round: Manager + Lead round (not sure what kind of round is this)
Experience: details about the work profile, most of which never happened post joining.

General Tips: If you come from technical background, please do not join PwC SDC and jeopardize our career. There is no technical setup, neither any infrastructure, technical work wont just happen except for few bits n pieces UI work here n there. This is not a company for technical people.
Skills: Communication
Duration: 1-4 weeks

Round: Interview
Experience: Quizzed on opinions of the Construction Industry.

General Tips: 1. Be prepared on the courses and project works that you mention in your resume2. Read newspapers, blogs about the construction industry and keep yourself updated
Skill Tips: """"
Skills: Infrastructure Planning, Infrastructure Management, Construction Management, Project Management
College Name: VIT Chennai

Round: Test
Experience: Deloitte selection procedure involves a written test which is
same as CAT format (certainly not that tough). Though I had not joined any test series to prepare for it, but I must strongly recommend that you should actually join a test series (provided by Career Launcher or
TIME). This test series will actually help you to synchronize your mind to the format and moreover it would help to refresh the question solving skills which you used to exercise while preparing for JEE.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: general topic is given (mostly it is as to how you would go for implementing a new type of technology in a company, and hence you all have to decide the stepwise procedure for the implementation), then whole of the group is called in presentation room where each one is told personally to speak about the same topic as that of GD. This constitutes
second round. Finally, if you clear it, you get to face the interviews.
Tips: From now onwards, start reading newspaper daily. Just give at least one hour reading the editorials from newspaper and make it your habit. Not only for GD's, but for life in general, its very important that you should have a certain view about things happening around you and in the world and newspapers are the best thing which help you form your views and also know about the expert opinions on day to day topics. So, make sure that you read newspaper daily.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: For interview, main thing is that you should be well conversed about everything you have mentioned on your resume. So, before you go for any interview, just make sure that you can speak about for 5 minutes on
every single thing in resume. Deloitte is a company which is open for all the btech students and hence its mainly looking for the students who have a right attitude and are good at their interests.
Tips: have a perfect set of communication skills. I had not done
any special type of preparations for the interview or group discussions but all these skills actually developed during these years. I would advise that in order to gain more confidence at speaking, you should start taking challenges from now on and should actively participate in any sort of debates and GD.

College Name: IIT Roorkee

Round: Resume Shortlist
Tips: Have a well prepared resume that suits for the role you are applying for.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: They asked me a lot of questions based on my resume. I had done a lot of projects and courses related to Finance. I infact wanted them to ask me questions related to that as i was very well prepared. I told them about my passion for finance and the director who was from IIM Ahmedabad started asking me questions related to that. That i answered pretty well.
Tips: Be good at what you do. Prepare all your resume points in detail. Theres no excuse to that. Doesnt matter if its related to the profile you are getting interviewed for.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Except the background and about me I was asked more so of why I was not applying for a finance company and why only Deloitte. I was frank and told them that because of the recession ( euro zone debt crisis at that time ) very few companies came on campus. Hence Deloitte. But also explained them that I liked Deloitte Consulting profile as well because of the kind of work profile it offered.
Tips: Be honest and clear about what you want. They can easily catch you otherwise if you are faking or not.
Do not be hesitant to tell them why you really like them - it could be the work profile / money / etc or a combination of these.

General Tips: Be calm and Cool ? - No. You cant be i think if you are serious about getting placed. [ I feel ]
Prepare smartly ! The more the hardwork, higher the chances of getting your dream job. Many think that it just goes waste but I feel that more than the interview and getting a job you develop a lot of skills under that placement pressure and you should be very positive about it. 

Many of the people just chill out completely after placements even if they get a job they dont like.
NEVER GIVE UP ! You spend 70 % of your life at work, hence do not compromise or settle for less. You will regret later on that you did not try enough.  

I did get into JP Morgan - Equity Research after Deloitte :) Its a separate story that I left that company as well in 4 months and started www.AmbitionBox.com :P
Skill Tips: Most of them you would know but revise well before the interview so that you dont get stuck anywhere while answering. You should at the bare minimum know the very basics of Finance, Infrastructure planning and Management and Bidding. Also it depends on the coursework you have done. The interviewer might ask you questions related to that.
Skills: Communication, Infrastructure Finance, Financial Modelling, Infrastructure Management, Project Bidding , Valuations, Cost Analysis
College Name: IIT MADRAS
Motivation: The profile was good. But frankly that time since i was more inclined towards finance I wanted Bombay as my location being the financial capital and the office at 30th Floor excited me :) Also there were a lot of investment banks in the new Indiabulls Office building, I just thought I could apply off campus there and get in. In retrospect all this sounds very immature. Net net it was all worth it to help me decide what i really wanted :)
Funny Moments: After being rejected and told over qualified by Credit Suisse and Nomura backing off from placements at IIT Madras because of slot issues I was directly going to sit for UBS Verity.Had prepared the least for this company. Had not changed my resume for the profile it offered. Was not well dressed. ( Not that its VERY important ) Did not prepare anything much. Had given the interview in the most causal way. But against all odds someone had already decided that this was the company i would get placed in - DESTINY ! Felt very strange at that time because had prepared really hard for other companies.

Conclusion - After seeing a lot of my friends getting placed and reading a lot of reviews on AmbitionBox of seniors - 70% of the people get placed in companies they least expect to get into :)

PS: Doesn't mean you stop trying :) Keep trying ! There's immense satisfaction when you get something you truly wanted after a lot of Hard and Smart Work !

All the best ! Most of the advice we give at AmbitionBox and that you probably get elsewhere are just hints to solve the equation and not the solutions themselves. So make your own recipe for success.

Hope this helps :)

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