My Ahmedabad Intrvw
GD: Okay-type.
THE CASE STUDY..
It was abt MAHATEX, a four-storeyed saree shop where each floor houses diffrent price-range and diff genres e.g. top floor is for premium designer sarees.. Vivek, the shop mgr employs 20 sales-ppl (boys n girls) who work in two shifts (10 per shift).. r paid Rs. 4000 basic plus 1% commission on value of sales made. Plus, they r given lunch n tea-breaks for 15 mins twice in the day.
Problem arises when for gettin higher commission, the sales-ppl start directing customers towards only premium-quality sarees which are highly-priced. sales go down, and customers are dissatisfied too. plus tea-breaks extend to 45 mins.. all this to be reigned inWhat shud Vivek do?
We came up with points like strict supervision, commission on no. of units sold and not value of sales, floor-wise allocation of personnel, diffrential commission for different sarees, signboards to direct customers to desired floor etc.
5 mins to read the case, 15 mins GD and 5 mins summary in running paragraph format.
It was an HR-case abt a saree-shop (so I expected the only girl in our group to be delighted.. she was wearing a saree too.. but she oozed total indifference).
I guess I was okay.. the group as a whole did extremely well... one of the most peaceful GDs I've ever been to. I came in a few times, gave in some decent points. ...wasn't the best performer though.. the credit goes to the girl and another guy who were both just too good.
INTERVIEW: Dunno...
All three panellists were very cordial.. made me feel at ease.. no grilling, no stress, no sermons whatsoever...
Enter, wish, sit.
Prof1: So, you are in final year of graduation?
Me: Yes, Sir.
Prof1: Under the Calcutta University?
Me: Yes, Sir.
Prof1: Which college?
Me: St. Xavier's college.
Prof1: Is it an autonomous college?
Then we have a small discussion on how the autonomy would benefit students, college.. etc.
Prof1: Dyou know any other part of India where colleges have been granted autonomous status?
Me: (feeling stupid) No, sir.
Prof1: When dyou have ur grad-finals?
Me: May.. got delayed due to Elections..
Prof1: Yogesh, if I give u the authority to bring changes in the educational system, what wud u do?
Me: (I'd earlier stressed on the need for proper evaluation of answer-scripts.. so..) Sir, there is need for increase in the number of examiners 'cuz they are over-burdened and not paid properly.. result compromise in efficiency. Second, questions should test candidate's understanding rather than his/her memory.. elaborated a bit.
Prof1: No..no..we all know this.. give me some crazy idea.. like we shud scrap the examination system altogether!
(yes yes, so that u dig my grave abhi ke abhi)
Me: Sir, I also think that there shud be continuous evaluation rather than evaluation at the end of a period.. elaborated.
A bit more discussion on this and then, Prof2 takes over.
Prof2: Doing CA Final?
Me: NO, explained why not...
Prof2: Did u have Cash Flow analysis?
Me: Yes, sir.
Prof2: What is the need for preparing a Cash Flow Statement?
Me: (cuz it's mandatory!!!) Explained the importance from both mgmt. and external point of view. Mentioned liquidity position in answer.
Prof2: Tell me some ratios prepared on the basis of Cash Flow Statement.. to assess cash position.
Now, at this point.. I just cudn't remember any such ratio. Somehow put together an answer by suggesting that we can calculate 'Debt-Coverage ratio' by taking only 'Cash and cash equivalents' in the numerator. That shud suffice..
Prof2: What are the tools of Capital Budgeting?
Me: Explained NPV and IRR.
Prof2: Formula for IRR?
Me: Began explaining the trial and error method of computing IRR..
Prof2: No, no.. mathematical formula..
Me: Dunno.
Prof3 bhi kooda maidan mein..
Prof3: Did u have Statistics?
Me: (almost begging ki bhai rehne do) Yes, sir....
Now, Prof2 reminds that I had statistics in both B.COM and CA.. I agree sheepishly.
Prof3: What is Baye's theorem?
Me: Dunno
Prof3: What are u comfortable in.. in Mathematics..
Me: Sir, u ask anything..
Prof3: No.. no..u tell what all u had..
Me: List down... and he chooses 'Calculus.'
Prof3: What is differentiation?
Me: answered.. but did not articulate well.
Prof3: Any function which has same diff as the function?
Me: e^x
Prof3: formula for differentiation...? (hands me a paper.)
Me tries and writes wrong formula.. he gives cold stare and says I'm totally confused... I think for two seconds and write correct formula.
Prof3: what is the need for differentiation?
Me: tell
Prof2: What is depreciation?
Me: It is the process of allocation of the historical cost of an asset over its useful life, taking into account residual value, if any.
Prof2: What are the methods of charging depn?
Me: tell that the basic ones are SLM and WDV.. then try to tell abt Insurance Policy, Sinking Fund which are built on any of the above two.. but he was not interested.
Prof2: How dyou estimate the useful life of an asset?
Me: Past experience, vendor specifications...
But he was not satisfied..
Prof2: What are the tools in IT for CAs?
ME: tell abt accounting packages and ERP (only name.. )
Accha hua ki nahin poocha ERP kya hain, I didn't know the answer..
Prof1 back in action..
Prof1: Yogesh, u don't have much extra-currics.. are u those studious types?
Me: Mentioned my project in college and inter-school creative writing comps..
Prof1: No, no.. sports?
Me: Explained that I do this and that but very few mention-worthy achievemnts..
Prof1: What u do in spare time?
Me: Read n write... show them my published articles..
Prof1: Do you go out with friends?
Me: Yes, sir..
Prof1: watch movies?
Me: sometimes...
Prof1: TV?
Me: No..
Prof1: don't watch 'Friends', 'the OC'?
Me: I smiled and said no...( I actually don't watch these.. seen a few episodes of 'Friends' but u possibly can't watch 'OC' in front of ur family.. BTW, Marissa is sure pretty)
Prof3: Wht do you read?
Me: told..
Prof3: read Premchand?
Me: No, sir..
Prof3: (rather sternly) and u say reading is ur hobby?
Me: said that looking forward to reading his books.. cudn't lay my hands on many good books till now.. will do in future..
Prof3: Whose writing style do you like the most..
Me: (my most honest reply) JK Rowling's... explained why..
Prof3: Have you read any Indian authors?
Me: Jhumpa Lahiri.. Interpreter Of Maladies.
Prof1: who is ur model writer?
Prof2 chips in with: 'Yogesh Patwari?' Smiles all around.
I give my best smile and look a bit embarassed
Okay.. toffee khao aur fut lo...
Prof: Good luck..
Me: Thank you..
That's it... what can we make out of it?
VERDICT : Waitlisted No 13---> I was shocked that I cudn't make it!!!
EDIT: Eventually did convert IIMA... but went to IIMB still :)
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