An SP Experience

So here goes my SPJIMR experience..

I had my interview on 29th at 10 am, reached Bombay on 28th Evening, chilled out and saw a few malls around.. Every nook and corner had one !! So Early next morning yours truely woke up and set off to reach the campus at 9.. Bombay traffic didnt trouble me too much.. Maybe Mumbaikers go late to office As soon as I reached, I found my way into the registeration room. All the candidates were made to sit in this room. We had to get our certificates verified - I had carried close to 60 certificates, unfortunately, they just verified my marks and nothing else ! After the verification we were alloted groups, and then we were called for the group interview. Let me mention that I got into SPJIMR campus at 9 , and I was done by 2 o clock, and I was in my interviews or written tests all the while with time to just grab a cup of water in between. Kudos to the adcom or the efficient Time management !! Very very impressive...

So there came my chance to go in. We were seven candidates, and three panelists, one was a student. Initially it was chilled out - they asked us how we found Bombay, and what impressed us about Bombay. This was an ice breaker. Then they gave each of us 1 minute, and we were asked to tell something about our families, ourselves, work ex (if any), adn achievements and hobbies. I was the last one in the row.. I see that people have warned in the previous posts not to give long introductions. I would say that the intro shoudnt be short either. Cos one of the girls gave a very short intro, and they didnt look too impressed.

After this they started picking up people randomly and started questioning them. The student was asking the questions, and he said that his role would be just to ask us questions, and we would be evaluated by the other 2 professors.. One of the girl was asked about her family background . She had a lot to say, as her family had started an NGO... She sure made a good impression. The another girl was asked about her reading habits. She had to describe some book she had read. There was a guy who was grilled on subprime crisis. Lots of questions on Mutual funds, stock markets - Make sure you think of every word you talk, cos they can pick anything and grill you... I had mentioned in my profile that I have learnt bhajans from my gandmom. So they asked me what kind of bhajans, and then they made me sing one I sang, and they all went clap clap... hehe.. Later one of the girls was asked to market a bottle of water - in 30 seconds. A small GD was thrown in, topic - RED is IN - Wasn't a fish market. I was cut once while talking, but I made sure I gave way - Went decently.

After this we were made to sit for 15 mins in the registeration room.. 4 of us made it - 3 girls and one guy.. And I was one of them

Now, we wrote a seven minute test. After this we had a second round of Interview. The panel consisted of two people - one lady and a professor. This was more of a "value" based interview. And they were very clearly looking for clarity of thought, as well as the body language, and our vision for doing an MBA. Though I was the last one seated (cos my name begins with a V - hehe), they always started a topic with me We started with the usual "about me s" - This time they gave us two minutes One of the guy started talking about incidents in his life where he had to make tough decisions - They grilled him a lot on that, and in the end he hardly could finish introducing himself.. One of the guys had a diverse profile - he had travelled to many countries, one of them was a mechanical engineer in an IT firm, and she'd chosen Operations - So they grilled her about why Operations, and why the shift of profile after Engg... One of the guys was working in Jamshedpur , and they were particularly intersted in his profile, as her was the only guy with some different back ground. He had taken tutuions to meet his family needs during a crisis, so they asked him a lot about all ifs and buts of the situation.
They asked all of us to describe any management book we have read, pertaning to our stream of choice. Fortunately I had read an intersting book, and I could talk on that.. Some guys had chosen Info Mgt. and they'd read Marketing books, others vice-versa , so they were asking them why is it that you guys are not "researching" on the field of ur interest - They felt they were confused, and asked for a justification..
Then there was a discussion on Nano.. Later they asked us what we would do if we were given a chance to express one concern that we have about Nano to Ratan Tata.. Went decently..

Few more things here and there - and they asked us if we had any questions for them.. One guy asked about exchange programmes, and gave a few suggestions.. Another guy asked about the selection process.. I told them that I hve no question, but that I would like to appreciate the DOCC programme initiative taken at SPJIMR. One of the profs was like, now that you have said this, let me take 10 more minutes, and we started discussing the social projects undertaken by us, and how relevant it is.. They asked each one of us if we would take up a job at an NGO.. They asked each one of us , if writing a pay cheque and donating is considered a social service.. They also asked each of us where else we ha ve applied, one of the guys was asked what he would choose if given a choice between NItte and SPJIMR .. The second interview according to me went on for at least 50 minutes, and was a really good experience. They expected crisp and up to the point answers..

After this we wrote the 55 minute test... One suggestion to everyone - Write this test fast, and write down whatever comes to your mind - Cos you may run out of time if u think too much

On the whole a very nice experience... Looking forward to make it - I am too fond of the Vada Paavs ....