Tuesday, May 15, 2007

MDI (PGP-HR) GT/PI experience

This one probably has a silver lining to it :D . Had got some good time to prepare for this - and believe me, koi kasar nahin chhodi :D

Batch: 2 pm to 5:30 pm (12th March)
Place: IIM Bangalore
Ratio: 5 boys - 4 gals - 1 missing :D

This was a decent procedure, with me making it on time, finding some friends applying to the PGP and PGPIM programs - some PGites whom I knew too - some in blazers etc. I was told that my red tie would surely be questioned on :D . Soon there was a big crowd, and I was unable to make it out which are for which programme. When the faculty arrived, the people for PGP and PGPIM were taken to the floor above, and the PGP-HR batch remained down.

What I noticed with the interactions I made with them. People had simply marked PGP-HR course for no reason - some by mistake. They actually wanted PGP... some had multiple calls - one gal, who i must say was good had C,L,I calls... (and now she has a C convert too :) )

GT: A task where they gave us a lot to read at first - which didnt make any sense... panelists were 2 ladies... one elderly, and the other young, good looking, but strict too ;) . We were given articles like rubber band, pen refill, stapler pins, thread, a cd etc - and told to first decide how many articles we can make, and then make them of course - in the first 10 and 20 min respectively. I guess the full group was bamboozled initially, as all were individually writing down bout da articles to be made - but then at some stage, we were told that 'we' had to come up with a number to be made. I immediately put across that its a group task and has be pursued togetha - from then it took some shape - there were some good contributions - esp from the person next to me - named Vinod (he finally didnt make it though :( ) - he was da most active fellow I guess... We estimated 7 articles - created 8 - out of which 5 were accepted by the panel..

Conclusion: I guess the main part was the group perspective. I heard later of other groups who purused the task individually as they were neva told its a group task. Thankfully we chose to use our communication skills ;) ;).

Rating: 8/10 - decent contribution from my side.

The break after the GD's was better as we were served some refreshments, and we interacted with each other. Some decent profiled people - some freshers, and some work-ex guys/gals - as expected.

Interview: - Panel same - 2 ladies - one elderly, smiling kind - E
second young, strict, non-smiling kind - Y

Both of them looked very knowledgeable, especially the elderly lady... and well, also looked liked they would finish us off... :D - but an interview with such high profiled people is always interesting - and i heard that in the morning they had taken the PGP interviews - so well - the panels were interchanging between the programmes too :)

I was the seventh as per the order in the GD. They started in the same order. All da people were comin out one after the other being stressed out on why HR, individual profile questions, general questions (not GK) - mostly related to da form filled... so i guessed tat the form had to be filled with care - i had tot that the interview was goin to be a good one today ;) as I had coloured my form pretty well :D ... due to which the others were like ' You are seriously goin to have it in the interview ! ' - somethin else was in store for me though :(

They changed the order at the fifth person, started callin randomly, then finished off the 3 gals remaining, and i was kept LAST :(... - at around 6:40 pm... no one was left there - only me...

Moi goes inside -- Moi - M

E: Hello Ashish, sorry to have kept u waiting for so longg... blah blah.. :D :D
Y - (also joining in) - yeah yeah - smiling (was surprised at that - was nice to see her smile :D)
M (wishin): Its ok ma'am etc etc... :D
E: -- (explains that recruitment is a long procedure and takes some time)...
M: I understand ma'am.
E: Ok - so I see here that you have graduated from Goa, schooling Goa etc - why Goa?
Y: Maybe he is from Goa.
M: Yes (koi gunaah kiya kya ? ;) )
E: Oh Goa !! Wow - we have a Goan among us !!
Y: Yes its very interesting to be interviewing a Goan
M: :D :D - also joining in - (guess they are getting ready to slaughter me - so are they gonna ask me on Goa? :| )
E: So I can see some nice grades in Xth and XIIth, but it dropped in grad - y so?
M: Blah blah - good percentile though...
E: So Goa University doesnt give high percentages?
M: Blah blah - only to comp sci it gives low, to Electronics its favourable :mg:

(During this while, Y takes my files and goes thru - was pleased at that ... wanted her to see them :D )

E: (turning the form) - So well, u have been workin in Oracle and have a nice profile as a consultant, good pay etc... good good - well then why this program now?
Y - joining in : yes, u have applied to IM program etc etc...
M - cuts short - No Ma'am - only PGP-HR
M - Starts the Why HR answer - and suddenly goes blank :( - (uh oh - gadbad)
E: Thats all... and starts her gyaan
M: cuts short - gives my gyaan
E: gyaan - 'Look Ashish, we are here to help u... we dont want u to make a wrong decision etc etc... ;) ' -- (wow - really?? :D )
M: gyaan

:D :D :D :D

(This was followed by a huge convincing battle from both sides on Why HR... nothin much to gain in it etc etc etc ... both sides givin gyaan - both sides adamant :mg: :mg: )

- Very tough to tell who ended up convincing whom... :D :D - but they were hell bent on throwing me out of the room tryin to say 'Its a wrong decision on your part'... though I defended real well - looks like they didnt want to ask anything else - and I didnt want to lose out on the argument :D ;)

Y: Which other calls?
M: SIBM (converted but left) and TISS
E: - (Stern look) - If you get both MDI and TISS, which one would you go for?
M (coolly) - Ma'am - if you ask me at this point , it would be TISS ... coz...blah blah ( was honest here :D - had decided to be...in short told the truth first - which they were expecting, and then praised MDI on all the significant points)
E: Ok thank you Ashish
Y: Thank you (smiling)
M (Wat the F$$$... !!! ) - Thank you ma'am (almost said - thats it?? )
E: Yes thank you.

(Before leaving) M: Ma'am do you want the attested CAT score card/work ex proof
Y & E: No we have checked it
M: (when did they do so? )
M: Thanks Ma'am (wishes and exits)

Thats it - ten min interview - maximum time only ONE question - didnt know what to say - almost all others had around 20 to 25 min interviews with a lot of questions asked... moi had nothin like that...

Rating: 7.5 to 8 /10 - only on my performance in the interview.

Bachaale bhagwaan... :) :) - was my first emotion on coming out. Went off to meet a friend at IIMB from there, and had dinner there itself. The experience was interesting - but too short. I had absolutely no idea that later I was going to be a part of this great B-school :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG!! when i was blog-hopping and I came across this blog, I din't know it was urs...I mean, I din't know that this Ashish is the one I know.... so the comment on ur previous post...so formal na!! Then when I read about u being a Goan, and in Oracle, the bulb lit!! hehe!!
U write well, man!! keep writing!! and yeah, do gimme some advice too!

Anonymous said...

cool literary skill dude.............hey even i have got an mdi-hr call.......gt/pi is on 7th april 2009............i read in ur blog tht u had prepared realy well........cud u pls gimme a few tips......i'll be gr8ful..

my id-1608garima@gail.com
pls reply