ISB interview

Back to blog after long, was getting some rest, focusing on work, joining tennis n Spanish classes. And some prep and lots of stress over ISB interview. 

I got the invite when I was least expecting, which was pleasant. 

My prep for interview-

- spoke with current students n alum I know
- read thru forums on common questions
- spoke wit my frend who got thru r1

Output- know yourself and be yourself

They begin with writing on a topic. For our group it was 'back to the future'. I have a feeling they saw it yesterday on prime tv, I saw it playing :p
I compared the movie with the indian copy - action replay. A few quick sentences and took a stand on what I liked and concluded with how I feel for 'inspired' hindi movies. One the panelists took a glance at it but not much.

Questions-

I was extremely nervous, our interviews started late. That made me more and more nervous.

- they begin with ice breaker. They thot i was from bglr. Evyone in my group was from bangalore 

Since i was local a different conversation beginner and ice breaker -
tell us about itself 

- Interrupted and asked about my work. I moved on to my work and explained. I got visibly nervous at this point

- another ice breaker which did eventually calmed me. they picked on one of my interest and spoke about it for a while ( this wasn't easy either, they had questions to challenge my belief)

- if you were to setup this dept for a new company how would you begin ( lots of interruption, they dint say they were convinced but I stuck to what I was saying and then offered to explain with one of my past experiences)

- more questions on above answer and around my work

- do you also deliver training programs, which ones. Told them and no questions here.

- you've mentioned you liked 'good to great' book tell us what did you like, more questions on isn't it understood what's so special about it. I explained and kinda interrupted, later apologized for interruption and continued with my answer 

- more on something I had done at work, how do you do this. After this lots of questioning. 

- Tell us whats the flaw in this model, I said it doesn't give tangible results. More on measurement techniques. Gave example of how we had measured and that it was incomplete. Later the panel member agreed with me.

They slowed down at this point, turned thru page of my apps to see what to ask next. They were probably either going to reject and were giving me more chances

- you're a reapp, did you seek feedback. I had not, so mentioned I didn't, but knew what was wrong and told them about it a bit when they interrupted and  moved to next questions

- something from my field, and then one of the guys was against it. I tried explaining but he cut me and suggested something I should look up online... I said I will but dint go back on what I had said

- why MBA, they challenged and said you've done smthing at iima then why MBA. I explained more on it and lot more on it. I gave example of the difference it will make to some work I had done. (proud of myself to think of the example on the fly, wasn't prepared for this)
 
- any questions for us, I said no I don't 

Again a lot of thinking and then

- what if you don't get thru, I said I have a plan b and c. To this they finally smiled and said most of the people don't even have a plan b and you have b and c. Told them plan b was other schools, they asked. I was honest on insead reject and mentioned ores I've applied to. They asked but the results are out, to which I was again honest and said I did for r2 and am waiting for interview calls. Mentioned I plan to apply for HEC with deadline in next week. (not sure if this is the right thing to do)
The other guy asked what's plan c, to which I mentioned I hope to get the role I'm seeking, in next 2-3 years if I don't do MBA and some courses I wish to take to upskill.

My tips for interview-

- know what you want, personally and professionally
- know your work and prepared to share examples
- don't stress, they are supposed to be straight faced 
- stay firm to your beliefs
- don't ask a question just for the heck of it, it won't go against you if you don't 
- have a plan b, you're big enough to have contingency plans in place
- relax
- practice some responses for typical questions, doesn't have to be mock. I would talk to myself in the morning out loud on what I would say. This helped me cut down the negative statements I could've made. 
- keep away from strong statements, at the same time stick to your beliefs
- don't analyze your interview later
- you'll never be able to tell them all you wanted to but remember they get what they need to take decision even when you're nervous or fumbling

Hope this is helpful to some people out there! 


After interview, I met some of my frends from current batch to catch up and talk about their aspirations placements etc... It made me think less about interview which is good


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