Candidate from Kenya (ISB Interview happened over Skype video)
The interview went well - and perhaps in hindsight it could have gone better.
There were three people on the panel, one person from the adcom, and two students

The questions as follows

• I was given 30 second preparation, to speak for one minute on a word of their choice - the word given to me was ' SAFARI'
• They wanted to know what my plans post ISB were, and seemed to probe on the fact that i am at a senior position, and perhaps the placement program at ISB wouldn't be able to help me find a suitable position after the course. They also mentioned the fact that the average experience in the class will be about 3 - 4 years - so i'd be one of the oldies.
• They then asked me if i had heard about the merger talks between Bharti and MTN - i hadn't, so this was the bad part of the interview.
• They probed on the Essay - about over coming a challenge - and wanted to know what i did exactly to meet those challenges and over come them
• They were quite keen on the extra curricular activities - thanks for the tip on this, i was ready for this question

The interview lasted 20 minutes - it was quite free flowing and i think i was quite calm and relaxed.

ISB Interview Experiences - 3

• Interview started with an extempore on word Complex. She said you must have read on Blogs about the extempore -- I m quite active in Blogging, I have.

To start with, I think complex is good word. Complex brings to my mind challenge n challenge brings thrill , thrill to achieve goals and thrill to enjoy the journey something I have done for the application process n ISB
Complex brings to my mind complex issues in India, a diverse nation, integration of rural n urban economy with infrastructure, intellectually... India is more diverse than Europe..complexity of running it with common vision....
On lighter note, if this is the word with which we start our discussion I wonder how next 30 minutes will be, I guess not so complex ::: Giggles–Ok.

• What is your team size ?

14 onsite, 6 people out of them whom I lead, 30 Offshore - Explained the structure.

• You are rated very high on your team skills by your recommender. So, let us talk about your team skills..What is team, what are the issues you face, and how you resolve them, what do you do ?

Team Skill is complementing each other, common vision and common goals, supportive........ All Individuals are not equally competent but collectively team can be far more than individual brilliance
Then you asked about the Challenges -
I will take example in current team
Process based challenges : Multi- Outsourcing, High Business Expectation
People based [ Yes ...} : Competency, Motivation
Now coming to how I handle these challenges -
Use Interpersonal skills to know people are cognitive and creative level
Excellent Relations, people often outperform in supportive environment.
Stand up for the team and fight when required , provide opportunity to grow -- Good

• You come across as someone who likes to work in a team and who makes lot of relations with people. So tell me, in this large team who is your best buddy ? -- Tricky One

 Ma'am there is no single person as my best buddy.Team is very nice and I generally connect well with all. Ofcourse, there are people with whom I share more common Off-office interests and there are people with whom I share other interests. When it comes to work or team activity, we are all together. So, there is no special buddy... all are equally good. -- Hmmm..I See !!

• How is Minneapolis like ?

Wonderful, Awesome, I wanted to come in a place where it snows and fortunately today I saw first snow of my life, I thought it is wonderful omen for this interview -- Giggles

• What is Minneapolis known for ?

Lakes. more than 10,000 in Minnesota and Minneapolis is the capital of Minnesota.

• What is a XYZ and Albatross in Golf ?

Ans. I do not know much about rules in Golf.

• But, You wrote you played golf with your clients ?

I went there to cheer the client in their tournament... To me golf is something with which you hold a stick to hit a ball in a hole. When my business user did so, I clapped - Giggles

• You have written about organizing the team parties and weekend tours. How do you organize those, how do you select the venues and why do you do those !!

Ans. First coming to venues ma'am : It is with everyone’s opinion. I organize what they like.. it's all with everyone's agreement......Sometimes All want to be like bachelors and we go to disc and pubs etc. With Spouses and Kids, we have to organize in parks, Sometimes we go from office to lunch or dinner. To a large extent, venues depends on funds by senior leadership and contributions all wanna make.

The you asked Why I do this to : I think it improve team ethics and bonding.
When abroad, people feel cut off from social circle. So team becomes the social circle.

• What is latest on Mckinsey Quarterly ?

I read about India's Growing Middle class as consumers - Threw a lot of data here 431 Millon lifted from poverty since reforms, Middle class grow to 583 Million by 2025 from 318 Million today etc..Then explained the impact on business, lot of new industires and initiative like GramIT by Satyam, e-Choupal by ITC etc.. lot of opportunities and said, India is going to be an exciting place and that is why I want to be in India.... Was an anticipated Question.

• You have written that you averted the crisis in PeopleSoft upgrade bid when two resources resigned. What was it all about ?

Ma'am People Soft Upgrade n Resignations were two separate things. I understand these two lines come consecutive.....
The resource crisis was that the resignations were without any notice and hence, I was shipped here on expedited note. There were projects going on in middle and I was given shipped by PeopleSoft Center of Excellence on an expedited note.
Peoplesoft Upgrade I contributed due to my expertise, presentation and network. I have done that in past also.

• I see, The UGC one you have written. Can you explain more ?
  

Explained the project in Short. Said that I was involved since, recently I had done well in my assignment n COE noticed me
Also, It is second e-Governance project and I was involved in first one MCA21. So, I had the expertise on the government vertical and customization required in Peoplesoft for Government domain. I utilized those skills in this presentation.

• You have also mentioned about your negotiation skills. Tell me one example the stand out in your memory, something condition where you used to gain something ?

I explained a GL consolidation initiative that I took as a part of Siemens Shared Services for which I had to negotiate and convince lot of clients in different companies...Explained how it helped both the client and TCS to make a good early impression at a new client.

• So, what are your post MBA goals ?

Ma'am I am basically an analytical person and I have got good team skills. I have enjoyed relocation frequently and working with clients. With this background and my interest to make impact on holistic level to my clients, Management Consulting is a natural choice. I think it would be a great professional learning exp. I will analyze and resolve complex business problems. I will gain network and a portable skills set that will help me become an Independent Consultant in long run.

• You seem to have lot of empathy for poor and for education. It seems you father was a school teacher --- He still is ma'am --- Ok.... So I am going to give you a case question. I am interested in your logic and you have to explain your assumptions. I do not worry much about the numbers. I want to see how you do.
• Calculate the total number of additional schools that would be required to educate all the children in India ?

This went on for long time.

1. Assume poor do not have access today 50% of 1.1 Billion - 550 Million.
2. We are talking of children 0-15 (30% - India is young nation) - So total 180 Million Children
3. Got stuck here n said we are talking of additional schools and since govt is spending a lot with Sarb Shikha Abhiyan, I would say 75% have access to school...They may not be coming to schools but the facilities are there -- she was not quite convinced ..... Finally she said you have missed Rural Urban Divide -- I said, That is an exellent point, That will help, thanks a lot
4. I said I will consider 2/3 of 180 Million in Rural and 1/3 in Urban because 70% rural population. ..Then I said I assume 75% in Urban have access to education and 25% in Rural Have .. Are these fair assumptions...she said Yes
5. I calculated that we are talking of 105 million Children, for all classes
6. Assuming uniform distribution, there are 10 Million Students to be educated for each class. --- Should I proceed... Yes ---- Considering 50 Students in each class and we need 2 Lakh new schools!!

So, to be able to have facilities to put all children in school we need 2 lakh more schools ---- Good

• Do have any questions for me?

Yes. I have couple of things to talk about
1. How does Research orientation of the school help Students
2. How does Alumni continue to benefit from school n avenues to contribute back --- That is very interesting to know..

Thank you for the insightful details. I have throughly enjoyed the whole discussion. That is all from my end

Have a pleasent day ahead !!!!

ISB Interview Experiences - 2

The word on which I was to write was "media activism". I was not sure what activism meant and ended up writing that media had to play important role in everything including politics. The essay might only be fairly related to the topic.

• First Interviewer - What do u do at nvidia ?

- Work on motherboard chipsets, most complex in terms of number of logic gates used.
- Automate processes and evaluate methodologies
- Working on critical bridge unit.
- did not mention about top contributor

• First Interviewer - I like your profile. But i can't understand why you are in a hurry to do an MBA... ?

To start my venture, need business skills like finance, marketing ...

• First Interviewer - no no, my question is about why now ?

I was coming to that... my current job does not give me exposure to business management. It only teaches me technical stuff.
For the next 4-5 years i would not become a lead...
I have also understood the functioning of my company, our competitors, business strategy etc.

• Second Interviewer - What will your career be without an mba ?

Technical jobs for 3-4 years... Then leading small teams and then larger teams - 7-10years. Will enter project management after that - ~15 years.

• First Interviewer - What are your short term goals ?

To work as a consultant in a high tech company. - they made a note of this.

• First Interviewer - Some other question about me being younger

- As people are most active in the 30s I want to start my venture and work on it during that time...
- One year as a consultant will enable me learn more than one year as an engineer.

• Second Interviewer - you have listed your career for 15 years. now, what would you do if you don't get into an mba???

Apply next year

• First Interviewer - On a scale of 10, how do you rate your analytical ability ?

8-9

• First Interviewer - means very high. Answer this... how much sea water is present on the earth???

- Radius = 6k km
- 70% of surface area is sea water
- Avg depth 5 km...
- Surface area is 2*pi*r^2
-Multiply by depth.

• First Interviewer - ok... u will get it anyway...
• Second Interviewer - What do u do other than work ?

-I recently learnt pranic healing

• First Interviewer - is it like reiki

-yes... it is based on energy body and physical body etc...

• Second Interviewer - what do you do for fun ?

- novels, table tennis, computer games...

• First Interviewer - tell me more about this pranic healing thing

- some more sutff..

• First Interviewer - what exactly do you do?

- breathing and meditation, and healing chakras etc.
- I also learnt meditation to combat stress... been doing it from last 3 years

• First Interviewer - (in disbelief) did you experience stress in college itself???

- Not really... but I wanted to start learning to handle stress early

• First Interviewer - What makes you stressed >

when work does not happen properly... i take a small break

• First Interviewer - So stagnation makes you stressed?

yes

• First Interviewer - as i said, "man in a hurry"
  

do you have an questions for us...

Overall, although the interviewers liked my profile, I could not convince them that this was the right time for me to do an MBA. One big issue was that after not being able to answer the "why now" question at the beginning, I lost my momentum and realize now that I did not think as much as I should have before answering the questions.

ISB Interview Experiences - 1

I was given an essay on Public Policy Consulting. This was tough as I heard it for the first time

Some how managed 100-120 words on it.

Then a gentleman (ISB alumnus) came out and spoke my name. He introduced himself and then took me into a conference room where the interview panel was sitting. There was 1 more lady (ISB alumnus), a current student and a person from admission office.

• So first question they asked was describe your career till date.

I started with my first job, then how passion for technology brought me to Microsoft , explained roles I have taken at Microsoft, my achievements and innovation experiences etc.

While I was answering one person asked ..

• Your career has been going very well and you have achieved a lot at Microsoft. Why do you want to do MBA. Whatever you want to do you can do it by urself.?

I said I am inspired by people like Narayan murthy and Ratan tata who have taken Indian business to global scale and made India a major contributor to world economy. And I want to be in apposition like them where I can make larger contributions to the economy and society. IF I keep growing in my current role it will be more of a technical progression but I think by taking business role I can be more useful to society and contribute broadly by solving business problems using technology.

• What will you do post MBA ?

I want to work for an organization which can expose me to variety of business roles . I would prefer rotational programs offered in any technology organization.

• How can MBA help you ?

Till now I have been surrounded by engineers only. MBA give will give me a chance to interact with people from different professional and cultural background, understand their view points and also lay the foundation of business concepts required to achieve my goals.

• You are already drawing lot of salary. IT might happen that, with the kind of role you are seeking, you may end up getting lesser salary that what you have now ? How will you cope up?

Right now I am not thinking about money. I want to follow my dreams and gain experiences required to achieve my goals.

• What is difference between Google and Microsoft?

Google is a cool organization. IT gives lot of independence to all its employees. BY independence, I mean people their can do work they are interested in even if it's not related to mainstream business and it promotes innovation a lot but Microsoft is more business driven organization and independence Is less.

• What will you choose Microsoft or Google?

Frankly speaking, My experience with Microsoft has been very good till now as it has given me lot of opportunities to gain variety of experiences. So given a chance, I would prefer to work for Microsoft.

• So you don't want to experience new things?

I felt like I m trapped but din't want to change my base so I said with lighter mood that Microsoft tried and tested.

• What is this mantra of do it ,delegate it, drop it, defer it that is mentioned in your essay?

This is just to keep your mind empty and with little planning put everything on paper. A little planning in your day to day life can help you lot in focusing on work at hand. Then started explaining that doing less that 2 mins jobs now. delegating jobs which need inputs etc...

• Have you ever used this in your work ?

Since I am in a work profile where there is lot of pressure in terms of responsiveness and quality of deliverables So, I have been practicing this mantra over last 1.5 - 2 years and helps me in operating efficiently. Then I gave example of one high profile security issue in Microsoft that I handled successfully and bagged gold star award for execution excellence.

• What is your take on Telangana issue? Microsoft is a poster boy for Hyderabad so you should know that?

Without any political consensus, UPA government shouldn't have taken any decision on telangana. Just because of a fear of person has gone on fast and might doesn't mean that they should take any decision on hurry. States have been divided in past too without any problem because political consensus was taken into account and lot of homework was done before taking any decision. And regarding Hyderabad dispute, Personally I feel that in case telangana is made separate state than Hyderabad should go to Telangana because AP's strength lies in coastal region. There are seaports, World 2nd largest hydrocarbon reserve has been found there and Billion dollar energy projects are going in that region. But Just because of Hyderabad the focus is here in the west. Letting go of Hyd to telengana will give AP a chance to build a new capital and grow faster in its coastal regions.

• Most of application comes from people from IT background .Why should we admit you. What unique can you bring to class of ISB?

I come from an organization which is at the help of technology and I have learnt a lot and have been exposed to lot of latest technologies like Virtualization, cloud, Multi touch and have solved business problems using the technologies. I can contribute to Business and Technology club with my learning and experiences so far . More over my innovation experience can be really helpful for the other students at ISB.

• Just out of curiosity, Have you applied to other B schools In U.S.A or in India?

I want to stay and work in India. And ISB is the best deal I can get here . So I have not applied to any other B. School.

• IF we admit you and say after an year I will be sitting with 3 of your class mates. How will they describe you in one sentence?

A guy who is passionate about technology, cares for other and help others.

• Describe your 2 weaknesses?

I find it hard to say no to people whom i know or care for, So sometimes I end up breaking my schedule or working late.

I manage lot of vendors and they sometimes crib that I indulge myself a lot in their work, do Micro management.

• Daily schedule at ISB is very hectic. One gets only 4 hours of sleep. How will you manage?

I am in work profile where I have been handling hectic schedule for last 2 years. I have handled security cases and critical situations which demands hectic work months. So I am use to It and can handle it.

• Extracurricular activities.?

I am captain of Windows cricket team. And take part in cricket tournaments.

I raise funds for Non Profit organizations in Microsoft giving month by organizing Bidding events in my team , and Gully cricket etc.

Any question for us?

• How is Mohali Campus shaping up.?

Guys from admissions team replied with typical answers and then joked if you are interested in Mohali we can postpone this interview for next year.

I replied with lighter mood. NO please, It's just that I belong to Punjab so was curiosu about the progress otherwise I have got all my answers from my friend