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The Subtle Art Of Not Giving Up In Order To Convert MBA Interviews -By Nitesh Singh From IIFT Kolkata

It is rightly said that if you didn’t fight till your last breath, you probably never wanted to win that battle in the first place. I very strongly believe in this saying, as I have personally witnessed the positive ramifications of acting along the lines of this maxim, that too in the B-School interview season of 2020.

I’m not one of those students with a remarkable CAT percentile. I’m just your regular engineering-turned-MBA-aspirant with a borderline percentile, who managed to secure an admission at IIFT Kolkata. However, with my own set of struggles in my MBA journey, I aim to inspire all those candidates out there who are quite skeptical of their conversion in the case of a touch-and-go scenario.

Before we go any further, here is a sneak preview of my educational background:

Category: GEM
X score: 94.67 %
XII score: 94.80 %
Graduation: 90.6 % (B.Tech in Mechanical engineering, State govt. college)
Work experience: 2 months (as per the IIFT form)

The Day Of The CAT exam

There are not many dates I remember, just those which hold significance in my journey. One of these dates is 24 November 2019, the day of my CAT exam. On this D-Day, I was quite anxious about my performance and wondered if I would be able to convert MBA interviews in the future. Like the innumerable aspirants out there who were a part of this judgement day with me, I kept thinking if the results would turn out like my fantastic mock scores, or if they would go haywire.

As if apprehended by my premonition sensor, the C-exam on D-day did not go as I had expected. I still remember, soon after returning from the examination center, I was gazing at my hand-crafted collage of the top B-Schools of the country, with eyes devoid of any hope! I knew that all my toil had gone in vain and I will not be able to convert MBA interviews for any of the prestigious schools across the country. I was absolutely gutted with my performance.

A Silver Lining Amidst Rejections

Fast forward to January 4, 2020, the CAT- result day. I had scored a mere 94.38 percentile - a little extra from what the different predictors had predicted, but certainly, it was not the percentile I had predicted! I knew it was a decent percentile, but unfortunately not decent enough to fetch me calls from IIMs and other prestigious B-Schools across the country.

Just when I had lost all hope in my ability to convert MBA interviews with my percentile, a silver lining appeared amidst those feelings of disappointment. In the second week of January this year, the news about the CAP call percentile dropping down to the 94 percentile came knocking on my door. I knew that it was difficult, but at the same time, I was thankful to have been given the opportunity to triumph in a lost battle.

Cracking Interviews With Confidence

Believe me when I say this there is no other experience in this world like an IIM interview! It is one of the most random and hard-to-crack interviews after the UPSC interviews. Moreover, since these interviews are conducted by one of the premier management schools in India, the pressure around it increases.

When it came to my IIM CAP interview experience, most of them ran for roughly 20 minutes. There were two panelists consisting of a male in his 50s (let’s say M1) and another male in his 30s (let’s say M2). As I entered the room, I wished both the panelists, walked up to the interviewee's chair and waited for the interviewers to ask me to sit down.

Both panelists- Good morning Nitesh, please have a seat.

Me- Thank you.

M1- Tell us something about yourself.

Me- I am from Lucknow and have pursued my B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering. Along with some research papers on aeronautical and artificial engineering, I have also authored three books.

M1- Oh so you are an author, what books have you written?

Me- I explained the genre of the three books, along with their availability and sales.

M1- Do you have an interest in history?

Me- Sir I am not in touch with history for quite a while now, but I do have an interest in national politics post-independence.

M1- That means you have an interest in modern history, right?

Me- Yes sir, but modern history is confined to national politics.

M1- Okay. When was our constitution formed?

Me- In 1950 sir. Also, it has the best features from the different constitutions of the world, like the Irish, French, and more.

M1- What have we adopted from the Irish and French constitutions?

Me- Sorry sir, I am not able to recall it.

M1- From British?

Me- The IPCs and criminal laws.

M1- How are these laws changed?

Me- Sir they are amended from time to time. These laws keep in mind the national societal needs of both houses of Parliament and then get the final assent from the president.

M1- Is there any bill that can't be presented in Rajya Sabha?

Me- Yes sir!

M1- What bill is it?

Me- Sir I do not have an idea about it.

M1- Is it the finance bill?

Me- Sir I think it is called the money bill, as per the terminology in civics.

M1- Who is the speaker of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha?

Me- Vice president Mr. Venkaiah Naidu is the speaker of Lok Sabha. And Mr. Birla is the speaker of Lok Sabha, he fought Lok Sabha elections from Kota, Rajasthan.

M1- Okay. Can you tell me who elects the president?

Me- Sir the prime minister along with his council of ministers nominates the president. (I know I answered it wrong!)

M1- Hmm. What is the difference between elected and nominated? I thought the President was elected!

Me- Sir to the best of my knowledge the president is nominated. And in case there are multiple nominations as during the years of Mrs. Pratibha Patil, then the president is elected.

M1- Okay. You are from Lucknow, right? What are the good places to visit?

Me- Yes sir, I am from Lucknow. (I told them about the famous places)

M1- Have you been to The Residency? Did you see those bullet marks? What is its historical importance?

Me- Yes sir, I have been to The Residency. it has been almost 3 years since my last visit. I have seen those bullet marks. It is the place from where the Britishers re-strengthened their footholds during the sepoy mutiny of 1857.

M1- You're a mechanical engineer with good grades. Why MBA?

Me- Sir an MBA degree provides a person with better opportunities. (I continued my answer with the generic reasons behind pursuing an MBA degree)

M1- You were born and brought up in Lucknow, and are doing a job there too. Is there something special in Lucknow?

Me- Sir last year I was quite hopeful of getting into a good B-School, but I was waitlisted. Hence I missed out on the on-campus mechanical placements there since I had my interviews during those placement sessions. Ultimately I applied for off-campus placements and took the best job which was available to me.

M2- Define Quality.

Me- Sir quality is a loss that happens to a society when a product is sold to a customer.

M2- Can you please elaborate? I did not get this definition.

Me- (In order to explain the definition I used a bottle in front of me)

M2- Okay. What is six sigma?

Me- Sir it is a way to improve the quality standards. Also, it is a certification program now.

M2- What does it mean?

Me- It means zero-defect. It basically focuses on reducing defects/waste and improving the efficiency of a production system.

M2- What is this sigma? Why not alpha, beta gamma?

Me- Sir it is a Greek alphabet, and here it signifies the standard deviation. Can I draw and explain it, sir?

M2- Sure!

Me- (I drew it and explained)

M2- What is acceptance sampling?

Me- Sir I do not have a clear idea about it. Although I know about random sampling and some other types of sampling.

M2- Go ahead

Me- Sir there are two types of sampling; probabilistic and non-probabilistic. Then there is sampling like stratified, opportunistic, volunteers, etc.

M2- What is stratified sampling?

Me- Sir strata mean layer. Can I explain by using an example?

M2- Yes.

Me - Sir suppose we want to perform an experiment/sampling on individuals of an income bracket amongst a pool of different income individuals. So we use stratified sampling in such a case.

M2- Okay.

Both panelists- I think we are done now.

Me- Thank you, sirs!

Verdict- First list converts for IIM Udaipur, Ranchi, Trichy, Raipur, Kashipur, Sirmaur, Bodhgaya. Initially waitlisted, then converted IIM Jammu and Sambalpur.

Other than my family and close friends, no one ever thought that I could convert MBA interviews at prestigious B-Schools with such a low/borderline percentile. But not only did I convert MBA interviews at several IIMs, I also converted my interview at IIFT, where I am currently studying!

The essential ingredient to convert MBA interviews is self-belief and confidence. Fight your disappointments and never give up. After all, if you have got an interview call from a B-School, always remember that you have all the realistic chances of converting it!