IIM Indore - The interview

I reached the interview center a good 5 minutes after the expected reporting time of 1:15 P.M following an amazing race against time. It wasn't a race actually.Bangalore's traffic never allows you that luxury. I was happy, though, that the selection process started only after I reached and that no one was waiting . After the initial round of roll calls we were ushered into a room (incidentally the same room that I was interviewed in for IIM Shillong) where we were told that the selection process would entail a written ability test and a personal interview. In the WAT we had to summarize a given piece of literature within a given word limit followed by having to write an argument based essay.I was satisfied with the way I summarized the passage but thought I could have done better with the essay. We were allowed a total of 40 minutes to complete the WAT.

We were then asked to wait outside and told that we would be called in in random order. Barely had I gone out and settled down that I was called in to the room again .I was the first in the lot to be interviewed.I walked in confidently, beamed a smile at them and wished them a 'Good Morning' for which a I heard a 'Good Afternoon' from the interviewers. 'Good Afternoon' I corrected myself. I handed them over my documents and they asked me to take a seat. Just as I was about to do so I was asked if I am okay taking the interview right away as I hadn't got much time to settle down after the WAT.I said I was fine and off we were !

Written below in conversational style is an account of what transpired in the next 15-20 minutes.I shall refer to the interviewers as I1,I2,I3 and myself as Kunal

I2: Kunal, tell us about yourself
[As I had practiced it before I introduced myself and started narrating my achievements in reverse chronological order, till the point I was interrupted]

I1: All this we know from your SOP. Tell us something we don't know about.
[I sensed an opportunity here]
Kunal: I would like to mention that I want to pursue management so that I can start a business of my own in the education sector. Besides,I am also considering pursuing research in economics as an alternate career path. As a hobby I like playing pocket billiards and like writing my blog
[Not that I hadn't mentioned the above in my written SOP, yet I thought it would be better to accentuate upon the same]

I1: What does a blog help you achieve?
Kunal:It is like a personal website.I helps you to stay connected and express you opinion.

I1: Can you write to someone else's blog?
Kunal: A blog consists of many posts and readers can comment on the same . For example to my latest post on hindi movie "Saat khoon maaf" (a deliberate advertisement attempt) readers can post their remark after reading it.

I1: Can you give an example of how a blog has been used appropriately to convey a message in the past?
[I had started thinking of the example while he was finishing the question]
Kunal:Amitabh Bachchan when verbally attacked by the Shiv Sena with the allegation that he was not grateful enough to the city of Mumbai used his blog to explain how could he possibly disrespect Mumbai since the city had given him his identity.

I3: How many people do you think would have read his blog?
Kunal: He is a superstar . He would be having a large fan base reading his Blog

I3: But do you think that the readership would compare favorably to that if he were to express the same opinion in the newspaper?
Kunal: The newspaper readership would ideally be greater . For your Blog to be read you have to advertise it sufficiently.
[Not entirely sure what the purpose of that question was, though]

I2: Kunal , you mentioned pursuing economics major as an alternate career. How were you introduced to the subject?
Kunal: We had Principles of Management and Basic economics in semester 7. I took a liking to economics.
[One of the interviewers looked at my S7 grade sheet and checked my score in economics.]

I2: So what did you learn there?
Kunal:We were introduced to the basic theorems on supply and demand and how to determine the equilibrium price of a product.I also learnt the laws of diminishing returns and the topics like the functionalities of a central bank

I1: Central Bank. OK,what are the different types of banks that you know of?
Kunal: There are retail ,commercial and investment bank like Goldman Sachs ....
[was interrupted]

I1:Do you know what a chartered bank is?
Kunal: No I wouldn't be aware

I2: So how do banks control money supply ?
[Paused to think]
Kunal: Lets imagine that The government wants to build a flyover in Bangalore. It needs money which it can obtain through its own revenue which it collected by taxing people's income, through the issue of bonds or by borrowing money from a bank. Lets say it does borrow money from the bank. The bank in turn would lend this money from its deposits from common people . After the flyover is built, the government would then tax the people till the point the expenditure of the project is met

I1: Can you and I open an account with a central bank? What's the term associated with the overall money supply in the country?
Kunal: Common people cannot have an account with the reserve bank.Not sure of the actual term but the reserve bank does control money supply through the control of interest rates

I3:How?
[Answered this and related question particularly w.r.t inflation and how a rise in the interest rate would control the money supply and there by control inflation]

I1: Kunal, do you think other banks would have an account with the reserve bank?
Kunal: The reserve bank is the lender of last resort. In case the banks are in a crisis they would seek money from the reserve bank. hence they would need an account

I3: What other reasons can you think of?
Kunal: Banks are meant to keep a certain percentage of money with the reserve bank determined by the Cash reserve ratio. For this too they would need an account

I3:Cash reserve ratio and what else?
Kunal : There is the SLR which is the section of asset which banks need to maintain as liquid assets.
[There were a few questions on this especially when I mentioned that Gold could be treated as a liquid asset as it would have a particular value in the market.Not all my answers were outright convincing,though]

I3:Kunal, i see that you worked on a project on consuming settlement information from clearing agents. What are clearing agents and what was the project about?
[I explained them what clearing agents are and provided an overview of what my work on this project encompassed]

I3: Clearing agents settle cash correct? Who settles the stock?
Kunal:My understanding is that a clearing agent settles both cash and stock?

I3: Sure?
Kunal:M mm. That's my understanding.

I3:Could you explain this a little more. With a example?
[I explained them with a trader buying 100 IBM shares and it settling after T+2 in the American settling cycle concept ]

I3: What then is the difference between a custodian and a clearing agent?
[Explained them per my understanding]

I3: In the Indian context, who is the clearing agent?
Kunal: I think SEBI is the Clearing agent

I3: Isn't SEBI the custodian? What does SEBI stand for?
Kunal: Stock exchange board of India. I am not sure if it is the custodian.But I think SEBI is responsible for all settlements

I1: Kunal what's D.S.P? What is this Project you did in I.I.T Madras?
[Apologized for not expanding the acronym in the resume. Explained them the utility of the same]

I2:Kunal how does a radar work?
Kunal: There are radiations emitted from the target which are captured by the say the main aircraft. The speed of the waves and the time taken helps calculate the distance of the target.

I2: But this is in 2D. How do you calculate the height?
[Wow! didn't see that coming]
Kunal: Antennae also register the angle at which signals are received. This helps them calculate the altitude

I1: OK Kunal thank you

I2: That's it . Thank you

[I smiled at them. Just before I was about to tell them a "Thank you" I was asked ]

I1: Any question for us?
[Paused for a little while]
Kunal: Yes. I read in your website that IIM Indore specializes in a field Social business and related matters. Could you tell me a little more?

I1: [Laughed] Every IIM has got something special about it, so does IIM Ind0re. Anything else?
And a few people have asked me about this. Were you specifically told to ask this question?Did you join any coaching institute ?

Kunal: No, i was told by no one about this question.I read it in the website.I did not take any coaching for interview but for my CAT preparation I had joined TIME

I1,I2,I3: OK Kunal. Thank you

Kunal: Thank you very much