How do Management institutes select the right MBA aspirant?

Having interviewed thousands of students for their campus hires as a recruiter, I believe that there is a substantial difference between the quality of students one meets at different colleges. If I were to do a blindfold Resume Interview, without asking a student his college name 9 out of 10 times I would be able to tell if he comes from a Great college or just with a 15 Min short conversation, and all this without asking his marks or grades, but just by the student's values, resolve and approach to life and problems in general.

So as an HR professional what do we really look at while interviewing talent fresh out of an MBA college?  You would be surprised that while subject matter and knowledge do play an important part in the hiring process, the attitude towards life plays a far more important role. Skills are easier to teach, attitude is hard wired and very difficult to change. This is one of the reasons that a lot of upcoming Business Schools spend a lot of time in the selection process of their students. I have travelled across the country to different B-Schools to teach and as a part of their Student Selection process.

Skills are easier to teach, attitude is hard wired and very difficult to change. This is one of the reasons that a lot of upcoming Business Schools spend a lot of time in the selection process of their students

One of the things that’s very difficult to drive home to students is the importance of the Selection process. The first thing I tell them is the very reason that you get interviewed for an MBA course is that post the entrance exam is the point where the selection process starts, the test was just an elimination process. I won’t talk about the top 10 or for that matter even the top 20 Business Schools. I would talk about the Business Schools whose selection process has impressed me and for that reason, these business schools end up rejecting a lot of students and that finally reflects in their Placement record, because in all honesty, it's only so much that a business school can do in 18 months. It's simple – “Garbage in Garbage out”. The reason IIM’s are where they are is not because of their faculty, (no disrespect here to the faculty they are probably the best in the world) but it is because of the quality of students that they take, they get the cream post the test elimination and spend substantial time on the selection process. I remember my own Interview when I was an MBA aspirant, I walked into the room with Mr. TN Seshan the Ex-Chief Election Commissioner being one of the panellists for the SIBM Selection process in the year 1999 and believe me I was intimidated and had to keep calm and not get overwhelmed by the sheer presence of such an Eminent person!

The new-age schools have understood the importance of the selection process and while the applicant pool may not be as big as the IIM’s and the top 20 Schools they have mastered the art of cherry-picking the candidates who will eventually succeed in life. I will talk about few such colleges today. All of them have different approaches, all different means to the same end.

The new-age schools have understood the importance of the selection process and while the applicant pool may not be as big as the IIM’s and the top 20 Schools they have mastered the art of cherry-picking the candidates who will eventually succeed in life.

Great lakes has a robust PI and WAT (Writing Ability Test) process and I believe they give a lot of weightage to this process, involve recruiters, Alumni and Professors in the process to make sure that they weed out the candidates they feel won't fit in and contribute to the learning of the batch.

Lexicon Management Institute of Leadership and Excellence uses a very interesting selection process which comprises case studies to look at students analytical and social capabilities this is followed by a Rigorous PI where senior corporate panellists are asked to look at the attitude of the students and if they would eventually look at Students as a part of the company if their Skills were in place in the next eighteen months. The idea of getting the end consumer in this case the recruiter to be a part of the selection process goes a long way to align what consumers (Read Recruiters) want. 

LBSIM – LBSIM uses the traditional GD and PI process but are very innovative in how they conduct interviews which could even include Extempore. Their interviews have a lot of depth where they really want to understand what you want to do in life, a lack of clarity could result in your not getting admitted.

So the next time you feel that the selection process is tough, remember it's for your own Benefit

About the Author

Dr Samir Kapoor holds a PhD in Talent Acquisition from the Symbiosis International University and is an alumnus of SIBM Pune. He has held positions like AVP Recruitment Bank of America, Head Resourcing Center Standard Chartered Bank & DGM ICICIOneSource (Now Firstsource) and has been a panellist with the Top 10 Colleges in the Country and has also hired over 200 Management Trainees from Colleges across the country.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha