Planning to take admission to the EPGP programme of IIM Kozhikode? Here are the top 7 tips to ace the personal interview. Check the list of important points that candidates must know before appearing for the interview.
EMAT 2025 Phase 1interview round will be conducted tentatively in second week of October 2024. Candidates who will fill in the EMAT application form for IIM Kozhikode’s Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) must check the top 7 tips to ace the interview. Executive PGP programme is offered to working professionals/ managers who have extensive work experience. Candidates will be granted admission on the basis of their score in EMAT 2025 exam and performance in a personal interview. Each component of the EMAT admission process must be treated with the utmost importance. Read this complete article to know the important points for a personal interview.
Top 7 Tips to Ace EMAT 2025 Interview
Have a good understanding of the programme
Before appearing for the interview, it is always best to know about the programme by looking at the institute's prospectus/ official website to know about the curriculum and course objective. Gathering such information will help in showcasing the candidate’s interest in the programme. Knowing about the programme will also help in framing the motivation for enrolling in the chosen programme. Aspirants are also advised to read the latest news, development and research in the field.
Articulate your career goals
Aspirants must clearly and concisely be able to explain what they hope to achieve in their career with the help of the EPGP programme of IIM Kozhikode. Also, candidates must be able to explain the reason for their interest in this path and how they will be successful. While expressing career goals one must show excitement. Non-verbal cues play an important role in demonstrating one’s confidence and interest.
Treat it like a job interview
Treat this admission interview as similar to a job interview be it virtual or face to face. Candidates must wear professional attire and keep a copy of their resume ready in hand (in case of an offline interview) or on a desktop (in case of an online/virtual interview). The interview can be similar to that of a job interview in terms of questions asked such as - ‘Tell me about yourself” this is a great opportunity to display the experience and how is one a good fit for the B-School. These questions seem easy however, candidates must scale the important points and the interviewer must know.
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Know your strengths and weaknesses
Being a working professional, admission to the EPGP programme will demand to thrive in an academic environment. Candidates must ensure to be aware of their weaknesses and know how to overcome them. One must quote the strengths and weaknesses from their years of experience.
Prepare questions for the interviewers
At the end of the interview, aspirants must ensure to put insightful questions to the interviewer. This kind of preparation will demonstrate one’s genuine interest in learning about the institute or programme. If candidates know the name of the interviewer ahead of time, do the research by searching for him/her on the LinkedIn profile and tailor the questions accordingly.
Stay Unique and grounded
Approach the interview as a conversation. Demonstrate your strengths and what makes you unique among other interviewers. Share the story with great enthusiasm while keeping the general tone calm. Come out to be the grounded and thoughtful candidate instead of boasting about the things that never happened. Make the interviewer feel that the B-school is the first choice. Don’t tell the interviewer what you think they want to hear, instead show what you can bring to the B-school. Highlight the work experience that is not common such as knowing multiple languages and social work.
Identify your key selling points and supporting stories
Candidates must include the key selling points to offer to the interviewer. List the key selling points such as soft skills along with the set of examples to illustrate it clearly. Examples should relate to your strengths and how you can contribute to the B-school at the same time. Candidates must keep in mind the curriculum that includes behavioural examples. Don’t sound rehearsed and take control of the interview.
Commonly asked questions
Yes, the aspirants of EPGP need to obtain a valid score in Executive Management Aptitude Test (EMAT) conducted by IIM Kozhikode in the online mode. This is a mandatory exam to qualify for EPGP in order to secure a seat at IIM Kozhikode. The EMAT is conducted to evaluate the basic logical, numerical, and verbal ability of applicants. In order to get shortlisted for the next selection rounds, candidates must get a minimum cut-off weightage as per the following table:
| Category | EMAT Cutoff (Weightage) |
|---|---|
| General | 25% (10 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
| OBC (NC), EWS, Women & SC | 20% (8 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
| ST & PwD | 18% (7 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
To know the detailed information around Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode course admissions for E-MBA/ EPGP course, click here.
IIM Kozhikode accepts the scores of entrance exams like CAT, GMAT, GRE, UGC NET, CSIR NET, and GATE for PhD admission. Apart from this, the institute conducts the IIMB Test for candidates who have not appeared for any of these tests. Candidates can apply for the following specialisations under PhD course at IIM Kozhikode:
Economics
Finance, Accounting & Control
Humanities and Liberal Arts in Management
Information Systems
Marketing Management
Organizational Behaviour & Human Resources
Quantitative Methods & Operations Management
Strategic Management
Yes, the aspirants of EPGP need to obtain a valid score in Executive Management Aptitude Test (EMAT) conducted by IIM Kozhikode in the online mode. This is a mandatory exam to qualify for EPGP in order to secure a seat at IIM Kozhikode. The EMAT is conducted to evaluate the basic logical, numerical, and verbal ability of applicants. In order to get shortlisted for the next selection rounds, candidates must get a minimum cut-off weightage as per the following table:
| Category | EMAT Cutoff (Weightage) |
|---|---|
| General | 25% (10 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
| OBC (NC), EWS, Women & SC | 20% (8 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
| ST & PwD | 18% (7 out of Maximum 40 marks) |
To know the detailed information around Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode course admissions for E-MBA/ EPGP course, click here.
To prepare for Executive Management Aptitude Test (EMAT) conducted by IIM Kozhikode, student must start preparing for the exam 6-8 months before the exam date. It is important for aspirants to focus on basic concepts. Within this period, candidates must know updated syllabus and download previous year papers, focus on topic-wise practice and solving a questions, strengthen speed in solving quantitative and reasoning problems.
Other Important Points for the D-Day
- Arrive for the exam and interview one hour prior to the commencement
- Do not try to trick the interviewer
- Stay happy and positive and demonstrate a good personality
- Avoid usage of jargon during the interview
- Keep the copy of the resume ready
- Treat other interviewees with respect
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Student Forum
Answered a week ago
Total fees of MBA at IIM Kozhikode can be between INR 17.78 lakh - INR 27.4 lakh. This fees includes different fee component like hostel fees, tuition fees, one time payment and other miscellaneous fees. Total tuition fees for MBA at IIM Kozhikode is INR 14 lakh - INR 17.9 lakh. IIM Kozhikode hostel
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 21 hours ago
IIM Kozhikode faculty is skilled and have years of experience in their field. Please find the list below for Marketing Management faculty at IIM Kozhikode:
| Aishwarya Ramasundaram | Anandakuttan B Unnithan |
| Atanu Adhikari | Deepak S Kumar |
| Dharun Kasilingam | Ekta Srivastava |
| G. Sridhar | Geetha M |
| Gladys Stephen | Joffi Thomas |
| Joshy Joseph | Keyoor Purani |
| Nivedita Bhanja | Omkumar Krishnan |
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
IIM Kozhikode cutoff 2026 are not out yet. In 2025, IIM Kozhikode overall category cutoff was 97. IIM Kozhikode CAT cutoff for Quants, VA-RC and, DI-LR were also 97.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
IIM Kozhikode placement saw highest placement in consulting department i.e. of 32%. For finance it was 19.2%, Operations was 4.5%, General Management was 16.4%. Highest CTC was INR 81 LPA. Mean CTC for female was INR 31.04 LPA.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
MBA at IIM Kozhikode is one of the most popular course. Total tuition fees of MBA at IIM Kozhikode is INR 14 lakh - INR 17.9 lakh. IIM Kozhikode hostel fees is INR 90,000 - INR 1.9 lakh. There is one time payment of INR 40,000 - INR 4.7 lakh. Other/miscellaneous fees is around INR 2.48 lakh - INR 2.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Since IIM Kozhikode admission is totally entrance based and there is no direct admission allwed at IIM Kozhikode. The admission preparation starts with preparing for the relevant entrance exam. The first step would be to check the last year cutoff of their respective entrance exam. The next step wou
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Candidates can apply for IIM Kozhikode admission by going to the official government website of their respective entrance exams. The next step is to register on the official website with all the correct details. Candidates must pay the fees and download the application after registration as it will
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
To get admission in Indian institute of Management Kozhikode CAT is mandatory for admission in PGP programme. But on other programmes, such as EPGP the college considers EMAT, GMAT or GRE scores. There is no direct admission available at IIM Kozhikode. Hence, a valid entrance exam score is mandatory
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Contributor-Level 10







Shruti Garg is a graduate in English and Education with over 7 years of experience in content writing/editing and education journalism. At Shiksha.com, Shruti covers UG and PG entrance exams like MBA entrance exams,
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