Biswanath Chakraborty shares his interview experience at IIM Bangalore

Biswanath Chakraborty

The first dream of any MBA aspirant is to make it to any of the IIMs. Like numerous other candidates, Biswanath Chakraborty had appeared for CAT 2015 last year.

An extremely elated Biswanath scored 99.06 percentile in the exam, and this is when he was expecting a call from any of the IIMs. Having secured such outstanding marks, Biswanath soon got a call from IIM Bangalore, among many other top B-schools. The interview was scheduled for March 17, 2016 at Kolkata.

 Here, we bring to you Biswanath’s experience at IIM Bangalore.

Essay

The time given for writing the essay was 30 minutes.

Topic: Who do you think is the most successful leader of 2015?

I wrote about Narendra Modi and the various schemes introduced by him like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Swaccha Bharat Mission’. I also wrote about his foreign visits, which is in turn helping us to get cheap foreign deals and good business relationship with other countries. Along with these, I tried to explain the importance of GST and why Narendra Modi is supporting it. Finally, I concluded with the success of the Modi government, with India becoming the third largest economy and the GDP growth rate highest amongst the BRICS nations.

Personal Interview

The next to follow was the PI. There were 3 members in the panel, one middle aged female Prof. and 2 middle aged male Professors. The PI lasted for around 2 minutes. Biswanath recalls the following: 

M1: So Biswanath, you feel sad sometimes?

Me: Got surprised but could recollect that I wrote that in my Sop. I said, “Yes sir, each and every person goes through their ups and downs”. 

M1: Are you happy here?

Me: Definitely sir I am feeling privileged that I am sitting for the interview of IIM Bangalore.

M1: What is your CAT percentile?

Me: 99.06

M1: Do you think it’s enough to get into IIM B?

Me: Yes sir, why not. I have a good profile across my 10th, 12th, graduation, and I have been consistent throughout my career, so I definitely think I am eligible for the admission.

F1: Why do you want to do MBA right now? Go get some work experience and then come.

Me: No ma’am, it’s like you have a continuity when you are studying but after you enter a job you tend to lose focus. Moreover, IIM B would give me a wider perspective, great pedagogy, great infrastructure and brilliant business networking, that will help me succeed in life as a corporate manager.

F1: So you have 96% in your graduation, that’s amazing! What is your University rank?

Me: Ma’am, I have topped my university for three years.

F1: That is more a reason for you to stay in the technical line, you have learnt so much – go and test your knowledge.

Me: Talked about how my internship at Ericsson India Global Services helped me to garner passion for management and stuff.

M2: So Biswanath, you play table tennis. Who is the best Indian TT player and where is he from?

Me: Sir, it is Achanta Sharat Kamal from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Then we had a discussion about the ongoing doping case about Maria Sharapova, which continued for about 5 minutes. Next, I was asked about Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, and also about where I learnt my guitar.

It ended on that note with F1 telling me nice talking to you, and asked if I had any questions.

Me: Asked them about the normalization followed in the selection process.

Verdict: Converted! 

CAT scores are used for admission to 19 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and various other top B-Schools. Are you eligible for the IIMs? To know more, click on the image beside.