CAT 2014 topper Neha Manglik shares IIMs and XLRI GD-PI experiences

By Ipsita Sarkar & Sunitha Chandrashekhar

Neha Manglik holds the distinction of topping CAT 2014 exam, scoring a perfect 100 percentile. She also topped XAT 2015 and emerged as the fifth rank holder of CMAT September 2014 exam.

Neha is the first girl since 2009 to top the country’s most important management entrance exam. A chemical engineering student from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Delhi-based Neha Manglik’s aim is to get into a good college and explore her creative side.

As expected, Neha received interview calls from all top B-Schools of the country. We, at Shiksha.com, were curious to know what all happened with her during the interview rounds at these top MBA colleges.

So, here’s Neha Manglik talking about her interview experiences at IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and XLRI in first person narrative.

My journey into the land of MBA interviews

In the coaching classes I had joined for interview practice, they kept telling us to be ourselves during interviews. 'Truth has its own logic', sir often said, and I loved that line. With my love for honesty and difficult truths, it seemed to be a line made for me. I still couldn't embrace it though, because people always seem to have a lot of trouble grasping my kind of logic and my kind of truth and when they do, they think it's fake because that's not how most people think! 

So I gave two mock interviews there and both were terrible! Admittedly, I knew nothing about chemical (my graduation subject) and about my life goals and GK, but still, the interviews were so random that I found myself gasping for breath, waiting for the interview to get over quickly. That was weird, because I generally never have trouble keeping up a conversation and usually find myself running out of time, but never out of topics. How different could this conversation be?

So I decided to give direction to all future interviews. I brushed up important chemical concepts, current affairs and some economic terms, so I’m not clueless in interviews. But more importantly, I made a really artistic and well-organised book of some of my original poems. The aim was that nobody who looked at it should be able to resist the temptation of going through a few poems at least! I also made a folder of my best paintings and decided to carry these to every interview so that the discussion veered towards my hobbies. That was a good idea. 

It didn't work, though. My first interview was IIM Calcutta.

IIM Calcutta

I reminded myself to be confident and formal before I walked in. Bad idea! It made me self-conscious. They saw my poems and told me, 'You are good at this. Why not do it professionally? Why MBA?'

I spent the rest of the interview explaining to them my career goal and how it's related to an MBA, but somehow, I couldn't manage to explain to them that the education industry is in need of innovative ideas and businesses revolving around such ideas. A major reason was that I was too caught up in what I'd said already and how I could have framed it better. I couldn't concentrate on what to say next! They kept interrupting me and the conversation went to my maths scores and my internship experiences and anime and what not! They seemed really impressed with my knowledge of the campus culture in IIM Calcutta. But 'Why MBA' remained unanswered till the end, probably because it's still unanswered in my head. Yes, education sector sounds like a good idea. No, I'm not cent percent sure I'll end up there. I don’t know enough about the world to plan and predict my life in such detail. Nobody does! I got tired of lying!

Is an MBA necessary to succeed in life? No! It’s definitely not reason enough to lie, to myself and to others! I decided I'm not going to pretend to be like someone else! I love myself, with all my quirks, and I think that that is precisely what would make me a good manager! So I decided to forget that these are formal interviews, and take them as friendly everyday conversations. I decided to forget that interviewers are 40-somethings with set ideas in their heads, and take them as curious batchmates. I decided to forget that I have only 20 minutes to explain to them the complex creature that I am, and just enjoy myself in the process. And what followed was pure enjoyment!

XLRI Jamshedpur

Next interview was XLRI. It was the first time that I was giving a GD (Group Discussion) and of all things, the GD topic turned out to be about ‘innovation in the education sector’!

I seemed to be the only one who knew something substantial about the topic. Every 2-3 minutes, I pitched in with some statistics or information about a company working in the field and then just sit back and observe where the discussion went. It was fun!

After the GD, I had to wait for a long time as I was the last to be interviewed. In the meanwhile, I talked to the other students a lot (that was an amazing group of people!) and enjoyed myself thoroughly. That helped.

When I walked into the interview room, I could feel myself emitting an aura of friendliness. My ‘hello’ was longer and jollier than the formal 'Good morning' I had started with in IIM Calcutta. The results were immediate! The tired interviewers all smiled at me warmly and one even jokingly asked for my autograph! I showed them my poetry book and paintings and volunteered to explain how I had made a particular painting. The whole interview then became light and conversational rather than formal! Out of nowhere, I told them that this had been my first GD experience and I was very excited as a result! So they asked me to summarise the GD in the form of a poem right there.

As I started writing, I heard the familiar question: 'Why not do this professionally? Why MBA?' I gave them the truth this time. Surprisingly, they liked it. Of course, that happened only after a few cross-questions and counter examples. I never expected them to accept it immediately anyway! By that time, I had finished my poem (Yes, I was writing while answering their questions) and I read it out to them. They were shocked! They really liked it.

Then they asked me about electrons and protons. I had told them about my internship project on writing a rap battle between electron and proton to teach science to school kids. That's where they got this idea from. They asked me a bit of basic science related to this. Then they asked me who'd be the electron and the proton in a business. I talked about businesses being consumer-centric, making consumers the protons and neutrons and went on to explain who the other stakeholders are, revolving around the consumer like electrons. All this while, I continued to emit the 'friendliness' rays. We all laughed and chatted like we were friends! As I walked out, I knew that they had enjoyed themselves as much as I enjoyed myself. I knew that there was a very high possibility that they would take me. But most importantly, I knew they liked the real me.

IIM Ahmedabad

So it was decided! I did the same in IIM Ahmedabad interview. It's amazing how similar it was! The same aura of friendliness, the same book of poetry and paintings, the same 'Why not do this professionally?', the same conversation about my rap.

To my delight, the lady interviewer knew about slam poetry, so we talked a little about that. Then the issue of gender discrimination came up and I told them how my family never differentiated between me and my brother, how I was never disrespected in BITS because of my gender, how I have been lucky enough to never have faced the gender inequality that they were talking about. The gentleman told me that it says a lot about my family and my college. I couldn't agree more!

They asked me if I painted in my free time or if I found time for it, what my inspiration is, etc. They also asked me how I balanced BITS studies with my creative pursuits and I told them about the 0% compulsory attendance policy in BITS and how it was a clear message from the college authorities that personality development is equally important (I still attended most classes, though!).

I told them about clubs and departments and how amazing Poetry Club people are, and how I’m expecting to meet more such amazing people in IIM Ahmedabad. When asked about life goals, I told them that I wanted to apply my ability to create, ideate, innovate, to actually make a difference in somebody's life. I told them that education is just a tentative plan, based on my experiences in my internship in this field, and that I know too little of the world to be able to make a definite decision yet. They couldn't agree more. I think they actually liked my honesty!

The gentleman concluded then that I am the sort of person who doesn't like to be called normal, who doesn't like it if people define my mould or slot. I'd much rather define it myself! I told him that that's not entirely true. After a lot of discussion, I was finally able to explain to him that I don't care what people think of me, what matters is what I think of myself. Also, I try to avoid defining a slot or a box for myself. I prefer not to have any boundaries when it comes to ideas, thoughts and ambitions!

I've forgotten what else we talked about, but I got the feeling that they understood that I am different. I remember telling the lady that it's a good thing that she can't predict what I'll do in the future, because that means that I can do something that she can't even think of today! After about 25 minutes, the chaiwalla came in and we suddenly realised that we were in the middle of an interview!

The gentleman asked me what I liked in chemical. I talked about process design and how it leaves scope for creativity as there is no one correct way of doing it. Then he asked me about heat exchangers. I answered the questions and the interview ended. I left with a big smile.

Moral of the Story

Based on my experiences, my advice to all my friends is - don't fake it. Whether it is friends, teachers or interviewers, everybody understands and appreciates that each of us is different from the others. Interviews, as I understand, are processes where they’re trying to make sense of who we are, and if we can be honest, I think they’ll realise that each one of us is amazing enough to do great things in life!

Cheers!