"I cracked the PI"

Ipsita Sarkar Gupta, Shiksha.com

A leading B-school in South India recently conducted its Personal Interview (PI) rounds. The school has announced a list of candidates for its PGP programme and will soon commence its classes. Shiksha team caught with up with one of the successful candidates and spoke to him about the selection process and PI experience.

As we've agreed not to disclose the person’s identity or the B-School’s name, let’s call our person John and the institute –IBMA – shall we?

John, an academically bright fellow, has a BTech degree from a premier Indian institute. He’s been working in the IT sector for more than seven years, often at international locations. Wishing to change his career track to finance and strategy and re-enter the Indian market, John decided to pursue a management programme.

Initially, John had applied to three international B-schools. He secured admission in two but finally decided to pursue the management programme in IBMA.

Here’s John’s run-up from the application stage to the final call:

 

PI preparation strategy

“One of my chief strategies was inside information. I was in touch with various IBMA alumni who informed me about the institute’s likes, goals and strategies. However, the most important tip I received was ‘Know your profile well’. Your profile is the only thing you are in command of. You cannot control other things. You cannot predict what course the interview takes or what questions the interviewer can ask,” says John.

The PI

Being an outside-India candidate, John’s interview was conducted over Skype and phone. After confirming visual connectivity on Skype, John called up the interviewers. Both phone and Skype are used simultaneously to prevent any communication gap that can happen due to probable technological glitch.

There were three institute members in the interview panel. Following a basic round of introduction, here’s what happened thereafter:

Candidate: (John proceeded to talk about his experience as an IT consultant.)

Candidate: (John was taken aback a little. He did not expect this.) I like playing with numbers and have good analytics and quantitative skills. (He had not mentioned about his interest with numbers anywhere in the application.)

Candidate: Let’s assume it is a 300-room five-star hotel in Mumbai. Being the centre of trade hub, the occupancy rate of a Mumbai-based hotel is 70% - 80%. For assumption, I’ll take the occupancy rate at 70%, i.e., 210 rooms are occupied in that particular hotel on any given day. Families generally don’t prefer staying in five-stars. Rooms are mostly occupied by business class who generally have breakfast in the morning. So out of 200 – 210 rooms, only 50% to 60% will consume tea in the morning. So let’s assume the number of tea cups to be served is 110.

Five-star hotels have at least four conference centres and banquet halls with a seating capacity of 100 – 200 in each hall. Again, for my understanding, let’s assume two events are being held at two centres with 150 delegates in each hall – so a total of 300 delegates. At such events, drinks are for free. Out of 300, at least 150 delegates will go for tea (rest preferring beverages like coffee and drinks).

Now, let’s assume that it is a 100-staffer hotel. Since Indians are tea-lovers, the staff will consume at least two cups of tea every day – morning and evening. That would be 200 cups.

The hotel will have some more delegates in lounges or cafeteria. So let’s add another 50.

So the total number of tea cups stand at 510 (110+150+200+50). Finally, assuming a 20% variation (positive or negative), my answer is: The total number of tea cups to be served in the hotel on any given day is anywhere between 400 –600.

Candidate: (John explained briefly about his profile, clients and freelance experience with international firms. This went on for a few minutes.)

Candidate: I have had quite a few diverse experiences – including cultural and professional embolisms. This specific one happened in Denmark. I was heading a team of 10-12 people, building solutions for call centres using IT skills. The entire team was Danish-speaking and I had to align myself according to them to foster team-building. My style is to know and bond personally with every team member.

Usually, the business meetings are conducted in English. However, in any confrontation or argumentative situation during meetings, the team would switch to Danish among themselves. I often felt left out and considered it to be ill-mannered. It took me a while to get used to it. After all, even we tend to switch to Hindi or other regional language during argumentative stage.

Henceforth, I would sit back and relax, while they argued among themselves. Once the argument ceased, I would ask for the outcome or solution and then proceed.

Candidate: (John introduced his chief entrepreneurial aspiration on MSMEs and proceeded to explain it.) The growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is not structured. People have good ideas but often fail, owning to lack of market knowledge. I have a good IT background with many years of experience. I can sell ideas. IBMA is known for its formulated business knowledge. It can give me a good head start. Not to forget, the leverage I can get from MBA networking.

I also wanted to come back to India, and a management programme from a top B-school is the only way I can re-enter the Indian market. A PGP from IBMA is like a launch pad.

Candidate: (By this time, John had forgotten the names of my interviewers and requested them to re-introduce themselves.)

Candidate: (John had done some background research and wanted to ask about their placement/entrepreneur cell. He also enquired if any MSMEs visit IBMA and asked about a certain professor whose ideas were in news few years back.)

Candidate: How many students coming out of IBMA are going for entrepreneurship?

Candidate: Yes, thank you.

Candidate: About half-past six in the morning.

Candidate: No, problem. I will not hold you responsible if I get into the programme.

(Everyone laughing...the session ended on a light note)

The whole interview lasted for about 30 minutes.

Key learnings from this interview:

The candidate has displayed a variety of positive personality traits throughout the interview, such as: presence of mind (A.3), intelligence & analytical mind (A.4), professional maturity (A. 6), confidence & curiosity (refer A. 8), sense of humour (Refer A. 13).

John’s take on his PI

“The PI was a two-way discussion. While the panel questioned me, they also welcomed questions and responded to all my queries. Apart from answering their questions, I also took up whatever little opportunity I received to express my knowledge about the institute. I launched discussions about some professors and the entrepreneur cell.

The point of PI is about presenting valid points or arguments and how a candidate holds himself during a discussion. There is no right or wrong answers in a discussion.”

He suggests, before pursuing an MBA degree, it is important to answer some basic questions:

Why MBA?

“If you are not clear on why to pursue a management programme, it’s probably a bad idea. Some fellows have business orientation and for them, an MBA makes sense. However, people often equate MBA with high pay packets. This shouldn’t be the primary reason of pursuing an MBA. One should always identify or at least strive to objectify the purpose and need of the programme. Generally, a few years of work experience helps a candidate understand the industry, market dynamics and the skills he/she is lagging that an MBA can provide.”

Which MBA?

“Another pertinent question is where to pursue the MBA – India or abroad?  One-year versus two-year programme? Where do you wish to work after your MBA? Etcetera. One should always strive to find a best fit for themselves. Some schools, good in a particular perspective, may not be as good in another aspect. Work culture, student and alumni body, industry relationships etc matter as much as the brand name of the institute.”

Why now?

“One needs clear perception on why to pursue MBA at this particular point in life. Trailing the MBA dream is generally the single biggest investment in education that one would make in his life. So better choose it wisely than hastily.”