IIM Kozhikode GD-PI recall: Parth Agarwal

Parth Agarwal secured 98.62 percentile in CAT 2017, and with this score, he received calls from various top B-Schools including IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, MDI, and SJMSOM. He appeared for the GD-PI rounds of IIM B, and successfully converted his call. Apart from that, he also appeared for the GD-PI rounds of IIM Kozhikode. Parth’s profile is as follows:

Xth – 93.2%

XIIth – 90.4%

BTech ECE (NIT Allahabad) – 9.31 pointer 

Shiksha got in touch with Parth & he shared a detailed account of his GD-PI experience. Candidates preparing for their GD-PI rounds or future MBA aspirants can get an idea about the kind of interviews conducted at top B-Schools. 

The interview was conducted on February 9, 2018 in Delhi. Read his exclusive interview below: 

WAT

Topic: Medals in World championship and Olympics are a good measure of a nation’s growth and progress.

I introduced the various globally accepted indicators to measure the growth and prosperity of a nation like GDP, Gini Coefficient etc. Explained how performance in international events signifies the investment that goes into the development of the individuals, the nature of the priorities within a nation. (Winter Olympics were ongoing, gave India’s example- in spite of snow covered mountains in India, haven’t been able to capitalise as a result of which the Indian participation was outrageous). Also explained how developed countries leave their marks in such events and justify their national progress. On the other hand there are some developed countries who are more into research and not so much into sports. Summarised by saying that it should not be the only measure, but in combination with others can give a satisfactory output. 

I entered the interview room after the WAT/GD/Document verification part was over, and greeted the panelists and occupied the chair. 

P1: Checking my form) So Parth, 9.31 pointer. Were you a topper?

Me: (Smile on my face) Well no Sir! I was not the topper but was amongst the toppers. 

P1: Great, so you work in Airtel!

Me: No Sir, I left it in September. 

P1: Why?

Me: (Even though I had prepared my answer for this question, I was rattled) Well sir, I wanted to move from the technical side to the business side. I wanted to learn and pursue higher studies in business field. 

P1: Or you left it for CAT?

Me: Well yes sir, it was one of the reasons but not the most significant one as I had already decided to resign and get myself acquainted with the business field. 

P1: Ok, so what should I ask from you? Your profile is very good. Have you heard about ASEAN?

Me: (I was not able to understand what he said, hence I begged his pardon and he spelt out ASEAN) Oh yes Sir! ASEAN is Association for Southeast Asian…. 

(I was very nervous, trying to recollect N for Nation)

(I may have mispronounced ASEAN as P2 pronounced it again to me) 

P1: Nation.

Me: Yes Sir! Nation! 

P1: Ok, so why was it made? What was the purpose?

Me: Sir, It is an intergovernmental organisation of 10 Southeast Asian countries, the leaders of which came to India on 26th Jan 2018. I started naming one by one. 

P1: Don’t name them, just tell the significance.

Me: Sir, the purpose was to bring unity, trade, movement amongst the members of the bloc, based on the similar idea of European Union. One of the purposes was also to maintain peace and integrity in the maritime area and regional cooperation. 

P1: So what is the role of India?

Me: Sir India plays a major balancing role. On one side there is China.. 

P1: Yeah China is a neighbour, so what!! Is it our enemy?

Me: Not an enemy sir. But in the recent events when it has been trying to occupy island and set up its bases in the China sea, the ASEAN looks towards India to help them and to balance the power. 

P1: Ok.. What else to ask to you.. I am done I think, your marks are very good. Ma’am do you want to ask anything?

P2: So what is the trade value we have with ASEAN?

Me: 70bn$ approximately with around 10bn$ deficit. 

P2: Ok, tell me about India’s trade!

Me: Ma’am our import is 450bn$+, export is 320bn$ approximately with a trade deficit of around 130bn$+. We import crude oil, jewels, diamonds… 

P2: Don’t tell me what we import, tell me what brings profit to India.

Me: we primarily export engineering goods and services, 8th larger service exporter of the world. We have hubs in Noida, Bangalore, and Gurgaon. We export petroleum products, pharmaceutical… 

P2: Pharmaceutical?? What in pharmaceutical, I want to know.

Me: ( I was flustered by it) No Ma’am, not pharmaceutical. I mean it exports but it doesn’t come at the top. Service industry is the biggest export item for us.

(Fact: India is the 3rd largest exporter by volume of the generic drugs. I got confused unnecessarily) 

P2: Ok, so have you heard about CSR?

Me: Yes Ma’am. Corporate social responsibility. 

P2: Great! So what is it?

Me: The idea is that the corporates take so much from the society in order to progress, it has an obligatory duty to give something in return. 

P2: Ok, so what is the rule?

Me: corporates are supposed to use 2% of the revenue for the society.

(I mistakenly said revenue instead of profit) 

P2: Revenue, what revenue?

Me: Ma’am whatever the earnings are, 2% of that. 

P2: So is it the revenue or earnings or something else is there?

Me: Ma’am, it is the earnings.

(I was unable to recall at that moment that it is actually 2% of the average profits for last 3 years, even when she was trying to give hints. The moment I stepped out of the room it hit me in my gut, pretty hard) 

P2: Ok, and which entities should be fulfilling it? I mean the corporate, the firms, retails, (she said 2-3 different things) or any company?

Me: Ma’am it is corporate social responsibility, so corporate team of any company. 

P2: What if they don’t do it?

Me: There is no stringent action, but the corporate body has to submit in written the reason why it was not able to fulfill the responsibilities. 

P2: How does Airtel do it?

Me: Ma’am it has some 237 schools where it gives education to 40k+ students belonging to poor families. 

P2: Great. So how do you plan to do it?

Me: (I took some time to think) Ma’am, in future when I will be in a corporate, I will try my best that I curb corruption and ethically fulfill the responsibilities that I will be assigned in the future. 

P2: Good. So you said that we should give back to the society. Have you ever done something?

Me: (Again got rattled) Ma’am during my college, I joined art of living, and I went to a government hospital to give food and supplies to the hospitalized people. It felt really good. 

P2: So you haven’t done anything recently?

Me: (Was unable to recall my charity to a cancer patient and the work I did during the Chennai cyclone 2016!) Sorry Ma’am, I am unable to recall. 

P2: No problem, better to say truth than making up stories. Good to hear. Sir, I am done.

P1: Ok Parth, we are done. Any questions? 

Me: No sir, thank you. 

Both of them: Thank you. All the best! 

I thanked them again and left the room.

“Got a question about top MBA exams? Ask students who have already made it to top B-Schools.”