IIM-B accepts CAT scores for admission to its Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). It ranks among the top five B-schools of India. Apart from the general MBA/PGP programme, IIM-B offers MBA in Business Analytics as well as other specialised/executive programmes. The final selection depends upon the candidate’s past academic performance, work experience, accomplishments, entrance test score, and performance in the admission rounds.
Selection Process
The admission procedure at IIM-B is conducted in the following order:
- Shortlisting (based on CAT scoreand overall profile)
- Written Ability Test (WAT)
- Personal Interview (PI)
Written Ability Test (WAT)
In this round, the candidates are required to write on the given topic. These topics are based on issues and latest developments in socio-political, economic, and business arena. Some of the topics are abstract in nature. Candidates are given 30 minutes to write on the topic. Here are some of the topics assigned to the candidates during PGP admissions 2022:
- Some say financial literacy should be included in the Indian school curriculum. Others say it might burden the students. Write your opinion on this.
- Is the pace of covid vaccination significant and widespread? How is covid vaccination drive different from others done in the past?
- India is the third largest global start-up ecosystem in the world. Discuss India’s emergence as a global start-up hub and the contributing factors. Is this phenomenon accidental or intentional?
- Government increased themarriageable ageof girls from 18 to 21 to resolve problems like gender inequality. Do you think that this will help the government achieve its targets?
- COVID-19 struck us when we were not prepared and taught us a lot of lessons. Do you think we can prevent the next pandemic?
- Elderly population is increasing. In 2021, it was 138 million and it is projected to grow to 343 million in 2035. What policy would you suggest to handle this situation?
Interview Experiences
A group of three panellistsasked the candidates about their values, work experience, internship, academic background, hobbies and more. Each interview lasted for 25-40 minutes. In some of the interviews, the panel directly started putting questions about academics and work profile, skipping the introduction part. Here are the interview experiences of four candidates at IIM-B:
Interview 1:
Background:B.Tech (Electrical), Fresher
Questions:
- Do you have any relative studying here?
- So, your college placements are over.Have you got any offer?
- Why not get some work experience before you do MBA? Justify your choice.
- Do you know about Li-ion battery?
- Are you aware of the history of EV?Why is US successful in its implementation but not India? What would be its impact on common man? So, I am a common man, can you convince me to buy EV over petrol which is cheaper?
- How does power grid functions?
- So you must studied about Induction motors, can you tell their structure?
- What are your hobbies? Have you participated in any competition in it? Which rank did you get in that powerlifting competition? Which are your favourite authors? Which genres do you read?
Explain Sapiens in one line to me. What other books on Anthropology and Astronomy you've read?
IIM Bangalore - Interview Experiences
Interview 2:
Background:B.Tech (Mechanical)
Work Experience:4 years
Questions:
- Tell me about your internship. So, which approach did you use?
- Tell us about your workplace. In what field it is leading and how is it leading in that? What is your exact designation about? Tell us about your job responsibilities.
- Why did you change your job? Give me some examples of how you approached a specific problem.
The candidate was further asked about different problem-solving methods as mentioned in their profile. Some of the questions were around the theoretical implicationsof the methods. Many were asked questions on the candidate’s internship. Most of the questions were from SOP and work experience mentioned by the candidate.
Interview 3:
Background: B.Tech.
Work Experience:40 months at JP Morgan
Questions:
- There are elections going in Uttarakhand. Can you create a model to predict who will win? Will it cover real sentiments or will there be a bias? (Questions around ML)
- Why MBA as a career path, when there are many lucrative jobs in Software Engineering?
- Can you give us a perspective of what you plan to do after MBA?
- What is the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy?
- What is the relationship between unemployment and inflation?
- How do you value an asset? How do you value a stock? What is the intrinsic value of an asset? How do you value a crypto asset?
- What is the difference between Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis?
- Do you know about derivatives? Explain in layman terms.
Interview 4:
Background: B.Tech (Mechanical)
Work Experience: 2.5 years (in Supply Chain) at ITC and o9 Solutions
CAT Percentile: 99.74
Questions:
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why did you shift from ITC to o9?
- What was the impact of covid on ITC cigarette? What is revenue of cigarettes for ITC? Why is it not growing? Is it good thing to invest in tobacco business?
- Are there any social initiatives by ITC? Some companies have said that it is a value-destroying business, do you think CSR activities are good for companies?
- What is your take on Indian stock market and economy situation of last 5 years?
- Why will RBI cut interest rates? How will it impact the economy & stock market? If we sell the put option, how will it impact?
- What impacts the option premium? Can you tell me yesterday's impact on premium? What about Greeks?
- What is the value of delta at ATM?
- Why is ITC share not rising?
- Which packages does o9 give?What does replenishment package do? What customised solution did you give? How do you make models?How is replenishment done? What are the factors behind it? But that can be done on excel as well.
- Tell me the uniqueness of o9 model.What is the technical term for the model?
- Is it ethical to endorse soft drink as a celebrity?
Detailed questions were asked about the candidate’s work.