Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB)functions under Symbiosis International University (SIU). Initially established as Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT), it counts among the top 100 B-schools in India. SIIB offers full-time MBA in three specialisations: International Business, Energy & Environment, and Agri Business. In the first stage, the candidates are shortlisted for MBA on the basis of their SNAP score. Finally, the admissions are granted after considering the candidate’s performance in further admission rounds.
Selection Process
MBA admissions 2022 at SIIB followed this order:
- Shortlisting (based on SNAP score)
- Writing Ability Test (WAT)
- Group Exercise (GE)
- Personal Interview
WAT Topics
This round assesses the candidate’s written expression and communication skills. During the admission process 2022, each candidate was allotted two WATs, followed by three questions. The first WAT had one question to answer in a passage and the second one had two questions. The total time limit for both essays was 30 minutes. Listed below are the themes and topics on which the WAT passages were based:
- E-commerce: realistic or unrealistic discounts?
- Should OTT content be censored?
- Crypto-currency: A new way forward
- Man considers cosmic objects as God, and later, science finds out they are not God
- Wright brothers
- Future of E-Vehicles in India
- Appointment of Indians as CEOs of top companies - a new trend
- Philosophy of Education
- China's tang currency system of coins,cloth and grains
- Ukraine-Russia crisis
- Case study on high sustainable and low sustainable firms
- India-China border issue and India’s stand can on trade and conflict.
- Providence and its effects
- Future technology trends in Agriculture.
GE Topics
In this round, candidates were grouped into several teams, and a specific topic was given to each team for discussion. It was an unmoderated group discussion and went on for 10-15 minutes. At the end of GD, each candidate was required to summarise it in 1-2 sentences. Listed below are some of the GE topics given during MBA admissions 2022:
- Are the business models at risk due to blockchain?
- Rising awareness towards wellness - Stakeholders' responsibility
- AatmaNirbhar is a Reality or Distant Dream?
- Can India become a $5trillion economy by 2025?
- Should OTT content be censored?
- Should an MBA graduate be the jack of all trades or specialise in one filed only?
- Disinvestment policy of the government.
Interview Experiences
The interviews were held by a group of two panellists and lasted for almost 10-15 minutes per candidate. Questions were asked about the candidates’ personality traits, values, goals, work experience, specialization preferences, achievements, and hobbies. Some candidates also faced questions regarding current events and behavioural scenarios. Here are some of the experiences shared by candidates interviewed in 2022:
Interview 1:
Background:B.Com, Fresher
SNAP Percentile: 93
Questions:
- Please tell me about yourself.
- So, you are only a stock broker or commodity too?
- So, is this the right time to buy crude oil?
- Which industry is affected by the monsoon?
- Which is your favourite sport? What is the size of a badminton court?
- What do you predict forSensex and nifty in the next 8 months? Is this the right time to buy? What happens to nifty if war happens?
SIIB Pune - Interview Experiences
Interview 2:
Background:B.Sc. (Biotech), Fresher
Questions:
- How are you?
- Where are you based?
- Tell me something special about Ranchi. Should I visit Ranchi? (Candidate belonged to Ranchi)
- I will read a statement, and you have to tell me whether you agree or not? And why?
- How can you be valuable to us?
- Why MBA in International Business after Biotech? How are your knowledge and skills relevant today from the global perspective?
- Tell us about any project that you did. So, how does keratin treatment affect our hair, and does it really make hair better?
- What do you think is important to build innate immunity?
- Take any current topic that you read about, and state your views about it.
- Suppose you are the HR of a company. During the annual appraisal, you see that a person hasn't performed well, and you know that they have a genuine reason for the decline in performance. How will you evaluate them?If the low performance continues because of the same genuine problem, how will you tackle it?
Interview 3:
Background:Working Professional
Questions:
- Tell me about yourself.
- What does your company do?
- You have a really good profile at such a young age. Why do an MBA instead of continuing with your work?
- Why did you quit CA instead of completing it first?
- What are Sundry Debtors? Where does it go in the Balance Sheet?
- What is a forensic audit? Which company was in the news recently for this?
- Who is the big bull of the Indian stock market?
- What will be the impact of technological changes on various industries?
- What issubprime crisis?
- How is Rahul Gandhi related to Maneka Gandhi?
- Who is the CM of Punjab?
- Who is the CM of Maharashtra?
- Why should we select you?