Interview

The Wait for the interview was very painful. The results were supposed to come by 14th. I was anxious the whole day. I had set my gmail on filter to my office mail id so that I could see the result in my office also. But there was no news till evening. Came back in the evening and this was when I really got hooked onto Pagal Guy. 

I could see that quite a few people had got calls while a few of them had not heard from them. My heart sunk. For the first time I felt very nervous. Though INSEAD was my dream school but my hopes were pinned on ISB. It was a make or break situation. Somebody posted that those on borderline were put on waitlist and decision on them would come by Friday. Somebody posted that all calls had gone out and those who hadnt heard were dinged. Somebody posted that the Adcom had not screened all applications. Speculations were flying thick and fast and those were anxious moments. 

15th, 16th, 17th and 18th were very long days. Day after day I came back and checked out Pagal guy and still there was no news just rumours !! Normally I am a cool and calm customer but this was getting to me !! 

19th October - and still no news. I reached home by 7.30 pm and checked PG, my mails and still no signs of anything happening. Finally at 8pm the holy mail came and a normally calm dude like me couldnt help jumping around like a kid. I was confident about my interview skills so I knew this was getting one step closer to ISB. My interview was on 22nd at Taj Lands End, Bandra.

Two day before my interview Raj Thackeray came alive and instigated problems in Mumbai and as luck would have had it his hearing was slated on 21st October in Bandra. Mumbai was closed down. But I was determined to have my interview done on 22nd. I couldnt wait. I reached about 1 hour early. I had my interview at 15th floor of Taj Land's end. 3 panel members Mrs. Hema, One young guy who belongs to Deans Council and third one a alum. 100 word essay was on "Passion". Questions as follows in a random order ...

1. questions were application specific. just picking a random word from the essays or accomplishments and asking on it
2. questions related to my current job, current industry and some facts n customer preferences
3. what would i do differently if was the MD of my company
4. post ISB plans
5. With work ex of about 2 yrs will i be able to contribute to the learning of my peer group
6. craziest thing i have done
7. stock price of my company. wud i recommend buying it? 
8. statistics related to my industry
9. Market size of a Service product that my company was selling
10. how i handle senior colleagues at work when i am leading them
11. what negative issues wud ur peer group have about you if u make it to ISB
12. reason behind choosing current job n profile; job satisfaction; why leave the company if the going is good
13. who r the competitors to ur company? what was my competitor doing right which was giving him an edge over us in the market
14. follow ur heart or mind ?
15. wud you take a job which gives you the desired profile but pays you just enough to pay ur loan EMIs and lead simple life
16. where do i see my company in next 10 years?
17. any questions for us?

What I could gauge from the interview was that they wanted to see if you are the same person they figured you were in the essays. They were looking for passion, clarity of thought & a clear goal and not how great acads you have or how many mountains you have moved at work. 

I think these are more or less what they asked. Other questions were add on questions. Interview lasted about 40-45 mins. Looked good and got positive hints from Mrs. Hema. But you never know. Almost everyone was coming out of their interviews feeling they had aced it so my fingers were crossed.