IIM Admission Interviews - some myths, some truths and some advice - Part I

I am often asked by IIM aspirants what the IIM Admission Interview Panels look for in candidates. Many others are apprehensive about the kind of questions they will need to answer. What topics will they quiz me on? What all do I need to read up on? Hours are spent scouring the net for questions asked by interviewers from each institute. So I want to dispel a few myths and misconceptions on the subject.

Myth 1:  I must tweak my profile a bit and present it in a way that will please the interview panel.

The thing to understand is that IIM students do not come off an assembly line. They do not conform to any one or more stereotypes. They are all different from each other. At any great learning institution, particularly at IIM’s and other Business Schools, a student learns as much from the lectures and such, as from his batch mates. And this is made possible because each student brings their own unique perspective, based on their individual backgrounds, their knowledge and ideas, their various skills etc., to the discussions in and outside the class, so each one gets the benefit of everyone’s experiences. To this end IIM’s also try to create a diverse class each year with students from different backgrounds, while of course maintaining certain academic standards. Therefore the best approach to the interview is to be yourself. Each one of us is unique in our own ways and it is important to let this uniqueness show through in your behavior. And the way to do this is to not try and give answers that you think the panel wants to hear; rather, give answers that you think are correct because that is what brings out your own unique way of thinking. Moreover the interviewers will find your uniqueness refreshing and that will keep them interested.

Myth 2 (and this is a big one):  I need to mug up on every possible subject because who knows what the interviewers will quiz me on.

The reality is that an interview is not about the interviewer trying to find out what all you don’t know. Rather it is just the opposite. The panel only wants to be sure that you know reasonably well, those subjects that you claim to know, by way of what all is claimed in your CV/ Application form. In fact I recall many instances when we would ask the candidate what subject he would like to talk about in the interview and then proceed to talk about just that.

So the first thing to be prepared on for the admission interview is your own CV. Be fully aware of everything mentioned in your CV, application form, any other application material and your certificates. But this needs more preparation than many candidates allow, and I say this from my own experience of having interviewed hundreds of them. If you are a Mathematics graduate, should you not be able to prove that the product of any three consecutive positive integers is always divisible by 3? This is not graduate level maths. Remember the 3 times table you mugged up in class 2? Does it not tell you that every third number is a multiple of 3? So any three consecutive positive integers would always include one multiple of 3 and so their product would always be divisible by 3. This should be elementary for anyone who has cleared class 5, and that also because in class 2 they might not have used terms like integers. And I have seen graduates fumble to answer this one. Another time I asked a Civil Engineer to draw a simple beam and its bending moment diagram, and he could not. But a simple beam is among the most basic elements a Civil Engineer learns so it is not acceptable that one from a reputed institution does not know it. It does not show you in a good light. Let me be very clear. The admission interview is not an engineering exam or an exam to test your knowledge of your graduation discipline. In fact in most cases the interviewers would probably not even be qualified to test you on your subject. But it is definitely expected that you should be familiar with the basics of your field. Otherwise what is the value of your UG degree? And without the UG degree, are you a fit candidate for the IIM? So brush up on your basics.

And be prepared likewise, on all other achievements, experiences, qualities mentioned in your CV. Did you organize your college festival? Great. But can you talk about the experience if the interviewer wants you to? Do you claim to be a trekking enthusiast? In the high mountains perhaps? But do you remember the exact location of your last three treks? Where did you start the trek from? How do you get there? How many days did you trek? At what altitude? How much distance did you cover each day? What were the places, villages, rest stops along the way?

And this brings up the importance of always stating the truth and only the truth, whether it is in your CV, your application form or the interview. Never state a falsehood or exaggerate any aspect in your profile. Interviewers have an uncanny knack of finding out those claims you make that are not wholly or partly true.

So does this mean that the only thing to prepare for D-Day is to be thorough with your CV? Well, obviously not. You do need to read up on some other things as well, but that will be for the next part of this Blog – watch this space.

A typical day in the life of a business school student

As you all take the GMAT and work on your Round 1 apps, we thought it might be a good idea to give you a glimpse into what a typical day in the life of a typical business school student is like J Team getyourMBA asks a current student at Wharton.

7:00am – Wake up

7:15am – 8:00am – Work out at the gym

8:00am – 8:35 am – Get ready

8:40am – Catch the bus to campus. Get into a cab in case you’re late which is often! J

8:55am – Grab coffee (large atleast!) from the café. You NEED it if you hope to stay alert in class.

9:00am – 10:15am – Global Supply Chain Management. We discuss a case on Mattel, Inc. and how they were forced to recall a big lot of toys due to lead traces that could be poisonous to children. Great discussion in class on how best to control quality in your supply chain, especially when each player is not directly a part of Mattel.  Should you punish wrong behavior or incentivize good behavior?

10:15am – 10:30am – Check your mail folder - An offer from a tailor to get your business suit made at a discount for the upcoming interviews, Pricing Policy assignment graded and returned, an invitation with some goodies to the Winter Ball. Walk over to another building for next class

10:30am – 11:45 pm – Venture Capital and Finance of Innovation. Great class discussion on top 5 things investors should look at when deciding whether to invest in a company or not and why – Team? Market Size? Product? Target customer?

11:50am – 1:30 pm – Lunch meeting with Learning Team to finalize marketing case report. Team has 2 Americans, an Indonesian, a German, a Brazilian and an Indian. We are pretending to be Gillette and we have to figure out how we can increase the sales of our razors in Indonesia. How can we do that when many of the men there use scissors to cut their beard?

1:30 – 3:00pm – Mergers and Acquisitions. Great discussion on when to acquire, when to form an Alliance, when to form a Joint Venture.  We discuss Morgan Stanley – Dean Witter merger. Power politics at play!

3:00pm – 4:00pm – Meeting with photography club leadership team to finalize upcoming events and schedule.

4:00pm – 6:00 pm – Grab something to eat and get some work done in the student lounge.

6:00 pm – 8:00pm – Attend a talk on Leadership by a Mountain Guide who has led many expeditions – when do you lead from the front? When do you lead from the back? And when do you lead from the middle? Brilliant talk.

8:00pm – 8:20pm – Walk back home

8:30pm – 10:00pm – Dinner with the ladies of Women in Business Club. A junior wants to recruit for consulting and gets tips from second years.

10:00 pm – 11:00 pm – Celebrate student’s birthday at local pub.

11:00 pm – 2:00am – Prepare case for next day’s Entrepreneurship class on how Red Bull managed to make a dent in the beverages market despite goliaths like Coke and Pepsi in the market. Finish Corporate Valuation assignment of selecting which firms would form good comparables for a given company and why.

2:00am – Sh*#@* forgot to call home again, 3rd day in a row! Mom will kill me. What time is it in India anyway?  Man, I just don't care. Maybe tomorrow, I'm just too damn sleepy right nowwww...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR ZERO WORK-EX FRESH GRADS, TO GET AN MBA EDUCATION?

HOW MUCH WORK-EX IS DESIRABLE TO HAVE BEFORE PROCEEDING TO AN MBA EDUCATION?

HOW MUCH WORK-EX DO VARIOUS BUSINESS SCHOOLS REQUIRE ME TO HAVE BEFORE APPLYING?

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR ZERO WORK-EX FRESH GRADS, TO GET AN MBA EDUCATION?

As far as the first question above is concerned, the Jury, as they say is still out on this one, basically because there is no single ‘one size fits all’ answer to it. Perhaps the only one answer that can correctly address this question is “Apply when you feel you are ready for it”. But does that help? Or does it only lead to another, equally puzzling question “How will I know when I am ready?” The only one thing that seems to be clear is that the correct time to apply is different for different people. Some might be ready early in their careers whereas others might be better off waiting a few years more. But what exactly is the way to determine the correct time for any one individual? Well, as I said, the jury is still out on that one.

So, let us get another opinion on it. Business Schools, who actually teach the MBA curriculum are surely the best ones to advise on this. So what do they say? Unfortunately, here again we do not find the consensus which might lead us to the right answer.

Take for example the IIMs in India. They have from the beginning been open to taking early career students for their flagship PGDM programs. The majority of students at the IIMs continue to be fresh Graduates and most others are in the 1 to 3 years category. And the 5+ yrs workex students at the IIMs are still only a small minority. And are the IIM graduates as good at managing businesses as their counterparts from US Business Schools where the avg workex tends to be 4+ yrs and where it is the fresh grads who are the small minority? Well, looking at the track record of IIM grads over the decades, it would certainly seem so. Graduates of these institutions have done as well as those from any other institution, whether they pursued their careers in India or abroad.

On the other hand, most Business Schools in the US for example, do seem to prefer students with more workex. Even though many of them state as a policy that workex is only desirable not necessary, the class composition at most schools tells the real story because very few students at these schools are fresh from college and the average workex is 4+ years.

Coming to the last two questions of the topic for this post – How much workex do Business Schools require me to have before applying, and what are the options if any for fresh grads – you know already that IIM’s in India have no requirement for workex, though they too do give some weight to workex in their selection process, ISB in India asks for 2+ years and most business schools in the US also prefer at least 2 years, even if they do not always say so.

So what are the options for fresh grads? I wrote already in an earlier post on this blog, about MIM programs offered by an increasing number of Business Schools in the US. But what if one wants to join a regular MBA program? Well there is now an increasingly visible trend even among US business schools that some of them, including some top schools, are encouraging fresh grads to seek admission directly out of college. Notable examples are:

·         Harvard: The HBS 2+2 program – you apply while still in the final year of your UG program, get admission and defer enrolment for 2 years, acquire workex during these two years with an assured seat at their regular MBA program after two years.

·         Stanford: Deferred admission program - Here again you get admission while still in college, defer enrolment by 2-3 years and use this period to gain workex, with a reserved seat at the regular Stanford MBA program.

·         Yale School of Management: Silver Scholar Program – This is a total 3 year MBA program where you join the regular Yale MBA class directly after college, complete the first year of the MBA curriculum and then take a one year break from studies to take up a full one year internship before heading back to Yale to complete the remaining one year of their regular 2 year MBA program.

·         MIT Sloan: Sloan simply encourages college seniors to apply directly to their regular MBA program itself, without any workex. As an incentive, they even waive the application fees for these applicants. About 20% of the Sloan MBA class is composed of students without workex so that tells you they are serious about it.

·         ISB: YLP and Early Entry options – Our indigenous ISB has not one but two options for students with less than 2 years workex. The Young Leaders Program (YLP) requires you to apply while still in the pre-final year at college whereas the Early Entry Option is for graduates with less than two years workex. And both options allow for deferred enrolment.

Likewise there are many other business schools in US that offer either deferred enrolment option or accept significant accept significant proportion of the MBA class without workex. While it may not be clear yet, whether these Business Schools are in fact veering towards younger students, maybe they are only experimenting with the idea for some time to determine what works well, the point is that options are available at US Business Schools even for fresh graduates.

A Master's degree in Management from a US Business School - without work-ex?

I am often asked what is the right amount of work-ex one must put in before taking up the MBA. Many, still in undergrad college, feel it is unfair for Busines Schools to give so much weightage to work-ex that they almost deny students who want to get in straight after their Bachelors degree.

Well, it is true that most Business Schools attach serious weightage to work-ex when evaluating candidates. And so, even though the stated position is that work-ex is only desirable, not compulsary, and even though a few candidates do make it to these schools without work-ex, the truth is that those who do are really a very small minority and most schools prefer candidates with varying lengths of work-ex.

But there is another interesting development lately. An increasing number of Business Schools are offering a Masters degree of Management , admission to which is open to candidates without work-ex. And I'm not talking about the "Deferred Admission" options like the 2+2 program at HBS, or the YLP or Early Entry options at ISB. Those are only different routes to their regular MBA program, wherein these schools pick out exceptional candidates while still at undergrad college and promise them deferred admission after they complete a prescribed duration of work-ex.

Rather I'm talking about the MIM (Masters in Management) program being offered by many universities in the US and which is available with little or no work-ex.

So does this represent a change in thinking on part of the B-schools? Are they now accepting that work-ex is not really important for graduate education in Management?

Actually, NO. These schools differentiate clearly between the MIM and MBA program. You can get a clue from the name of the program itself. While the MIM is a Masters in Management, the MBA is a Masters in Business Administration.

Very simply put, the MBA equips students to manage and run Business enterprises. The curriculum is much more practical. The cases discussed in the classrooms are all real life problems. The data students analyze while learning various techniques of analysis is real life data and so on. And admissions to these programs are still weighted heavily towards candidates with work-ex.

By contrast, the MIM student studies the science of Management. These programs may also use some real life data but the focus here is much more theoretical. Graduates from these programs often pursue further study of Management to a PhD level or go into academia. Those that do join the industry after the MIM program, do so at a level junior to their counterparts from MBA programs, who might join the same businesses.

So those of you wanting to pursue Management education but not keen to work before heading to a university in the US, have the option of the MIM program. But unless you are keen on studying Management as a science and continuing in research and academia, my personal advice would be to choose the regular MBA programs, though it means you will have to wait a few years while getting some good work-ex under your belt.

So let us examine why B-schools give importance to work-ex while admitting students to the MBA program. The obvious answer of course is that the various theories, analytical and decision making techniques that are learnt at a business school are more easily learned and absorbed by candidates who have faced typical work environments and who have had exposure to the workings of a Business Enterprise before coming to schools.

But there is another, and a more important reason. Students in a typical B-school classroom learn as much from their fellow students as they do from the teachers. Each class has students from different industries, geographical regions of the world, different cultures where business practices differ from eachother as does their language. And when the diverse group of students get together to discuss a Business case or a theoretical management idea, the wealth of real life experience that they bring to bear on the subject adds immensely to the quality of the discourse. Every student thus gets the benefit of the experience of every other student in the class.

So be clear what your objectives are from your Management education and choose the program that works best for you. The important thing is to know that both options are available.

Components of your application - II

Continuing from my post on July 16th, 2013 on Components of your application - Extra Curriculars section.

So what can you do to bring out your positive qualities via the extra-curricular activities section of your resume? Well consider this. Many ECAs are practised as team activities, like games and sports, organization of events, and so on. So did you do something to show leadership qualities during some of these activities? Were you a team player? Did you motivate a team member or a group of them in a difficult situation? Did you achieve something simply by persevering when others had given up hope? All these, and many other experiences you might have had during your ECAs bring out important positive qualities. But is any of them conveyed by a bland "Member - College Music Club"? If you can write some actual achievement , or if the achivement was recognized by any authority or external evaluator, it suddenly begins to look more positive and authentic.

Moreover, we know that some people claim things in the ECA section which might be half truths or even outright fictitious. Which is another reason to write "Won third position in annual Inter-college open debate at St. Stephens college, New Delhi in 2008", rather than just "Member college debating team - won several prizes." And finally, keep it short. Even though you need to bring out your contribution clearly rather than just mentioning the activity you were part of, avoid launching off into lengthy stories. Remember - clear, concise, compelling AND authentic.

Your GMAT score is not important!

Well, I should amend that I guess because your GMAT score is definitely important, very important. But it is certainly not the be all and end all of a business school application. I am sometimes asked by applicants "I scored XYZ in GMAT. What schools can I apply to?"

It is this applicant with such a mindset that I want to address this post, to say that while your score is important, you must not let it weigh you down if you scored a tad less than you expected. Understand that it is just one of the several factors that the AdComm will evaluate and if you take good care with the other elements of the app like your essays, the application form, your resume and the recos, you can offset a below par GMAT score.

Also, while most aspirants look at the mean or median GMAT scores published by a school, one should also look at the range. So while the median GMAT score in Stanford class of 2014 is around 730, the lower end of the range is around 550. And since most schools display the GMAT score range of the middle 80% of the class only, the actual lowest score to make it to Stanford might be even lower than 550.

But this does not mean that one need not put in the hard work to maximize his or her GMAT score. Remember that each and every element of the full application package must be as strong as we can make it, while retaining full authenticity, because the competition is fierce. The things to remember are:

• One below par element of your application package (like the GMAT score) is not enough reason to give up hope.
• The more profitable view is to evaluate the overall strength of your own application and take that as one of the inputs, along with other inputs like your career goals etc., to choose the correct schools to apply to.

Components of your application - I

 

We would like to take up different parts of your MBA application, in a series of posts on this page, with some suggestions on how one can handle them to their advantage.

 

Let's start today with the Extra Curriculars Activities section.

 

This is one of the most neglected sections of many a resume and MBA applications, whereas it has the potential to become amongst the most important ones. Typically students populate this section with one liners like "Member - school football team", or "Helped organize the college tech fest XYZ", or "Interested in reading Science Fiction" or "Learning to play the violin for the last 4 years", etc. None of these is a bad entry in the sense that it adds some diversity to your profile, something most AdComms would like. And if you have multiple such entries in the extra-curriculars activities section of your resume, it might even be considered good as it gives you a multi-faceted, well rounded personality.

 

But what about "Is it good enough?" Or even, "Could it be better?" Or "Could it actually be good enough to make up for a weakness in some other part of my resume?" The answer to the latter 2 questions - a resounding "YES, it can".

 

To be continued...

Harvard Business School lobs a googly this year

Harvard Business School has lobbed a solid googly this year by asking for just one essay in the MBA App and that too an open ended one - without a specified word length. So how many stories should one write here? What should be the length of the essay? The essay topic is "You are applying to HBS, we can see your resume,school transcripts, extra curricular activities, awards, post MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?"

Well, according to us, from the wording of the essay topic it is clear that the AdComm wants to see something other than all the hard facts already presented in the application form, your resume and recos. A good strategy could be to bring out some of your soft skills which otherwise don't come out in your GPA or GMAT score. Use some events from your past - from your work-ex or your college days, even your family life or a vacation you took - which bring out such skills. Take care however that what you write must be clear, concise, compelling and authentic. And while it may be compelling to go into lengthy storytelling, remember that Quality always scores over Quantity in such cases. Try to keep it to within 600-750 words, though this would be very case dependant and could vary significantly. This could be one long story or several short ones but the story style must be brief. Also do not reach or claim more than what you actually did or you will lose authenticity. And finally, howsoever great it reads to you, be sure to get it reviewed by some outsider, someone who can give you an unbiased critique, and ask them if your essay conveys to them, what you started out to convey.