Your Introduction

The interview generally commences with you being asked to introduce yourself. The manner in which you do this is quite crucial-it is the first window that the Interview panel has into you. Some studies have shown that many panels form an opinion of the candidate in just a few minutes (or even seconds), so first impressions are vital.

How can you do a good job in introducing yourself? Keep in mind the following:

• Aim to do more than just repeat the details you have filled in the form (that you may have been given earlier) and the panel now already has with them.
• Highlight your achievements and unique qualities.
• While not too lengthy, your introduction must not be too short either: the panel must not feel that you have nothing noteworthy to say about yourself.
• Try and structure your introduction. For example, you can first talk about your family background, then academics, then hobbies and interests etc-don’t mix them all up.

I suggest that you write down the major points of what you propose to state in your Introduction. Try and make it of interest to the panel.

Academics

Candidates should revise their Academics. The fundamentals/ basics of the subjects you have studied during your graduation and their applications could be asked.

With the benefit of experience, I have seen that often candidates are asked to specify their favourite subjects and are asked questions on these. So think about which subjects you are ready to answer questions on!

Think about the practical applications of all that you have learnt. This is particularly important for students from an Economics/ Commerce background, who could be asked about latest developments from the world of business and how these relate to the subjects that they have studied.

Work Experience

Besides just asking about your role in the company where you work, the panel could probe candidates on the following aspects:

• You should know your firm’s major competitors, its strategy; and about the industry in which it operates.
• You could be asked about how recent major developments in the sector where you work may impact your company
• Be ready to be able to express your opinion about the future possibilities/ outlook for your industry.

In addition, I suggest that you remain aware of some basic facts and figures about your company and the industry in which it operates.

General Awareness/ Business Awareness related questions

It is strongly suggested to read a newspaper every day. It may not be enough to pick up the newspaper only on weekends or only twice or thrice a week/ or merely glance through the headlines-you will struggle to grasp what you read.

For example, if you were reading about the Satyam fraud, which was covered in every newspaper almost every day for 2-3 weeks, it may be difficult to pick up what exactly is happening without knowing the genesis of the issue, when the story first broke.

Besides a newspaper, a good ‘general news’ magazine with a sufficient level of detail (such as ‘Frontline’) may be useful.

Career Goals

I suggest that you think about these-don’t just mug up and repeat some answer that appears good.

For answering this, I suggest you read a little about the MBA course. Why are you interested in pursuing these subjects?  In your answer, you could talk about the subjects that you are interested in or the methodology-the use of Case Studies, ‘live projects’ with companies, the summer placement experience, interactions with people working in the corporate sector through guest lectures etc.

Hobbies/ Interests

Be genuine: do not invent hobbies! I also suggest that you read a little about your hobby or interest area.

Next, keep track of the latest important developments in your area of interest. It could be a change of rules in a sport, for example. Or some Indian doing well at the world stage etc.

Your traits/ strengths and weaknesses

Once again, be genuine about these. Be ready to be asked to substantiate what you say with examples: when did you demonstrate this strength? For weaknesses, you could also speak about how you are trying to address this.

Candidates need to be careful here about mentioned a weakness that could prove to be a serious impediment to their selection.

-SIDHARTH BALAKRISHNA

The author, an MBA from IIM Calcutta, has been involved in MBA coaching for over five years. He is an English and GD-PI expert at MBAGuru, India’s fastest growing CAT coaching institute. He has also written the best-selling ‘An Introduction to CAT-Tips from an IIM Alumnus’ published by Pearson Education. He can be contacted at bsiddharth_2001@yahoo.co.in

Link to his book: http://www.pearsoned.co.in/web/books/9788131729694-Introduction-to-CAT-Tips-from-an-IIM-Alumnus.aspx