IIM Lucknow (2012-2014) Interview Experience
So, finally I have decided to give a detailed account of my interviews with my answers, hopefully it will help a few and also help me remember what happened on these days.....
So, to start with, here I give my account of the IIM Lucknow interview :
Venue: Bangalore
All of us were divided into groups of 10, for the WAT (written ability test or the essay writing) and GD
It was announced that the essay would be for 15 mins. And then the GD on the same topic for 13.5 minutes (whatever that means J )
The topic was : “Inflation is as violent as a bugger, as threatening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hitman.”
I tried explaining the three aspects as given in the topic, e.g. the robber robs you of money by taking it away.. Inflation robs you by reducing the value of money with you.. etc.
The GD was a very peaceful one, as we tried to stick to the topic and not start giving some useless statistics (which happened with another group)... it was a nice discussion where everyone had something to add.
Then came the interview time, I was 7th to be interviewed in my panel, but it didn’t take that long.
There were 2 panellists, one old, the other younger than him, let me call them the Older professor (OP) and the one younger than him, (YP)
YP: Please take your seat (Also takes my mark sheets and certificate folders)
OP: So, Ankit, you have written your religion as Hinduism...why so?.. the others have written it as Hindu.
Me: Sir, Hinduism is the religion, I am a Hindu, but my religion is Hinduism.
OP: Where did the word Hindu come from?
Me: Sir, people living across the Sindhu river( also known as Indus) were called Hindus.
OP: But who gave this word?
Me : Don’t know Sir (actually the arabs gave it)
YP: So you are from Lucknow, what does your father do...and the others in the family?
Me: told
YP: So IIT Guwahati, nice... arrey very low grades (6.82/10) J ...why?
Me: Sir , I was involved in a lots of extra-curricular activities ..
YP: But that is EXTRA curriculars, after curriculars, so it means you can’t manage time properly?
Me: Sir, I did realise my mistake, as you can see in the final year I have got more than 8s in both sems
YP: Final year has projects too, I know :D ....So.what activities were you involved in?
Me: Sir, I agree it was a mistake on my part,I have realised it and have tried correcting myself in all ways possible. As far as extra-curriculars is concerned, I was so passionate about my sports, that I almost didn’t give anything as much importance in my life at that point of time .
OP: Did you achieve anything in sports, what sports were you involved in?
Me: Sir, i was involved in weightlifting, I built the college team from scratch which is a strong team today at the Inter-IIT level. I also won gold at state level and was in the state team for North-east games.
OP: That’s nice.... J
YP: Inter-IIT ?....how many IITs are there?
Me: Sir 15 ( if another didn’t come up yesterday J)
YP: Arrey, awesome %ile(99.99)... must be having all calls?
Me: No sir, A and C apart from L
YP: Why??...may be because of your college CPI,,,, see I told its important (smiling) J
YP: So you work in HAL?...why HAL?
Me: why HAL as in?
OP: Like did you have any other offer?
Me: Yes Sir, I had for TCE, I chose HAL because of the varied experience which I was going to get here, I get to design a component, see it manufactured, installed on an aircraft, used by the pilot and then a feedback from the pilot, so even if I am involved in only the design , i get to see the whole process....which provides for immense learning.
OP: But you have got the feedback and stuffs at TATA too...
Me: Sir added to all this, the salary was also a bit higher for HAL...and the fact that working with Fighter aircrafts is an experience in itself, i get to see the jaguars and the Mirages everyday, I learn so much by just looking at their designs.
YP: So, why is Tejas project taking so much time
Me: Sir, we should appreciate the fact that though the project is running very late but projects for design and development of fighter aircrafts do take a long time for even the successful organisations...more so in case of Tejas, the things like the sanctions imposed after the nuclear tests have contributed immensely in the project getting late....
YP: Which engine are we using currently for Tejas?
Me: Sir, currently the GE made engine is being used..
YP: Ohh.. the Kaveri engine is still not in use?
Me: No Sir, It has not been able to satisfy all the required parameters.
YP: Why are we lacking so much in these technologies..
Me: Sir Kaveri is being developed by GTRE, so I can’t comment, but we should understand that developing the first jet engine is a big milestone... once we have achieved that..the path ahead would be much easier..
YP: But still, where do you think we are lacking?
Me: I can comment on HAL and the inefficiencies I find here...(told about the under utilisation of the talent available... merit based on years and not performance, the managers are not managers....etc.... a long discussion..more than questions answer session)
YP: To OP, Sir would you like to ask something
OP: So you have done mechanical engineering, what are your favourite subjects in it?
Me: Sir thermodynamics, also I get to use a lot of SOM in my work.
OP: SOM....ok (........sanattaaaa..... J)
Me: Sir I really liked the course on Collaborative Design, in the final year.
OP: What did u learn in it...what’s special about it?
Me: I got to know the steps involved in designing anything...also there was hardly any theory in the course... all was learnt by doing..we were divided into groups and worked on assignments where we learnt the concepts of the course....(some gyan sharing after that J )
YP: So , Ankit it was nice talking to you, all the best for your future, you may leave J
Me: Thank you Sirs
J J
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