My interview experience at NMIMS, Mumbai – Pritam Mukherjee

NMAT – 208, MBA Core Merit Rank – 56, MBA HR Merit Rank – 71

MBA Core

3 panel members. P1- Prof (lady) aged about 35. P2- Alumni aged about 35. P3- Prof aged above 60. Most of the questions were asked by P2. Only two questions by P1 and no word was uttered by P3 (he just observed). Don’t feel disturbed by that. It is very common.

P2 -Quickly introduce yourself in 30 seconds. – I went ahead with the prepared response. Highlighting the main points. It is not possible for them to remember every detail especially when I was the last to be interviewed that day. So, I concentrated more on my job. Since I am from a non IT background, I was sure that whatever I would be saying would be new to their ears.

P2 – What exactly you do in your job?- Explained what all I did. Made it sound interesting to them. Whatever you say, make sure you can defend it.

P2 – Why suddenly you plan to do MBA? – In short, it was the question of Why MBA. Well, again presented a prepared answer. But, ensure that whenever you answer this you must relate it to your life happenings. The answer should not be just something like better career opportunities, better pay, more responsibilities etc. It is so because every individual would say the same and they want to hear something new, something interesting. They want YOUR STORY.

P2 – He asked 2 Technical questions on Civil Engineering (something related to my job) – I answered both correctly. Even if you can’t, it is not a problem, just don’t give incorrect answers. Just say that you don’t recollect them at this moment.

P2 -What do u want to specialize in? – I said Marketing.

P2- Why? – Another prepared answer from my side. In my answer, I mentioned about my liking for dealing with people since I prefer B2B sales and marketing.

A roar of laughter from P2 as if I just broke the most hilarious joke of all time. Well, I was convinced with my answer and so I was OK. This is a strategy applied by panelists to check whether you get tensed and whether you can handle pressure.

P2 asks P1 whether she wants to ask any question

P1- Which place do you belong to? –Kolkata.

P1 – What is Amar Sonar Bangla? – I answered it, though it was not very perfect, but I was confident with my answer.

After this, P1 says that she is done with the questions.

P2- Do you want to tell us something about yourself. – This is the killer question. This is like you are having a free hit in a cricket match. You can’t go wrong. In fact you can’t afford to. I told them some of the best things about me. Well, something about me which I was sure that they have never heard of from other candidates. Don’t bore them by saying how good a student you are or what great things you achieved at your workplace. In short, play the best shot of your life.

P2 asks P3 whether he wants to ask any question and P3 answers negatively.

End of MBA Core interview – Total 15 minutes

(Do read the last line at the bottom)

MBA HR

2 panel members. Both ladies. P1- Prof aged about 35. P2- An Alumni aged about 30. All the questions were asked by P1. P2 just observed.

P2 – You come from which university? – This question was asked since I wrote Deemed University in the form, instead of NIT. Well, honestly, being from IIT, NIT, SRCC etc. always helps. Having said so, don’t worry if you are not from them. This is definitely a first impression but again, NMIMS asks its panelists not to judge a student in the first 5 minutes (insider info). Thus, your grad school is not the make or break thing. I have seen students from IITs getting rejected too.

P2 – Tell us about your work profile. – Repeated the prepared answer. Just make it sound interesting.
P2 – Why HR after working as an Engineer for 3 years? – Another prepared answer. I linked it to the office culture about employee benefits, layoffs, training etc.

P2 – What would u have done in that situation? (Referring to the layoff situation I explained in my company) – Answered it in the way I felt perfect

P2 – Did you apply for MBA Core? – Yes

P2 – What is your preferred specialization in it? – Marketing

P2 – What is your first preference, Marketing or HR? – Marketing. I was honest in saying this. Well, being a person with work ex, I needed to be seen as a person who can distinguish between core and HR and so a confused answer like I haven’t thought about it etc. wouldn’t have helped. Again, lying is something which normally don’t work if you are not good at it. You may get caught.

P2 – In case you convert marketing at a good but lower level school than NM, what will you choose? – Now, this was tricky. This question mean I am already been selected, but they need to ensure that I don’t waste the seat. – I said that this is something about which I have still not thought since it is a difficult question to answer at this moment. I would prefer not to count the eggs before they hatch. Well, a diplomatic answer though.
P2 – Any questions for us? I just asked one question that what the students normally do apart from academics. P2 answered it very nicely.

P2- Any more questions? – No

End of MBA HR interview – Total 13 minutes

Important – One thing I strongly believe is – All of us have a distinct profile. Present your profile to the panelists as a STORY. No matter what is your age, everyone loves an interesting story. They are interviewing multiple candidates on a single day, many of them are from top institutes with 90 % marks, and thus your good academic career hardly matters to them unless you are someone different. Extra Curriculars help, but, again, present it as a story. Don’t make it boring and don’t put in too much information. Present 1-2 scenarios and go deeper into them. At the end, ensure that they must remember you because of a story. Everyone Love Stories.  🙂

All the Best!!  :good:

Tags: interview nmat NMIMS pi