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CoolAvenue's Interview with:
Deepak Chembath
Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad

1. General Questions
2. Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation
3. Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise
4. Interview-related Questions
5. After Joining MBA

4. Interview-related Questions

Q. Date and location of Interview. Were you given the option to choose? Was the interview date fixed or rescheduled couple of times?
A. December 27th, 2006. Location: Chennai. It was just a week after I returned from USA.

Q. Can you tell us about the panel that interviewed you?
A. There were two members in the panel. Mr. Amitesh Gir, Manager, Admissions and Mr. Ranga Rao, Director, Admissions. Amitesh did most of the questioning while Ranga was playing the observer role.

Q. How long was your interview?
A. The interview lasted about 30 minutes.

Q. What was the first question? The most interesting question? The most difficult question?
A. First question: So Deepak, you have a rich experience working overseas. What is the difference between an American vs. Indian employee?
Most Interesting question: What is the difference between Salsa and Indian Dance Forms?
Most difficult question: List two non-professional goals you have.

Q. How did you prepare for the interview? While facing the panel, were you confident, did you feel prepared?
A. I had prepared a laundry list of probable personal and professional questions and had mentally thought a lot about my answers. So I was extremely confident during the interview.

Q. Was any feedback given to you? What feedback did you receive from the panel at the end of session?
A. Throughout the interview, the panel displayed a very disinterested look. Post-interview, I was confused and felt that they were not interested in me.

Q. Did work experience help in getting the choice of your school and also in dealing with the curriculum?
A. I think my professional experience helped me carve out very good essays and the experience is also helping me handle the pressures at ISB reasonably well.

Q. Getting into and sailing through a B-school is easier for a Science Graduate than for someone from Humanities background. Your comments please.
A. Getting into ISB is becoming a very major challenge for Engineering / Science graduates. ISB stresses on diversity, and if we look at the last decade, takers for Humanities courses reduced a great deal, and today, those students who went for Humanities have an edge in terms of diversity in their profiles.

Q. Will an MBA degree add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career in management?
A. I’m looking at career advancement to IT Consulting, a lateral movement from IT Services / Project Management.

Q. Why did you decide to do MBA from this school?
A. It was a two-pronged approach. My long-term goals are to settle down in India, and the faculty and exposure one gets at ISB is simply incredible.

Q. Were you able to get the school of your choice or did you compromise and opted for the best option that was open/available for you?
A. My first preference was INSEAD. But due to the fact that I’m an Indian / IT / Male, I got a ding from there. ISB was my second option and am happy to have made it.

Contd.   5. After Joining MBA