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Finance Pro’s IIM Shillong Interview Tale

Beyond Numbers: How This Finance Professional Navigated the IIM Shillong Interview

Candidate Profile

  • Background: Commerce graduate with a specialization in finance and accounting
  • Work Experience: 2 years in financial reporting and analysis at a mid-sized audit firm
  • Academics:
    • 10th Grade: 91%
    • 12th Grade: 93%
    • Undergraduate CGPA: 8.5

Interview Panel

  • Panel Composition: 2 Male Interviewers
  • Location: Virtual Interview

Interview Questions & Candidate's Approach

🔹 Icebreaker & General Questions

🔵 Panelist 1: What interests you about IIM Shillong? Why didn’t you apply for the PGP-Ex program instead?

📌 Tip: Clearly articulate why the regular PGP aligns with your career stage and goals. Emphasize factors like curriculum depth, peer learning, and placement opportunities.

🔹 Finance & Accounting Questions

🔵 Panelist 2: What schedules are present in the financial statements?

📌 Tip: Be ready to explain key schedules like depreciation, loans, fixed assets, contingent liabilities, and how they supplement the main statements.

🔵 Panelist 1: What is IRR? Can a project have multiple IRRs?

📌 Tip: Provide the formula and intuition behind IRR. Also explain scenarios like non-conventional cash flows where multiple IRRs can occur.

🔵 Panelist 2: What’s the difference between reserves and surplus?

📌 Tip: Clarify that reserves are appropriations of profit for specific purposes, while surplus is the balance of profits after appropriations.

🔵 Panelist 1: Can you differentiate between provisions and reserves?

📌 Tip: Highlight that provisions are for known liabilities with uncertain amounts, while reserves are retained earnings set aside without a present obligation.

🔵 Panelist 2: Name two key ratios used to evaluate banks.

📌 Tip: Mention ratios like CRAR (Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio) and NIM (Net Interest Margin), and be prepared to discuss their significance.

🔵 Panelist 1: Let’s talk about NPAs. What is their impact on a bank?

📌 Tip: Discuss the implications on profitability, capital adequacy, and provisioning requirements.

🔹 Current Affairs & Global Awareness

🔵 Panelist 2: What’s happening with Israel currently?

📌 Tip: Stay updated with ongoing geopolitical issues. Frame your response factually while avoiding political bias.

🔵 Panelist 1: What is NATO, and where does India stand with respect to NATO?

📌 Tip: Explain NATO’s origin and purpose, then clarify India’s non-member but cooperative stance.

🔵 Panelist 2: What caused the recent financial crisis in the UK?

📌 Tip: Link it to policy missteps (like the mini-budget in 2022), market reactions, and inflationary pressures.

🔵 Panelist 1: What’s the China-Taiwan crisis about?

📌 Tip: Briefly cover historical context, recent military tensions, and international implications.

🔹 Work Experience & Tech Application

🔵 Panelist 2: Have you used Power BI? Tell us how you applied it at work.

📌 Tip: Even basic exposure counts—describe dashboards you created, insights you derived, or data visualizations you worked with.

🔵 Panelist 1: Tell us about some challenges you’ve faced at work.

📌 Tip: Use the STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) format to showcase problem-solving and learning.

Key Takeaways for Aspirants

  • ✅ Be ready to justify your choice of program (PGP vs. PGP-Ex) with clarity.
  • ✅ Revise key finance concepts beyond textbooks—think application-oriented questions.
  • ✅ Stay abreast of major global events and be able to connect them to business or policy impacts.
  • ✅ Technical knowledge like Power BI can be a bonus—mention practical use cases.
  • ✅ Maintain composure even as the discussion jumps across diverse topics.
📢 Disclaimer: Real Stories, Modified for Privacy
🔍 The above interview experience is based on real candidate interactions collected from various sources. To ensure privacy, some details such as location, industry specifics, and numerical figures have been altered. However, the core questions and insights remain authentic. These stories are intended for educational purposes and do not claim to represent official views of any institution. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
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