Grilled, Interrupted, and Still Composed: A GEM Candidate’s Tough IIM Ahmedabad Interview
Candidate Profile
- Background: Electronics and Communication Engineering graduate from a reputed Telangana-based college
- Work Experience: 9 months in a digital product firm
- Academics:
- 10th Grade: 10 CGPA
- 12th Grade: 96.8%
- Undergraduate CGPA: 9.06
- CAT Percentile: 99.97
- Category: General Engineering Male (GEM)
- Location: Hyderabad
Interview Panel
- Panel Composition: Prof. Anindya Chakrabarti (P1), Prof. Diptesh Ghosh (P2)
- Duration: ~30 minutes
- Format: In-person
- Tone: Highly intense and challenging, with multiple interruptions and critical probing
Analytical Writing Test (AWT)
- Topic: A new joinee at an MNC is skeptical about offering flexible work options to employees who are caregivers, fearing it makes them appear unfocused.
- Task: Argue against this belief while also examining any supporting evidence.
📌 Tip: When given limited space, clarity is king. Focus on logical structure, societal impact, and data-backed reasoning (e.g., studies on flexible work improving productivity and retention).
Interview Questions & Candidate’s Approach
🔄 Recent Activities & Niche Interests
🔵 P2: What have you been doing since your last job?
📌 Tip: Address career gaps or learning phases with clarity—mention courses, upskilling, or side projects.
🔵 P2: What is gamification? Where should it NOT be used?
📌 Tip: Be cautious with blanket claims. Avoid moral gray zones unless you're confident. Here, deeper critical reasoning was demanded, and the panel challenged every assertion.
📦 Business Reasoning & Start-up Insight
🔵 P1: Amazon is losing good sellers—what should it do?
📌 Tip: Don’t jump to conclusions. Explore incentives, platform stickiness, competition, and trust as themes.
🔵 P2: Compare Amazon and Urban Company—5-year goals?
📌 Tip: Don’t just predict trends. Talk business models, scalability, customer experience, and tech integration.
📐 Mathematics & Logical Puzzles
🔵 P2: Favorite math topic? Real-life application of combinatorics?
📌 Tip: Have 2–3 examples ready—like probability trees in games, route optimization, or event scheduling.
🔵 P1: Why can’t computers fully solve chess yet?
📌 Tip: Tie in complexity theory, computation limits, and game tree depth. Show analytical reasoning.
🔵 P1: 4×4 Grid Puzzle – Number of ways to reach the diagonal opposite point using only vertical/horizontal moves.
📌 Tip: Practice such logical puzzles—dynamic programming, path counting, and combinatorial logic are often tested.
Panel Dynamics & Candidate Experience
- Repeated interruptions and reframing of questions
- Professors questioning the relevance or quality of examples
- Few direct questions on resume, goals, or work-ex
- Several intellectual challenges and problem-solving tasks
📌 Tip: Stay grounded. Not all interviews are “fair” in tone—what matters is maintaining composure under pressure.
Key Takeaways for Future Candidates
- ✅ Don’t expect the panel to follow your resume script—be ready for curveballs.
- ✅ When challenged, respond calmly—tone matters more than the answer sometimes.
- ✅ Gamification, platform economics, and combinatorics—if mentioned, must be mastered.
- ✅ Panelist dissatisfaction is not always a reflection of performance—stay poised.
- ✅ Humbling experiences are part of the process—reflect and move forward stronger.
📢 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.
🔍 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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