IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience: From Machine Learning to Football – How This IITian Handled a Unique Interview

Candidate Profile

• Background: Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT
• Work Experience: Fresher
• Academics:
  • 10th Grade: 96.2%
  • 12th Grade: 90.6%
  • Graduation: 80.6%
• AWT Topic: Analyzing the use of multiple calendars based on varying definitions of a day
• Location: Pune
• Date: 27th February 2022
• Note: Minor adjustments made for privacy while preserving key details.

Interview Panel

• Panel Composition: 2 Members
  • P1: Male, ~45 years
  • P2: Female, ~30 years
• Panel Number: 5
• Interview Duration: 15 minutes
• Interview Nature: Relaxed, profile-driven with a focus on technical knowledge, hobbies, and current affairs.

Interview Questions & Candidate's Approach

1. Icebreaker & Background Questions

🔵 P1: Where do you reside? Did you travel to Pune?

🔵 P1: Have you completed graduation? What are you doing currently?

🔵 P1: Why did you choose Mechanical Engineering?

2. Hobbies – Football Tactics

🔵 P1: What are your hobbies? (Candidate mentioned football)

🔵 P1: Explain different football formations.

🔵 P1: Why is the 4-3-3 formation commonly used?

3. Technical & Analytical Questions – Final Year Project & Data Science

🔵 P1: Describe your final year project involving machine learning for tool wear prediction.

🔵 P1: What assumptions did your model make?

🔵 P1: How many input parameters were used?

🔵 P1: How did you validate your model?

🔵 P1: Which data analytics roles did you apply for in placements?

🔵 P1: Do companies like Reliance, Adani, McKinsey, Deloitte offer such roles?

4. Data Science Concepts (P2's Segment)

🔵 P2: Explain training, test, and validation sets. How is a validation set different from a test set?

🔵 P2: What is a false positive and false negative? Give examples.

🔵 P2: What is a confusion matrix?

🔵 P2: In which case should the penalty be higher—false positive or false negative?

🔵 P2: Explain Support Vector Machine (SVM) to an 8-year-old.

5. General Awareness & Current Affairs

🔵 P2: Name two IIM Ahmedabad alumni.

🔵 P2: Who played in the FIFA World Cup 2018 final? Who was Man of the Match?

🔵 P2: Give two pros and cons of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

🔵 P2: Is India’s neutral stance justified? What should have been India’s response?

Key Takeaways for Aspirants

• ✅ If your project involves trending fields like machine learning, expect in-depth technical questions.
• ✅ Know your hobbies well—surface-level answers won’t suffice if the panel dives deep.
• ✅ Be prepared to explain technical concepts in layman’s terms—it shows true understanding.
• ✅ Stay aware of global current affairs, especially conflicts and India’s diplomatic stance.
• ✅ Even in a relaxed interview, composure during unexpected or tricky questions (like SVM explanation) leaves a positive impression.