IIFT Call Getters: A Guide to the IIFT Interview form.
Those who have cleared the first round of IIFT are now left with another ardent task. A mammoth form awaits them. And here I am with my list of suggestions which you can keep in mind while filling the form.
- This form is purposefully given so that the interviewers can know about you. Fill up the form keeping in mind the fact that they will question you on the basis of this form.
- Filling up this form would require serious introspection. Actually this serious introspection will also prepare you for many interviews which you will be facing ahead.
- To begin with, I suggest you to write your biographical sketch. Write whatever you have done in past 6-7 years with the logic behind each decision you took. Recall every good and bad moment and narrate it with the learning. Elaborate for yourself.
- Be honest. That is the best policy. The people perusing your form are veterans and they will easily find a cooked story.
- We all have stories; it is just that we have never tried to relate them to find something about ourselves. Now you have to do it. If not for IIFT then you would have to do it for some other college (Wait there are quite a few mammoth forms which await you)
Q 1. What are your career objectives?
Short/Mid Term (5 years): Talk more about what you want to learn and how do you wish to add value to the college and then the company you join. This period is usually about honing the existing skills and discovering new ones.
Long Term (15 years): That is the ultimate goal. Yes, at this stage you might not be having a clear idea about it. So, best thing is to envision yourself as a leader in your chosen area (Some people want to be entrepreneur, some CEO, some writers and some event managers). Yes, you should have some idea about your area of interest. It is NOT NECESSARY to write that you want to contribute to the society. If you want please write but it is not a compulsion. This is a myth which many carry that in the long term one has to have objective of contributing to the society. Remember to be honest!!
To answer this question, start with your long term goal and from it derive you short term goal.
Q2 . Name one person who has inspired you to pursue a career in Business Management, and in what way?
The person need not be a known business figure like Ratan Tata or NRN. The person could be anyone – your father, your aunt or your sister. You need to tell how he/she has inspired you. Do not talk about money and lifestyle – not because they are sin but simply because they are never the right reason to pursue- but talk about the value addition that business management has to offer. If you are working then you can also pick your boss or someone from your organization who has done MBA as an example and the state how his perspective and thinking is different from others. And if you don’t know anyone who has done MBA even then you can narrate obstacles which a Non- MBA faces in the workplace, you can surely take help of your acquaintances working somewhere to know more about such obstacles.
Q3. What do you like to do in your leisure time?
DO NOT COOK up hobby. A big myth about hobby is that it has to sound intelligent – like reading book, painting or writing. Watching cartoon network or cooking is as good a hobby as reading book. Again be honest. KNOW about your hobby. You are not suppose to be expert but some degree of awareness is advantageous.
Q 4. Describe an incident in your life that has changed your perspective/outlook towards life.
It is not necessary to narrate a sad incident at all. In fact such incidents are less appealing. I think one can also describe a happy incident which was life changing in a way – like a book or a movie which changed your perspective. Incidents like falling ill before an exam or loss of near and dear one are great teachers but then they are everybody’s incidents. Sound vibrant and positive while answering such questions
Q5. Describe two instances where you have been able to demonstrate leadership and team building skills.
Again sound positive, there was a challenge, you took the challenge voluntarily and you overcame it. Many of us cannot even remember one instance to mention. I think if you probe, you will definitely find two, this is where your biographical sketch will come to rescue. Managing event, class captaincy, working in a team at workplace or at college for a project, playing any team sports – I am sure each of us has done a few things. Remember, that while narrating the instances DO NOT FORGET to highlight your qualities. It should not only be a story but a story with adjectives and verbs.
Q6 (a). Specify one thing about yourself that you are proud of.
Talk about your strength and support it with a real story or an achievement. Remember that when you are illustrating your strength it should sound like a strength.
Q6 (b). What are you most often criticized for?
Talk about your weakness. The weakness should sound like a weakness and not like a strength under the cover of a weakness. Be honest, be humble. Each of us has some weakness, even the interviewer has, so do not hesitate to be frank. Yes, but DO NOT FORGET to mention what you are doing to overcome the weakness.
Q7. According to you, have the values of your generation changed when compared to those of your parents’ generation? Is this change good or bad?
This is purely your opinion. However, I suggest thinking about the positive and negative changes as you see them and substantiate with the help of examples.
Q8. Do you consider ethics to be a limiting factor in doing business?
No Never. Ethics is always an enabler which guides one’s way. Talk about the long term impact of being ethical. You can use real life examples to drive your point.
Q9. Any other information that you have not pointed out before and that you consider may be relevant for the Interview Board.
Please do not leave it blank. If not anything then mention your strengths and values.
All the best
Siddharth Mehta
Career Launcher, Bhilai
About Siddharth:
Siddharth is an avid reader and a fitness freak. From running a marathon to writing blogs, Siddharth is someone keen to explore his new talents. His passion for teaching can be felt in his positively charged classes and his informal interactions with his students to whom he is a mentor and a motivator.
Siddharth is an XLRI alumnus.
Sir, I have a cat percentile of 97.25 (VA-93.81 LR-99.01 QA-91.23), Nmat score of 217(97 percentile), IIFT score of 38.71 (VA-6.7 RC-12.01 QA-7.02 LR-10.02 DI-2 GA-0.96 Percentile- 97.43) and my profile is:
Class Xth 10CGPA
Class XIIth 88.2%
Graduation B.tech information Technology- 74.98%
I have been shortlisted by iim kozhikode(awaiting final pi list). Please suggest which college/colleges should I target.
Congratulations on your great performance in all the exams! Your order of preference (if you convert your calls) should be: IIFT/IIM K and then NMIMS. All of them are great schools. All the best and do let us know how you fared!
Sir,
According to score calculator of various institutes including CL , my score is 54-55 in IIFT 2017-19. How much percentile should i expect at this score? Also, i wish to join cl’s pdp programme. I live in delhi. Which course will you advise?
Dear Sir,
I am a fresher engineer with good acads ( 94.4 in x and 93.75 in xii and 8.2 in grad) .. and an active interest in finance. This year I converted NMIMS, IIFT Kolkata and XLRI HRM. all of which I have left , except IIFT.
However, seeing I did quite good in the other exams besides CAT, I really am torn btween joining this year in IIFT Kolkata or working in Ericsson for now, and trying for a premeire IIM over the next two years. or maybe even GMAT .
I am really torn between the two and some guidance would be highly appreciated. Also, what I was wondering is , how are the finance opportunities from IIFT Kolkata as a fresher Engineer? , and If I do drop , would I be letting go any advantage that being a fresher brings ?
Thank s in advance.
Pranamit, you have some decent converts in your hand, you should join a B-school this year itself. Since you have left other options, IIFT Kolkata is also a good option. It is among the best B-schools. There will be ample of growth opportunities for you at IIFT. It is one of the premier B-school for finance.
sir my iift score was 47.3.i am a nc obc.my wat and gd went decent .interview was also good.they asked some question about my long term goal.wat is my of final convert?
Pratik, it is tough to predict. It would be better if you could send your interview experience at support@careerlauncher.com
Sir I got a score of 47.9 in IIFT, missed out the cut-off by 0.6 marks.
Should I be expecting a second list?
Kamesh, if there is a second list, then it is possible.
Sir my overall is 96.16. but verbal is 78%. other sections are>96. Which all colleges can i try
SANOOF, most of the colleges in the range of overall percentile between 85 – 90 do not consider sectional percentiles. Please refer to the article Application Time to search for some institutes
Hello!
I filled out the form without reading this piece, but thankfully I have followed nearly every point you’ve mentioned while writing it up. Only in the last point, have I faltered, ie I left the question unanswered. Any problem that might occur due to this?
Abhishek, no there is no problem in leaving the “any other information” question blank. Hope you have started preparing for IIFT interview and GD.
Sir got 37.79 in IIFT.. SC category… got call. I had decent WAT, very good GD and average PI. What is the possibility of converting the call?
CATAspirant, this is a function of your performance in the personality assessment process but based on your test score you have a good chance of making it to the final list.
GP sir…I have got an interview call from IIFT.
I have one personal query.may I have your email id ?
Sir,
I got 97.33 in CAT with 95.xx in QA/DI and 96.xx in VA/LR
10th: 89.40
12th: 67.20
Grad: 70.50
Work ex: 20 months till date.
General, Engineer, Male.
What all calls can I expect (from IIMs) and in which do I have realistic chances of converting calls (seeing the trends ofcourse).
Regards,
Abhinav
Abhinav, You have a chance to get calls from new IIMs.
Hi Sir,
What all needs to be prepared for the interview process IIM’s and other colleges like xlri , fms , spjain.
Thanks
Sugandha, will post an article on this in a few days.
Hi Gp sir,
Can you please tell me how is SIMC. I am really interested in making career in communication part. I am trying for MICA as well,
Currently working in IT firm with 3.35 lac PA.
How is the placements scenarios. Please reply.
Sudhanshu, while MICA is very good, SIMC Pune is at best a back up option for someone with your work experience. A better option will be to go for marketing specialisation in any good MBA institute.
So Sir, Can i go ahead and apply for SIMC.
Can you please tell me the average packages students are getting in the college.
Sir, Please reply. Decision rely on your reply on sir 🙂
Hello GP Sir
I got an Overall %tile of 97.79 in CAT . Got the second round call from IIFT as well . I am a CL test series student . Can I expect calls from new IIM’s ? Please suggest which other colleges should I apply for . Awaiting your response Sir .
Vipin, yes you should get calls from new IIMs and hopefully from a couple of old ones also.
For colleges that you can apply to, please refer to the post Cutoffs of CAT allied institutes
Sir, what is the placement of NIBM pune like?? Is it better than bimtech noida??
Sanket, it has decent placements and should be considered favourably. IT can be considered at par with BIMTECH.
Sir I got 18.5 in XAT ( VA – 5.5, DM – 7.25, QA – 5.75)
I also have 87.5 %ile in CAT (QA = 91.8 but VA = 72.39) and I am from OBC category
with 90.5% in 10th 91% in 12th and 82.2% in graduation.
Is it possible for me to get any good reputed college this year?
Naveen, calls from decent colleges are unlikely at your XAT score.
Please refer to the post Cutoffs of CAT allied institutes for information on the institute cutoffs.
Hello sir,
I have scored an overall percentile of 94.83 (general) in CAT with VA- 97.17 and QA- 86.73.
I’m an Economics(Hons) student with grad percentage 78.2% , X – 91.2% and XII – 90.4%.
What institutes do you think I can expect a call from.
Regards
Gaurika, XIMB, IMTG, MFC, IMI, TAPMI, BIM Trichy etc are all possible for you.
GP sir
BIMTECH Noida for MBA or Bank PO. Which one is better for a good career?
Nagesh, my preference is for Bank PO.
sir, why so? I rely on your advice. Please guide me.
Nagesh, 2 years of BIMTECH will cost you about Rs 15 lak and give a job with a n average salary of 5-5.5 lakh pa. Bank PO will provide similar (or better) salary and after working for a couple of years you can try again for MBA from a higher ranked institute or even consider ISB Hyderabad.
Sir I am in confusion because according to BIMTECH website their average salary package is 6.75 lakhs and for top 1/3rd I expect it to be in the range of 8-9 lakhs considering large batch size of 300 students.
Your take on this?
Nagesh, as per my data the average salary is slightly lower. To me BIMTECH should be considered as a baack up option in case you are unable to get a better institute.
My query is regarding admission into IMT Ghaziabad.
Current profile: 92.26% (VA 67, QA 96)
X: 95.60
XII: 87.67
B.tech: 81.96
No work ex, General.
My doubt is that I also gave CMAT in September 2014 and got 98% in it and had given my CMAT roll number also while registering for IMT. But now I came to know that CMAT score is considered only for IMT Nagpur and Hyderabad campus and i do not wish to go there. Now since my CMAT score is better than my CAT score and according to their policy IMT considers the best of both scores, I am hesitant to fill in my CMAT marks as I fear that I may be only called for Nagpur and Hyderabad campus.
So, can I leave the CMAT marks fields blank? So that in case I get any call, that would be only on the basis of my CAT score and hence I have a shot at IMT G.??
Sarthak, ye you can leave your CMAT score blank. Even if you fill it up it will be considered only for Nagpur/Hyderabad and CAT score will be considered for Ghaziabad.
Sir OA 97.84
Xth 85.6
XIIth 89.4
B tech 68
No work experience
General male
Any IIm callls? Which all IIT should i apply?
Will the score be enough for msc finance JBIMS?
Also will they ask graduation related questions in PI?
Alfin, new IIMs and possibly a couple of old are possible.
Please refer to the post Cutoffs of CAT allied institutes for information on the institute cutoffs.
JBIMS MSc Finance should be around 95%ile.
Graduation subjects will be asked in the interview.
Sir,
I joined tcs in October 14 . My training has ended.I am simultaneously preparing for CAT 15. Honestly, I am fed up with IT company job. And I don’t want it to ruin my MBA. Will it be a wise decision if I resign from my job within a month. The thing that is forcing me is that I am away from my home, and I am not getting that comfort level to study away from home. Please guide me. Really frustrated
Hello sir,
I got oa- 92.46(obc)
Va-77
Qa-95
Can I expect any calls from IIMs? And will it be possible to convert at this score? Please help sir need your guidance. My profile is
10th- 91.8%
12th- 93.4%
Grad(btech)-82.9%
Smriti, You should get calls from New IIMs. Even IIM K/I are possible. And your chance of converting is good provided you do well in the next round.
SIR, i am in a little problem .. i am having a re appear in one of the subjects and the exam for that subject would be in late feb ..i m a 2014 pass out .. and have scored 92 percentile in cat .. would there be any problem during the gd pi session if i am unable to show them my graduation certificates.. provided i assure them that i ll provide all the cerficates by the time of admission ..plzzz help sir …
BT MY OVERALL PERCENTAGE IN GRADUATION IS 60
Mayur, Usually the colleges do not check certificates at the time of interview. Relax.
This post would be have been helpful had it been posted much earlier. By now most of the students would have already couriered the forms, the last day being 5th January 2015.
Khaleel, yes you are right, a few technical issues delayed the process.