My PI experience in IIM Lucknow(25th Feb 2011)

Essay : Religion is the only way to attain Spirituality
Topic:
Number of Ppl present 7
Time: 15 mins
Brief Snapshot of the attempt:
GD Time given : 10.5 mins
Was a good GD. Entered twice. Good group. no fish market Everyone helping everyone else.
Rate your preparation(0-5):3
Rate your performance(0-5):3

PI:

Me: Good Evening Sir.

P1: Can i Have your documents please.
Me: Here they are sir.

P2: So jaydev, Please tell me something about your academics from School.
Me: I was in R C Patel School in Borivali and completed my SSC in the year 2001.

P1: You stay in Borivali?
Me: Yes sir. Then i joined a diploma course in S B M Polytechnic. It was a 4 yrs course with a one year internship integrated in the same.

P2: Why did it take 4 yrs for your 12th?
Me: Sir, as i told i did not go for 12th but did a 4 yr Diploma course in Digital Electronics from S B M Polytechnic in Vile Parle which is equivalent to 12th. On the completion of the course i got admission in K J Somaiya COE.

P1: Was it because you did the diploma? I mean there are several colleges which give you admission in the Degree course if you've done the diploma from the same right?
Me: No sir, we have a centralised procedure for admission where after the completion of the diploma one needs to apply for admission in the Degree colleges. Based on the score one has in the Diploma, they get admission to the concerned colleges. I got my admission in K J Somaiya COE through this process. I completed my Graduation in the year 2008 and have been working with TCS since then.

P2: So it was 3 yrs?
Me: No i have been with TCS for 2 yrs and 3 months as of now.

P2: No, I am asking about the degree course.
Me: Yes sir, after completing the diploma, we get a direct admission into the 2nd year of engineering.

P2: Its mathematics that you'll lose out on right?
Me: No, I wouldn't say that. Its just that in Diploma, we have mathematics only in the first 2 years and then no maths for the next 2 yrs. This gap is probably why some of the diploma students do not do good in maths. But i feel personally, i did good in mathematics.

P2: OK. So tell me something about your extra curricular activities.
Me: I was the Cultural Secretary for S B M Polytechnic and handled the various inter college events. I was also the PRO in IETE at Somaiya COE.

P2: What are your Hobbies?
Me: I like playing chess, reading Novels.

P2: Which novels?
Me: I like Harry Potter, LOTR, Bartaemius Trilogy, Inheritance Series, Novels by Dan Brown and other such fictional novels.

P2: You don't read Gujarati Novels?
Me: No. I haven't read any till date.

P2: You do know how to read and write in your mother tongue right?
Me: Ya, I do know how to write in Gujarati. My Grandfather had taught me the same.

P2: Thats good atleast. But you never felt like reading a gujarati Novel?
Me: No. I haven't read one till now.

P1: Why is your latest salary less than your first salary (Laughing)?
Me: The first salary was for around 2 months and the same is reflecting in arrears (smiling). Hence the difference.

P2: So tell me which are your other hobbies?
Me: Its reading, playing chess.

P2: You watch movies or some tele shows?
Me: yes, I occasionally go for a movie with friends when we have some time.

P1: Yes, timewould be one big issue

P1: So tell me, Why would you like to go for an MBA leaving your current job at TCS?
Me: Blah, blah, blah... (Don't remember much of it myself )

P2: So you've applied for ABM as well. What was your motivation for the same?
Me: Blah, blah, blah...

P1: What is the crop grown in Gujarat? In Dahisar(Mumbai)?
Me: Clueless :(

P1: Which other calls do you have? What would be your preference in PGP and PGP-ABM?
Me: answered.

My PI experience in SIBM Pune (6th Feb 2011)

Hello All,

Please go through the following interrview and let me know how you'll rate the same:

College: SIBM Pune

Candidate: EXTC graduate working in TCS for 27 months

Interviewer1: HR Faculty from SIBM

Interviewer2: An Industry expert (Laywer by profession)

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Interviewer1: Tell us something about yourself.

Candidate: I am ... from Mumbai. Born and brought up in the city, i live with my parents. My father is an Estate agent and my mom is a homemaker. My sibling is currently pursuing his CA course. he has completed his Company Secretarial Course. I completed my graduation from K J Somaiya COE and have been working with TCS since the past 27 months.

Is there something specific you are looking for?

I1: Tell us something about your hobbies(Smiles).

C: I like reading novels and also playing chess.

I2: So you play chess regularly?

C: I used to play chess regularly till my junior college. But after getting into Engineering, i was unable to devote adequate time to the same.

I2: Have you played in any tournaments?

C: In my junior college, i did represent my institute in a college level competition.

I1: How would you rate yourself on a scale of 10 when it comes to academics?

C: I would rate myself somewhere between 7 - 7.5

I1: And what about extra curricular activities?

C: I would say, it would be around 8.5-9

I1: Any reason why you would rate yourself higher in extra curriculars?

C: I had been actively involved in the extra curricular activities during my college. I was the Cultural Secretary in the students cuncil in Junior College.

I was also the PRO for IETE council and had also acted as the Comparer/Host for several college events besides participating in the Chess competition.

I1: Tell us something about your job.

C: I am working in TCS for the past 27 months and am currently working as a Module Leader. I lead a Team size of around 5 members.

I1: When you are already in such a good designation, why would you want to leave the firm and join a full time 2 yrs course. You would need to resign from your organisation for this right?

C: Its not the case. TCS encourages its employees to go for an MBA and are willing to retain the employees as a part of the organisation during the tenure of their academic course. The employees are on Leave wihout pay but still a part of the organisation. The motive behind me to go for an MBA is to learn the various aspects of an organisation. Currently I concentrate only on the technical aspects. I would like to learn a great deal of the various other activities like how the Marketing team functions. What are the dyanamics on which the project costings is decided and so on so that i have a better insight and i can manage things better given the opportunity.

I2: Can you give us an example of failure in your life? And also how you tackled the same.

C: (Thinking) I would say it came at the onset of our project when we were just being allocated our modules. I was very keen to be a part of the main module of our Project say Module1. However when the team segregation happened i was assigned to Module2 which was relatively a simpler module compared to the Module1. I was very dejected due to this and considered this as a personal failure as i was unable to ramp up my skills in the Java coding set so as to be considered for being a part of the Module1 team.

I2: And how did you tackle the situation?

C: As i told you i was dejected at the beginning and took a few days to get back to normal. But then i considered this as a blessing in disguise and concentrated my energy on ramping up my Jave skills and also at the same time being an active part of the module2. The efforts paid off and i was recognised for the same when the project went into support. I was promoted as the Module Leader for both support of the entire project and was able to tackle the issues arriving in the Module1 as well.

Now when i look back i feel it was for the better that i was not assigned to the Module1 as it required a lot of knowledge and deep understanding of the Java coding, which at that point of time i lacked. I very much made up for the same in the coming months while working on the second module.

I2: Why would you feel your coding skills were relatively weaker compared to your contemporary?

C: It may be primarily because i came from EXTC engg. while my colleagues were from Comp. Engg. stream. This gave them an edge when it came to coding.

I2: Then Why did you opt for joining the IT industry after completing your graduation in EXTC?

C: It was due to several factors primary amongst them being that i completed my graduation in the year 2008 when there was a huge crisis in the market and the jobs were hard to come by. During that time when i got the offer from TCS i was more than willing to take up the challenge. Plus there was the Brand TATA associated with the company which made the offer even more lucrative.

I2: So was it because of an absence of Jobs in market of for Brand TATA that you joined TCS?

C: I would say it was a combination of several factors, but these two were the primary.

I2: If you were given a choice between TCS and TATA Telecom during that time, Which one would you have opted for?

C: I would have opted for the TATA Telecom offer.

I2: Have you been to your native place?

C: Not in the recent past. We have our entire family settled in Mumbai and do not have any relatives in our native place. Also the property there has been sold off years ago and hence have not visited the same since ages.

I2: But have you visited any rural areas?

C: I most certainly have. We visit a village in Gujarat for a yearly occasion when we go for a Pooja at one of the temple's.

I1: That should be it. It was a pleasure talking with you.