The other day I was watching the movie “Forest Gump”. And I was thinking what this movie is about? Is it about an individual with low IQ and how he faces his life? Is it about his journey to marry the girl he loved all life long and ultimately become a responsible father? I believe there are many schools of thought in it. I have not read its reviews so I cannot tell, what the experts thing was the purpose of the movie. Just that it touched my heart and it does touch many people’s heart. I first came to know about it through a very close school friend of mine, Vijay. I remember we were in Mussouri (A group of school going boys, hanging out for a day in a distant place from home). I also remember that while walking the entire time Vijay kept talking about it to me and I was just registering the facts of the movie (not reflecting on the incidents he told me). He is a fan of Tom Hanks. He told me about the movie in such minute details, I felt like I have seen the movie. I never saw the movie on television or computer or anyone’s room just because of that feeling until now. I do not really appreciate a lot of things is quite reflective of this. There was lingering feeling or assumption in my mind that the movie is made to show the struggles of a person. I saw the movie and I said to myself they are not showing that. They are not interested in empathizing how this person who is not very smart leads his life. And what did I infer? From the movie the hero does what he wants to and everything with sincerity and hard work. He believes in something and follows it blindly putting everything to it. And the onlookers are puzzled. He runs because he wants to. He knows what is right and wrong to him and has no doubt about it. So what is the movie about? Well to me it is about knowing what you want to do, believing in it and knowing why you are doing it. That is the objective of one’s life. You may not materially gain from it but you will have the satisfaction that you did it. Everything else will follow. I would conclude that the movie was not about a successful person rather it was about a successful life.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
IIM I Interview Form
Interview Form
for
Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP)
(2008-10 Batch)
Commencing July 2008
IIM INDORE
Ø Scholastic Achievements
i. Attained All India Rank of 1388 at IIT-JEE in 2002
ii. School Topper in Mathematics in Class 10th ICSE Board Exams
iii. School Topper in Mathematics in Class 12th ISC Board Exams
iv. Attained 2nd Position in Intra School Level and Participant at the District Level in National Geo Map Quiz in 1998
Ø Please describe your strengths and weaknesses that you have identified in yourself as a student.
Strengths
i. Good at defining and achieving goals that I set
ii. Excel in areas of Interest
iii. Feel easy to work in a group/team
Weaknesses
i. Getting upset when my role in some organisation/event is not up to my expectations
ii. Tendency to do work at last moment
Ø In your present/ last job, briefly describe your job profile responsibilities, achievements and failures.
i. Presently doing a study on “Privatisation of container rails in India” as a member of Strategy department
ii. Taken initiative to revamp the company’s website and upgrade the email services
iii. As a member of break bulk chartering team of TMILL, I managed the operations of a vessel’s voyage. This included voyage analysis, bunker planning, maintaining cash flow and SOA and coordinating with various agents to ensure that the vessel’s voyage make profit.
My achievements
i. Got promoted from a management trainee to Assistant Manager within 6 months of joining.
ii. Played key role in supporting the senior managers, colleagues and juniors to get more out of the present software applications used in the company
Failures
i. Did not attend TBEM classes and 7 habits programme organised by the company
Ø If the work experience and academic/ professional qualification do not account for the entire period from the time you completed the 10th standard till date, please specify the time gaps, with full explanation.
June 2001- June 2002: I had just completed my schooling and wanted to give more time to learn the subjects required to qualify in the best engineering colleges of the country
Ø Why do you wish to go in for a management career?As a student during my graduation, I had set my focus to go for a management career. I believe a management career will add value to me over a period of time and will also give me exposure to the business management at a substantial level. A management career will broaden my perspective and hone my skills to become a business leader in the future.
Ø Besides management education, which area/field would interest you most for a career and/or for further education?
I would like to continue in my current job at TMILL, as it gives me wide exposure to various types of work in the business. My learning in the company is giving me more opportunity to grow within the company as well as an individual. Though later on in my life I would like to become a team leader and undertake a prospective project.
Ø Indicate your extracurricular interests
I. I enjoy playing hockey and football
II. I like to play strategy games like Age of Empires, Capitalism plus and Railroad Tycoon
III. I also like to sketch
Ø Please give details about your accomplishments, awards received and position held (a) in sports, games, and hobbies, (b) in associations and voluntary organisations (please show original certificates to the interview panel members.)
I. Captain of Nehru Hall Hockey team in 2005-06
II. Secretary, Cricket and Badminton, Nehru Hall, 2003-04
III. Awarded Honourable mention for outstanding performance in the game of Hockey by IIT Kharagpur
IV. Awarded Hall blue in Football and Hockey for outstanding contribution by Nehru hall\
V. Won gold and bronze in Hockey at Inter IIT level
VI. Won Silver and Bronze in Football at Inter hall level
Ø Identify a significant incident or situation from your own life. Briefly explain its nature, its importance to you and the manner you handled it.
I was the captain of Nehru Hall of residence Hockey team in IIT Kharagpur for the session 2005-06. I had two major challenges. Firstly from the previous year team 6 senior players of the starting line up had graduated. None of the new players in the team had played hockey before. Secondly 5 of the present team players were of my batch. As they were equal to me in seniority it usually made it difficult to bring them to practice. They also had academic/ placement related priorities being in fourth/final year.
To improve the standard of my team and make it competitive, I brought innovation in practices. I started position specific practice sessions for the players after identifying players for various position through their physical strength, weaknesses and skill as well as aptitude in the game. I did rolling substitution of all the prospective 10 players during the open IIT six a side tournament to give exposure to all the players. Using my contacts I also fixed regular practice matches with various hall teams. I also took all junior players to Inter IIT team selection practice to let them understand the game better. The team performed and and made it to the last four.
This situation was important to me as I wanted to ensure that I had put in the best effort to try and win. It was important to me as a captain, as a player and as a person. From this I learnt that hard work, positive outlook and faith in oneself and one’s team with strong bonding in players are essential for a team’s success.
for
Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP)
(2008-10 Batch)
Commencing July 2008
IIM INDORE
Ø Scholastic Achievements
i. Attained All India Rank of 1388 at IIT-JEE in 2002
ii. School Topper in Mathematics in Class 10th ICSE Board Exams
iii. School Topper in Mathematics in Class 12th ISC Board Exams
iv. Attained 2nd Position in Intra School Level and Participant at the District Level in National Geo Map Quiz in 1998
Ø Please describe your strengths and weaknesses that you have identified in yourself as a student.
Strengths
i. Good at defining and achieving goals that I set
ii. Excel in areas of Interest
iii. Feel easy to work in a group/team
Weaknesses
i. Getting upset when my role in some organisation/event is not up to my expectations
ii. Tendency to do work at last moment
Ø In your present/ last job, briefly describe your job profile responsibilities, achievements and failures.
i. Presently doing a study on “Privatisation of container rails in India” as a member of Strategy department
ii. Taken initiative to revamp the company’s website and upgrade the email services
iii. As a member of break bulk chartering team of TMILL, I managed the operations of a vessel’s voyage. This included voyage analysis, bunker planning, maintaining cash flow and SOA and coordinating with various agents to ensure that the vessel’s voyage make profit.
My achievements
i. Got promoted from a management trainee to Assistant Manager within 6 months of joining.
ii. Played key role in supporting the senior managers, colleagues and juniors to get more out of the present software applications used in the company
Failures
i. Did not attend TBEM classes and 7 habits programme organised by the company
Ø If the work experience and academic/ professional qualification do not account for the entire period from the time you completed the 10th standard till date, please specify the time gaps, with full explanation.
June 2001- June 2002: I had just completed my schooling and wanted to give more time to learn the subjects required to qualify in the best engineering colleges of the country
Ø Why do you wish to go in for a management career?As a student during my graduation, I had set my focus to go for a management career. I believe a management career will add value to me over a period of time and will also give me exposure to the business management at a substantial level. A management career will broaden my perspective and hone my skills to become a business leader in the future.
Ø Besides management education, which area/field would interest you most for a career and/or for further education?
I would like to continue in my current job at TMILL, as it gives me wide exposure to various types of work in the business. My learning in the company is giving me more opportunity to grow within the company as well as an individual. Though later on in my life I would like to become a team leader and undertake a prospective project.
Ø Indicate your extracurricular interests
I. I enjoy playing hockey and football
II. I like to play strategy games like Age of Empires, Capitalism plus and Railroad Tycoon
III. I also like to sketch
Ø Please give details about your accomplishments, awards received and position held (a) in sports, games, and hobbies, (b) in associations and voluntary organisations (please show original certificates to the interview panel members.)
I. Captain of Nehru Hall Hockey team in 2005-06
II. Secretary, Cricket and Badminton, Nehru Hall, 2003-04
III. Awarded Honourable mention for outstanding performance in the game of Hockey by IIT Kharagpur
IV. Awarded Hall blue in Football and Hockey for outstanding contribution by Nehru hall\
V. Won gold and bronze in Hockey at Inter IIT level
VI. Won Silver and Bronze in Football at Inter hall level
Ø Identify a significant incident or situation from your own life. Briefly explain its nature, its importance to you and the manner you handled it.
I was the captain of Nehru Hall of residence Hockey team in IIT Kharagpur for the session 2005-06. I had two major challenges. Firstly from the previous year team 6 senior players of the starting line up had graduated. None of the new players in the team had played hockey before. Secondly 5 of the present team players were of my batch. As they were equal to me in seniority it usually made it difficult to bring them to practice. They also had academic/ placement related priorities being in fourth/final year.
To improve the standard of my team and make it competitive, I brought innovation in practices. I started position specific practice sessions for the players after identifying players for various position through their physical strength, weaknesses and skill as well as aptitude in the game. I did rolling substitution of all the prospective 10 players during the open IIT six a side tournament to give exposure to all the players. Using my contacts I also fixed regular practice matches with various hall teams. I also took all junior players to Inter IIT team selection practice to let them understand the game better. The team performed and and made it to the last four.
This situation was important to me as I wanted to ensure that I had put in the best effort to try and win. It was important to me as a captain, as a player and as a person. From this I learnt that hard work, positive outlook and faith in oneself and one’s team with strong bonding in players are essential for a team’s success.
IIM I Group Discussion and Interview...9 am...27th Feb 2008....
GD
Mr. Suman and his friend X use to do combined study. They use to prepare for the exams together. X suffers from a disease and resorts to using unfair means in the 6th semester in his MBA College. He uses calculators to write complex formula in it. Mr. Suman is caught in a dilemma. Should he report to the authorities as his friend X was breaching the honour code of the college or should he respect the trust his friend holds in him. The problem worsens as many more students resort to the same means. After the examination results come in and Mr. Suman gets A grade and all the students who used calculator get a bad grade. What should he do now? If he informs the authorities there is a possibility of re examination. There is also a possibility of punishment against these guys. A re exam would mean that Mr. Suman may not get the same grade and which may affect his institute rank. What should Suman do?
People start with identifying the problem then identifying what is the root cause. They discuss his dilemma and also possible outcomes of his reporting. There are suggestions that he should inform the authorities to check the problem on a long term scope. There are questions raised on the selfish nature of Suman. May be he is self focused that is why he is not doing anything about the problem. I suggested that he should talk to his friend and fellow students and tell them that because of their unethical practices their performance is going down as well as the honour code of the college is being breached. There was a lengthy discussion again with people suggesting that medical help should be given to X and a long term solution to the problem should be reached.
I just spoke 3-4 times in the GD. Spoke very little. I did a blunder in the end when we were asked to write the summary of the discussion. One of the persons said “Stop writing”. I was in the middle of a sentence and continued to write. He said to me “I said stop writing. Why are you writing? “. I said “Sir I was in the middle of a sentence”. “But I said stop writing”. “Sorry Sir”
PI
I was the last one to be called for the PI.
Out of the two interviewers only one asked the questions.
Me: Sir Please may I come in
1st Interviewer: Yes you may
2nd Interviewer: You may take the seat
Me: Thank you sir
2nd Interviewer: Pushkal, I see you have a very good rank in IIT JEE, (Going through the pages) 1388. You also had a good department Mechanical Engineering. But your performance in the academics is not that good. Can you tell me why?
Me: Sir I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities
2nd Interviewer: I do not see any extracurricular activity here (again looking at the page)
Me: Sir it’s on the other side of the page
2nd Interviewer: hmm, Hockey
Me: Football also
2nd Interviewer: Ok Pushkal. I am giving you a metal strip of this*this * this dimension. Tell me the chronology of test you will carry out on this strip to deduce the properties of this material.
Me: Aa...Sir Strength test, then Hardness then Corrosives test on the surface
2nd Interviewer: Hardness followed by strength followed by corrosiveness. Are you sure this is the right chronology?
Me: No sir Strength followed by Hardness.
2nd Interviewer: How?
Me: Sir we will perform the strength test. In this we apply pressure on the ends to determine the breaking stress and the material will divide into two.
2nd Interviewer: This is a destructive test. This should be performed at last. Why do you want to perform it in the beginning?
Me: Sir to conduct a test we do not need the entire material. We just need a sample of the material. We will still have them after this test.
2nd Interviewer: You have a car component. You have to develop a suitable component that can take up the required pressure and strain. How will you do?
Me: Aa...a...
2nd Interviewer: You have three types of methods. Casting, Forging and machining to make the suitable part. Which method will you use to make any car component?
Me: Sir I can use casting followed by machining to make Gears in a car.
2nd Interviewer: No...Then he said something...Something...and came to forging....can you use forging to make a component?
Me: Yes sir.....
2nd Interviewer: What type of method you will use to make a component with specific properties?
Me: I can use Machining to give specific surface property to the material. I can also use casting using property specific material followed by forging.
2nd Interviewer: Can you use Forging after Casting?
Me: Sir I do not know
2nd Interviewer: Do you want to change your answer?
Me: No sir
2nd Interviewer: Give me an example
Me: Sir I am not sure about it
2nd Interviewer: You cannot use forging followed by casting.
Me: noded
2nd Interviewer: Tell me Pushkal, you have tolerances in materials..plus minus... How do you determine tolerance?
Me: We use tolerances when we have to fix one part to another. Company’s when they order a part they give dimensional tolerance to the part they order someone. Plus minus according to their requirement
2nd Interviewer: No tell me in mechanical engineering terms how do you determine tolerance?
Me: Sir I give certain plus minus dimensional limit to the particular part.
2nd Interviewer: Leave the part. Do not join any part. You know thermal coefficient. Coefficient of thermal expansion.... I am looking something related to that
Me: Sir certain materials may be used at high temperature. There dimension can change. Keeping that in mind and the temperature range in which they have to work I calculate the tolerance for the part.
The 1st Interviewer was going through my file during the first 5 minutes of the interview. And had kept it back closed after going through it.
2nd Interviewer: Looks at the other interviewer...in a way to ask him if he wanted to ask any question...the 1st interviewer makes a gesture using his head in a way to suggest nothing...
2nd Interviewer: You may go.
Me: Thank you
Mr. Suman and his friend X use to do combined study. They use to prepare for the exams together. X suffers from a disease and resorts to using unfair means in the 6th semester in his MBA College. He uses calculators to write complex formula in it. Mr. Suman is caught in a dilemma. Should he report to the authorities as his friend X was breaching the honour code of the college or should he respect the trust his friend holds in him. The problem worsens as many more students resort to the same means. After the examination results come in and Mr. Suman gets A grade and all the students who used calculator get a bad grade. What should he do now? If he informs the authorities there is a possibility of re examination. There is also a possibility of punishment against these guys. A re exam would mean that Mr. Suman may not get the same grade and which may affect his institute rank. What should Suman do?
People start with identifying the problem then identifying what is the root cause. They discuss his dilemma and also possible outcomes of his reporting. There are suggestions that he should inform the authorities to check the problem on a long term scope. There are questions raised on the selfish nature of Suman. May be he is self focused that is why he is not doing anything about the problem. I suggested that he should talk to his friend and fellow students and tell them that because of their unethical practices their performance is going down as well as the honour code of the college is being breached. There was a lengthy discussion again with people suggesting that medical help should be given to X and a long term solution to the problem should be reached.
I just spoke 3-4 times in the GD. Spoke very little. I did a blunder in the end when we were asked to write the summary of the discussion. One of the persons said “Stop writing”. I was in the middle of a sentence and continued to write. He said to me “I said stop writing. Why are you writing? “. I said “Sir I was in the middle of a sentence”. “But I said stop writing”. “Sorry Sir”
PI
I was the last one to be called for the PI.
Out of the two interviewers only one asked the questions.
Me: Sir Please may I come in
1st Interviewer: Yes you may
2nd Interviewer: You may take the seat
Me: Thank you sir
2nd Interviewer: Pushkal, I see you have a very good rank in IIT JEE, (Going through the pages) 1388. You also had a good department Mechanical Engineering. But your performance in the academics is not that good. Can you tell me why?
Me: Sir I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities
2nd Interviewer: I do not see any extracurricular activity here (again looking at the page)
Me: Sir it’s on the other side of the page
2nd Interviewer: hmm, Hockey
Me: Football also
2nd Interviewer: Ok Pushkal. I am giving you a metal strip of this*this * this dimension. Tell me the chronology of test you will carry out on this strip to deduce the properties of this material.
Me: Aa...Sir Strength test, then Hardness then Corrosives test on the surface
2nd Interviewer: Hardness followed by strength followed by corrosiveness. Are you sure this is the right chronology?
Me: No sir Strength followed by Hardness.
2nd Interviewer: How?
Me: Sir we will perform the strength test. In this we apply pressure on the ends to determine the breaking stress and the material will divide into two.
2nd Interviewer: This is a destructive test. This should be performed at last. Why do you want to perform it in the beginning?
Me: Sir to conduct a test we do not need the entire material. We just need a sample of the material. We will still have them after this test.
2nd Interviewer: You have a car component. You have to develop a suitable component that can take up the required pressure and strain. How will you do?
Me: Aa...a...
2nd Interviewer: You have three types of methods. Casting, Forging and machining to make the suitable part. Which method will you use to make any car component?
Me: Sir I can use casting followed by machining to make Gears in a car.
2nd Interviewer: No...Then he said something...Something...and came to forging....can you use forging to make a component?
Me: Yes sir.....
2nd Interviewer: What type of method you will use to make a component with specific properties?
Me: I can use Machining to give specific surface property to the material. I can also use casting using property specific material followed by forging.
2nd Interviewer: Can you use Forging after Casting?
Me: Sir I do not know
2nd Interviewer: Do you want to change your answer?
Me: No sir
2nd Interviewer: Give me an example
Me: Sir I am not sure about it
2nd Interviewer: You cannot use forging followed by casting.
Me: noded
2nd Interviewer: Tell me Pushkal, you have tolerances in materials..plus minus... How do you determine tolerance?
Me: We use tolerances when we have to fix one part to another. Company’s when they order a part they give dimensional tolerance to the part they order someone. Plus minus according to their requirement
2nd Interviewer: No tell me in mechanical engineering terms how do you determine tolerance?
Me: Sir I give certain plus minus dimensional limit to the particular part.
2nd Interviewer: Leave the part. Do not join any part. You know thermal coefficient. Coefficient of thermal expansion.... I am looking something related to that
Me: Sir certain materials may be used at high temperature. There dimension can change. Keeping that in mind and the temperature range in which they have to work I calculate the tolerance for the part.
The 1st Interviewer was going through my file during the first 5 minutes of the interview. And had kept it back closed after going through it.
2nd Interviewer: Looks at the other interviewer...in a way to ask him if he wanted to ask any question...the 1st interviewer makes a gesture using his head in a way to suggest nothing...
2nd Interviewer: You may go.
Me: Thank you
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