A Fruitful and Holistic Interview

Background

"9/9/8 Profile | Fresher | GNEM | Internship at an MBB during undergrad Location: Radisson Blu, Mumbai Date: 7th Feb Slot: Morning It started off with one of the most civil Group Discussions I’ve ever been a part of. We were a group of around 5–6 people and were taken into a hotel room for the GD, which also happened to be the same room where the personal interviews were conducted later. The panel gave us a case study based on a real company. Honestly, it felt like a really good glimpse into what actual B-school classroom discussions and case-based learning might look like. I genuinely enjoyed the exercise and could see why they chose to conduct the GD in that format. Post the GD, I waited for roughly 30 minutes to an hour before my interview started. There were two panelists, both male professors. The interview began with brief document verification, followed by my introduction. Most of the technical questions revolved around my internship experience since I had mentioned DCF modelling as part of my work there. Some of the finance questions included: * What is a DCF model? * Difference between Levered and Unlevered DCF * How Beta is calculated * How the discount rate is calculated in both models The interview then shifted towards current affairs and general awareness. I was asked questions on: * The Union Budget (I quoted specific policy/package names along with outlay figures and timelines) * Delhi air pollution * Stubble burning and why farmers are compelled to do it, where I spoke about the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act * Differences between AAP and BJP administration in Delhi * Economic policies in Uttar Pradesh Interestingly, I have no connection with UP neither through birthplace, family background, nor education so I think that question was mainly asked to throw me off a little. Thankfully, I had briefly read about it somewhere earlier, so I could still contribute a few points. Towards the end, they asked me to solve one Time, Speed and Distance question and explain the logic behind it. I was also asked to draw graphs of a few polynomial functions. Overall, the panel broadly seemed satisfied with my responses. At the very end, they asked me to take a KitKat before leaving. This was also my first ever in-person interview experience. Hope this helps!"