Interviews always gave me goosebumps. I am a living example of how an otherwise confident person sounds like 'Rajesh Kutrapalli of Big Bang Theory in front of girls' while facing an interview. However, I found the telephonic/Skype interview much easier to deal with than the face-to-face interviews I attended last year. It does not increase your already increased blood-pressure by seeing sea of sweating and nervous applicants with expressionless faces looking at each other and asking profile information to analyze their chance of getting in. You don't have to worry about travelling (Saves time, energy and money). Plus specially for S. P. Jain, you have two super advantages -
1. No group interview - which means that you get all the time you need to showcase yourself which otherwise you had to fight with seven others to get.
2. Only one interview - S. P. Jain generally conducts two interviews, first to asses a candidate's communication skill and see how that person performs in a team and second to asses how he/she reacts to specific situation w.r.t ethical and managerial grounds. But for Skype, there is only 1 consolidated interview that actually lowers the chance of getting too many case study questions you are prepared for.
But wait! This advantages does not mean that it'll be a cakewalk. The reason is, you might get a good headstart when it is compared with candidates of face-to-face interview, but you'll most likely be evaluated against profile similar to yours i.e. people having same experience, field and are most likely settled abroad. Most/all of them will have a Skype interview too and there goes your advantage in selection into dustbin.
I always thought that just as breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the first answer you give creates a permanent impression of you. In most cases, the first thing you say is to describe yourself. I memorized a huge introduction with four paragraph describing how big rockstar (Sarcasm) I am.
My interview was scheduled around 10.30 a.m. IST. I turned on Skype at 10.00 a.m. IST and waited. At around 10.15 I got a message from adcom checking whether I was available. She told me that my interview has been postponed to 12.00 IST. I waited one more hour with mounting tension. 12.00 p.m. came and gone, no sign of AdCom. Finally around 12.20 p.m. IST, I got a ping in Skype.
There were two professors let's say I1 and I2.
I1: So Prithwish, let's start with a brief introduction. Tell us something about yourself.
I started my memorized maha-bharat. They stopped me at my Graduation details.
I1: I'm confused. You are from xyz domain. Why did you choose IT? I mean you have scored so well in graduation. Why didn't you pursue your career in that field?
Although this was a very valid question, I didn't expect it because in Executive MBA, career shift is seldom discussed. "I think that we need to re-align our goals time to time and make the best use of the opportunities available to us. My field does not have much opportunities in India unless I posses a Masters Degree. After my graduation, I had two options - 1. Go for MS/M.Tech and 2. Take the offer from my company and go for MBA later. I chose the second."
I1: Still these fields are so different. Why did your company choose you? You don't even belong to their field.
"My company selects based on analytical skills. Then they train their workforce in a four months training."
I1: So what do you do? Do you code?
This was by far the most awkward question I've ever been asked. "Yes sir. I know three programming languages, plus I am the subject matter expert in SharePoint. Also won 5 awards from my company."
I1: But whatever you've learned in your graduation is useless now as you've shifted the industry, right?
The truth is Yes. But that also means there is a disconnect in my career. Quickly thought how to tackle the question. "My first client was a company working in my field. There the requirement required detailed understanding of XYZ field."...some bla bla.
I2: Where are you now?
"I'm in California, XYZ city"
I2: It must be very hot at this point of time right?
"It is. It's worse than India".
I2: So you want to come back to India. Does your manager know?
Ethical question alert! "Yes Sir".
I2: And he didn't object?
Obviously they didn't believe that my manager knows that I'm trying for MBA and still he sent me onsite. Any further discussion on this topic will screw me for good. Dodge it! - "My Company encourages higher studies. It is in company policy".
I2: So will you be on sabbatical or are you going to leave the company?
"I'm going to leave the company".
I1: But many of our candidates come in sabbatical and then go back and join the company? Why won't you?
Testing whether I change my answer when challenged. "I don't want to be tied down to one company and want to keep my options open as I am looking for a very specific role".
I1: Are you married?
"Not yet".
I1: You know this is a full time course with no internship. You have to comeback to India.
"Yes Sir. I'm aware of that."
I1: Any questions for us?
Asked whether international immersion was optional. He said "No".
Overall the tone was very positive. I was caught off-guard on some questions but hopefully recovered well. Now the wait begins.
