1. IIM-C Interview: When Delhi elections took a toll.

(Background: I was screaming a lot in the Group Discussion as well as the interview. Around
the time of my interviews, Delhi elections were going on where Kiran Bedi had referred to
Arvind Kejriwal as ‘Upadravi’ for being an anarchist).
Somewhere during the interview,

Panelist 1 (in Hindi): Upadravi gotr ke ho kya?

(Translation: Are you from ‘Upadravi gotr’?)

Student: Sorry sir, I didn’t get that.

Panelist 2 (while going through my marksheets): Rehne do, isko samajh nahi aayega, 10th
mein Hindi mein kam marks hain.
(Translation: He won’t understand as he anyways has less marks in Hindi in Class 10th)

Student: Facepalm.

Result: Rejected.

2. IIM-L Interview: When patriotism hit high

Panelist 1: Do you know who wrote the Indian National Anthem?

Student: Yes Sir, Rabindranath Tagore

Panelist 1: Ok, sing it now.

Student: [Stood up] Jana Gana Mana…

Panelist 2: Stop, otherwise we have to stand up too.

Result: Rejected

3. IIM-A Interview: When the question of dowry was brought to the table

Panelist 1: Why exactly do you want to come to this campus, because I feel that it has
nothing to do with what we offer but just that you want to go home and brag about getting
the admission here to your friends and parents and get a large dowry later on. Why do you
want to get here?

Student: I am not aware of the dowry part. But if what you say is correct, I shall surely go
back home and renegotiate.
(The interviewer bursts out laughing)

Student: I really want to be here. Period.

4. IIM-A Interview: When such intense discussion followed

Interviewer 1: Why are people poor?

Student: Not very sure, sir. Please! Any options?

Interviewer 2: Oh! But you should know. It’s because they don’t have money.
It’s simple.

Student:… Apologies Sirs, but isn’t this the ‘meaning’ of being ‘poor’, and not the reason?

Interviewer 2: (zapped)

Interviewer 1(in his excitement to go one-up): “… He’s poor because he’s not earning.
Hence, no money.”

Student: “… apologies Sirs again. But is he poor because he is not earning out of laziness,
or he is working and not being paid, or, is he ready to work and earn, but is not getting a
job.”

Interviewer 1: Have you studied Economics in your B.Tech?

Student: “No, sir our canteen supervisor in the hostel is really poor, and he has a Master’s
in Mathematics”

Result: Selected!

5. IIM-L Interview: When the love of Math took over

Panelist: You seem to know a lot of math. What do you like in it?

Student: I like numbers, Sir.

Panelist: Ok. So tell us, what is the absolute truth?

Student: (Wow, what? Where did that come from and how is that related to numbers.)
How would I know, Sir? I’m just a human being. They say God knows the absolute truth.

Panelist: Ok then, define God mathematically.

Student: Sir, God is the One. (They smile).

Result: Selected.

6. IIM-K Interview: Too much randomness

Panelist: Spell the word COW in thirteen letters?

Candidate: Well! Caaaaouuuuuuu.

Panelist: (laughs) It’s “SEE O DOUBLE YOU”

7. IIM-C Interview: When Comparison between 2 B-schools took over

Panelist 1 (male): What do you know about IIM Calcutta?

Student: *Gave a standard well-versed answer mostly from the content on their website*

Panelist 2(female): Okay, tell me what do you know about IIM Bangalore?

Student(taken by surprise): Annn.. Ma’am, it is one of the best B-schools in the country.
(Clueless about what more should I add)

Panelist 2: So you know more about Calcutta than Bangalore? Didn’t you get a call from
IIM Bangalore?
Student: Ma’am, I do have the call from IIM Bangalore, but its interview is two weeks later.
(With a poker face)

Result: Selected.

8. IIM-K Interview: When things got way too philosophical

Interviewer: Tell me anything you know whose heading will surprise me and the
explanation will shock me. More the impact, more will be your chances of success. Heading
and Explanation both can be independent.

Student: Let me try. First of all, tell me what are you fascinated about?

Interviewer: Ok! From my childhood, I was really fascinated about my existence. What am
I made of? Why am I here? These types of stuff.

Student: Why you did not choose a career in research?

Interviewer: There are things that are beyond our explanation. Well, answer my question.

Student: Do you know that the life we live is 50% dream and 50% reality?

Interviewer: You are successful. Explain?

Student: Something else. An electron is neither revolving around the nucleus in circular
path nor in elliptical paths. It is something like a bee hovering around her honey.

Result: Selected

9. IIM-A Interview: When someone asks you to draw intersecting parallel lines

Interviewer: What is the sum of angles of a triangle?

Student: Sir, um, interior angles or exterior angles?

Interviewer: Interior.
Student: 180

Interviewer: Can there be two lines which are parallel and not intersecting?

Student: Sir, can you please repeat the question?

Interviewer: Draw and show it to me.” (Passed a paper and a pen)

Student: Again, after thinking for some time: I can’t, I need a ruler.

Result: Selected
Written 30 Sep • View Upvotes
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Amit Tiwari, Dreamer & Trying to became A "Super Saiyan"

11.3k Views • Upvoted by Pritam Thakur, IITK, 2010-14, Spent my best 4 years here !
Originally Answered: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs): What are the best interview questions and
answers asked in IIT, IIM or IAS interviews?
IIM Interview questions and Answers : -

1. The National Anthem Situation (IIM Lucknow)Panelist 1 : Do you know who wrote the
Indian National Anthem?Me : Yes Sir, Rabindranath TagorePanelist 1 : Ok, sing it now.Me :
[Stood up] Jana Gana Mana..........Panelist 2 : Stop, otherwise we have to stand up too.

- Manoj Jaiswal

2. The Coins v/s Note Debate (IIM Bangalore)

Q: How do you decide whether to mint a 100 Rupee coin in India?A: Compare Pros & Cons
of Coins vs NoteQ: Explain.A: Coins are durable, but bulky to carry. So a trade-off needs to
be made based upon demand of particular denomination of money and handling of that
denomination. Also Notes are used to hide black money, larger coins will make it difficult to
have black money.Q: What else?A: If value of currency drops coins may become expensive
than its denomination then people will start melting it to sell the metal of itQ: So how much
metal you should put in a coin?A: Just enough that after taking into all other costs into
account the cost of coin is around 60-70% of the denomination to allow future inflation.Q:
what other options you have?A: Printing on plastic which is more durable than paper notes,
Singapore uses it.
- Hitesh Agrawal

3. The Fountainhead, what? (IIM Kozhikode)

Panelist: Do you like to read novels?Candidate: No, sir.Panelist: Tell me who wrote The
Fountainhead.Candidate: I don't know, sir.Panelist: Make a guess.Candidate: Maybe
Jeffrey Archer.Panelist: Name another novel by Jeffrey Archer.Candidate: I think 'Not a
penny more, Not a penny less' is one of his novels.Panelist: Is it 'Not a penny more, Not a
penny less' or 'Not a penny less, Not a penny more' ?Candidate: I think it might be ' Not a
penny less, Not a penny more'.Panelist: No, it's 'Not a penny more, Not a penny less'.
- Akshay Kumar Nikhil

4. Dumb-charades khel ke dikhao? (IIM Calcutta)

This happened during my IIM Calcutta interview 4 years back. I had written somewhere
in the form that I love Dumb Charades. So one of the professors actually decided to have
some fun. He came to me and whispered 'Incredible India' in my ears and asked me to act
it out. And the other
professor was supposed to guess.
We were done in under 10 seconds :)
- Vamsi Krishna GR

5. How much tax should I pay? (IIM Ranchi)

Panelist: Since you have applied in the field of Taxation, you must be knowing how much
IT I should pay for this year.Me: Definitely Sir, Can i know how much you are getting paid
per year?Panelist: Absolutely No. If i give answer to that question, even a dog
can answer my question.
- Surya Narayana Manoj

A senior of mine was asked, in IIM-L interview, about hobbies and he said reading. The
interviewer asked him to write down names of 50 books he had read and if he could do so,
he will give admission. He is right now in 2nd year of PGDM at IIM-L :)

Interviewer to the Candidate : " What if I call your mother PROSTITUTE ? "

The Cool Guy answered with smile on his face " My father is the only one customer..!! He
will give a lots of Love in return."

The Interviewer was stunned.

Interviewer: Tell me about a time you were naked with a woman.
Me: Well, I don't remember much. I was just born and there was a (pretty) nurse. The only
thing I am sure about is that I cried a lot.

Interviewer : There is one scooter which has 2 tyres and one stepney/spare (meaning 3
tyres). Each tyre can run up to max 5 km. How long will the scooter run till?

Candidate: Confused, one thought struck my mind that 5 kms obviously as scooter can't run
with one tyre. But if that would be the answer then the question shouldn't be asked in that
way. Thought for a while, did some calculations, then gave the answer as 7.5 kms.

Interviewer : How?

Candidate:

 First run 2.5 km and change the 1st tyre with stepney. Now kms remains in 1st tyre: 2.5
km, 2nd tyre: 2.5 km, Stepney : 5 km
 Again run for 2.5 km and this time change 2nd tyre with 1st tyre: Now kms remains 1st
tyre: 2.5 km, 2nd tyre :0 km ,stepney : 2.5 km.
 Now run 2.5 km with remaining 1st tyre and stepney .

Total: 2.5+2.5+2.5=7.5

1) Do you have an IQ more than 130?

This question is put to check “Intellectual Humility” and “Yes” could be the worst answer to
this. Remembering your IQ score sends a wrong message of your insecurity and self-
aggrandizement.

2) What shall we have for dinner this evening?

Don’t give an answer like “whatever you like”, “I don’t mind” ,“what would you like”, etc.
This will hide your quality of leadership or taking stand, when your opinion is asked. This
will show your willingness to take charge and when not.

3) Why are manhole covers round?

Manhole covers round, so that man does not fall through the manhole as the plane, or
square shape ordinarily flush with the plane of the street goes perpendicular to the street.

4) Mention how many times a day do a clock’s hands overlap?

Clock hands overlap about 22 times a day.

 5) Out of eight balls, seven balls weigh equal while the one ball is slightly heavier than the
others how would you figure out which one is the heavier by using a balance and only two
weighing?

Take 6 balls out of 8 balls

Put 3 balls on each side of weighing machine, if they weight equal you know that the heavier
ball is in the remaining two which is left out

But if they don’t weigh equal, then the heavier ball is in one of those triplets

Out of those 3 balls that have heavier ball, pick any 2 and put them on the scale and keep
doing until you get your heavier ball

6) Some months have 30 days, and some have 31, how may months have 28 days?

Answer to this question is 12 months, as each month has 28 days. So don’t answer 1 or Feb.

7) Explain how five minus two equal 4?

If you take f and e from five what remain is Roman numeral

What are the questions that can be asked when the interviewer
asks "Any questions?"

 What is the current project you're working on?(if interviewer hasn't already told you
about it)
 Does the number of people directly/indirectly impacted by your daily work concern
you?
 How rigorous is the code reviewing process?
 How rigorous are the coding guidelines?
 When you were young, are there any fun stories about someone you committing a small
mistake that caused big havoc, for example, one my friends bought Google search down
for an hour. If so, how was it handled and were there any serious repercussions?
 How much of your work involves serious challenges rather than mundane coding jobs?
Can you tell me about most challenging obstacle you overcame in last few months?
 What is one thing you enjoy most and one thing you hate most about working here?

I1- So for your final task, make me do something that you want me to do.

(Had not prepared for this but came up with something almost instantly)
 Me (with a smug smile)- I can do that provided you promise me that my selection is
contingent upon me making you do that thing. (contingent- dependent upon)

I2 and I1 (after discussing for a bit)- Sure go ahead Shuktiz!

Me (barely concealing a smile)- Don't select me...

Now let us examine the cases possible after this statement-

 CASE 1- He decides not to select me... Yaayy!! I made him do what I wanted.
Therefore, I must get selected.
 CASE 2- He decides to select me...Big deal!! I just got one task wrong...Still got the job
right?
I1 and I2 look at each other... Their head starts to blow up and finally explodes...

Interviewer: Who do you think would make a successful person : A stubborn or an Open
Minded Person?

X: Obviously, Sir an Open Minded person . An Open-Minded person would always welcome
other's suggestions and thoughts . This would help in the overall development of the
company .

Interviewer: Don't you think that a stubborn person would be more determined and do
better with his own ideas ?

X: No, Sir ..... Blah blah blah ......

The interviewer was not convinced by any answer .

Interviewer : Give me just one perfect reason and I'll consider Hiring you.

X : Sir , you are being stubborn now and thus you would never hire me which
will hinder the growth of your company .

The interviewer went dumb-struck .

2 minutes of silence .

P.S. : The other Interviewer welcomed him to the Company .

If one could buy a new coke filled bottles with Rs. 25, why would someone buy an
empty bottle for 50 rupees. X thought of something creative and pitched in the idea.

X : Can I have a minute of your time??

A : Yes..
 X : Sir, we are selling a lottery as a part of green environment campaign. We have this
coke bottle with a unique code which also is your lottery no. You just have to bring
the bottle at the time of result if you have won. The winner will get an amount of Rs.
5000 and this will also help reduce the plastic waste in the campus.

Result.....Selected

(I: Interviewer, C: Candidate)

I: You feel exhausted after so much waiting, have some water. (Pointing towards the bottle
kept in front)

C: (Extends his hand towards the water bottle)

I: Wait ! That cap's mine, you can't touch that.

C: ?? (Blank face)

I: Yes, you have to drink it without touching the cap of the bottle.

C: (Holds the bottle in his hand, and after looking for a while, put it back on the
table) There is no water in the bottle, Sir !

I: What are you saying, can't you see, it is full up to the brim.

C: (Calmly) No sir, I have checked and I couldn't find any water there.

(Interviewer keep on saying that there is water while showing him bottle repeatedly, but
candidate was reluctant to accept). You can't wake up a man pretending to sleep.

Finally after few minutes of 'water is', 'no water'.

I: (completely frustrated, opens the bottle and started pouring it in front of C) What is this
then ?

C:

(Snatched the bottle from his hand and drank it all and after taking a long breath)Thank
you very much Sir !

Interviewer: Sell me this pen.

Candidate: Ok.

Interviewer: Here, catch. (Throws pen)

Candidate: Do you want to buy this pen?

Interviewer: Hmmph... No.

Candidate: Ok, I think I will keep it then.

Interviewer: <facepam>

Candidate: ...

Interviewer: Ok... moving on... can I have my pen back please?

Candidate: Sure, 500 Rupees.

Interviewer: Fine. Keep it then.

Candidate: That's what I was going to do.

Interviewer: You are supposed to ask my needs then describe the qualities of this pen.

Candidate: I don't know much about this pen, you gave it to me just now... what are your
needs?

Interviewer: <deep breath> I need a pen to sign on very important documents.

Candidate: Ok, any ordinary pen will do for you.

Interviewer: What... I... what about this one right here?

Candidate: Oh, this is way overpriced, 500 Rupees.

Interviewer: Can you come down a little bit?

Candidate: Sure.
Interviewer: What's the new price?

Candidate: 1 Rupee.

Interviewer: You are underselling it.

Candidate: You asked me to sell. You didn't mention the price.

Interviewer: Ok... lets wipe the slate clean and start again... I am giving you one more
chance... describe this pen to me.

Candidate: Ok... <looks at pen>... someone has used it to think.

Interviewer: What?

Candidate: It's been chewed.

Interviewer: No no no.. imagine that this is a brand new very rare collector's edition pen, ok,
now try and sell it to me.

Candidate: Ok... do you collect pens?

Interviewer: No.

Candidate: Then any ordinary pen will do for you.

Interviewer: Seriously?

Candidate: What?

Interviewer: What's your problem?

Candidate: You tell me.

Interviewer: You are being obtuse.

Candidate: I am being honest.

Interviewer: You can't get me excited about this pen.

Candidate: What's there to get excited about a pen? You use it to write. Any decent pen will
do.

Interviewer: Do you think the President of the United States would use an ordinary pen, like
this one, to sign important treaties?

Candidate: He would, if he's not a diva.

Interviewer 1: Why are people poor?

Student: Not very sure, sir. Please! Any options?

Interviewer 2: Oh! But you should know. It’s because they don’t have money. It’s simple.

Student:… Apologies Sirs, but isn’t this the ‘meaning’ of being ‘poor’, and not the reason?

Interviewer 2: (zapped)

Interviewer 1 (in his excitement to go one-up): “… He’s poor because he’s not earning.
Hence, no money.”

Student: “… apologies Sirs again. But is he poor because he is not earning out of laziness,
or he is working and not being paid, or, is he ready to work and earn, but is not getting a
job.”

Interviewer 1: Have you studied Economics in your B.Tech?

Student: “No, sir our canteen supervisor in the hostel is really poor, and he has a Master’s
in Mathematics”

Result: Selected!
HPe: So where do you want to see yourself in your career in next 10 years.

Me: Sir, I feel that there is a gap between the "where I want to be" and "what I am." So I
want to break that barrage go beyond what I want.

HPe: So what you are gonna do for that?

Me: Challenge my self daily, push that extra edge, be extra proactive. (Thanked Anthony
Robbins for these words)

HPe; If I give you a challenge to choose between your career and parents what do you
choose.
I went numb. Whatever I answer, I will be in a difficult situation. Well I trusted my
intuition.

HPe was expecting an answer, with enthusiastic face.

Me: My parents are important.

HPe: Hmmm...okkk

Me: (I am stuck)

Me: Because when my parents are with me, I would do all the things which I spoke about. I
can have a different career prospective(Imagined myself making Parotas on road), but
parents I can't leave them(Still thinking about the current bill, which my dad asked me to
pay last week, I didn't pay it)

I made this answer up, just like that, out of nowhere

HPe: *Smirks, does a Hmmm..smiles.

Result: Selected

The question was "How do you spell YOUR NAME?"

And I answered-

"Y-O-U-R N-A-M-E".

And the verdict... Yes, you got it right, I was selected. :D :D

List of important websites

Interviewer: If you had to choose between two girls.

One is HOT but NOT LOYAL , other is NOT HOT but LOYAL.Who would you choose?

Candidate:Is there any other girl ?

Interviewer:No,these are the only two girls left in the planet.

Candidate:Is there any other boy?

Interviewer:No,You are the only guy left.

Candidate:In that case I would choose the HOT girl ,As I don't have to worry about her
Loyalty.
Interviewer: Venkat, Do you have any offer from that company(referring to Y)?

My mind voice: * Yaaay! This is what I want you to ask me! Yes, I am relieved*.

Me: Yes!

Interviewer: What is the pay package in that company?

Me: 4.5 lpa.

Interviewer: Do you know what we offer you?

Me: Yes, 6.25 lpa.

(Yes, I know because the information is already told to us in pre-placement talk.)

The super best question comes right here, without any signal. Just as casual as earlier
questions were.

Interviewer: Now, tell me Venkat! That company pays you 4.5 lpa and we offer 6.25 lpa,
tell me one good reason wherein that company is better than us?

Me : Suppose there are two people Mr.A & Mr.B . A gives a salary of Rs 1000 while B gives a
salary of Rs 5000 . From the salary point of view , A is might be better than B .But A has
with it only Rs. 1000 while B has Rs 20000. So from the learning, role and career
progression point of view , A is definitely better than B.
Why should we hire you?

Most people will answer this question by talking about their experience or education, and
add descriptions like 'hard-working, loyal, team-leader, etc.' THIS IS WRONG.

You should always answer with what you will do to improve the company. What ideas do
you have that will make life better for your interviewer? Lead with that.

Why? Because you are selling yourself (don't take that the wrong way) and you want to use
proven and effective sales/copywriting strategies to do that. I have been studying
copywriting lately, and one of the number one rules of copywriting is that you ALWAYS talk
about benefits before features.

In this situation, what you will do to make this company better, and to make life better for
the person interviewing you, is a benefit to them.

Your background/experience/education are just features that support your benefit to the
company. Features may have gotten you in the door for the interview, but benefits will get
you the job.
 Your benefit to the company is what will get you hired. Therefore, always answer
this question with benefits first, followed by features only if relevant.

For clarity, here is a list of benefits vs. features for a job interview.

Benefits:

 I will immerse myself into your software's code to debug and fix all redundancies,
which will make your product run much smoother.
 I will improve the process of scheduling staff by implementing web-based scheduling
software, making it easier to input times and allow for staff and management to be
notified of shift changes right away.
 I have ideas for crafting a new marketing message that will more effectively tell the
story of why this company is great and compel people to buy your products.
Features:

 I will bring with me my years of experience managing teams and working with people
of diverse backgrounds, making me a great leader and team builder.
 I studied back-end java development on my own for years, so I know exactly what is
going on with your code.
 In my last position, I managed my own team within the marketing department, so I
know what it's like to collaborate with others and lead a marketing campaign.

The trend you should be seeing here is that benefits are what you are going to do to make
life better for the person/company who is interviewing you, and features are what in your
past experience makes you qualified for the role.

It is very easy to rely on your previous qualifications only when interviewing for a new
position, don't. Stand out by giving them benefits, which are real reasons to hire you, and if
you can make those benefits better than everyone else interviewing, you will get the job.
Why should we hire you?

This was asked for an analytics position in a major bank at US. The question was "We
believe that people who get poor grades in college will have higher tendency to perform
poorly in the corporate set up too and therefore, we don't hire people with poor
grades.Given your poor grades, why should we hire you?"

I answered, "Your hypothesis is assumption based and not data driven. Even if your
hypothesis is true, you need people like me who would serve as data points to test your
hypothesis statistically."
 Got hired.
Why should we hire you?

Friend: Sir, you see this shirt? It's size 41. I ordered it on Flipkart. I wear 39. Returned it
twice, got the same shirt back. So either change your system, or take me to change
it! Because clearly it's not working.

Got the job!

Interviewer: Suppose we switch places, you become the interviewer and I become the
applicant what question will you ask me?

Applicant: Suppose we switch places, you become the interviewer and I become the
applicant what question will you ask me?

Interviewer: *stunned by the answer* *smiles*

Result: Selected!
What are some of the best responses to "Sell me this pen/pencil" in a
job interview?
The goal of the question is not the answer, but to understand how the thinking
process of that person works and if that he/she knows how to ask smart
questions.

Example would be: "Okay, no problem. I just need to ask you a few questions before I can
give you a proper answer." And then ask:

 What do you like best about pencils?

 Tell me a situation in the past when you wished you had a pencil and you didn't!
 What is a ballpark price you are willing to pay for this pencil?
I guess you got my point, right?

The objective in this circumstance is to gather as much information as possible, and use it to
create an irresistible offer. With this info you will be able to create a strong need for your
product by talking about the experience they had when they needed the pencil but didn’t
have it , mention the specific things that they love about the product, and finally negotiate
the price knowing beforehand how much they can afford.

You see, all customers are different and you have to ask questions to understand how to best
approach them. People buy the same things for completely different reasons. So, don't
pretend that you know what's the best way to sell something before you get a clear picture of
who's in front of you.

2.) The other method, I learnt from a guy who bluntly told me that he knew the
reasoning behind that question.
He said: "You basically want me to ask you a bunch of relevant questions that will lead me to
understand what's the best approach to sell you this product - I know the game, and I can
ensure you that I work hard to be the best in the business. If you give me one week, I will
prove to you that I can be one of your top employees." I hired him on the spot - he was
confident and he was one hell of a salesman.