In this topic, I will share my experience with all of you on the Selection Process that I went through at IBS India.

I joined the IBS Hyderabad in the year 2003 and let me share that the selection process at IBS is very fair but at the same time is equally challenging on the competitive front..

Before I share my experience on the selection process, let me give you a fair idea on how the whole IBS Selection Process starts and finish!

As per the Selection Procedure of IBSAT, the candidates would be selected for the final admission at the IBS Business School and ICFAI University campuses through the IBSAT exam scores, Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI).

The IBSAT exam is conducted for selection of students for admissions into management courses at IBS across its campuses. The IBSAT Selection Procedure will be conducted in IBS Hyderabad campus in the month of February. The procedure candidates have to follow is given in the table below

IBSAT Exam

IBSAT 2014/GMAT/CAT Score

Group Discussion and Personal Interview

In this topic I will jot down the four most important points based on my experience that will helps you sail through the Selection Process at IBS.

Timing: Timing is very important aspect as far the SP concerns…You need to reach the venue well before the given time and register yourself at the Registration Counter. I have seen many students reaching late to the venue or getting the registration late due to some or the other reasons which in turn leads to the utter confusion for them and most of the students felt nervous and broke down before the most important SP. It‘s not correct if any student start feeling nervous or remains in hurry. You need to stay cool and should not lose control of the things due to the bad time management.

Choosing the Appropriate Centre: While filling the forms I encountered a very critical question that ask you about your most preferential centres…Since I was from New Delhi and at that point of time IBS Hyderabad was the most sought after learning centre, so I choose IBS Hyderabad as my first choice and Gurgaon as second, Jaipur and Dehradun as third and fourth…Most of the students available at that point of time were filling Hyderabad as their first choice of learning centre..While I would not say that in today’s time the students will not put Hyderabad as the first choice but the times have change and all the 9 IBS Learning centres are providing world class education and amenities and state of the art infrastructure.

You need to provide your list of the most preferential learning centres in your feedback form and you will be asked to provide 4-5 choices of learning centres…Before providing your list of the centres, I will advise each one of you to kindly visit the nearby IBS Centre and talk to the staff and students and take help from the seniors in order to choose your preference for the learning centres.

Group Discussion: I was reached the given venue at 8am on the given day and my turn for GD came at around 6pm this is because of the large number of the students available at that day and the IBS Staff was taking each and every step to make feel that we are not left behind like this..I was very impressed with the arrangement and facility provided to the students and to their parents…The GD was consists of 8-10 members per group and the supervisors who were available were very knowledgeable and were very supportive…Our group was given a topic and were provided 5 Minutes of time to think for some points on the given topic of the GD. You need to be well prepared for the Group Discussion held during the SP at IBS. I will provide you some of the tips to handle the GD in a much better way…

• Be as natural as possible. Do not try and be someone you are not.
• Don’t start speaking until you have clearly understood and analyzed the subject.
• Work out various strategies to help you make an entry: initiate the discussion or agree with someone else’s point and then move onto express your views.
• Opening the discussion is not the only way of gaining attention and recognition. If you do not give valuable insights during the discussion, all your efforts of initiating the discussion will be in vain.
• Your body language says a lot about you – your gestures and mannerisms are more likely to reflect your attitude than what you say.
• Always be polite: Try to avoid using extreme phrases like: `I strongly object’ or `I disagree’. Instead try phrases like: `I would like to share my views on…’ or `One difference between your point and mine…’
• Brush up on your leadership skills; motivate the other members of the team to speak and listen to their views.
• If you have a group of like-minded friends, you can have a mock group discussion where you can learn from each other through giving and receiving feedback.

Apart from the above points, the panel will also judge team members for their alertness and presence of mind, problem-solving abilities, ability to work as a team without alienating certain members, and creativity.
Don’t be disheartened if you did not do well in your first group discussion. The best possible preparation for a group discussion is to learn from your past mistakes…

Personal Interview:  PI is the last step at your SP at IBS, there are no set timing for PI and a normal PI could take any time between 10 mins to 30 mins, PI is your last chance for getting the selection done at your favourite IBS Centre… You need to be very well prepared for your PI…The panel for the PI are truly the best among the lot and no one can take chance with this step of the SP…I was interviewed for almost 15 mins and the panel asked me the questions related to my Engineering subjects, the project done during the Engg, current affairs, Indian Politics and questions from various other subjects which I learned during my Engg course. You need to be hands on your graduate courses and read thoroughly about the projects done during the graduate course…do not leave any chance to Impress the panel with your sense of Humour and the communication skills…the PI Panel would not like to see you giving answers’ like you mugged them but present yourself in a very confident way!!

I will provide you some of the tips to handle the PI in a much better way…

What does it test?

So what does the personal interview process aim to test? According to Dr JK Mitra, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, “Personal Interview process might begin with the ‘views’ expressed during the ‘extempore round’ (part of process at FMS Delhi) or through a free-wheeling discussion around one’s bio-data given in the application form.”

Goal Clarity:
Why do want to do an MBA? How does it fit into your career goals? What do you wish to do after your MBA?…These are some hard questions that you will have to answer almost invariably in all Interviews. These questions search the ‘inner motivations’ of a candidate, and there are no ‘right answers’. The only way to answer these questions is to introspect: what excites and motivates you; what makes you perform your best; what would you really like to do in your life, and how do you genuinely see an MBA helping. Tough questions, but answering them honestly is critical for your success!

Domain Knowledge:
Given that a good MBA is a demanding programme, B-schools would like to know how you will be able to cope up with the academics and the extra-curricular 24 x 7 demands of your new campus. They are also keen to assess how you have utilized the earlier learning opportunities.

Be prepared to discuss different specialty areas in business and their responsibilities. Interviewers will also expect you to discuss current issues in business, including the economy, taxation, foreign competition, the role of technology and ethical challenges in the field.

Interestingly, it is not just about knowledge and answering the questions but also ‘leading’ the interview panel. Anything you say opens the doors to new lines of questioning and discussion, so make sure you know where you are leading the interview.

Communication Skills:
Your speaking and listening skills become very important than the oft tested reading and writing skills. As simple as it may sound, good communication strategy is quite simple. Listen to the question keenly to understand it well, and then offer a precise answer. If you don’t know the answer, no bluffing the panel please! The experts are too experienced to notice this and can get switched off.

Prep Strategy:
To be honest, it is not possible to ‘prepare’ for an interview in a few weeks. Planning for an interview should ideally be a process that should begin as soon as you make up your mind to pursue management education. However, you should use the few weeks and months before the interview to revisit and update your knowledge base, and crystallize your reasoning and thinking process on your career and life goals.

All the Best!!

GD Ref : http://gdpi.ascenteducation.com/

PI Ref : http://www.mbauniverse.com/

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Contributed by Himanshu Chaudhary ( Class of 2003-05, IBS HYDERABAD )