Qualifying Rounds - (Part 2)

This section is the preparation for the actual interview... I had a series of mock interviews... The experience proved only one thing... That I am a very contradictory person - based on the answers I gave in the interviews... In one mock interview I was boring and in the other I was interesting... In one I was extremely clear about my career path in others I was silly and had no clue where my life was heading to... Given below are some excerpts from my interviews (of course the interesting ones - mainly where I acted silly)

Interviewer (hereon referred to as I) - So, Sharmili who is the vice president of India?
Me (hereon referred to as M) - Bhairao Singh Shekhavat(BSS)...
I - Sharmili, its late BSS...
M (gasping) - Oh!!! I did not know...
I - So, sharmili who is the VP of India???
M (confidently this time) - Late BSS...

Interviewer couldn't ROTFLOL (roll on the floor laughing out loud) otherwise he would have... All he said was Sharmili since when are ghosts presiding on important chairs...
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I - What is your favorite subject?
M - Maths
I - ok, tell me the remainder when you divide -17 by 3
M - remainder is -2
I - So, sharmili if this is the state of affairs in your fav subject then I wonder what it would be in the non-fav ones...

This came from the person who got a 98.50 percentile in Maths... Just for the benefit of those who are strongly on my side and think answer is correct - then no it isn't... Answer is 1... Remainder is defined as the first positive number after you divide which is less than divisor... So, 3 * -6 = -18 which gives remainder 1 for -17...
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I - what is the average annual income of an Indian?
M - 2500 USD (guessed)
I - well, if that were the case sharmili - we would not be called a developing country

Later on I found out it is 2500 Rupees = 350 USD... There is a limit to faking man!!!
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Of course there were management interview specific questions like - Why do you want management? How would you describe yourself? etc... I am not writing about them coz I knew those and I could crack them decently and would not be interesting reads....

There was others like where I was asked my idol, my role model, basketball dimensions (how will this make me a better manager??), conversion of inch to centimeter(yes, because at some point in time every manager needs to use this), how many steps I took before coming to the room (do you not realise that when a manager goes for any presentation the first question is how many steps did he climb...), how will I manage my personal and professional life after marriage(I wonder why only girls are always asked this question??? I mean, dont guys marry too??? What makes them better at managing personal and professional life??? Is it a fact or just assumed since we are a male dominated society??), mention all the stations between Virar and Borivli - in order (I want to tell them that if I really become a manager - 99% I would not be in that area and even if I am placed there then I would use a car ;)....) etc....

First set of questions - a sensible and an intelligent person should not answer the way I did... Wonder why my brain just blocked sensible responses and gave out completely dumb answers...

Second set of questions - no longer an indicator coz most of the students prepare this so well that you cannot make out who is being genuine and true and who is fake and rehearsed...

Third set of questions - I know it is for checking the presence of mind or how do they candidates react to stressful situations... I agree it is important for a manager but I still dont think this is a good way to check... Atleast I was flabbergasted to suddenly move from Indian economy to what is the dimension of the basketball court... And clearly this showed in the confidence levels with which I answered this question...

The learnings from every interview were - I am terrible, I have low confidence levels, I cannot lie - since my eyes reveal it, I need to work on my current affairs, I need to work on academic subjects, I speak in a roundabout manner etc... This evaluation, in a way, helped me since I did not become complacent - I kept working on my answers, working on my foibles...

But I keep wondering is would I be better prepared for the interview if I had one good post interview evaluation???

The actuals coming up in the next blog....