Clarity of thought is a much-admired trait during PI

... says Shashank Jain who comes from a commerce background and has a BBA degree from Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies (Under Graduate). His decision to do an MBA came about during his BBA programme when he realised that one needed to have both theoretical and practical know how if one had to excel in this field. So Post his BBA Shashank gained hands on experience at his family enterprise (specialised in logistics) for 13 months before venturing to do an MBA. He attempted the CAT and scored a 98.82 percentile. He is currently pursuing his management degree from Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong (IIM S). Shashank Jain a class of 2012 student shares his selection experience and success strategy with Serena Kallian.

Reasons for joining IIM-S and the path ahead...
After giving CAT and scoring a 98.82 percentile I got a call from IIM Shillong for the GD/PI rounds. That’s when I focused all my efforts in order to convert the call. I had always hoped to be a part of the IIM fraternity. The unique aspect about IIM Shillong is that they have everything that has never been adopted in many B-schools be it the Golf Cup, which is an only event of its kind among management institutes or state-of-the-art IT facilities that the campus operated with.
I want to specialise in Finance and post the MBA, I hope to work with some of the big names in the industry and gain good corporate exposure in various capacities and learn good business practises. In the distant future, I see myself as an entrepreneur.

Selection experience...
The process at IIM Shillong this year has changed, as they have moved into a completely paperless process when it comes to applications and GD/PI evaluations. The process goes with a Group Case study that is given by the panel members. The case study varies across all domains but in general is aimed at observing the communication as well as logical skills in analysing the case. There is a 5-minute time given to the members to read the case. Subsequently, they take 15 minutes to evaluate the case and reach a consensus.
The PI varies depending on the profile, personality and also the manner of the interview. My interview went on for 50 minutes during which I was evaluated on general awareness, personal background, the application form details, which could include questions on ‘a moral dilemma that you may have ever faced’ etc. I was also quizzed on my work experience.

Success strategy...
The first and foremost thing that is required is an evaluation of one’s self and analysing all things in retrospect. Panelists expect you to know yourself very well. The second most important thing is having knowledge of what is happening around in the world. The current affairs topics usually cover politics, scams, business, economics, entertainment, sports, etc. However, no panel expects you to know everything.
Since one has spent around 3-4 years in graduate studies it is expected that you remember at least a few aspects of it. Brush up on all your fundamentals. From my experience, I have realised that having composure and clarity of thought is much-admired by the panellists. Also admitting that you do not know the answer to a question posed is far better than taking a lucky shot.