Preparing for the second stage of the admission process including PI/WAT, its important to have an analysis of the trends observed in the PI/WAT process over the past years at IIM Calcutta
WAT
Average Duration: 20 mins
World Limit: 200 words
No. of Panelists: 3
WAT topics over the past years
Politicization and Commercialization of sports – reality or fake?
Modern life has corruption, how will a honest man go up as businessman or as a civil servant?
Case studies suggest that enrollment in increasing in Indian schools & that India ranks 2nd from bottom in reading and math abilities. How would you explain the contribution of B-schools?
Is reading no more a leisure thing? How has the advancement of technology affected the concept of leisure?
Do women in the 21st century still face a lot of barriers to rise to senior management positions?
Give your views on book launches, social hype around books and bestselling novels.
Unhappy is the country which has no leaders.
Has the definition of heroes changed? How about heroes in India. Give your opinion.
Suicides in colleges are on an increase. Analyze and give comments regarding this trend. How would you act to counteract this?
People are not taking care of their old. Suggest how we can save our old.
Affection leads to infection
Devil is in the details
Small is beautiful
Bharat vs. India
BPO is primarily profit driven
It’s the time for Underdogs
Monopoly leads to constraint of freedom.
There is always a tomorrow.
Gandhi v/s. Gandhi.
Only poor people are responsible for their poverty.
Should there be international men’s day?
33% Reservation for woman in jobs.
PERSONAL INTERVIEW
Average Duration: 30 mins
No. of panelists: 3
PI experience of a student
ABOUT YOURSELF (Education/Work Experience/List of calls): B. Tech. in Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay in 2006, prepared for IAS exams, taught at IMS and now working at Zeus Learning, calls from all 6 IIMs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE INTERVIEW : It was a good interview, and I think my performance was average. They were smiling throughout the interview, but they did not seem too happy or unhappy. However, it could be because I gave very diplomatic answers, to which one of the professors said, “He’s already talking like those MBA types”.
KIND OF QUESTIONS ASKED: One of the professor gave me a case study on a food products company. Later, another professor asked me about my background, and when I brought in the fact that I had appeared for the IAS exams, the entire interview went on those lines, as in why did I appear for it, what I want to achieve in life, what do I think of diplomacy vis-à-vis the business world, and so on.
DURATION OF THE INTERVIEW: 15-20 minutes.
HOW WAS YOUR PERFORMANCE: I believe it was OK.
AREAS WHERE YOU COULD HAVE PERFORMED BETTER:Even though the interview was on expected lines and I did not really falter at any point, my performance was not very good either. Try to be more confident during the interview, and not just before it.
QUESTIONS THAT YOU FOUND DIFFICULT TO ANSWER: They asked me to name a family-owned company which has a democratically elected CEO.
suggestion- Be calm and confident. If the interviewers are asking more about your opinions on issues rather than your knowledge of those issues, you should say what you know, and what you think is right, but do not take any extreme stance on any issue.
