INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT RANCHI

A reference guide for aspirants

An Initiative of
MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS CELL
PI aims at testing clarity, knowledge, communication
skills, personality traits and fitment.
Below are some tips to ace
Dressing etiquette is extremely important. Being well
groomed makes a major difference as it directly
impacts your confidence.
Demonstrate a confident body language and good
communication skills
Maintain eye contact and address all the panel
members
Don’t get nervous, it’s not a test but a conversation. So
just relax and keep the conversation going. The
interviewers would want to know more about you.
Basic etiquette like seeking permission before entering
the room, greeting the panelists, politeness, eye
contact with interviewers and a gentle smile can go a
long way in creating a lasting impression
Listen to questions carefully, ask for clarifications if
required
Don't rush into your answer. Take a few seconds to
gather your thoughts and articulate.
Maintain brevity in answers, don’t beat around the
bush
Be thorough with your resume / CV.
Prepare well for a couple of subjects from graduation
you claim to be your interest (Term projects in case of
engineering students), academic details, etc.
For people with work experience, questions on roles
and responsibilities, projects worked for and relevant
industry trends can be expected.
It is needed and expected to have reasonable clarity
regarding your goals
Identify your strengths and support them with
situations demonstrating the same.
Identify your weaknesses and reflect on how you have
worked upon them
Have enough knowledge and experiences to talk
about your hobbies
Overall, stay calm, relaxed and confident
HR/ GENERAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
About You:
Tell me something about yourself.
Tell me something about yourself which is not
written in the form.
Tell us about your hometown and state you belong to.

About MBA
Why MBA and why now?
Why HR?
What is the difference between MBA and PGDM?
Do you think MBA is a necessity to progress in career?
What is your plan B, if not selected for any B-school?
Why IIM Ranchi?
About schooling, Under/Post Graduation
What was your favorite subject in 12th and why?
What were your favorite subjects in UG?
Why is there a dip in your academics?
Justify gaps between 12th and Engineering or after
Engineering and work ex (if any)
Activities & Interests
What are your hobbies and interests?
What is your short term and long-term goal?
How do you spend your leisure time?
Tell us about famous personalities pursuing your
hobby as a profession.
Who is your role model and why?

Strengths & Weakness

How would you describe your strengths?
Substantiate them with examples?
Are you creative or innovative by nature? Give an
example.
What do you think are your unique qualities or
achievements / How are you different from other
applicants?
How do you adapt to new things and environment?
What personal characteristics you intend to develop
to ensure success?
 What are some of your weaknesses and how have you
worked on them?

About work-ex
What was your role at workplace?
Are you not happy with your job?
Whom do you think are the major competitors of your
organization?
Who is the main client of your organization?
What according to you are the major qualities of a
good manager?
Reason for switching jobs, if the case be?
How have you handled criticism at your workplace?
Would you mind discussing about unpleasant
experience with a Manager or a Professor?
What are the additional skills you developed at your
workplace, beyond technical skills.
Why MBA after working for this long.
How will your work experience help in your MBA life.
Achievements & Failures
What is your greatest achievement till date? What do
you plan to achieve after MBA or what are your goals?
A situation when you failed, how did you handle it?
What is your learning from that?
Any situation in which you have faced an ethical
dilemma, how did you handle it?
Given a chance to change something about your past,
what would that be and how will you do it differently?
Ethics/Value Based
What according to you is an ideal job?
What qualities do you believe will help an individual
succeed in professional life?
On a scale of 10, grade yourself for ethical values and
justify.
Do you believe in hard work?

Others
Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
What was your preparation strategy?
Three adjectives that define you as an individual.
What is your biggest achievement till date and why?
What influenced you to choose this career?
Give an instance when you were under high pressure
and how did you deal with it?
Give an instance when you had to take a quick
decision?
Which subjects did you dislike in your college?
Difference between conductors and semiconductors
and how temperature will affect them
Who is a Brand Ambassador
Which other B-schools did you apply for and converts,
if any.
Difference between a Manager and a Leader
What Is OS?
How does Demand-Supply curve work?
Market share of your organization.
Basic questions related to Economics and Accountancy
Name a few HR Managers who are heading an
Organization
Name Few Sensors Used in Mobiles
Question on IOS
How to communicate CSR activities?
How do you sell black spectacles to a deaf man?
What is your favorite movie?
5 Women Chief Ministers served or currently serving
Indian states
5 Women CEOs and women HRs

Contributed by: HR CLUB HIRE

Difference between accounting and book keeping?
What are the 3 golden rules of accounting?
What is real account, personal account and nominal
account?
Difference between expense and expenditure?
What are fictitious assets? Give examples.
What are the different types of accounting ratios?
What is time value of money?
Difference between collateral and mortgage?
Difference between primary and secondary market?
Difference between FDI and FII?
What are Sensex and Nifty?
Difference between equity and debentures?
Different types of market tradeable securities?
Difference between public and private companies?
Difference between IPO and FPO?
Difference between futures and options?
What is hedging, speculation and arbitrage?
Different types of policy rates (bank rate, repo, reverse
repo)?
Difference LAF and MSF?
What is asymmetric information?
What is NPV, IRR?
Different types of financial statements- income
statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement?
Different items in balance sheet (assets and liabilities)?
Different types of exchange rates?
Difference between GDP, GNP, NNP, NDP?
What is depreciation?
What is working capital, components of working
capital?
Difference between capital and revenue expenditure?
Difference between cash basis and accrual basis of
accounting?
Different types of tax and non-tax revenue?
Difference types of deficits- fiscal, revenue, primary?
What are NPAs?
What are different types of taxes?
What is long term capital gains taxes?
What is quantitative easing?
What is call money market?
What are crypto currencies?
What is block chain?
Difference between mergers and acquisitions?
What are payment banks?
Different types of inflation rates?
What are the nominal and real concepts in interest
rates?
What is the relationship between inflation and
employment?
What is the relationship between inflation and interest
rates?
What is stagflation?
What are different types of elasticities?
What is management by exception?
What is liquidity trap?
What is crowding out effect?
What is capital flight?
What is public debt?
What us sterilization?
What are different types of mutual funds?
What is a bilateral investment treaty?
 What are anchor investors?
What is viability gap funding?
What is refinancing?
What is debt restructuring?
What are bilateral investment treaties?
What are advance pricing agreements?
What are the different types of Alternative investment
funds?

Important links:

https://www.investopedia.com/

https://www.marketwatch.com/

https://www.forbes.com/books/money-by-steve-forbes/

https://www.kiplinger.com/

https://in.reuters.com/

https://www.economist.com/
https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

https://www.livemint.com/

https://www.business-standard.com/

Contributed by: Finance Club

What is marketing?
Who is the father of modern-day marketing?
Why do you want to pursue marketing?
Difference between sales and marketing?
Difference between advertising and marketing?
What is marketing mix?
What are the 7 Ps of marketing?
What is Physical evidence in services?
Sell me this- pen/water bottle/watch...
Which is your favorite advertisement and why?
What is the importance of celebrity endorsement?
What is the difference between good and service?
What is STP?
What is branding? Why is it done?
Difference between B2B and B2C marketing with
example.
What is USP of a company?
What is SWOT Analysis?
What are the types of segmentation?
Push vs Pull marketing
 What is Product Life Cycle (PLC)?
What are the various tools of Integrated Marketing
Communication (IMC)?

Contributed by: Marketing Club MARQUESS

What do you mean by Operations?

What is SIPOC?

What are the different types of Processes?

What is Quality?
What is the difference between quality assurance and
quality control?
What do you mean by Total Quality Management?
Define 5S and why it is implemented in a process?

Explain the seven basic tools of quality management?

What is JIT (Just-In Time)?
What do you mean by Lean Operations?
What do you mean by the term Kaizen?
What do you mean by Supply Chain?
 What do you mean by push and pull strategy in supply
chain?
What do you mean by the term inventory
management?
What are the different types of Inventories?
What is Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)?
Explain ABC inventory classification system.
What are different types of plant layout?
What do you mean by the term logistics management?
Define the terms Lead time, cycle time, throughput
rate, value chain and bottleneck.
What do you mean by the term DMAIC and DMADV?
What do you mean by the term six sigma?
What are the various elements of a supply chain?
What are the different types of maintenance?
What are the different strategies of scheduling?

Contributed by: Operations Club Sankriya

Why Entrepreneurship?
Why do you think you can be a good entrepreneur?
List some qualities
What does your start-up provide that you can count as
your differentiator from others in your field? (If
working or having a start-up)
Are you aware of the Startup India policy?
What is open innovation?
What is Design Thinking? How are organizations
leveraging it? Is it easier for a startup to adopt Design
Thinking? Why or Why not?
What is IPR?
What is the TRIPS agreement?
What is Lean Startup strategy?
What according to you is a difference between
Entrepreneur and Manager?
India produces too few entrepreneurs for its stage of
development. Why promoting entrepreneurship is
important for India? What are the strategies it can
adopt? Discuss
 Elaborate about “TIDE”
Why all business persons are not entrepreneurs?
What are the objectives of Entrepreneurship
Development Programmes (EDPs)?

Relevant Blogs:
Inc42
YourStory
TechCrunch
Reddit
Quick Sprout

Startup India
The much anticipated, and needed, ‘Startup India’
initiative was launched on 16th January '16 by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in a move to help startups
and catalyse entrepreneurship. Startups and
entrepreneurship are critical to India’s efforts to
restart private investment into the economy. The
Startup India Action Plan lists out a comprehensive set
 of structural and regulatory reforms in order to
achieve this.
Start-up India Action Plan:
1.) No capitals gains on personals property sold to
invest in startups
2.) No income tax in profits to startups for the first 3
years
3.) Self-certification compliance for startups
4.) No inspection for first 3 years of a startup
5.) Startup Hub will be a single point source for
information and mentoring
6.) Simplifying patent regime and IPR
7.) 80% rebate on filling a patent application
8.) Mobile oriented application form for startups
9.) Exit policy introduced for startups
10.) Credit Guarantee scheme for loans
11.) Bring sector-specific incubators
Some of prominent start-ups:
Zivame.com
Based out of Bangalore, Zivame is an online lingerie
store which started operations in August 2011. It was
started by Richa Kar a BITS Pilani (2002) and Narsee
Monji Institute of Management Studies
graduate.Zivame recently raised an INR 250 Cr series C
round. Talking about growth, it is rising with each
passing day. Currently it ships 40,000 orders per day. It
is growing at a rate of 300 percent per year.
Firstcry.com
FirstCry.com is an online and offline brand providing
range of products for babies, kids and moms, born out
of a desire to solve Indian parents’ problem of not
having access to the best brands and products for their
babies and kids. It was founded by IIM graduates
Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha in November
2010. With over 700 international and national
vendors on board, FirstCry romises a great customer
 experience, amazing variety of products baby care
products and the most reasonable prices.
Urbanclap
UrbanClap, started by IIT Kanpur alumni Varun Khaitan
and Abhiraj Bhal is a platform to make our urban lives
more fulfilling to solve the needs in a clap. Hence the
name, UrbanClap. UrbanClap enables users find any
service professional like a plumber, a wedding
photographer, a yoga teacher, or an interior designer.
They want to be the go-to platform helping customers
complete projects that are important to their urban
lives – everything from designing their homes to
capturing key moments, learning arts, filing taxes, and
getting healthier etc.
OYO rooms
At 22, Ritesh Agarwal, one of the youngest people at
his company OYO Rooms. He is also the founder and
CEO. Agarwal skipped out on college as a part of the
Thiel Fellowship, a program funded by billionaire tech
investor Peter Thiel to provide grants to young mind,
 pursuing their ideas. Agarwal’s company has built a
network of 4200 small hotels in 152 cities across India
booking a million nights a month.

Contributed by: ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB E-CELL

 Is it up to the business to save the planet?
Do you think government’s mandate of compliance to
CSR Act justified?
What does a CSR manager do?
Why CSR isn’t a piece of cake?
How should we move from Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) to Creating Shared Values (CSV)?
Are companies using CSR to win the War?
How do various CSR initiatives affect companies
bottom line?
Should there be a course on CSR in MBA education?
Do business have a responsibility of creating value to
their surrounding community
Are companies using CSR just as a marketing tool?

General Knowledge questions –

In 2004 Coco cola faced a famous controversy about
its product - Dasani waters in UK. It was related to
what?
Answer - Carcinogen presence
 What made CSR compulsory in India?
Answer - Companies act 2013
Who won Golden peacock lifetime achievement award
for year 2016?
Answer - B.R. Shetty
CSR act mandates how much percent profit to be used
for CSR?
Answer – 2%
Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Award is given to
which Indian Startup?
Answer - Hyderabad-based GVK Biosciences (GVK BIO)
‘Back to school’ is an initiative by which well-known
organization?
Answer – Surf Excel
CSR is based on which theory?
Answer - Stakeholder Theory
Which state receives the biggest chunk of the total CSR
fund spent in the country?
Answer- Maharashtra
Which company got a village named after itself as a
recognition in CSR activities?
Answer – Snapdeal
Which company won the ET Awards for Corporate
Citizen in 2018?
Answer- HUL

Contributed by: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLUB

SAMARPAN
Why consulting as a career?
Describe any instance in your work experience that
triggered you to pursue this domain.
What is strategy? How is it different from Planning?
Do you know SWOT analysis?
What is big 4 in consulting domain?
Which among big 4 is your dream company and why?
Identify your 3 strengths and weakness, and describe
how they would help you in consulting domain.
Describe any instance from your life where you took
some strategic decisions.
According to you what are the skill and qualities that a
consultant must pose?
How do you think MBA will help you to become a
consultant?
What is your expectation from a Consulting job?
Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
What is your contingency plan if consulting is not an
option in the future?
What is difference between consulting and strategy?
 What is MBB?
Describe a situation where you failed. What did you
learn about yourself and how did you change as a
result?
What are three main types of consulting?
Why do companies hire consultants?

Guesstimate Questions
What is the valuation of the food industry in India?
How many water bottles are used in your city every
day?
How many people are travelling by Uber each day in
Mumbai?

Case based Questions

A big online retail firm is not making profits despite
huge volume of sales. What could be going on?
An electronic products manufacturing company is
increasingly making profits despite reduction in sales
over the years. What could be going on?
 Describe the marketing strategy of the company you
like the most. Tell any two major strategic decisions it
has taken recently.

Contributed by: Consulting Club CONUNDRUM

Written Ability Test (WAT) plays a crucial role in
selection process of IIMs. It tests your ability to
understand and critically analyze the topic, and to
communicate your thoughts in a stipulated word or
time limit.
The topic for WAT can be anything from current affairs
or general awareness to any abstract title. Below are a
few tips to ace the WAT –
Practice is the key to success. Ensure that you actually
practice writing a few essays.
While introducing the topic, it is advised to mention
the importance and need for the discussion at this
point in time.
Avoid grammar and spelling mistakes. Flaunt your
vocabulary skills, but make sure not to be verbose.
Don’t beat around the bush as there will be word or
space limit along with time limit.
Mentally sketch out some of the important points that
you would definitely want to mention in your
submission. It is important to make use of the first
20% of the time limit (4 minutes for 20 minutes
timeline) to frame the article in your mind.
Correlate the points to the topic and frame the outline
of your article with proper coherence and a seamless
connection between every point. Structure is
extremely important. A well-structured essay
demonstrates your clarity and understanding about
the topic. Keep the format simple – Introduction, Body
& Conclusion.
In case of an "A v/s B" topic, maintain a neutral stand
and drive towards your pick through substantial
analysis. Conclusion is the section where you
consolidate all your thoughts and take a side on the
topic only if asked for.
INTRODUCTION: This is much like the first 30 seconds
of your PI. This is where the evaluator will form his
first (and often irreversible) impression of you, with
regards to your clarity of thought, relevance to the
topic, grammar and sentence construction. So it is
critical to provide something unique in your
introduction to capture the full attention of the
evaluator. Something that is different from most of
the other hundred copies the person would be
evaluating. While using a relevant quote is often a way
to establish this, it can be risky because:
There is a chance of drawing negatives if the accuracy
of reproducing the quote is compromised, which is not
unlikely given the time and performance pressure.
It is essentially starting off with someone else's
thoughts on the topic, an original and distinct thought
would be more appreciated. Therefore, it is advisable
to give your own thoughts in a concise and
grammatically correct form that would act as a
preamble to the points that you are going to elaborate
on in the body.
BODY: This is where the various points come, in a
sequential and a rational manner. A very useful format
is the ILE method - Idea, logic and example. Put your
point across and then provide a succint explanation
and then substantiate the same with an example.
Often the example can be used as a connection to the
next point, if thought through thoroughly.
 CONCLUSION: Whatever the topic, an article should
ideally end on a positive note. Therefore, based on the
points provided round up the article on an optimistic
note, eg: lying the stones for a bright future in the
given scope or sphere. A good conclusion often leaves
the evaluator happy and enhances the chances of
getting a good score.
In terms of paragraphs, the Introduction and the
Conclusion should be one paragraph each, and the
Body can have multiple paragraphs, depending on
word and space limits.

SOME HYGIENE FACTORS:-

Always adhere to word/space limits. The easiest way
to lose marks is to cross the word limit. If no word limit
is given, then make sure that the font is not too
dissimilar in the first and last sentences, ie there
should be no visible indications of time and space
constraints you might have faced.
 Utilize the first 20% of the time very wisely. This is
where you will strategize. The next 80% will be the
implementation.
Practice writing fast without losing out on handwriting
aesthetics. It is surprising how an illegible handwriting
can be the downfall for a really well written essay.

SOME USEFUL TOPICS FOR THIS YEAR

Statues: A Symbol of Pride or Waste of Money?
The future of Virtual Currency.
Data is the new Oil.
India: Post Demonization and GST.
Social media: A boon or bane?
Are IIMs and IITs losing their lustre?
Censorship as a necessity or obstruction in expression.
Artificial intelligence taking over humans.
Digital marketing vs. Traditional marketing.
Should Legal bodies interfere with Religion?
Right to Privacy: Is it a myth?
Trade war between US and China.
Performance of India in the field of Sports.
A Better Judge: EQ or IQ.
Human Missions to Moon.
Surrogacy Law and Paternity leave
River Linking Project - is it the solution to India’s river
water crisis?
Start-up India: Skill Development and Employment
Generation
Impact of GST on business scenario in India
Startup India and its impact on startup culture in India
Make in India- how will it help India to be next
manufacturing hub?
Whistle blowing: Good or bad for the Society?
Inflation or Corruption: which is more important?
Role of regional political parties in Indian Politics
Need of vocational training in today’s education
system
Promoting Hockey in India
Impact of social media and smartphones on
productivity at workplace
Decriminalizing section 377- Its effect on workplace?
How relevant has been Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for
Indian citizens?
Debate on Article 370 of the Indian Constitution
Impact of doing away with Triple Talaq on Muslim
women.
Importance and effect of Diversity and inclusion at
workplace
Statue of Unity
Effect of GST on Inflation.
Horse trading in politics: Is it healthy?
Renaming cities in India: Socio-economic impact.
Sabarimala issue- Should gender be a hindrance to
faith and worship?
Is India a soft nation?
Smart city projects.
Privatization of Indian Railways
America’s hegemony in world affairs.
Impact of Artificial Intelligence on jobs.
Pink is the new blue.
Advertising is legalized lying.
Corruption and lack of transparency and has made
India unattractive for investors
How do movies on political figures affect voters’
perception?
Bollywood is capitalizing on persons with disabilities
Playing national anthem in movie theatres - Is it the
true sign of patriotism?
The first thing you want your Government to do
Corruption or Terrorism- which one would you choose
& why?

Contributed by: LITERARY CLUB

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