One Day before the D Day (Jan 15, 2010)
10:00 AM: Woke up, took out my notes started reading
1:00 PM: Oops, have a class to attend. Already missed two, cannot miss this one. Off to Khemka. Laptop on, notes revision continues
8:00 PM: Still don't know "Why HUL", "Why Citi", satisfied with "Why BCG" and "Why ATK"
9:00 PM: Why is my story so boring???
3:00 AM: Print out taken, folder arranged. Need to sleep, have to wake up at 6:00 AM
3:02 AM: Crap, need to call sis.
3:03 AM: Call made, lights switched off
The D Day
7:00 AM (HUL Area): Group Discussion about to begin. Haven't had anything. Feeling weak. Buck up the battle has just begun.
8:00 AM (HUL Group Discussion):Case given, has 3 cryptic tables. 10 mins to analyze.
8:10 AM : Go! I speak, she speaks, words disappear, sound appears
8:20 AM: Time up!!
8:25 AM: Moved to the next round.A friend volunteers to help me coordinate between interviews. God Bless her!
9:00 AM: Reported to the Citi Area. Citi delayed. HUL calls wants to interview. ATK wants to interview too. Run from one volunteer to the other, get HUL and ATK shifted. Finally things set. All set for Citi
9:30 AM: Citi delayed further.
10:00 AM: Citi Round 1- Cracked. Asked to interview again immediately.
10:30 AM: Citi Round 2- Technical, very technical. Satisfied. Citi Process over.Very very late for ATK
11:00 AM-12:15 PM: Begged ATK to interview. Round 1 cleared. Asked to interview again. Round 2 cleared. Asked to interview again. Requested them to appear for interview with HUL. Totally tired. Rushed to HUL area. Found out HUL panel has been waiting for two hours.
12:30 PM: HUL interview-
Interviewer: Tell me about one advertisement you love
Me(totally lost): Ummm,ummmm,mmmm, sir I haven't watched TV for the past one year.
Interviewer: Huh! Well ok!
Me(aside): @#%#(#&
1:00 PM: Reached ATK.Round 3- Asked to interview immediately.
2:00 PM: Totally dead. Already late for the BCG interview by an hour
2:05 PM: Reached the BCG lounge.Most of the people already interviewed. Interviewed at 2:30 PM. Took a minute to stretch. Drank two red bulls. Go!!
2:45 PM: Despite every help from the interviewer mind froze. Finally able to solve the case.
3:30 PM: BCG Round 2- Totally zoned. Can't hear a word. Head feels heavy. Somehow scrapped through the case.
4:00 PM: Long excruciating wait begins. Waited outside ATK area. Tired of waiting. Move to Citi and BCG area. HUL calls: Result dinged. Not surprising after what I did in the interview. Reached Citi area. Volunteer informs that Citi has already picked its guy. Next BCG: Result dinged.
5:00 PM: ATK dinged
Lessons
1) Focus, focus, focus
Positives
1) A certain friend
2) The day finally got over
Negatives
1) None. Well may be 'No Job'
Showing posts with label ISB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISB. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Core Term: My Learnings
Term I
a) Financial Accounting in Decision Making: Accounting Shenanigans
b) Statistical Methods for Management Decisions: 95% Confidence Interval doesn't always translate to 95% confidence
c) Managerial Economics:Me in your shoes, you in mine!
d) Marketing Management:Restaurant menu can be engineered
Term II
a) Global Economics: The group in minority is the most vocal
b) Decision Models and Optimisation:One can by-pass probability through expectation
c) Competitive Strategy: Strategy works best ex-post
d)Marketing Decision Making: Mark-Strat (sigh!)
Term III
a) Corporate Finance: Arbitrage is a myth
b)Operations Management: An hour saved at a non-bottleneck is a mirage
c) Managerial Accounting and Decision Making: Cost, cost and cost
d)Entrepreneurship: You can chose any profession but nothing beats the thrill of entrepreneurship
Term IV
a)Investment Analysis: It is very difficult to make money in the market
b)Strategic Analysis of Information Technology:Sleeping with eyes wide open
c)Government, Society and Business: Per capita income is not the best measure of human development
d)Management of Organisations: You can fool some of the people all of the time and all the people some of the time
a) Financial Accounting in Decision Making: Accounting Shenanigans
b) Statistical Methods for Management Decisions: 95% Confidence Interval doesn't always translate to 95% confidence
c) Managerial Economics:Me in your shoes, you in mine!
d) Marketing Management:Restaurant menu can be engineered
Term II
a) Global Economics: The group in minority is the most vocal
b) Decision Models and Optimisation:One can by-pass probability through expectation
c) Competitive Strategy: Strategy works best ex-post
d)Marketing Decision Making: Mark-Strat (sigh!)
Term III
a) Corporate Finance: Arbitrage is a myth
b)Operations Management: An hour saved at a non-bottleneck is a mirage
c) Managerial Accounting and Decision Making: Cost, cost and cost
d)Entrepreneurship: You can chose any profession but nothing beats the thrill of entrepreneurship
Term IV
a)Investment Analysis: It is very difficult to make money in the market
b)Strategic Analysis of Information Technology:Sleeping with eyes wide open
c)Government, Society and Business: Per capita income is not the best measure of human development
d)Management of Organisations: You can fool some of the people all of the time and all the people some of the time
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Five months at ISB: My takeaways
1) Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize
2) Academics is not the be all and end all of an MBA but can be fun nevertheless
3) It is very important to enjoy what you're doing without any regrets. Any regret that you may have is irrelevant. So if you attended the Co2008 Lounge Party over a CorpFin assignment, it was probably worth it. After all you can't put value to an hour of unadulterated fun.
4)Don't take tangible outputs such as Grades, Projects etc too seriously. Try and have fun, the result may surprise you
5)Try and enjoy the process, have tremendous expectation from the process, not from the result. If you have done something to the best of your abilities, pat yourself, it's then that the result doesn't matter.
6)There is a lot of luck that separates an A(-) from an A.It's important you don't give over importance or feel dejected just because you didn't max it.
7)Know why you came here. This should help you to be focussed
8)Look at your study-group mates as friends. Be responsible to your group. Invest in the relationship. I've had the good fortune of having a ball with my study group. Don't let your assignment grades be any indicator of the camaraderie you share.
9)As our GSB Prof would say per capita income is not really the best indicator of human development, so make sure you choose a job that best fits with your vision of your life. McKinsey is good but is it really for you?
10) Finally appreciate your time here, it is running faster than you think. And we know we'll miss it!
2) Academics is not the be all and end all of an MBA but can be fun nevertheless
3) It is very important to enjoy what you're doing without any regrets. Any regret that you may have is irrelevant. So if you attended the Co2008 Lounge Party over a CorpFin assignment, it was probably worth it. After all you can't put value to an hour of unadulterated fun.
4)Don't take tangible outputs such as Grades, Projects etc too seriously. Try and have fun, the result may surprise you
5)Try and enjoy the process, have tremendous expectation from the process, not from the result. If you have done something to the best of your abilities, pat yourself, it's then that the result doesn't matter.
6)There is a lot of luck that separates an A(-) from an A.It's important you don't give over importance or feel dejected just because you didn't max it.
7)Know why you came here. This should help you to be focussed
8)Look at your study-group mates as friends. Be responsible to your group. Invest in the relationship. I've had the good fortune of having a ball with my study group. Don't let your assignment grades be any indicator of the camaraderie you share.
9)As our GSB Prof would say per capita income is not really the best indicator of human development, so make sure you choose a job that best fits with your vision of your life. McKinsey is good but is it really for you?
10) Finally appreciate your time here, it is running faster than you think. And we know we'll miss it!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Bandhan-2009
As I walked back to my room from the AC2 Lawns, I closed my eyes. “Let me imagine a world without vision”, I spoke out loud. Ten steps into the 200 meter walk I fell. The shrubs gently pierced my skin, and a small drop of blood oozed out. But I was determined, I didn’t let go. It was an important lesson I wanted myself to learn. And so I got up. Pictures started to flash in front of me: Potatoes, brush and onions. I choked-I could clearly see the children and their eyes. And suddenly I was in my Corporate Finance class, studying Miller and Modigliani Irrelevance Proposition. For the first time I could relate to the theory. In a perfect world, the distribution of wealth would not matter. We would all be happy in our own world. We would be clapping our hands, whenever we felt happy, we would share our joys. We would shed tears. But this is not a perfect world the MM Irrelevance did not apply here.
Suddenly I hit the wall, I opened my eyes for the first time in 10 minutes, I was nowhere close to where I expected. My head felt several notches heavier. I felt the need to go back. I had to see the children again. I wanted to tell them, how they make me realize what a petty man I’ve been. They make me want to scream; to every friend of mine who I’ve seen getting depressed on not getting an A, or not getting an ELP. But I couldn’t muster the courage; I couldn’t look eye to eye. How I admired each and every volunteer, who could ‘share a smile’; for I couldn’t. May be all I can do is Accounting, and feel happy every time I do it well.
I closed my eyes again. I knew where my steps will take me. I tripped on something. It was a potato. A few kids clapped. I felt lighter. I opened my eyes; I was in the lawns again. I was ready to play. I was ready to 'share a smile'!
Suddenly I hit the wall, I opened my eyes for the first time in 10 minutes, I was nowhere close to where I expected. My head felt several notches heavier. I felt the need to go back. I had to see the children again. I wanted to tell them, how they make me realize what a petty man I’ve been. They make me want to scream; to every friend of mine who I’ve seen getting depressed on not getting an A, or not getting an ELP. But I couldn’t muster the courage; I couldn’t look eye to eye. How I admired each and every volunteer, who could ‘share a smile’; for I couldn’t. May be all I can do is Accounting, and feel happy every time I do it well.
I closed my eyes again. I knew where my steps will take me. I tripped on something. It was a potato. A few kids clapped. I felt lighter. I opened my eyes; I was in the lawns again. I was ready to play. I was ready to 'share a smile'!
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