SP Jain 2016 Group Interview Experience- Shivam Arora (CAT'16-98.24 Percentiler)

By Asakti|Updated : February 3rd, 2017

With the interview season for CAT 2016 been up, many of you must have booked your slots for the interviews and many of you must still be waiting for the slot window to start. Here we bring the insights from the interview of SP Jain Institute of Management and Research- Delhi Campus. In this article, we have shared the interview experience of Shivam Arora who is currently working as Assistant Manager in Production at Jubilant Lifesciences Limited. Shivam has managed to score 98.24 percentile in CAT'16 along with regular job schedule. Following is the excerpt from the telephonic interview with our experts. 

(1) How many candidates did appear for the procedure of PI at your center?

My slot comprised of 20 candidates. There were 2 other slots apart from my slot and around 60 people were there in total in all the three slots. 

(2) Can you briefly describe the different stages of the entire procedure?

Yes, the entire procedure was divided into three phases as follows:

(a) Psychometric test and Written Ability Test (WAT)

(b) Group Interview Round I

(c) Group Interview Round II

The psychometric test and WAT was conducted together and the time slot for this procedure was 30 minutes. After this, candidates were divided into groups of 5 members each and were sent for the Group Interview Round I. This was basically an elimination round where the suitable candidates were selected for the Group Interview Round 2. 

(3) Can you describe the procedure of Psychometric test?

In this round, every candidate was provided with a set of documents in which two group of questions were given. Each group consisted of 10 questions each with very spontaneous options as their choices like often, very often or rarely. Some of the questions which I remember from the tests are:

(a)Do I think before speaking anything and thinking what others will feel like? 

(b) Some question about the acquaintances.

(c) Am I practical in the situations or not?

(d) Whether I believe in hard work or Luck?

We had to answers these questions and after answering we also had to select any three questions from each group and had to reason out why we had selected those questions. 

The psychometric test was combined with Written Ability Test (WAT). Every candidate received a different topic for WAT. I was asked to describe a situation where I had got a chance to be the part of a team. We had to write 300 words and this entire procedure was for 30 minutes. 

(4) How was your Group Interview Round I?

The entire slot was divided in the group of 5-6 candidates for the First Round of Group Interview. At the starting, everyone in the group was given one minute to give a brief introduction of themselves. The second question which was asked from everyone was their reason for choosing their respective specializations. There are two choices only in SP Jain, one is Operations and other is Marketing. I chose operations because of my interest and relevant work experience in the same. The panelist focus on the first choice mainly. They asked about, whether we have visited their websites and have taken an idea about the course and the curriculum. The questions that were asked- How choosing this specialization will help us in our career 5 years down the line? These questions were asked individually to each and every one. They were more focused on the candidates and they spent 6-8 minutes on each candidate to understand them better. First, they completed the questions on the specialization part and then asked the questions related to the extra-curricular.

(5) How was the Group Interview Round II?

After the Group Interview I, the candidates were shortlisted for round II. This round was more of an HR round and a personality evaluation round.They didn't ask any general questions, instead, some of the questions which they asked were:

(a) How do you feel for the candidates who are not selected?

I am happy for myself but not sad for them and I hope that they have a better opportunity waiting outside. 

(b) Why do you think you are fit for SP Jain?

I compared myself to SP Jain's logo, having 5 strokes which are orange in color. It represents the attributes of the institute and the orange color represents the enthusiasm. They even responded that they could recognize the enthusiasm in me. 

(c) One candidate was talking about how she was a part of the basketball team at college but due to some problem in her ankle, she had to stop playing the game. At that point, I tried getting involved in the conversation. The panelists are very clear about each candidate. SO, when I spoke about the accident with which I met and how I suffered a major injury in my left leg, they proceeded the conversation by saying that they were aware of the accident (as I had mentioned it in some of my answers in the application). So, we had around 2 minutes discussion over the same. 

In the entire interview, all the panelists along with the group members were in a light mood and there was a very healthy discussion which went on for almost 50 minutes. 

(6) Anything that you would like to suggest our candidates regarding the preparation for an interview at SP Jain?

One of the main advice is to try to gain as much knowledge as you can about the specialization for which you are willing to apply: how it works in a company, how it works in an industry, what is its scope, about the companies that visit for recruitment in SP Jain for that particular specialization and if you have a long term goal which differs from your short term goal then be specific with that. 

Here I would like to lay emphasis on the importance of extracurricular activities. Try to develop them so that you are differentiated from others. This may be anything but, there should be a unique part in you. Just be yourself and be how you are even for the psychometric tests. If you try to be clever, the panelists will come to know.  

Rest I would like to wish them all the best!

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