Stern Interview

At the scheduled time, Ms. ABC ushered me inside the meeting room. She was a beautiful tall American woman with a wonderful smile. The smile was instrumental in calming the initial nerves.

She invited me to sit so that we could both begin. She began by speaking a bit about herself. She then talked about how on having read the application, the Stern admissions committee was keen on talking to me in order to learn more about me. This was the reason that the two of us were having the discussion here in Mumbai. So far so good…

I was aware that unlike most of the other business schools, NYU Stern interviewers have complete access to the entire application file. A lot of this has to do with the fact that a senior member of the admissions committee is the person conducting the interviews. In this case, I believe it was one of the Executive Director of the Admissions committee. Nevertheless, I was amazed with the level of understanding and thoroughness of the interviewer in knowing and analyzing my application.

With the initial small discussion, we began the interview.

* You have mentioned in your application that you graduated from Goa University. Is
this the same Goa… (well read application #1)
-- You needed to seen the grin on my face as it lit up hearing this. It was a great way to break the ice. I told her that it was indeed the fabled Goa, the land of sun, sand, and sea that I hailed from. I mentioned how I had studied there all my life, before moving in search of my dreams. She asked whether I missed being out there. I shrugged and told her that one had to do what he/she had to do. I told her how had it not been for the lack of opportunity, I would not have left. However, there were no opportunities in the space that my eyes set were on. I asked her if she herself had been to Goa. She replied in the negative. She said that she had been to Delhi before and visited the Taj Mahal. Due to her grueling schedule, she would not be able to visit Goa, although it was something she wished to do… I exhorted her to visit Goa at the first possible opportunity.

Max: + 2 points

* I see that you have worked with ABC and are now working with PQR. There seems to be a logical flow between what you want to do and what you currently are.
(well read application #2)
So can you tell me a bit more about the reasons that you chose to leave your job with ABC.
-- I explained the reasons behind the same and she seemed satisfied. She mentioned that sounded good. There was a smile of approval.

Max: +1 point

* You believe that it was the right step that you took?
-- Yes! I told her how it had worked in the right direction. There was another approval.

* So you mentioned that you chose to join a startup
(well read application #3)
You were one of the early birds. Why did you make the choice?
-- I explained the reasons behind my decision. I told her the absolute truth. There were no negatives, in fact a heap of positives for the old as well as for the new firm. She seemed to appreciate that. However, she was non-committal at this point.

By this time, the initial jitters, if any, had long disappeared. I was listening very intently to what she was saying. I was looking into her eyes. This is extremely important because:
- You need to let her know that you are confident.
- You need to let her know that you are listening and are attentive.
- You need to make her feel comfortable.
- She needs to know that she has your complete undivided attention
- She needs to see your communication skills

I kept a calm and composed (and yet enthusiastic) voice. I found myself using many hand gestures as I put my point across to her. This was in fact a sign for me that I felt calm and confident. This tends to have a cascading effect and in turn, helps me perform better. The going was good at this point. I was feeling confident and that is the single most important factor in an interview.
Firm believer of the power of confidence here…

* You said that there were many challenges that you faced because of having joined the startup arm of an MNC.
-- I talked about having synergies, each person getting something new to the table and how it was difficult to bring all of this together in a small cohesive unit. We have since grown into a big organization. However, it was important to have patience in those early days. Although we are a huge MNC, there are always the pains of the initial hiccups. Despite all of this, we brought it all together and made it happen. We had an opportunity to formulate the work culture, the ethos, and the team spirit. We attempted to do the best we could to ensure that we married the US culture of the firm with the Indian ethos to arrive at something that was within the boundaries of the firm and yet catered to the Indian sensibilities.

* Is there any specific challenge that you would like to discuss?
-- I was totally zapped with this question. It was not that I was exaggerating or speaking something that was untrue. It was merely that at that moment, I was unable to recollect a sensible and meaningful answer to this one. I bought some time for myself by asking her to repeat the question. In the meanwhile, I scanned before my eyes the entire experience. It was probably the only time that I realized that I was not paying complete attention to what she was saying. The horrendous taste of the brewed coffee from the vending machines, our irritation with the lackadaisical attitude of a few support staff (who polluted the atmosphere around with their arrogance and negativity) or our complaints against the transport policy were neither serious nor appropriate to the occasion.
Eureka! Just when it was looking like I would not have anything to say, I recollected it. I almost wanted to stop her from speak it and blurt it out, lest I forget it. But I managed to hold the trigger until she stopped. I talked of our tirade against a few of the finance policies and the problems on a general level. Due to company policies governing issues such as these, I chose to keep them out of the purview of the interview. And out of the purview of this blog…
Max: +1 point – Getting out of a tricky situation
Max: +2 points – Respecting confidentiality agreements
Max: -0.5 points - Initial Confusion, jittery and confusion


* How has your experience been working with teams? What is the single most strength that you bring to a team? How will you use that in your stint with the NYU?
-- I talked about growing from a small team of 2 to a much bigger team now. I talked about how it was important to work in a team and the ethos of our own team. I mentioned that I was grateful to my team that has helped me grow as a person.
The single most important strength that I bring to a team is my communication skills (she better have seen them there) and my ability to work with diverse individuals with relative ease.
This then worked towards how I would bring this to a synergy at NYU as well.

There were a couple more questions. But I believe by this time, I was fairly confident that this was going to be a hit. I smiled, laughed, cracked jokes and kept the conversation lively and jovial.

At the end, I asked her about specific clubs such as the Emerging Markets Association, the Stern Private Equity Club and the Graduate Finance Association. We also spoke about student life in general.

There were a couple of specific questions about the admissions process, the financial aid process and the VISA process.

At the end, I got up, thanked her for taking the time to come all the way to India, wished her a pleasant stay ahead and exited from the interview. Contrary to popular view, I did not lean on my knees and kiss her on her hand (A couple of over-zealous friends seemed to believe so!)

I left believing that I was going to achieve my dream of spending my New Year at the Times Square! :)

Interview Scheduled

Dear Mr. Max,

The Admissions Committee has reviewed your application and is pleased to invite you to interview.The interview gives us the chance to get to know you better and is an important part of our decision making process. It also gives you the opportunity to ask any questions you have about our program and to experience our community firsthand.

Thank you for your continued interest in NYU Stern, and we look forward to meeting you in person.

Sincerely,
XYZ
Director,
MBA Admissions and Financial Aid

Woohoo... Its time to interview! Time for me to know them better and for them to see what a great person I am ;) hehehe

Scheduled for
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower- Business Center
Apollo Bunder, Colaba, Mumbai

Time for me to get that charm working. Never dinged at an interview... Don't intend to ding at this one! This is HUGE! :)

Third Time Lucky?

The wait started long back. It suffered a few setbacks (two to be precise). Hope was not lost. Backup plans put in place. Frantic attempts made to firm them up. This may have included calls with people at weird (read 0300 IST) hours of the night, discussions with people on a jet lag and visiting people at their homes to firm up the options and discuss the future as a whole. Overdrive was what was needed and that is what happened. Deep within, the prayers continued for the third one to be a homerun. For I wanted to know what fourth base (no pun intended) felt like.

Having waited for what felt like an eternity, it can be extremely frustrating at times to be so near and yet so far. Although I am of the belief that I had winner applications (as did most if not all of the people who reviewed them for me), the news from PA and IL made me think otherwise. Guess that it was the case of good but not good enough.

Finally, it was time. It was time for the do-or-die situation. After two strikes, it was important to see the light of day. It was important not to merely see the stars, far away in the sky, out of reach and blinking at me mischievously. They mocked me that they were merely in sight and not in reach. Things were getting a bit tense. Obviously, it was not a situation that I appreciated. Alas, I found myself in one. I had to make the choice: I could wilt under the pressure and fail. I could stand strong and fight it back. I wanted to fight back. That seemed like the logical (and obvious) thing to do. However, after having fought for the last few years, I found myself wilting. The knees were wobbly and I was petrified that I would cave. I was not sure that I could hold on for much longer. I consoled myself for being in the state that I found myself. In my defense, I could not blame myself for it. I was human too. I too was prone to assuming and accepting defeat long before it had raised its ugly hood and painted the town black.

The pitcher took his place. It would not have been difficult to mistake him for a three-headed fire-spewing evil dragon. Looking around at the other bases, he had one final look at the striker, and took what felt like ages before he pitched the ball. The scene had all the makings of a Hindi potboiler. The journey of the ball from the hands of the pitcher until it reached the striker was as vividly captured as the journey of a bullet after it has been fired and before it is to come within striking distance of the victim.

Each of the previous deliveries had been different. UPenn - Wharton was a long letter from the dean of the school expressing his sincere regret. Chicago was short and curt with a single word: deny. This particular response had come within an e-mail. My fingers were shivering… again. The co-efficient of the shivering is directly proportional to the rejects that one has received and is inversely proportional to the interviews/admits that one has on his/her plate. It is also proportional to the amount of effort that has gone into it, the time in years for which the plan has brewed, and the desperation with which it is wanted. Expectedly, my hands were indeed shivering very badly. I carefully picked the laptop from my lap and placed it circumspectly on the desk. Such was the level of the shivering that I was scared that I might drop it to the ground. I am not kidding here. It was late into the night and I was understandably petrified. For a second, I almost did not have the guts to see it. I wanted to leave it for another day. Yet, I knew that I had to face the demons and stare them in the eye. Believe me, it is a whole of words. It was easier said than done.

From the subject line and from the name of the sender, I realized that it was a response from NYU Stern. This one school was different; it was different in a pleasantly beautiful way. They spoke of the NYU community and the benefits of NYC. I saw all of them (the benefits) and more. That was the reasons that this was one of the schools that I was looking to make home.

Like I have mentioned before, I had applied to a grand total of five princely schools. Each of the schools were such that I would not think twice before accepting an offer from the school. The only problem in the decision-making process would arise if and when there would be more than a single admit and it would be up to me to decide on the then future course of action. Going by the current statistics, I would be more than overjoyed with having an opportunity to go at all! Let alone the option of having to choose from more than one.

Now, what the email had was a link to a URL on the NYU Stern website. I started my prayers. I have never been a devout person, but at this time, I could have done with whatever help I would get, divine or otherwise. In a frame of mind that was hopeful for the best, yet resigned to fate and ready for the worst, I went about finding out the details of the result. I logged into the site and went about figuring out how I could get the result.

I reached the final step. Involuntarily and subconsciously, I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer. If there was ever a good task I had done, I was calling the IOUs. With a heavy sigh, I clicked the link. I waited anxiously for the page to load. Slowly and steady, I began reading each and every word of what the email had to say.

Dear Max:

There has been an update to the status of your application to the NYU Stern MBA program. To view the current status of your application, please visit the Application Status Check Website at http://applicant.stern.nyu.edu/statuscheck/
As a reminder, your password is ******.

Thank you for your continued interest in Stern,

NYU Stern MBA Admissions

My heart skipped a beat and more as I read the line that I had been short-listed for the And then, I was dancing like there was no tomorrow!!! I had made it to the next phase! I had been short-listed! I was going to the interview! I suddenly felt a vacuum in my heart as I realized what happened. I had been invited to an interview! There was a chance. I was another step closer towards the ultimate dream! For a whole minute or so, I did not know what had hit me. I didn’t realize that I had indeed made it to the next level.

I guess that it took a while for the entire feeling to sink in. It took a while to realize that this is what I wanted. I was not there. But I was getting there. And that was good enough. It was a matter of time is what I was telling myself. It was merely a matter of time.

Until date, I have never screwed up at an interview. I have had the distinction of having returned victorious from every interview that I have attended. I have not attended a whole lot many of them. Nevertheless, I have attended pretty many for the MBA admission process, the IIM and the AIM interviews. I have also attended a couple of job interviews and I have not had to attend more than that as that is also the number of jobs that I have had.

The point of the matter is that I have successfully cleared the first hurdle. The next hurdle is in sight and it is obviously a challenge. But I am up to it. The third response was a positive one. It gives me hope and a future. It has started well. It is just a matter of time before I realize whether the third time was indeed lucky!

One step

With one small step, i start this tryst with destiny.
The tryst with an MBA.

Applications are in full swing!