What questions are asked in IIM interviews?

Question

Hema A · Accepted Answer

IIM interview questions are a mix of general and profile-specific topics, designed to test academic knowledge, clarity of goals, and analytical thinking.
&bull; Career motivation: &ldquo;Why MBA?&rdquo;, &ldquo;Why now?&rdquo;, and &ldquo;Why not continue in your current role?&rdquo; &bull; Academic depth: Subject-based questions relevant to the undergraduate discipline. For example, a statistics graduate might be asked, &ldquo;What is multicollinearity, and how do you detect it?&rdquo; &bull; Current affairs: &ldquo;Discuss the impact of India&rsquo;s UPI expansion on global payments systems.&rdquo; &bull; Personal interests: If hobbies are listed, detailed questions follow. A photography enthusiast might be asked, &ldquo;What is the exposure triangle, and how does it affect image quality?&rdquo; &bull; Some panels throw in unusual or quirky questions to test spontaneity, such as &ldquo;If you were a brand, what would your tagline be?&rdquo; or &ldquo;How many tennis balls can fit inside an IIM classroom?&rdquo; These are not in every interview but appear often enough to be prepared for them.
Panels often vary question difficulty to assess composure under pressure.
For more details you can read this blog on "MBA Interview Questions and Answers"

Jayant M · Answer

In IIM interviews, questions typically cover personal background, academics, work experience, and awareness of current events. Panels often begin with &ldquo;Introduce yourself&rdquo; or &ldquo;Walk me through your profile,&rdquo; followed by pointed follow-ups based on the response.
Academic questions are common, especially for fresh graduates. A commerce student may be asked, &ldquo;Explain the difference between accrual and cash accounting with examples,&rdquo; while an engineering student could face subject-based questions such as, &ldquo;What is a feedback loop, and where is it used in real-world applications?&rdquo;
Follow-up chains are common , for instance, one candidate from economics was first asked, &ldquo;What is inflation?&rdquo; which led to &ldquo;What causes cost-push inflation?&rdquo; and then &ldquo;How has India&rsquo;s inflation rate changed in the last five years?&rdquo; Candidates with work experience are often asked role-specific queries, and current affairs questions such as &ldquo;How will the Union Budget impact your sector?&rdquo; are frequent. Some interviews also include problem-solving scenarios to assess analytical ability.