After cracking the CAT

After much mental exertion, many IIM hopefuls cracked the test to test all nerves, the CAT "" but got frazzled at the group discussions and interviews. Tips for next time round.

The CAT is not an end in itself, regardless of how exhausting it is just in preparation alone. You know how gruelling it is: poring over details, arguing with buddies, boring down pencil nibs, sweating at the sight of the ticking clock, stretching the powers of one's reason, examining past precedents, and finally figuring out""whether it's in black, white or zebra stripes "" what works. After all that effort, the CAT is still a means to an end.

Sure, cracking the CAT "" Common Admission Test for the uninitiated "" is glory in itself. After all, you'd still be a rare specimen to have gotten through from amongst the 150,000 odd students who took the test across India. But going into instant celebration mode would've been inadvisable.

Why? Because they still call more than two candidates over for every B-school seat available, and that too, still in half a worry that some of the best business minds might already have got filtered out (educational dropouts have a fine success record in the US, led by Bill Gates).

Anyhow, as current admissions stand, some 5,000 have made it to 30 renowned B-schools, some 1,200 of them to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). These are the folk who actually cracked the admission code "" past the group discussions and panel interviews.

So what did they do that the other CAT-crackers didn't?

Display interactivity intelligence. And this is not just about being sufficiently engaged with current events and issues in the wide world of whatever interests you (even if it isn't altogether business), or even being yourself the way you are with peers. It is also about garnering the support of others.

Group discussion after discussion, winners tend to be people who are not just eager to get their own views heard loud and clear, but those who pay attention to what others have to say, and then try leading those very views and opinions towards their own position.

Try this group discussion trick: listen to the least audible voices (why, even intervene to have some silent fellow have his say), acknowledge everyone's contribution, ensure a spirit of wide participation, and then have your own say. It never fails to floor the observing panel. And then at the interview stage, they'll want to hear you out "" uninterrupted.

INTERACTIVITY MYTHS

Satya Narayanan, chairman, Career Launcher, a test-prep service that has expanded into several domains, is considered an expert in MBA entrance coaching "" especially the part that comes after the written test. Here, he dispels a few myths of success with group discussions and interviews.

Myth: "I will be selected only if I fall nicely into a template the interviewers have in mind."

Truth: What interactive sessions are about is gauging the kind of person the interviewee is. And for that, the person needs to know herself, her strengths, her weaknesses and her personality. So, if you are into adventure sports don't be shy to put it down, and talk about it.

"An interest for adventure sports means you are willing to take risks, you are adventurous and love challenges. Isn't that what you need in a person with great marketing skills?" asks Narayanan, recalling how a student got into IIM-Ahmedabad on the strength of his exemplary knowledge of guns, despite mediocre knowledge of anything else.

"When he spoke about guns, I'm sure what the panel saw was his understanding of the subject, his sharp memory, a knack for comparing and analysing a product and so on," says Narayanan.

Myth: "The panel is there to test my knowledge."

Truth: Knowledge and understanding of subjects have already been tested to a qualifying extent. The interviews and group discussions are more about what you might be like as a professional manager.

The interviewers want to know what makes you tick, what upsets you, what alerts you, what strikes your interest and so on. In other words, you'll do best if you be yourself rather than a model you think might be appreciated.

Myth: "The panel is composed of sadists "" they can't wait to give me a hard time."

Truth: If the panel wants to know "more about yourself", it is an innocuous question, not a prelude to some sort of interrogative grilling. The way you answer it will determine their next question. Recounting his own experience, Narayanan speaks of how his interview at IIM-Bangalore lasted as long as 40 minutes""mostly about cricket.

"They also asked me some questions on Physics, some of which I could answer and some I couldn't. Your inability to answer a question merely shows how you cope with an uncomfortable situation. The panel even spent five minutes trying to cajole me into singing a song for them, which I eventually did," Narayanan smiles.