This is the real ISB interview experience of a candidate from banking sector.
The ISB interview was conducted on February 25, 2018. As per the candidate’s information, there were two alumni in the interview panel. In his opinion, the interview was mainly focused on the profile, application essays and based on your responses.
| Interview Date | 25th February, 2018 |
| Work Profile | Investment Management at my Family Fund, Ex-Schlumberger Wireline Engineer |
| Re-Applicant? | No |
| Interviewers’ Profile | P1 – Alum (Ex-Schlumberger) P2 – Alum (Finance) |
| Your Opinion on the approach of the interviewers and their key focus | The interviewers were trying to deduce if I had really done all the stuff I had written in the essays. They grilled me on everything I said and tried to check how much I knew. They were not convinced with the approach I had adopted and said that everyone does what I did at some point in their lives |
Qn: You have made many career changes, the moves are completely unrelated, please explain to us how and whys of your decisions?
A: Answered
Follow-up Qn: Your last move was into your family office, please elaborate on the real estate sale which started your family office?
A: Spoke about real estate asset sale and how I planned portfolios by myself across six individuals. Informed the panel that after ideation, we approached professionals such as Cas and lawyers, and improvised on our ideas
Qn: Why did you quit the job? You could have done this along with the job.
A: Explained to them that I had committed to this and the importance of this project did not allow any failures
Qn: What are the investments, expected yields and returns on your entire portfolio?
A: Answered
Follow-up Qn: What is the difference between Liquid MF and FD?
A: Answered
Follow-up Qn: More questions on Value Investing and metric used to evaluate stocks?
A: Answered
Follow-up Qn: While we are now able to empathize with your situation, it is not clear to us Why MBA?
A: I started by telling them how I thought that a business education could advance your career exponentially. I added that so far I was not sure about my specialization, but with current career track, I discovered my passions is a real estate and value investing. Getting to understand the numbers and businesses behind my investments would be very critical. Informed them that many of value investors believed that understanding businesses are more important than arriving at a specific intrinsic value before making investments. And an MBA would plug the gap. And most of these investors preferred MBAs rather CFAs or Masters in Finance to get their education. Additionally, to expand my business, be it managing investors or employees, I will need good domain knowledge, marketing skills and leadership skills which an MBA will help build.
Follow-up Qn: What if I did not get an MBA?
A: Told them that I will complete the final real estate investment that has been long pending, and take up certain online courses on financial markets – one of them I mentioned is offered by ISB itself. Added by saying that, I will reapply next year as I believe an MBA is absolutely necessary. Interrupted again
Qn: Do you have any questions?
A: Asked about Scholarships (Merit) and entrepreneurial platforms for alums post ISB.
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