There have been a few questions about the microsoft interview and the kind of roles that are being offered in the IT industry and the kind of interviews these companies conduct. Here is a quick take on these.

The Microsoft Interview was for the post of a "program manager". Now, if you want to know more about this role as well as the typical MS interview for this, read the book, "How to move mount fuji". The interviews they conduct for ISB grads is exactly the same as the process discussed in this book and the questions were the same type too. Puzzles, system design problems but NOTHING technical unless you have a tech background or a tech undergrad degree. I faltered in the last round and took a long time to crack the puzzle that was given to me. I had to pick up hints from them. They ended up picking 5 students and the pay packets are pretty impressive, as has always been from MS.

Roles in IT companies have all been techno commercial, like Business Development, Program Management, Consulting, Marketing, Sales, Account Management and Client relationship management with P&L responsibility. IT companies are of course always ready to take you in a project manager if you are interested.

The CTS interview as well as the Wipro one was more of a fit interview to see if they are able to fit me into positions they have open. In CTS, my telecom/datacom background did not fit in well as they do not do much work in these areas as compared to other companies. I cud have shifted to other verticals but was not keen to do so. Some others did that. CTS also had different panels asking different questions, with one panel screwing us guys with marketing role plays. It was fun though. They made 12 offers.

The Infy interview was a bit different, in that I was looking at their enterprise solutions practice, which was a shift for me. I wanted to explore opportunities there after whatever I heard from alums. They did test my knowledge of general technology strategy, specifically with respect to enterprise solutions, and liked me. But I cudnt agree with the role and offer. If I remember right they made upwards of 20 offers.

Wipro was a company I was looking forward to, because of the amount of work they do for datacom equipment manufacturers and in embedded systems, my niche before coming to ISB. I was gunning for a business development position there but they had no openings as these arent full fledged verticals in which they do consulting as of now (atleast thats what I heard from one of fellow students who had worked in these groups before ISB). If I am not mistaken they offered around 10. They were looking at fit too.

There are a few other IT companies, like Techspan that do check up on your technical capabilities a little, but no company has made a technical interview a pre-requisite for an offer. So, if techies out there are concerned if MBA students are still being asked a TCP 3 way handshake, rest assured that your MBA is being valued and you are being offered roles commensurate with your experience.

All these interviews also want to see how good you are with what you have done. They ask you your successes, your failures, why ISB and what we have learnt from ISB. They look at your team management skills and try to relate that to your experience. Experience in IT is not a pre-requisite, especially with domain specialists commanding fat pay packets.

I have one offer which I am still discussing and I have another which is likely to come. They both are so fluid that I dont want to talk about them yet.

Otherwise, McK and BCG picked up one each. TSMG picked up 5. IBM has made 3 offers until now. AT Kearny, Accenture are yet to interview. Goldman Sachs london compelted a few first round interviews and are flying 4 students to London for the final rounds. HSBC made one I-banking offer in London. There are many more numbers but I cant seem to remember them offhand.

More than half the class has been placed and the way things are going, I predict that we will complete placements well in advance. The CAS office has done a stupendous job. We still have quite a few good companies like DSP ML, Accenture, PeopleSoft, Morgan Stanley, Astra Zeneca etc to go. More updates to follow and hopefully by the time I write next, I have finalized where I will be going.