iim tiruchirappalli wat-pi kit

8/12/2019 IIM Tiruchirappalli WAT-PI Kit

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IIM Tiruchirappalli

Mentorship

Programme, 2014An External Relations Cell Initiative


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Mentorship Programme, 2014

IIM Tiruchirappalli Page 3

WAT/PI Preparation Kit

Written ability test (WAT)

How to prepare

Practise writing atleast 1-2 essays daily within a set time limit of approx. 20 minutes. This

will help you to think fast and under pressure.

Ensure that your essay has a proper structure with an introduction, a main body and a

conclusion. Also pay attention to your grammar and spelling.

Be well versed with prcis writing. Take help from your teachers and college seniors

wherever necessary.

Use PESTEL framework if required:

P Political

E Economical

S SocialT Technological

E Environmental

L Legal

Using the PESTEL framework, you could analyze your WAT topic from various perspectives.

Try to capture the examiners attention with an interesting first line; an appropriate quote

is one of the many good ways to start.

Avoid jargons; good vocabulary is an advantage. If you do not possess good vocabulary, do

not worry as clarity is what matters. So keep sentences short, lucid and avoid preaching.

o Avoid: The parameters of your responsibility are included in the job description you

received on your initial day of work at the association

o Use: Your responsibilities are listed in your job description. You received your job

description on the date of joining


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Use active verbs in the sentence structure to keep up the readers interest. An example is

as follows:

o Avoid: This is a good introduction of the topic.

o Use: This introduces the topic well.

Any opinions and ideas you express must be supplemented with adequate logic, examples,

data and facts

o Avoid: The Indian Pharma industry is booming.

o Use: The Indian Pharma industry is booming. During 2007-12, it grew at CAGR 12% driven

by rising generic drug exports.

Make sure that your handwriting is legible. Neatly presented essays hold the readers

attention

What to expect for WAT?

The topics mentioned below were given to the students during last years WAT process. They are

indicative in nature only. Repetition of topics is unlikely. However, these topics will give you a

general picture of the trends followed. You may plan/prepare accordingly. Needless to say, be

well versed with current affairs. A lot of the topics may be based on latest issues.

1) In some countries inheritance of father's property is not legally entitled to the children.

Should Inheritance of parents wealth be a legal right or should bequeathing wealth be at

parents discretion?

2) Should industries have a tie-up with institutions for professional courses?

3) For a merchant even honesty is a financial speculation

4) Education system in India

5) What is the impact of social networking sites on children?

6) An essay on your opinion of punitive measures regarding the juvenile accused in the

Nirabhaya case

7) How modernization has affected the environment and the way out?

8) An essay on wildlife conservation and tribal rights

9) In India nuclear families are increasing, particularly in urban areas. Elderly people of thesefamilies are left back in the village all by themselves. What could be done to improve their

living conditions?

10) An essay related to the Right to Education

11) Should Juvenile age be reconsidered or not?

12) Do Indians lack civic sense?


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13) Should research findings be shared while project is going on? Some medical cases it can be

useful to save life

14) There are broadly two types of Tablets: Cheaper ones with low quality and higher-priced ones

with emphasis on performance and quality. If you are the CEO of a Tablet company, will you

compromise on "Engineering and Quality" for keeping the prices low or will you manufacture"higher-priced, higher performance" Tablets?

15) Corruption in the Indian system

16) Are subjects like sociology, literature, philosophy mandatory in modern technology oriented

education system? Write for & against the topic

17) Division of bigger states in India into smaller states lead to better governance and socio-

economic development of the people in the smaller states. Do you agree or disagree with the

statement?

18) Are old age homes a necessity as more and more people migrate to cities and become nuclear

families or is it a morally wrong thing to do?

19) An essay related to safety of working women and measures that need to be taken

20) An essay related to how jobs have changed peoples lives. The topic had to be written

considering the following factors

a. Men and women being more career oriented than relationship oriented

b. People willing to relocate

c. Change profession after some years

21) What initiatives should corporates take to reduce pollution and global warming?

Personal Interview

You must be thorough with your resume. Be well prepared with questions on courses you

completed in graduation, term projects incase of the engineering students, academic details

etc.

Good body language and communication skills are a must

Goal clarity: Answers should be in line with the questions that follow, the answers you give

should substantiate the goal you seek

Maintain eye contact and address all the panel members

Basic etiquettes like entering the room with permission, being seated when asked are

essential. Dont initiate a handshake Listen to questions carefully, ask for clarifications when required

Maintain brevity in answers, no beating around the bush

Most important: wear a smile


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Possible Questions

1) Why MBA?

2) About yourself, your strength and weaknesses. This question needs to be answered very

carefully. Refer to the following link for tips - http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-

voices-careers/2013/09/23/how-to-talk-about-your-weaknesses-in-a-job-interview

3) Why should you be chosen or rejected?

4) Short and long term goals

5) Questions on graduation subjects. You may prepare 1-2 subjects in detail should you be asked

about your favourite subjects.

6) For people with work experience, know everything about your company such as share details,

turnover, last quarter results, key business areas, competitors & your job responsibilities

7) You may be asked about your hobbies. Be sure to only tell about hobbies you actually pursued

and can substantiate as well. For example, if you like travelling, you could be asked questionson where all have you have travelled. Further, you could also be asked about those places, so

prepare accordingly. The key is to not fake/lie here

8) Narrate an incident where you faced a challenge , how you over came it and the lessons

learnt

9) Which among the new IIMs would you choose to go to if you get through all? (Talk in terms of

faculty, pedagogy etc). Its advisable to go through the websites of all the IIMs you have a call

from, be well aware of their location, years of operation, Infrastructural facilities and other

such details.

10) Incase you have switched jobs, you might be asked for the reasons

11) Justify time lags, if any, between 12th and engineering

12) Incase you say that you would like to take up marketing, you could be asked the following

questions

a. Sell a pen/bottle etc.

b. Difference between consumer & customer

c. 4 Ps of marketing

d. Difference between sales and marketing

13) Questions on your ability to estimate ( E.g. how much does it cost to build a 1Km road ) and

come up with answers. Your thought process matters here, not the answer. A good way to

tackle these questions is by thinking aloud so that the panel gets a clear idea of your approach

14) What would you do if you do not get admission this year?

15) Difference between MBA/PGDM

16) Meaning of your name

17) Qualities of a good manager and a good leader, difference between a manager and a leader

18) Abstract questions like whats the difference between science and art? Is a scientist an artist

as well? Justify


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Needless to say, the list is not exhaustive but all these questions were asked during last years

WAT/PI process. The range of questions asked in the PI varied. While some students were asked

general questions on current affairs and their background, others were asked more

specific/technical questions like graphs of functions etc. PI questions depend on a number of

parameters like the kind of panel member and their background. Counter-questions based on the

answers you give etc must be answered well. Prepare to the best of your ability but the vast

possibilities of PI questions make the process quite daunting. What matters is your confidence and

the way you answer.

At times, the motive behind asking seemingly irrelevant questions is to see how the candidate

handles the situation. This is especially true during stress interviews. The aim of stress interviews is

to intimidate you and throw you into panic. Be calm. The way you handle the situation will measure

your success. If you do not know an answer, say that you are unaware of it. DO NOT fake an

answer.

How to prepare on General awareness?

Keep abreast with the daily news, especially as D-day comes nearer. You need to have a general

idea on the following issues:

1) Indian Constitution, Indian Economy, GDP, 5 year plans & Budget of the current financial year

2) Latest news on Arab uprising (Egypts new constitution)

3) The Naxal movement

4) Scams in India, preferably the most latest ones

5) Election 2014 and AAP

6) Walmart in India, FDI

7) Uttrakhands natural calamity

8) MNREGA, Adhar card, coal block allocation

9) Telangana

10) G12 summit

Other more specific issues that you could read on have been provided below with links for a few

of them. These could either be used as a WAT topic or asked directly by the panel members in the

interview. Please understand that the list in not exhaustive.

1) Generic drugs Vs Patents: Supreme Court reject Novartis AGs plea to preserve patent for

cancer drug Glivec

2) Punishment for Juveniles (take cue for the Nirbhaya case)

3) On Malala wining the UN Human rights award

4) Article 377

5) Policies by Raghuram Rajan


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6) Arunachal student dies in Delhi, attracts protests

7) US Spying : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/facebook-wants-to-read-your-sms-confidential-info-

kaspersky/1/341515.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html?_r=0

India next to US in making user data requests to Google

8) Latest spectrum auction sees aggressive competition: Airtel , Vodaphone License extension

cancelledhttp://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/this-spectrum-auction-round-to-be-more-

aggressive-experts_1025352-1.html

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-04/news/46964130_1_900-mhz-band-

vodafone-india-three-circles

9) Latest happenings in the aviation industry

Jet-Etihad deal; Spicejet Tiger Air deal

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/singapore-airlines-tata-joint-venture-orders-airbus-

a320s/1/202187.html

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-boc-to-lease-airbus-jets-to-tata-singapore-airlines-

venture-report-378386

10) RBI to withdraw all pre 2005 notes

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/rbi-to-withdraw-all-pre-2005-currency-notes/1/202580.html

11) Keep a tab on Latest major M&As and newly crowned CEOs like Satya Nadella for Microsoft

12) Rising Unemployment

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/glo

bal-unemployment-crosses-200mn-mark-in-2013-indias-jobless-rate-to-inch-up-to-3.8--in-

2014/1219972/

13) RBI Policy review: Repo rate raised by 25 bps , CRR unchanged

14) http://thediplomat.com/2014/01/nirbheek-indias-anti-rape-gun-draws-widespread-criticism/

15) Agusta-Westlands chopper deal : latest

16) Finance Ministry against banks charging own customers for ATM services. NPCI constitutes a

committee to decide fair fee for one bank using another banks ATM. IBA proposes only 5 free

transactions per month


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17) Johnson & Johnsons global recall of ASR Implant ; Health Ministry issues recall alert for ASR

following metal poisoning

18) Newest nation South Sudan: Ethnic killings

19) Samsung- Apple lawsuits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electronics_Co.,_Ltd.

20) Iran signs nuclear deal with world powers

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/20/us-iran-nuclear-idUSBREA0J00420140120

Other resources

A few other resources that you may find useful for your overall comprehensive preparation

Basics of Economics (Micro & Macro)

http://economics.about.com/

India:

http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/pl_vsn2020.pdf

List for a lot of abstract and current-affair topics:

http://essaysforiim.blogspot.in/2013/

http://www.shiksha.com/preparing-for-gd-use-this-checklist-for-topics-article-5649-1


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