2025 CAP Interview Experience
My Profile
8/8/8, GNEM, BBA(Fin)+CFA L2, 27 months of Work Ex at UK based MNC
Process started with the Document Verification and then in the same hall we had the WAT.
The topic for WAT was - "The Impact of Technology on Education", easy topic, I talked about the benefits of AI, 5G and the positive impacts along with the problem of Plaigarism using AI tools.
Once the WAT was done we were assigned to different panels and were sent of to the respective meeting rooms.
Waited for around 45 mins for my turn.
In my Interview there were 3 panelist:
M1 - Finance prof. at IIM Trichy (Did not know this until after the interview) - He's seems really chill outside the interview panel but did grill.
M2 - Not sure but I think an Operations faculty - He's definitely here to grill
F3 - Not sure but definitely gives Economics Professor vibes - Kinda chill
Interview Transcript:
F3 - Please take a seat, can you tell me which course you did in your Undergrad?
Me - I did BBA with a specialization in Finance
M1 - I did not know BBA courses also have Specializations?
Me - My college did, there were two, Finance and Marketing
M1 - Why did you choose Finance
Me - Told how I really liked Economics, how I loved to study markets, how financial decisions are made and how businesses can become profitable through good operations and financial management.
M1 - Why do you care for how businesses become profitable?
Me - Said something on how successful businesses can dive a lasting impact on people and on the wider society \*gets cut-off\*
M1 - Do you know log?
Me - Yes a log function is the inverse of an exponential fun \*gets cut-off\*
M1 - Draw a log function
Me - Drew, while drawing I mentioned my though process, Log(1) = 1 (facepalm) and marked off (1,0) in the graph. Log can only take negative numbers..etc.. the graph was correct.
M1 - Any uses of log in Finance
Me - Sir, Black Scholes Merton Model, (facepalm x10, I could have easily said continuous compounding instead of something so complex) it is used in derivative pricing and the log.. \*gets cut-off\*
M1 - What is a derivative?
Me - Standard Definition, Financial Asset whos value is derived from the value of another asset its underlying
M1 - Complicated stuff huh? Can you write down the formula for BSM
Me - Sorry sir its a big formula and I do not remember it.
M1 - Differentiate the log function you drew
Me - Sorry sir (This was super easy, at least I could have seen the graph and drew it)
M1 - That's all from my end over to M3
F3 - You like Economics right? Do you know what a Perfect Competition is?
Me - (Finally my area!) Talked about perfect competition and its characteristics.
F3 - Is there any good examples of Perfect Competition?
Me - On this table is see a decent example that is Bottled water, explained why it has characteristics of perfect competition, and how customers do not care if their water was from Aquafina or Bisleri (There were like 8 bottles of water on the table for some reason)
F3 - But there are players that do differentiation? How can that be perfect competition? (They did not seem convinced with my answer)
Me - It has characteristics, but \*get cut-off\*
F3 - Okay when a Monopoly and Perfect Competition, talk to each other, fall in love with each other and have a baby, what is that market called?
Me - Monopolistic Competition, we also have Oligopoly but this is more closer to Monopoly
F3 - Do you know a market with only one buyer and multiple sellers?
Me - Monopsony
F3 - Example?
Me - In the US \*gets cut-off\*
F3 - An Indian Example?
Me - Sorry, I do not know any example from India, continues with an Explanation of how Walmart had a somewhat Monopsony in the US.
F3 - Okay do you know the meaning of the name Anamika, you must be knowing it?
Me - (\*Visible Confusion\*) Sorry, I do not know
F3 - It means something that has no Name, can you relate this with something in Economics?
Me - (\*Even more confused\*) Tried saying something about how new markets are create for products , where those markets do not usually have names \*gets cut-off\*
F3 - No, No, No completely not what I'm looking for. (I still don't know what she was looking for, maybe the origin of the name Economics, Oikos-nomos that sounds like Anamika?)
M1 - What are you Hobbies?
Me - Reading espicially Sci-Fi and \*gets cut-off\*
M1 - What is Dark Matter
Me - I is in essence Nothing, It is an invisible form of \*gets cut-off\*
M1 - What is nothing?
Me - It is the absence of Anything?
M1 - Give a 2 mins extempore on the Topic Something is Nothing?
Me - (I'm in trouble now) took a minute to think, and then starting with the benefits of something saying and doing nothing in business and how Inaction can be a form of action
M1 - No, No, No, I want you to tell me something that is nothing
Me - Can I think for a minute
M1 - Sure
F3 (while I was thinking) - Talks about the Nothing Phone and tells me that you can say this now and I was like Ahhh I've now I lost a good point to say and we both laugh.
Me - (I was completely stumped by this question so I decided to be a smartass) My answer to your question is something that is nothing, cause absolutely nothing is coming to my mind.
\*M1 and M3\* start laughing with the look of "this guy....."
M3 - That's all from my end over to M2 who was silent the entire time. (Spoiler warning: Rapid Fire questions incoming)
M2 - Have you done any projects?
Me - Yes at work (finally something I an talk extensively on) \*gets cut-off\*
M2 - At college (Someone just end me)
Me - Yes I did a regression analysis \*Gets cut-off\*
M2 - No what is the name of your project
Me - A regression study on the impact of NPA (Non-performing assets) on \*Gets cut-off\*
M2 - How do you identify outliers in your NPA?
Me - A visual way can be to use scatter plots
M2 - You will use scatter plots to identify an outlier in a single variable?
Me - Sir an NPA is a ratio of two variables NPA and loans given \*Gets cut-off\*
M2 - But of one variable how do you identify
Me - Sir you can create a distribution based on frequen \*Gets cut-off\*
M2 - Name a Distribution?
Me - Normal Distribution
M2 - What if it is not a normal distribution?
Me - We can check whether the data lies outside of 3 Standard Deviations from the mean, that we can classify as an outlier \*gets cut-off\* (In hindsight I could have talked about P-Values, Null Hypothesis etc.
M2 - Why 3 standard deviations?
Me - Cause that would mean if the data lies outside 3 SD the probability of it not being an outlier \*gets cut-off\*
M2 - What is the probability of 3 SD
Me - 99.7
M2 - What if the outlier is important for the data and can significantly change it and what if it lies in the creamy layer?
Me - I would go into the details and see what that outlier is an outlier \*get cut-off\*
M2 - How?
Me - Talked out Six Sigma tools for Root cause 5 Whys and stuff (I don't know why this came to me first but M2 somehow seemed convinced)
M2 - That's all from me.
M1 - What all calls you have?
Me - Shillong and CAP calls.
M1 - What's your order of preference?
Me - (was honest) Shillong, Udaipur, Ranchi, Trichy
M2 - Why this order, there must be a logic?
Me - I said I chose based on two reasons one is Age of the Institute \*gets cut-off\*
M2 - Age?! You're saying the older the institute the better, does that make sense?
Me - Explained that with older institute, the alumni base is strong and are able to make deeper inroads into the industry which I can tap into as a student. (they seem convinced by this)
F3 - And you second point?
Me - These 4 institutes, have a strong subject base in Finance and Operations (M1 looked really happy by this) and it is the field where I want to, this is not to discredit other other IIMs as almost all are equal in quality, faculty and peer group but they are stronger in the Sales and Marketing area more than anything.
M2 - Thank you that's all.
Learnings:
When you are not given the chance to drive the interview, being to the point is the best. I always liked to answer question in a story format like STAR as they have more impact, but if they do not allow just directly say the point you want to say.
Brush up on Quants and Statistics, if you say Finance and Operations is your preference.
Be more confident, espicially when grilled. (When M2 was doing the rapid-fire I did sound a bit meek).
SPJIMR is Pookie for real 💗
Overall this experience was.. \*gets Cut-off\*