KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai

My brother appeared for his interview last year. His GD PI was at the Vidyavihar campus in Mumbai in the first week of March. He was a little nervous when he walked into the auditorium, where so many people were waiting for their turn.

GD Round: There was a group of 10 people for a case-based discussion. He and the other candidates went into a room where they were provided with a case sheet by the faculty. In addition, they had three minutes to read and think about the case. After which each person would be given 1 minute to conclude.

His group got the case where the question was asked whether the funds allocated to ISRO should be used for other more important purposes. There have been some statistics on the current percentage of GDP allocated to ISRO for their projects and other information in paragraph or two. The discussion had a mix of all that.

One person was shouting that ISRO should not be given any money while some other people, including my brother, were saying that it would help to improve the image of India as a developing nation in terms of technology and eventually attract FDI. Another person used the statistics given in the case very wisely. The rest of the people were chipping in their points to stay in the discussion.

There are few things you must keep in mind:

• You don't have to raise your voice to make a powerful point.
• You need to study the case carefully and underscore important information.
• Quality is always better than quantity. You can make 2-3 points that are better than talking constantly about irrelevant things.
• Use statistics if they are provided. It adds a lot of significance and contributes to a strong point.
• It is imperative to be competent in English. It communicates your points very easily to the judge.
• The conclusions are very important, as in one minute, you can make your point without anyone disturbing you. It will also help you to recover if you didn't perform well in the discussion.

PI Round:

After the GD he really wanted to do well in the PI because the discussion had not gone that well for him.

He knew that the first statement in most college interviews was 'Tell us about yourself.' So, he was already prepared to answer that question by including things that would give them clues as to the questions most favorable to him.

According to his expectations, for most of the interview, the 2-member panel asked him questions about the start-up and all. Other questions were based on general knowledge, such as "Who is Nandan Nilekani?" "What is he famous for?" and so on.

As a mechanical engineer, he was also prepared for the question of his choice to opt for the Financial Services program. The interview went exactly as he thought. He was satisfied with it, and he was pleased that he had most likely recovered the points he had lost in the GD.Being honest and smart made him crack his interview.

The placement scenario for K J Somaiya is pretty good. Big MNCs visit the campus but the probability of the students being selected or rejected depends on the student’s knowledge as well as their skill set.

The environment of K J Somaiya is very competitive. Students put in their best and work extremely hard to learn new things like programming languages, platforms, etc. It is because, by the end of the engineering degree, everybody lies at an equal level and is equally knowledgeable.

If you wish to grab the best package, you need to stand out and offer something unique from your end with regard to knowledge as well as personality. This stands true for all the other colleges as well, including IITs and VJTI. 

If you are an exceptional student, you will be able to grab a good job irrespective of your college name. On the other hand, if you are an average student who is struggling to pass the subjects, then you will get an average package which would range around 25,000 per month or even worse, might not get a job at all.

The placement in D.J. Sanghvi is decent with salary packages ranging from 3-12 Lakhs per annum. The points below give a brief overview of the run-through of the entire placement scenario in D.J. Sanghvi.

• The placement session usually starts from the beginning of the 4th year. The first company visiting the campus is mostly Morgan Stanley, providing the highest salary package (14-16 LPA).
• The entire placement sessions go on for a year, with an overall of about 35-40 companies, and a salary range of about 3-12 LPA offered to students.
• J.P Morgan performs a 24-hour hackathons “Code for Good” and recruits students from it.
• Some other names of MNCs visiting the campus just after Morgan Stanley include Directi, ZS associates, Indus Valley, etc. Several companies like EnY, LTI, Deloitte, Dollar Capital, etc provides appreciable salary packages.
• Almost every student from Computer science and IT gets at least one job offer in placement. Mass recruiters like TCS and Infosys visit the campus, recruiting a bunch of students.
• You will get several opportunities in placement, with different roles in companies. Seniors provide a lot of help for preparation and useful placement tips.

Overall, the placements can be considered to be really good in D.J. Sanghvi and so, taking up a job with a decent salary before a Masters's degree is quite satisfying.