If there was one person  who made as much news as CAT 2010, was its convenor Himanshu Rai. Almost a face for CAT 2010 – Prof Rai not has received both bouquets and brickbats for the job done as convenor. Read on to what he has to say as his work with CAT 2010 draws to a close.

Are you sure about the CAT 2010 results?  There are still apprehensions

There is no debate on the results at all. I have made sure that  results have been checked four times. Besides, I have also done random checking. Only after I have been thoroughly satisfied that I have put up the results.

Normalisation and psychometrics were not exactly happy terms for CAT candidates

They are not but they have been explained in detail on the website before the exams started. Why they are used and how has been discussed so much. I don’t understand why then the issue comes up every now and then.  Those who question normalisation, question mathematics. Normalisation is a statistical tool. It is practised in so many places world over.

But the terms are still issues for CAT candidates since the process is not transparent?

How it is done I explained on the website. But yes, those who have not done well and felt wronged by the system, I feel bad for. I understand where their anger and disappointment and empathise with those students. If two sets of papers have different levels of difficulty, they have to be dealt with.

CAT is so important to people so when people fail, it really goes down bad

CAT is not the end of the world. If things go wrong and your tyre is punctured, don’t stop there, get on. There is much more to life and so much to do. Just pick up yourself and go on. CAT is just one milestone. There are so many more to reach.

You have been the butt of much anger among CAT candidates

Yes and as I said I can feel the disappointment felt by the students. I can relate to their sentiments but I know how to get detached when I go home in the evening. I do not take my work home, nor the issues with it.

What will you take back with you from CAT 2010

I always understood human values but now I understand them even more. Even when people say they are unhappy with issues like normalisation, I understand. I believe in  the inherent goodness of people. I receive plenty of emails, letters and hone calls from people – some happy, some not so happy and I know why people say things they do.

There were issues with CAT centres, identification problems. You were rather strict

Yes, since there were strict  rules laid this time. But I did feel very bad at asking people to go back without proper identification. Or those who missed the exam for other reasons which could be termed genuine by the candidate.  I wish I could have done something for them and allowed them to take the test. But if I have made the law, I better learnt to stick with it before asking others to do so.  

What now? CAT 2010 is done with

Oh, I can take up organising the Olympic Games now (laughs). There is so much that I have learnt from CAT 2010 and there is so much from my past experience in Tata Steel that I have used into my life and in CAT. I handled such huge projects there, that now I can work on just about any project given to me. By the way, our CAT servers have not crashed this year. Yes, I have multiple servers but things are going very well today.

Are you longing to get back to teaching and reading, what you enjoy most.

Yes, but I never lost contact with my teaching and also my reading. At no point did I stop teaching for the last one year. Last few months, I gave 4-5 hours to CAT daily and last few weeks, gave 14-15 hours but I still continued my teaching and reading.  And yes, I am a trained mountaineer. Every year in May, I go mountaineering and this year too will be no different.

Exclusive: All about the GD-PI round from Prof. Ajay Singh of IIM-L

The CAT 2010 results are now out and the MBA aspirants now readying themselves for the next round of the admissions process. The next round, which is the GD, PI and Essay Writing, is going to be the most crucial as it will make or break your chances of gaining entry into a top B-school.
To help you prepare perfectly for these rounds brings to you advice from Prof. Ajay Singh, Chairman MDP & Corporate Interaction Committee of IIM Lucknow (Noida Campus). Prof. Singh shared with the ways for cracking the GD, PI round and what exactly do the IIMs look for in a candidate.

“First I want to tell you that we do not reject or accept a candidate during the interview round and the GD round. We just give marks, which are all added in the final marks for the candidate,” said Prof. Singh.

Talking specifically about the interview round Prof. Singh said, “During the interview we don’t give much attention to the subject knowledge. We mainly try to judge your personality. The overall personality is more important for us as after two years of your course we have to provide you placements at a good company. We have to give good candidates to the invited companies.”

“For the interview round you can never guess what will the faculty ask, so you should be well prepared for the interview. You should brush up your subject knowledge and read newspapers. You should be prepared to answer questions on your college books,” added Prof. Singh.

Stressing on the importance of body language he said, “During the interview your body language is important. You should not be too submissive or too aggressive. While describing about yourself you should describe your strengths.”

Prof. Singh also shared with some important DOs and Don’ts for the GD round. “See, normally candidates think that if they talk too much they will look smart, but you will look negative after a certain point of time,” suggested Prof. Singh.

Some other important points to be followed during the GD round are as follows:

-- You should take care of the following positive points during the GD round: exhibit proper thinking, show that you are group person, give chance to others, don’t shout, don’t be aggressive, be polite.

-- If you feel nervousness, then you should not worry. IIMs don’t cut any marks for nervousness!

-- You might be very good in speaking English, but that will not count. The GD panel will look for your wisdom and your ability to think out of the box.

-- Another important point is that you should look perfectly natural. Your coaching institute may have taught you certain way of talking, but you should try to be natural.