MBA Admission

1. As industry demands change, b-schools experiment with unusual
admission processes
by Astha A on 03 January 2012
in admissions, Innovation, Personality test, Video resumes
13 comments
The ticket to MBA has been changing colours
MBA admission procedures at Indian b-schools have traditionally followed the set routine of
holding a mass admission test, calling the shortlisted candidates for group discussions in
stressful environments and then grilling them one-on-one in personal interviews. A small crop
of b-schools, however, are breaking away from the formula to admit their batches using
innovative methods that require applicants to pitch themselves on video, participate in group
activities, get their personalities profiled or participate in interviews from home.
Admission processes have traditionally demanded of applicants to demonstrate that they are
intellectually capable of absorbing the MBA curriculum, can fruitfully contribute to class
discussions and be employable at the end of the programme. The demands of the industry
however, are changing, say b-schools that have been experimenting with b-schools
admissions. Dr Pritam singh, director general of International Management Institute (IMI),
Delhi says, “Companies today are looking for managers with skillsets that go beyond just
intellectual ability.”
Companies are now also interested in knowing what a candidate‟s personality is like, whether
he has sufficient resilience to perform in uncertain environments, what motivates him, how
thorough he is and a range of other traits. With conventional ap titude methods not being
designed to measure such qualities, a few b-schools are using a range of psychometric tests
— which measure both aptitude and personality rather than only aptitude as in the case of
traditional admission tests — to identify candidates matching a personality profile.
The Caliper Profile used by the Gurgaon-based School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) is one
such psychometric test. Designed by the US-based Human Resources Consulting firm Caliper
Corp, the written test measures an individual‟s personality characteristics, potential and
motivation across over twenty five attributes.
The standard format of a Caliper Profile gives all applicants two hours to complete a written
test with 150 objective questions. The result of the test provide s the school a detailed analysis
of how well or badly the candidate is likely to, say, handle rejection, be forthright without being
downright aggressive, how good he is at initiating new relationships with people, and so on.

2. Based on the Caliper Profile, SOIL shortlists candidates on the basis of benchmarks set out by
them for each of the personality traits measured by the test. For instance, the school could
have a minimum benchmark for assertiveness or a maximum limit for skepticism. That was just
an illustrative example, of course. SOIL refused to divulge how exactly they dealt with the test
results.
According to Aakash Mathai of the admissions department at SOIL, the school‟s focus on
leadership development led it to pick a test that identified leadersh ip qualities in a candidate
over other more basic forms of psychometric tests such as picture identification or a
conventional personality measurement test.
Not far behind is the IMI, Delhi which is planning to introduce a practical skill based
psychometric test as part of their admission procedure from the year 2012. According to
director general Singh, the school will make applicants perform tasks as unusual as making
candles to passing an Olympic style flame to observe and judge how they behave in groups ,
how well they plan, how they function under stress, what are they like at decision making, etc.
The criteria for judging the tasks are still a work -in-progress, but Singh told PaGaLGuY that a
panel of evaluators comprising IMI faculty as well as industry representatives would judge how
candidates react to, analyse and approach each task.
Pune‟s Foundation for Liberal and Management Education (FLAME) uses a picture perception
test as a part of its admissions procedure. Candidates are asked to formulate and write a story
based on an image that they are shown for a short period of time. The images may depict
people conversing with each other or sitting on grass. According to the institute, a candidate‟s
perception of the picture helps the admissions committee tune into his personality and mental
wavelength.
FLAME refused to divulge their modus operandi in detail, but a current student at FLAME who
did not wish to be named told this reporter that there was no way one could really prepare for
the test. “The Institute does not specify what they are looking for during the picture test. The
picture that we were shown made me think of an old moral story I had once heard and I wrote
a story on the same lines. I must have done something right because I was shortlisted after
the test,” she said.
Indus World School of Business (IWSB), Greater Noida administers a written psychometric
test to prospective students. Inspired by the Career Launcher (CL) psychometric test (Career
Launcher, the CAT prep institute owns IWSB), the IWSB test requires candidates to attempt
60 personality-based questions in 90 minutes. While CL uses the test to identify personality
traits of potential employees, IWSB claims to have adapted the test to figure out if a candidate
is entrepreneurial by nature — what is his risk-taking capability like and whether he has
leadership qualities and a knack of taking control of stressful situations.
IWSB also makes admission candidates perform group tasks, such as building blocks with
their eyes closed while group members pass on vocal directions. The school feels that such
methods help them measure the cooperation and collaboration capabilities of the candidates.
Similar departures from conventional admission routines to look for specific skills and qualities
have been used by niche MBA schools such as the Mudra Institute of Communications,
Ahmedabad and Institute of Rural Management, Anand since several years.
Digitising parts or whole of a school‟s admissions process is the other tangent that admission
innovation is following at a few b-schools. The Institute of Management Technology (IMT),
Ghaziabad had last year allowed applicants to participate in interviews over the Internet using
technology provided by a company called „Vmock‟. Candidates had to answer one randomly
generated mandatory question and two questions of their choice by facing a webcam that
would record them in video and deliver the videos over the Internet to the IMT admissions
team. In addition to helping working professionals interested in IMT a void travelling to attend

3. interviews, the recorded ‟virtual interviews‟ were meant to be viewed by a diverse panel
comprising faculty and industry representatives before a decision was made.
Even though the system experienced several snags in its first run last year, it was a first-of-its-
kind initiative. IMT is confident that it is better prepared to use Vmock for admissions this
year. “The major problem we faced (in 2011) was with bandwidth availability. However, one
entire year has passed by and we are confident that the same issues will not be faced again,”
Dr AM Sherry, IMT‟s admissions in-charge told PaGaLGuY. He added that the IMT board was
scheduled to hold a meeting soon where it would be finally decided whether Vmock would
continue to be used for the upcoming 2012 admissions or not.
On similar lines as IMT, starting 2012, SOIL Gurgaon requires applicants to submit a Video
Resume as a part of their application form. Applicants need to record a two -minute video
(using digital cameras, webcams or even cellphones) pitching themselves as fit -for-admission
candidates and upload it on Youtube. According to Mathai, the institute will use the video
resumes to gauge the body language and personality of applicants from within their comfort
zones. Evaluators will pay attention to the content, diction, grammar, structured-ness in the
presentation and the thinking as showcased by the applicants, he added.