PhD Interview Experience at IIM Lucknow

Ever experienced the phenomenon when you are dreaming of something & when you open your eyes suddenly you see it right in front of you?

I started dreaming of pursuing PhD even before I completed my MBA from IIM Kozhikode. This aspiration of attaining a doctorate level qualification was so intense that I even started day dreaming about it. And then suddenly one day, when I woke-up from my day dreams, I saw this online ad regarding admission to doctorate level program of IIM Lucknow. I quickly clicked the link, checked the eligibility criteria, admission process and other information. I was eligible. So I filled up the application, wrote a SOP, prepared a write-up on my research topic and in next few days completed all the formalities and went through all their prescribed procedures. Now only one thing was remaining… Call for personal interview.

When I finally received it, I experienced a mixed feeling of joy, excitement, anxiety & nervousness. I had experience of few interviews related to academics & recruitment before this, but PhD was a whole new ball game. Hence I started seeking advice & interview preparation tips from my MBA professors and my bachelor’s degree college teacher & principal (all of whom are experienced doctorates in their respective field of studies). With their valuable insights & my short-term preparations, I was ready to face the interview. But believe me; you can never be too prepared for an interview. Especially, when the panel consists of senior professors, who are experts.

 Following is my experience of interview for admission in IIM Lucknow’s doctorate level program.

 My choice of stream for PhD: Human Resources (HR)

 Number of panelists: Three

Type of Interview: Stress Interview

Duration: Nearly half an hour

My Research Topic: Impact of HR on social welfare of the country

There were three panelists for the interview; one was asking questions, while the other two were there to demoralize you. These two were there to test your confidence level by contesting your answers, aggressively asking counter questions and trying to create an atmosphere of pressure. More like “Good Cop, Bad Cop” interrogation technique, but in an interview format.

Round 1 (Basic questions)

 First round was full of basic questions like tell us about yourself, questions on academics, work experience, research experience, why you want to do PhD in HR, etc. After I finished answering, the other two panelists started saying how mere having knowledge and job experience in HR doesn’t make me a suitable candidate for PhD in HR. They see no reason for me to get into research aspect of the subject. I replied back explaining how having been part of a major national level HR project work in one of the largest public sector banks of India has aroused my interest in pursuing research and analysis related study in this subject. An in-depth understanding of the subject & research work can help me resolve contemporary issues in this field that would not only help my organization, but also the industry in general. Well, as expected, they didn’t show any positive reaction to my response.

Learning: Prepare beforehand the reason & purpose for pursuing PhD. You have to show your passion for the subject & commitment towards undertaking the research-work. Be confident despite negative reactions. They will try to intimidate you to test your confidence under pressure.

Round 2 (Questions related to work experience and academics)

Second round focused on my work experience in HR & my understanding of the subject. They wanted to know involvement of HR right from the beginning to the end of an employee’s career. Why HR is important in an organization and such questions. Then they asked me to give two examples of conflict between organization’s objective & individual’s objective. I gave them examples from my work experience in Talent management & Manpower planning.

Learning: Always do thorough home-work before an interview. Be fully prepared for any question related to your academic & work experience. If you don’t know something, accept it. The panelists are masters in their field of studies, so never try to bluff your way out of it.

Round 3 (Mind Games)

In the third round, they asked me to categorize few examples given by them as OB, HRM or HRD with suitable reasons. With my every answer, the other two panelists nodded their heads in disagreement & passed remarks like ‘So you say Training comes under HRD & not HRM? Are you sure?’ Later, based on my work experience, brief scenarios were given & they wanted to know my approach towards resolution of the same. For my every answer, the other two gentlemen again disagreed & said my answers were more planning & strategy oriented rather than HR. I assertively explained how all of them are inter-related & HR policies require planning & strategizing, just as planning & strategy policies need to include HR aspects too. Hence some elements of all these areas will always be involved in all sort of decision making.

 Learning: There will always be trick questions and your answers will often be twisted and presented back to you. Don’t let it affect you. Be calm and put forth your point assertively. A topic like HR is subjective and hence there is no right or wrong answers. It all depends on how you are able to justify your point of view.

Round 4 (Questions on research topic)

In round four the focus shifted to my research topic: Impact of HR on social welfare of the country. Again those two professors were unconvinced that HR policies of companies can affect social welfare of the whole country. I explained how HR policies affect not only an employee’s work life, but also his personal life. Increasing stress, decreasing job satisfaction, long working hours & other such aspects are affecting family, health & social lives of people. I explained how there is a direct relation between HR policies & Global Happiness Index ranking of a country. Countries having employee friendly HR policies have better ranks in Global Happiness Index than those who didn’t. Apart from social aspects, there is also a favourable growth in the economy of the country. I gave few examples of top ranking countries like Denmark, Norway, US, New Zealand, etc & their HR policies and how many other countries are now moving towards more employee friendly HR policies so as to improve socio-economic health of their countries. Accordingly, I showed my interest in pursuing research in this area and contributing in improving India’s rank in the happiness index by improving work & personal life of the citizens.

Learning: It’s your topic, so you ought to know it in & out. Not knowing how to undertake research in it, fine, that’s what you will learn in PhD. But not being sure about the topic itself or the objective you are aiming to achieve is inexcusable. So do not copy paste a title, read about it before the interviews & study few research papers.

Round 5 (Test on unprepared aspects)

 You can never be fully prepared for such interviews. There will always be questions that will test your presence of mind and practical applications of the concepts. When they discovered I also had work experience in Marketing, they asked me to give one example in my organization where HR & Marketing both are essentially involved. I was dumbstruck for a while & took a moment before replying. Being in banking industry, I starting thinking about various aspects of service sector & how they are influenced by HR & Marketing decisions of the organization. When I could finally think of one such example, I formulated my answer & replied to their question. In service sector, especially Banking, ‘Brand Management’ is one aspect that essentially involves both these fields of study. Since customers directly interact with frontline employees of the bank, their perception of the company & its brand image depends on the experience that they receive from the employees. HR needs to train & groom its employees accordingly and ensure to maintain a suitable corporate culture, ethical codes and working environment. Without HR suitably paying its role, it will be difficult for the Marketing team to attain desired brand positioning. This is one crucial area where HR & Marketing both are equally involved. This was the first time that I saw a little smile (more like a smirk), on the faces of otherwise pokerfaced panelists. But soon they regained their composure and ended the interview.

Learning: Like I had said before, you can never be fully prepared for these kind of interviews. They will surely test your knowledge and proficiency in the subject matter, but there will always be some twisted questions on aspects you may have not prepared for. Here’s where your practical knowledge, rather than bookish knowledge, comes into play. Take your time. Think about your answer & then reply. Don’t stress out. Being calm and composed will help you think in a better way.

So this was my PhD interview experience at IIM Lucknow. I’m still awaiting the results. But irrespective of the outcome, the interview itself has been a learning experience for me. Hope my experience will help some other aspirants in their interview preparations. Best of luck.