I have written about the interview experience of my sister who appeared for the same last year.
She reached the venue and had registration and a brief introduction about IMI by a Sir.
After the introduction, the candidates were allotted a topic for WAT. She got the ‘current USP of the market: offers more for less'. She wrote well including points related to competition, and technology reach, and gave examples of Reliance Jio.
Next, they had document verification and were given the serial number for the interview. She was ushered into a room with 2 panelists, a lady and a man in their 50s. The panelists seemed friendly and asked her what the other candidates told her about them. After a friendly exchange, they enquired about her work. She was also asked to justify her low marks in class 12 to which she confidently replied that she was busy preparing for IIT JEE. They asked her about the things she liked to do in her leisure time and her passions. When she told them that one of them was cycling, they asked her about the biggest Cycle race. They asked a few more questions related to cycling to which she had nearly no answers.
The topic soon switched to pities and they asked her about Maharashtra and Delhi CM and the controversies related to the Delhi CM. This too could not be answered by her.
They further asked her about her home state and related questions. Her extempore topic was ‘What Narendra Modi can do to stop engineers going for MBA to support his Make in India.’ She spoke about how investments can be made from foreign investors and the process of initiating a startup should become easier to promote entrepreneurship.
Lastly, she was asked about the other offers she had and if she was considering them or not and why so. She ended the interview by stating viable reasons as to why she was determined to join IMI Delhi only.
KJ Somaiya, Great Lakes, GIM, and TAPMI all of these are highly proclaimed institutes in India for management studies. Each of these institutes is good in different domains of management studies. KJ Somaiya and GIM are better for Finance. Whereas, GIM is reputed for Marketing.
In general, the order of preference should be as given below.
Given below is a comparison between the institutes.
Institutes |
KJ Somaiya |
T.A. Pai Management Institute or TAPMI |
Goa Institute of Management or GIM |
Great Lakes Institute of Management |
Established |
1981 |
1980 |
1993 |
2004 |
Accreditation |
AIU, NBA |
AICTE, AIU |
AICTE, AIU, NBA |
AICTE |
Rank |
56 (NIRF) |
27 (NIRF) |
48 (NIRF) |
23 (NIRF) |
Entrance exams |
CAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT |
CAT/XAT/GMAT |
CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT |
GLAT/CAT/XAT/GMAT |
Selection |
Group Discussion and Personal Interview |
Written Ability Test, Group Discussion, Collaborative Problem-Solving Ability, Personal Interview |
Personal Interview |
Personal Interview |
Course fee |
14.93 laks |
14.3 lakhs |
15.93 lakhs |
17.15 lakhs |
Average CTC |
10 LPA |
12 LPA |
11.7 LPA |
10.14 LPA |
Highest CTC |
28.50 LPA |
25 LPA |
25.6 LPA |
28.6 LPA |
Top sectors |
Banking and Insurance sector, IT and ITES, Financial Services, Consulting, FMCG and Manufacturing. |
BFSI, Consulting, FMCG and Retail, IT, Analytics and E-Comm, Manufacturing and Core |
BFSI, Engineering/Manufacturing, IT/ITES, Sales/Marketing, Consulting, Others |
BFSI, IT/ITES Internet Business, Consulting, Research, Others (Real estate, events, manufacturing, education and auto) |
Top recruiters |
Polaris UK, Accenture, PwC and Target Inc., etc. |
Deloitte, Capgemini, ITC, JP Morgan Chase, Yes Bank, KPMG, Wipro, etc. |
AbInBev, Barclays, ITC, Deloitte, Reliance, Godrej, EY, JP Morgan, Signify, etc. |
Aditya Birla Sun Life, Deloitte, Hexaware, KPMG, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, Wipro, etc. |
There are mainly two placements: Internships Placements (called the Autumn placements) and Final Placements.
Internship placements: These placements take place usually in the month of July and August during the second year. Students end their internship by October. The FMCG companies visit for Marketing and Operation placements together. Finance and Information Management internships are more like a rolling process.
Final Placements: The final placements occur usually in the month of December. At this time, all the PPO results from internships are out and almost 50% of the batch has already been placed. SPJIMR does not encourage lateral placements and such cases are dealt with individually. The placement scenario for Information Management is pretty good offering amazing opportunities in both IT consulting as well as corporate IT.
Both IMT Ghaziabad and GIM Goa are highly reputable institutes for post-graduation in marketing. Both institutes have a strong track record of producing high-quality graduates who are well-equipped to excel in the marketing field. However, when considering which program to pursue, there are several factors to take into account such as the quality of students passing out of these colleges, placement opportunities and profiles that interest you, and your academic scores.
It is recommended to research and speak with students from both institutes, as well as professionals in the field, to gain a better understanding of the curriculum, faculty, and alumni network of each institute. Additionally, if you have poor academic scores, it might be a good idea to consider a program with fewer students, to increase your chances of success. Furthermore, if you have more work experience, it would be a good idea to look into IMT Ghaziabad as it offers various opportunities for students with more experience.
IMT Ghaziabad is considered to be a tier above GIM Goa in terms of ranking, brand perception, placements, and opportunities. It is ranked in the same tier as the new IIMs, SIBM, NMIMS, XIMB, SCMHRD, and MICA. Additionally, IMT Ghaziabad is known for having a strong focus on marketing as its forte. On the other hand, GIM Goa falls in the category of institutes such as KJ, Fore, BIM, etc. It is important to do your research well and make an informed decision based on your career aspirations and goals.
IMT Ghaziabad is called the Mecca for Marketing. It’s well known for its specialization in Marketing, Sales, and Business Development based roles. I don't think it offers similar opportunities for finance as well. The placements are pretty good but getting internship offers is difficult for someone who is switching careers from IT to Finance.
So if you really want to pursue a career in Finance after your MBA from IMT Ghaziabad, you can try CFA, and FRM and have some past background in Finance
SPJIMR has been among the top 5 or 10 B Schools over the past few years consistently. Its brand value can be compared to XLRI, FMS, and even IIMs except for IIM ABC. This is because even now there are some roles offered to IIM ABC students that are not offered at SPJIMR. But this is not a major issue as these roles seek only extraordinary profiles and In Fact, many other roles offered at IIM ABC are lower than average.
In SPJIMR even the lowest package is decent and the range of salary is not very broad. This year, SPJIMR's average package stood at INR 33.02 LPA.
Other key points to note in comparison to old IIMs is that our Highest CTC is lower than that of IIMs but our Lowest CTC is higher than that of IIMs. So I will suggest anyone with an exceptionally good profile to choose IIM whereas someone with a decent average profile should go for SPJIMR only. It is important to note that getting roles at SPJIMR is a bit easier than IIMs mainly because of the small batch size and less competition.
If you are really keen to join IMT Ghaziabad go for the DCP program only. It’s the only program worth spending your time and money on. It guarantees quality education, premium batch quality, faculty, and the overall environment. Also, IMT Ghaziabad is well known for its rich competition culture.
But there are many demerits that overshadow the merits of IMT Ghaziabad. For instance, the campus has an undisciplined environment owing to the influence of Delhi culture. The faculty is also deorbiting in the sense that they don’t care about the reputation of the institute anymore. The batch size is also a major disadvantage at IMT Ghaziabad. You shouldn’t expect a batch size lower than 500-600.
For those who take the DCP program, keep in mind that the internship opportunities will be difficult due to the difference in work culture. You will have to try hard to move forward.
Do your own part of research that is not just based on figures and then join the college.
BIMTECH is considered among the top B-Schools and holds an amazing campus. It is good in every aspect such as Location, Campus/Facilities, Faculty, and Campus/Facilities, Extra-Curricular Activities, Strong Industry connect. For a better overview, check the following points:
Faculty:
Location:
Campus:
Strong Industry Connections:
You can definitely go for BIMTECH and it is worth pursuing PGDM from here.
IMT Ghaziabad placement and admission process both lay great emphasis on Work Experience. So your work experience of 4 years will define work in your favor not only during the GE-PI rounds but during placements also.
One way to determine if your admission will be worth leaving your job is to calculate your ROI (Fees vs Avg CTC *2 with 2 yrs of loss in pay based on your existing CTC).
If you are confident enough you target other better B Schools also for wider prospects. You can check the career prospects of the field you have been working in and in case you are switching careers do the same for that field too. Check the best offers in that line and compare it with other B Schools. Such in-depth research will help you make a better decision that you won’t regret later.
I wouldn’t call IMA Ghaziabad an excellent Institute. Rather it’s an average decent college with average placement statistics. The recent pass-outs and students are not fully satisfied with the college’s performance in terms of ROI and roles offered in placements. Substandard job profiles were offered and students have harshly criticized the systems.
Go for a college where getting admission is not a cakewalk rather it is challenging.
Contact alumni through your LinkedIn profile and enquire about the job profile stability and average take-home salary. If you are still very sure don’t just take admission half-heartedly and attempt CAT, and MAT again to target better colleges. This is better than joining IMS Ghaziabad under the pretext of 100% placement when in reality there is no job stability due to bulk hire.