My YLP Interview Experience - I

My friend and I, both shortlisted for the interviews, reached ISB Campus at 10:00 am. My interview was at 11:00 am and his was at 2:00 pm. The receptionist told all the interviewees to sit at a common place after signing on a sheet of paper. From that paper, I came to know that there were some 30-35 people who were expecting their interviews that day.

20 minutes before 11:00, 5 of us were called to another room. We were each handed a sheet of paper. On that paper was written –

“Superficial” 100 words.

The receptionist told that we had 10 minutes to write 100 words on the topic mentioned on your paper. As soon as I heard her saying “start”, I could see other interviewees scribbling. I, being the person I am, started to analyse the situation.

3 questions that immediately struck me were –

1. What’s expected off me from this ‘exercise’ ?

2. What should I write to set myself apart?

3. How should I split my time between ‘thinking’ and ‘writing’?

100 words are just too less to explain anything but enough to explain my views. Also, writing about my perspectives would help in differentiating me from others. Therefore, I decided to not “Explain” superficial but to “Express” my viewpoint regarding it.

I don't know why but I thought that this exercise was some sort of elimination round. Therefore, I thought I should think before I write anything. Too many cancellations will show that I lack clarity. I remember there was this essay writing competition during my school days where there were negative marks for cancellations. I remember me asking my teacher the reason. She said you shouldn’t just write things before you have formed a good perspective about it. It would be misleading on my part to say that experience from that school competition didn’t help me.

After deciding roughly on what to write, I noticed the clock. I had 4 minutes. Not a single letter yet written. I started by what “superficial” meant to me. I mentioned Richard Feynman and his learning technique that helps in “deep” learning thereby saving a student like me from “superficial” learning. Later, I linked my views of “superficial” learning and “deep” learning with my experience as an undergraduate – How I saw 8 semesters not as those dreadful days to survive but as experiments to perfect my learning style.

That’s about it. I remember my essay being 97 words long. Saw the clock. It’s 3 minutes overdue. The receptionist hadn’t yet come to collect the papers. I went through my essay to correct any mistakes. I was pleased not to find any. The receptionist came in and collected our papers. She said that three from the five have their interviews in 5 minutes. I was one of the three.

Part Two