Interview at IIT Kharagpur for admission to Masters in City Planning after qualifying GATE Exam
This interview is both technical and HR based, and is conducted after candidates scoring above a desired cutoff apply for the post graduate studies. Many students have excellent educational skills, but when it comes to face to face interviews, their speaking and communication skills fall short of the expectations of the interview panel. This system is justified because in today's world, there is no place for only degrees and mark sheets, but good communication skill and a confident and pleasing attitude.
introduction
The first key to such interviews is the dress code. It is mandatory to follow a particular theme of decency when it comes to such institutional interviews. I had taken up the Indian dress code and stuck to navy blue cotton salwar kameez, neatly tied hair and clean footwear. I reached the interview venue sharp at 8:00 am, our reporting deadline time being 8:30am. First we went through an orientation programme, and then our original GATE Scorecards were verified. Then we were led into a room where we were asked to wait for our turn. The institute had made provisions for waiting parents too, which is appreciated. I had taken along with me, my architectural portfolio in case the panel wanted to know what I was working on for my B.Arch Thesis. the interview process
When my call came, I knocked on the door to ask if I could come in. Being given a green signal, I went in with a normal smile and took permission to sit down. The first question to me was, without revealing my caste, creed, race, religion, I have to introduce myself. I said," I am Tania Banerjee, a student of architecture final year, currently working on my thesis on adaptive reuse and architectural conservation. I am a lover of art, and my hobbies include sketching and painting. I also have a keen interest in writing poems, and some of them have got published in international publications as well. I love having fun, and consider spending time with my family a very important way of refreshing myself". They seemed quite happy with that, and then asked me why I wanted to study M.tech. I said that architecture taught us to deal with individual projects like designing a hotel, a museum, a shopping mall but how would the funding for that project happen? How would the infrastructural services be manned? What are the various development control guidelines to be followed? So, in order to practically execute the design, I need answers to such questions which only a sound knowledge of city planning can give me. A combined of architecture and planning will direct me towards achieving the goal that I just highlighted. Also, since i would want to teach in future, a deep knowledge incurred from Masters degree is necessary.details of the interview proceedings
After this, one member of the panel asked that did I want to do pHd, to which it was a yes, so he put an asterisk mark beside my name. Then another member of panel asked me about planning problems in the locality in which I live, and whether any new roads have come up, what are the problems due to the new thoroughfare. Then I was asked about my thesis with respect to the topic and the types of solutions I was intending to provide. Finally the session was more or less over and I was asked to leave with a thank you. An overall view
The entire session was for about 30 minutes and a panel of 4 members asked many questions, quite enough to judge presence of mind of a candidate. Later, when the results were announced, I found that I had got selected for the programme in the first list itself, which was indeed a big moment of joy, since number of candidates appearing for the interview was huge, and from departments of architecture, civil, mechanical engineering.