By Abhishek , FPM-II (Marketing Area), IIM Ahmedabad

I have been continuously asked about the questions that are put to participants for FPM interview in marketing. I have put together some points from my experience at IIMA. Hope it helps....

1. The Broad areas that one would be tested in at the interview

I felt during my interview and thereafter discussion with my classmates that the interview process (in marketing area) differs for freshers (people who do not have experience in marketing area) and people who have worked in marketing area. In case of freshers, the main focus is on understanding their interest in marketing field which is generally gauged from general awareness questions whereas in case of people with work experience in the area, the emphasis is on checking the depth in one of the topics in marketing. The topic can be either the interest area or the area of one's working. Thus, if one has work experience in marketing, it is important to be well-versed with all fundas as well as be very sound on some of the select topic(s) in which one could handle any type of question.

2. Specific preparation/s one needs to do for the interview

It will be good to prepare answers for queries related to *your work area* because the interview is most likely to start with questions related to your work areas. Secondly, think about the *points which strengthen your candidature*. Generally the interview will last for half-an-hour and halfway in the interview, you should try to communicate accross these points. This, of course, will need to be done in a subtle manner but if you have thought about them very well then putting them accross becomes easy. Thirdly, you should also think about *points which connect between your work area and marketing fellow program* i.e. they should establish a link between what you are currently doing and what you will like to do in fellowship program. Again, they can also be put accross in subtle manner even if they are not asked.

3. Focus in Quantitative skills

As far as I remember, I was not asked any question in quant. However, some of the candidates were asked basic questions in quant, particularly from their area of qualifications. I beleive, it is difficult to ask a very complicated question in quant during interview unless one explicitly expresses that one is very good in quant. Thus, one need not be very concerned about quant. A good in-depth understanding of regression technique and basic idea about other techniques should be good enough preparation for this section. However, a good understanding of research methods should be understood as some questions related to it may be asked.

4. Do they test you on your research area or is it just the basics?

It is not expected that you should decide your research area beforehand. However, questions about research area are put forth to the candidates, especially experienced ones, to understand if they have given good thought about the fellow program or not. Thus a basic idea about research area will be good enough.

Other than above-mentioned points, there are two more important points which I would like to mention. Firstly, the interviewers try to establish the seriousness of candidate (given 4-5 years duration of program) and if you are providing answers which highlight the perseverance nature of your personality then it will help a lot. Secondly, there should be good reasons to highlight why one want to pursue fellowship program from IIMA, other than the fact that it is the best management institute in India.

About the author
The author is a graduate of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and has work experience in Marketing and Social Marketing Domain with Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL) and Tarahaat. His research interests apart from marketing include the use of ICT for Development. He is also an avid quizzer and movie-buff.