Placement Papers - Mu Sigma
Mu Sigma Interview Experience - Indore, September 22
Posted by :
Suyash Shrivastava
(2)
"CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT".
All of it started a month back on 20th Aug 2015. We were called in for one of its kind written test called "MuApt". MuApt had some mainstream questions from various topics like - Data sufficiency, Work Time etc. followed by an English section which had a few RCs and editing exercises. What made it unique was that apart from these customary sections, there were some personality assessment questions. This year 'image interpretation' and 'data analysis' was also clubbed with the written test itself and presented to us in the form of subjective questions.
The MuApt result was soon mailed to us and to our surprise, only 53 out of some 600 odd people could clear it.
Hereafter long wait started on 22nd September 2015 when Mu Sigma visited our campus for the recruitment drive. No company but only Mu Sigma sends you an email called 'Know your interviewers' consisting of links to their LinkedIn profile, two days before 'The day'. The panel which visited SGSITS, Indore had four of the smartest and most decent people one could encounter on this planet. They were smart enough to notice minute details about every one of us during the drive. The 'Pre Placement Talk' was delivered by 'Sachin' who is a Navy veteran (21 years experience) and the current Head of Talent Management @ Mu Sigma (3 years). Sachin carried out the presentation in the best possible way and used some of the best examples and analogies to answer our questions.
The best one is:
"For other companies analytics is 'chattni' and services products that they offer is the main course; but for Mu Sigma Dosa, Sambhar, chattni everything is analytics - The reason why Mu Sigma is leading in this forte".
He also took us through one of the case studies and acquainted us with the strategy followed by Mu Sigma. Post-presentation we were handed a card which had enough space to accommodate 70-80 words (unless your handwriting is gigantic) onto which we had to jot down the inference of a video which was shown during the presentation. The video was based on 'Mu Sigma beliefs' and the round was referred to as the 'Video Synthesis Round'.
If your text can speak volumes and is at par with their beliefs and expectations, you are half done!
Following this all 53 of us, after being grouped, were taken for a rigorous GD which lasted for 45-50 minutes. In a GD of this type, you are expected to listen more and at the same time contribute meaningfully and help arrive at a consensus. The GD was again based on Mu Sigma Beliefs and their principals. Unlike a traditional GD wherein everyone has to strive to speak, everyone was given an equal chance and interestingly the moderator was an active part of the discussion and was also bringing his thoughts to the table.
Towards the last leg, our topic was changed to "Google is a horizontal company". Google, these days has a wide spectrum and thus I spoke against the statement. One of the Mu Sigma principals emphasizes 'extreme experimentation'; using this fact the moderator then raised a point saying that 'extreme experimentation' is not really possible in various fields like that of space technology to which I again contradicted citing the example of International Space Station which is set only for this very purpose of conducting experiments. " Good communication skills and even better listening skills might help you clear this round!
The result was cumulative and twenty Nine (29) out of 53 were through for the interview. Surprisingly, the interview was more of an HR rather than the traditional one having brainstorming puzzles, guess-estimates etc. Sachin being the senior most was single-handedly taking the interviews.
My interview was a unique one where Sachin asked fewer questions than I did. As I entered, I greeted him and sought permission to sit. He asked me to tell him something interesting about myself. Since the word 'interesting' was included I decided to depict my personal front before the technical and academic details. Having done lots of Astronomy and related stuff, the next five or seven minutes was a discussion about the night sky, superstitions, astrology etc. He then fired the next question asking me - "Despite having offers from four other companies (Infy, Wipro, Cogni, TCS) why are you trying for Mu Sigma?". I smiled and told him that what I like about Mu Sigma is its belief system, culture, freedom to innovate, certain growth and infinite learning! I was hence successful in eliciting a smile on his face also.
I was then taken aback hearing his next statement which was - "Ok Suyash! I'm done. Any questions for me?".
Who gives 18 Lakhs (now 21) in 10 minutes man!?' was the first question I wished to ask but didn't for obvious reasons! I asked 5-6 questions to which he answered willingly and in detail, again using the best possible analogies and examples. He was willing to answer more questions even after I asked the fifth one! At last, I asked him about his own career and the reason which paved his way from The Indian Navy to a leading data analytics company. This was it and I left the room after 'confidently' shaking hands with him! The entire interview lasted for not more than 25-27 minutes.
Finally, Twenty (20) of us were selected to be a part of change through the world's leading data analytics company and given the 'intent letter' then and there! Though everything was the same, the world seemed different and life looked 'CHANGED'!
It was not happiness but ecstasy! Cheers :).
I hope this helps! Good luck!
All of it started a month back on 20th Aug 2015. We were called in for one of its kind written test called "MuApt". MuApt had some mainstream questions from various topics like - Data sufficiency, Work Time etc. followed by an English section which had a few RCs and editing exercises. What made it unique was that apart from these customary sections, there were some personality assessment questions. This year 'image interpretation' and 'data analysis' was also clubbed with the written test itself and presented to us in the form of subjective questions.
The MuApt result was soon mailed to us and to our surprise, only 53 out of some 600 odd people could clear it.
Hereafter long wait started on 22nd September 2015 when Mu Sigma visited our campus for the recruitment drive. No company but only Mu Sigma sends you an email called 'Know your interviewers' consisting of links to their LinkedIn profile, two days before 'The day'. The panel which visited SGSITS, Indore had four of the smartest and most decent people one could encounter on this planet. They were smart enough to notice minute details about every one of us during the drive. The 'Pre Placement Talk' was delivered by 'Sachin' who is a Navy veteran (21 years experience) and the current Head of Talent Management @ Mu Sigma (3 years). Sachin carried out the presentation in the best possible way and used some of the best examples and analogies to answer our questions.
The best one is:
"For other companies analytics is 'chattni' and services products that they offer is the main course; but for Mu Sigma Dosa, Sambhar, chattni everything is analytics - The reason why Mu Sigma is leading in this forte".
He also took us through one of the case studies and acquainted us with the strategy followed by Mu Sigma. Post-presentation we were handed a card which had enough space to accommodate 70-80 words (unless your handwriting is gigantic) onto which we had to jot down the inference of a video which was shown during the presentation. The video was based on 'Mu Sigma beliefs' and the round was referred to as the 'Video Synthesis Round'.
If your text can speak volumes and is at par with their beliefs and expectations, you are half done!
Following this all 53 of us, after being grouped, were taken for a rigorous GD which lasted for 45-50 minutes. In a GD of this type, you are expected to listen more and at the same time contribute meaningfully and help arrive at a consensus. The GD was again based on Mu Sigma Beliefs and their principals. Unlike a traditional GD wherein everyone has to strive to speak, everyone was given an equal chance and interestingly the moderator was an active part of the discussion and was also bringing his thoughts to the table.
Towards the last leg, our topic was changed to "Google is a horizontal company". Google, these days has a wide spectrum and thus I spoke against the statement. One of the Mu Sigma principals emphasizes 'extreme experimentation'; using this fact the moderator then raised a point saying that 'extreme experimentation' is not really possible in various fields like that of space technology to which I again contradicted citing the example of International Space Station which is set only for this very purpose of conducting experiments. " Good communication skills and even better listening skills might help you clear this round!
The result was cumulative and twenty Nine (29) out of 53 were through for the interview. Surprisingly, the interview was more of an HR rather than the traditional one having brainstorming puzzles, guess-estimates etc. Sachin being the senior most was single-handedly taking the interviews.
My interview was a unique one where Sachin asked fewer questions than I did. As I entered, I greeted him and sought permission to sit. He asked me to tell him something interesting about myself. Since the word 'interesting' was included I decided to depict my personal front before the technical and academic details. Having done lots of Astronomy and related stuff, the next five or seven minutes was a discussion about the night sky, superstitions, astrology etc. He then fired the next question asking me - "Despite having offers from four other companies (Infy, Wipro, Cogni, TCS) why are you trying for Mu Sigma?". I smiled and told him that what I like about Mu Sigma is its belief system, culture, freedom to innovate, certain growth and infinite learning! I was hence successful in eliciting a smile on his face also.
I was then taken aback hearing his next statement which was - "Ok Suyash! I'm done. Any questions for me?".
Who gives 18 Lakhs (now 21) in 10 minutes man!?' was the first question I wished to ask but didn't for obvious reasons! I asked 5-6 questions to which he answered willingly and in detail, again using the best possible analogies and examples. He was willing to answer more questions even after I asked the fifth one! At last, I asked him about his own career and the reason which paved his way from The Indian Navy to a leading data analytics company. This was it and I left the room after 'confidently' shaking hands with him! The entire interview lasted for not more than 25-27 minutes.
Finally, Twenty (20) of us were selected to be a part of change through the world's leading data analytics company and given the 'intent letter' then and there! Though everything was the same, the world seemed different and life looked 'CHANGED'!
It was not happiness but ecstasy! Cheers :).
I hope this helps! Good luck!
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