ALL ABOUT

IIFT
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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

CONTENT
Introduction  3
IIFT Fast Facts  4
IIFT Important Dates 5
IIFT Eligibility Criteria  6
IIFT Application Form  7
IIFT Exam Pattern  8
IIFT Sample Paper  9
IIFT Result  10
IIFT Cutoff  11
IIFT Selection Procedure  12
IIFT Expert Analysis 13
IIFT Topper Interview 16

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

INTRODUCTION

I
IFT is a national level post-graduation entrance examination, conducted by
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The institute offers two-year full time MBA
in International Business, at its three campuses- IIFT Delhi, Kolkata and
Kakinada. Each year around 60,000 aspirants apply for the test. The applica-
tion starts from July continue till September. The exam is usually scheduled in
November/ December and the results are announced in December.

IIFT entrance exam is considered to be a tough nut to crack owing to its high
difficulty level. The cutoff and selection process is also on the higher side which
makes it another coveted MBA entrance test to crack for the management aspir-
ants. As far as IIFT is concerned, it is one of the most sought after B-schools in
India, which is ranked among the top management institutes. Established in the
year 1963 by the Government of India (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), it
is an autonomous B-School whose flagship programme is MBA in International
Business (MBA-IB). It is the only top B-School which offers this programme. IIFT
has a second campus in Kolkata which was established in 2006. It is an exten-
sion of the Delhi campus with rotating faculty and central placement at both the
campuses. Kakinada campus was inaugurated in 2017.

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT -FAST FACTS

Exam Name: Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Exam
Conducting Institute: Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi
Common Name: IIFT entrance exam
Exam Category: Post Graduate
IIFT Exam Date: December 3, 2017
IIFT Eligibility Criteria: Bachelor’s Degree
IIFT Application Deadline: September 15, 2017
IIFT Application Fee:
General and OBC: Rs. 1550
SC/ ST/ PH: Rs 775
Foreign nationals/ NRI: USD 75 (Rs. 4000)

Address: IIFT Bhawan

B-21, Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi - 110016. India
Phone: +91-11-26965124, +91-11-26965051

Foreign Nationals/NRI Candidates/ Children of NRIs: The admission of

candidates under this category is on the basis of GMAT score only.

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT IMPORTANT DATES

As per the IIFT important dates, the management exam will be held on Decem-
ber 3, 2017, instead of November 26, 2017, the earlier date. Therefore, candi-
dates who want to appear for IIFT exam could fill the application form of IIFT
in order to obtain admission into the Institute. Aspirants started applying from
July 25, 2017.

In the table given below, candidates can check the tentative IIFT important
dates:

IIFT Important Dates

Event Dates
IIFT Registration July 25, 2017
Deadline for receipt of Application (Gen/SC/ September 15, 2017
ST/OBC)
Admit Card of IIFT November 15, 2017
IIFT entrance exam December 3, 2017
IIFT Result Fourth week of December 2017
Selection Procedure January/February 2018
Final Results March 2018

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Before applying for the IIFT entrance exam, test tak- ●● Candidates who are in their final year of graduation
ers should first check whether they are eligible to can also apply. They have to submit certifications
take the entrance exam or not. According to the IIFT of their last semester to prove they are graduating
eligibility criteria, a candidate must have a three- year in the current year
bachelor’s degree from a recognised institute. It is ●● There is no age limit for candidates
necessary for candidates to go through IIFT eligibil-
ity criteria to understand the requirements and apply IIFT Eligibility Criteria for Foreign
accordingly. Nationals/ NRI:
IIFT eligibility criteria will help candidates understand ●● Candidates falling under this category must have
and figure out all the necessary requirements to take a valid GMAT score. This means the candidate will
take the entrance exam. The IIFT entrance exam will first have to take the GMAT.
be held on December 3, 2017. Hence, candidates ●● The GMAT score should not have been declared
who are keen on studying MBA IB from IIFT Delhi, before January 1, 2016.
Kolkata or Kakinada can apply. However, before ●● NRI- sponsored candidates are not considered
beginning the application process, candidates must under this category.
go through the eligibility criteria of IIFT. Here candi-
dates can read all about IIFT eligibility criteria. Once candidates fulfill IIFT eligibility criteria, they can
begin the process by filling the application form of
IIFT Eligibility Criteria for General/ IIFT both via online and offline mode. Candidates who
SC/ST/OBC/PH category: are eligible to take the test have to submit qualifying
●● Candidates must have a three-year bachelor’s degree examination document as an evidence of qualifica-
from a recognised Institute tion for the IIFT exam.

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT APPLICATION FORM

According to the notification released on August 3, the form after clicking on their respective category.
2017, the IIFT application form deadline was extend- ●● The next step asks candidates to fill in their per-
ed from September 8 to September 15, 2017. The sonal details
exam date had also been postponed from November ●● Once the personal details are complete, candidates
26, 2017 to December 3, 2017, owing to the clash can then make the registration payment to success-
with CAT exam date. Before commencing with the fully register for the exam.
IIFT application form, a candidate must first get them-
selves registered to be able to take the test. Without IIFT Application Fee
any registration followed by filling of IIFT application Category Fee Mode
form, candidate’s will not be allowed to appear for
General/OBC Rs. 1550 At IIFT counter/ By
the entrance exam.
candidates post/Online
SC/ST/PH Rs. 775 At IIFT counter/ By
Any candidate who wants to take the IIFT should
candidates post/Online
carefully go through the application procedure to
successfully register for the entrance exam. Before Foreign nationals/ US$ 80/ Rs.4500 At IIFT counter/ By
we bring you all necessary information on IIFT appli- NRI/ Children of post/Online
cation form, let us take you through important dates
NRI
related to IIFT: Instructions related to IIFT
application form
How to fill IIFT application form ●● When registering candidates need to upload their
Candidates who have successfully registered and scanned image. Hence, they should keep a scanned
are eligible to take the entrance exam can fill the IIFT ready before filling the application form.
application form. Below interested candidates can ●● The image should be in a JPG format and should
find the complete procedure to fill the IIFT applica- be less than 50 KB.
tion form: ●● Scanned signature of the candidate will be also
required on a white background. The size of the
Online- scanned signature should be less than 50 KB.
●● Candidates are required to visit the official website ●● Candidates who want to pay the registration fee
and complete the procedure online should keep their debit/ credit card ready.
●● After clicking on the link, the page will display ●● Those who want to pay by Demand Draft (DD)
instructions related to IIFT. Click Apply Now should keep the DD ready before filling the IIFT
●● Candidates then have to choose the category to application form.
which they belong. Then they can continue filling

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT EXAM PATTERN

As per the IIFT exam pattern 2018, the entrance exam answer from Logical Reasoning will carry one mark.
comprises the objective type of questions divided into Whereas, negative marking scheme for each wrong
four sections. The number of question in IIFT exam response will suffer 1/3 of the allotted marks.
may vary between 120 to 200 and should be com- Below candidates can find the detailed IIFT marking
pleted within two hours duration. Candidates have to scheme followed last year for better understanding:
pick the correct answer from the options mentioned
in the objective question type. IIFT Marking Scheme (Based on
last year IIFT exam)
Candidates can find the necessary details of the IIFT Section No. of Marking
exam pattern below: Questions Scheme
Data Interpretation (DI) 22 0.75
IIFT Exam Pattern Quantitative Ability (QA) 20 1
Sections Details
Logical Reasoning (LR) 20 1
Section I English Comprehension
Reading Comprehension (RC) 16 1
Section II General Knowledge &
Verbal Ability (VA) 20 0.75
Awareness
General awareness (GA) 25 0.5
Section III Logical Reasoning and Data
Interpretation
As per previous years trend, the IIFT entrance exam
Section IV Quantitative Analysis contained 123 objective type questions. The difficulty
level of the entrance exam was moderate to tough.
IIFT Marking Scheme: The marking scheme for Candidates who will be taking the entrance exam
IIFT entrance exam is different for each section. For should know that the number of questions in the
instance, in the Data Interpretation section, a correct exam is not definitive and can less or more than the
answer will be awarded 0.75 marks, while a correct previous year.

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT SAMPLE PAPER

IIFT Sample Papers are an important tool of your ●● Aspirants must login through their Careers360 cre-
preparations. With the sample papers, your prepara- dentials
tion would be much easier as you would know what ●● They can also login through their Google or Face-
type of questions to expect and where to book accounts
prepare from. ●● Candidates can visit Sample Paper Store
●● Aspirants can click here to download IIFT Sample
The IIFT Sample Papers or the previous years’ ques- Paper
tion papers are provided by the coaching institutes
which give the complete impression of the actual After downloading the IIFT Sample Paper, candidates
IIFT exam pattern. Through these sample papers, have to solve it in a proctored environment to get the
you will be able to know the type of questions, top- estimate of the expected score, time management
ics and subjects to expect in each of the sections of skills and plan the exam day strategy. Aspirants’
the paper. preparation strategy also depends on the perfor-
mance of IIFT sample paper. Along with practicing the
How to Download IIFT Sample IIFT Sample Paper, aspirants must get them analysed
Paper by experts or mentors.
●● Candidates can visit www.bschool.careers360.com
●● They must register themselves, if not registered
already

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT RESULT
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will announce the result of IIFT 2018 MBA
(IB) in the fourth week of December 2017. The institute will declare the IIFT
results in the form of score card which will have the sectional and overall marks
scored in IIFT. On the basis of the IIFT result, candidates will be selected for the
next round of selection procedure. In the next selection round, candidates can
expect Group Discussion, Writing Skill Assessment and Personal Interview. After
the selection is complete, candidates will be selected on the basis of the marks
scored in these rounds and then granted admission to the IIFT Delhi, Kolkata and
Kakinada. Candidates who take the test can check here for all the details regard-
ing the IIFT result, merit list and information regarding the next selection round.

How to download IIFT Result

●● Those who appeared for the entrance exam can check their IIFT result from
the link shared below
●● The IIFT result for MBA (IB) will be available in the PDF format
●● To begin with, candidates have to enter their seven digit Roll Number along
with Date of Birth (DOB)
●● The format of DOB should be – DD/MM/YYYY
●● After entering the above details, candidates have to click on the ‘Submit’ button
●● Post which candidates can download or take a print out of the same for future
reference

What after IIFT Result?

After the result of IIFT are declared, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade will release
the merit list based on the marks scored by each candidate. After which the
conducting body releases the list of shortlisted candidates for the next selection
round. And once again after the second selection procedure, a final IIFT result
is declared which mentions the name of candidates who have been granted
admission to any of the three campuses: Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada.

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IIFT CUTOFF
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will release the Previous Year IIFT Cutoff
cutoff of IIFT after declaring the result. The IIFT result In the table given below, candidates can check previ-
is likely to be declared in the fourth week of Decem- ous year cut off of IIFT:
ber 2017. While the entrance exam is scheduled to be
held on December 3, 2017. IIFT cutoff is the minimum Overall IIFT Cutoff
marks a test taker has to score in order to clear the Category Cutoff marks Max. Marks
management exam. IIFT will declare the IIFT cutoff
General 48.5 100
for all categories including General, OBC, ST/SC and
OBC (NCL) 43.5 100
Physically handicapped. Only those candidates will
be invited for the next selection procedure who meet SC 38.5 100
the IIFT cutoff set by the institute. The next selection ST 27.17 100
round may contain Group Discussion, Personal Inter- PH 28.85 100
view and Essay Writing.
Sectional IIFT Cutoff
Factors determining the IIFT Cutoff Section Cutoff marks Max. Marks
The cutoff of IIFT that will be declared by the institute
EC 9.67 31
is dependent on certain factors mentioned below:
QA 4.01 20
●● Number of candidates’ appearing for IIFT

●● Number of candidates’ who clear the management

LR & DI 8 36.5
entrance exam GK 1.99 12.5
●● Difficulty level of the question paper

●● Number of seats available in the university

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection procedure of IIFT are held for those The IIFT selection procedure comprises various round
candidates who have cleared the exam and have which shortlisted candidates have to go through in
scored as per the cut off of the exam. The IIFT selec- order to obtain admission into IIFT.
tion procedure is conducted by the Indian Institute
of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada Below are the stages of the IIFT
campuses. The selection procedure of IIFT will com- selection procedure:
mence on January/ February 2018 after candidates Written Test- To begin with, the selection procedure
appear for the IIFT entrance exam and the results of IIFT candidates are first called for a written test as
are declared. After the IIFT results are declared, decided by the Institute.
the institute will shortlist the candidates based on Essay Writing- While in this stage, candidates may
the marks scored by each as per the cutoff. The be asked to write an essay or answer the compre-
shortlisted candidates will then be further called for hension as per candidate’s understanding capability.
the next selection round. IIFT selection procedure is This round is conducted in order to assess the writing
conducted for aspirants who want to pursue MBA in ability of the candidate. Post the stage, candidates
International Business at the IIFT Delhi, Kolkata and will then be asked to appear for the GD & PI round.
Kakinada campuses. Group Discussion (GD) & Personal Interview (PI)-
Candidates who will be shortlisted after the results
Stages of IIFT Selection Procedure are declared have to appear for a GD & PI. In this
The selection procedure is conducted after candi- round, candidates’ verbal communication skills will
dates take IIFT and the first result is announced. be assessed. The GD & PI rounds as per previous
Candidates have to meet the IIFT cutoff set by the years trend are likely to be held in January/ February
institute to be eligible for the IIFT selection procedure. 2018.

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 ALL ABOUT IIFT

IIFT EXPERT ANALYSIS

IIFT conducted on November 27 was an easy paper to S. Section Num- Marks Total
solve, albeit the time consuming questions. Although No. ber of per marks
the candidates had prepared to face a tough paper, Ques- ques-
tions tion
they were surprised with the lower difficulty level of
the paper. Not just the difficulty level, the test takers 1 Quantitative 20 1.00 20
were surprised with the question types as well. For Ability
example, the vocabulary questions appeared to be 2 Data 20 1.00 20
tougher than the RC passages, which was not antici- Interpretation
pated by the aspirants. In comparison to Data Inter- 3 Logical 22 0.75 16.5
pretation, Logical Reasoning questions were trickier. Reasoning
As the experts from Career Launcher put it, “This 4 Reading 16 1.00 16
time IIFT didn’t shy away from throwing up surprises. Comprehension
Starting with convoluted LR sets and EU questions, 5 Verbal Ability 20 0.75 15
doable DI sets and RCs and even providing students
6 General 25 0.50 12.5
with a cross words puzzle in the middle of the exam.
Awareness
Strategy, as always, was the key.”
Overall 123 100

While you have already read about the test taker’s

reactions and the overall analysis, let us take a Now let us have a look at the section wise analysis in
detailed look at what the experts from the leading detail. The experts have not only discussed the dif-
coaching institutes have to say about the test which ficulty level and topics but also drawn a comparison
is taken by around 50,000 candidates. in terms of previous years’ papers.

According to the expert analysis by VistaMind, IIFT QUANTITATIVE ABILITY: LESSER

was very similar to the previous year papers. How- WEIGHTAGE TO ARITHMETIC,
ever, though on first look it may appear easier than MORE ON ALGEBRA AND
the last year’s paper, on careful analysis, it looks as if MODERN MATHS
the paper is wee bit difficult than the paper of 2015. According to T.I.M.E. expert analysis of IIFT, the
Quantitative Ability section was similar to that of
Before going into the in-depth analysis done by the last year. This year, there were more questions from
experts, let us take a look at the IIFT exam pattern Algebra, Modern maths and pure maths as compared
and marking scheme along with the expected sec- to Arithmetic. Although the overall difficulty level
tional cutoff and ideal time spent as shared by Career was easy, few questions from Time-Speed-Distance
Launcher. and Probability were tough. Career Launcher expert

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states, “A couple of questions from P&C and Prob- but the remaining three sets had simple calculations
ability were slightly difficult and the language of the and were straight forward ones. Analysing individual
right circular cylinder questions was slightly mislead- questions of the DI area, VistaMind states, “The set
ing.” As per the sectional analysis presented by Vista- on revenue and expenses is the easiest one. The Set
Mind, there were some sitter questions in the section. on Foreign Investment (FI) and Domestic Investment
(DI) also was easily doable. Incidentally, even the one
DATA INTERPRETATION & on T-Shirt Manufacturing across 5 stores was also
LOGICAL REASONING: EASY DI direct and easy. The only set, which had some calcu-
AND TRICKY LR QUESTIONS lations, though easy ones, was the table on Students
There were 22 questions from Logical Reasoning in Five Kingdoms and their Pass Percentages across
area which could be termed as easy to moderate dif- five years.”
ficulty level. Regarding a particular question on LR,
the analysis by T.I.M.E. mentions, “One of the missing VERBAL ABILITY & READING
letters question was a bit confusing. Those who did COMPREHENSION: VOCABULARY
not spend much time on this question (the question TOOK THE CAKE
which had a table filled with ABCD, abcd and 1234 in Unlike previous years, the Reading Comprehension
three rows) would have done themselves a favour.” passages were much shorter and concise. The ques-
There were two questions from Verbal Reasoning tions were direct and easy to comprehend. There
and rest of the 20 questions were from Non-Verbal were four passages which were on familiar subjects
Reasoning. with four questions from each passage. The sectional
difficulty level was also higher compared to past IIFT
Talking about particular questions and their nature, entrance exams.
Career Launcher mentions, “The Star figure ques-
tion tested you on length/area and clockwise/anti- The Verbal Ability or English Usage section posed
clockwise logic. The tribes question was doable but challenge to the test takers with introduction of
would have taken a little time. The hexagon seating new question types like Crossword and Etymology.
arrangement set and the Doctors set would be time “Nearly all the questions were vocabulary based,
consuming. The first question in the Logistic/Finance/ apart from 2 jumbled sentence questions (also a new
Administration question was incorrect since Finance question type for IIFT, but easy to do). The Fill in the
was a clear-cut answer (Finance or Logistics was the Blanks questions required you to know certain idio-
next best). The singlets were doable and students matic/colloquial expressions that not everyone would
should have attempted them first.” have been familiar with. Apart from the difficulty of
the words themselves, several of the questions were
The Data Interpretation part had four sets - two were time consuming, as they involved consulting long
based on ‘Tables’ and the remaining two were on ‘Bar lists and tables of words,” mentions the analysis by
Graph’. Out of the four sets, one was relatively more IMS Learning.
calculation intensive (the one based on Garments),

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GENERAL AWARENESS: GOOD MIX OF STATIC GK

AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

According to experts, the difficulty level of the section is moderate to tough. The
section had a good mix of current affairs and static GK questions. The Career
Launcher expert shares, “Questions were from static Business & Economy and
current affairs as well as miscellaneous GK. There were questions from history,
geography, polity, science, books, and sports. As many as 10 - 12 questions
were from CL’s mock & compendium as well as Gyandhara.”

IMS Learning adds, “Out of these 25 questions, 14 were on world affairs and
only 11 on national events. This section was a little tougher than the GA sec-
tion last year. There were a few ‘Match the Column’ questions which were easy
because identifying only one correct pair would have given you the answer.
However, some current event questions were quite difficult. The themes of the
questions were mostly on business, personalities, headquarters and sports, with
a couple from science and technology.”

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IIFT TOPPER INTERVIEW

Aditya Siwach, who was working in a government sector, followed a systematic

preparation plan which took minimal time, yet reaped optimum result. Owing
to his work, he could not stick to a regular study plan. All he did was to attend
weekend classroom programme of a coaching institute which he joined five
months before the test and read newspapers to stay updated with current affairs
which eventually took care of the GK section.
In this interview with Careers360, Aditya Siwach, who secured 99.81 percen-
tile in IIFT exam, shares how his strategy to first clear sectional cut off, which
are not very high in IIFT exam and later focussing on maximising overall score
helped him crack the test. He also shares his plan to manage weak areas during
preparation as well as on the exam day.

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Read the full interview below.

Careers360: Why did you plan to pursue MBA in cut-off. I then shifted to the other sections. In the end, I came
International Business from IIFT? back to the start of paper and then tried to maximise my over-
Aditya: I was working in the government sector which is all score by scoring most in QA and RC-VA.
considered a secure job especially as the economic recession
hit a few years back. But I had a gut feeling that probably the Careers360: How did you prepare for the post exam
worst of the economic recession is over. New opportunities selection rounds of IIFT?
are opening up and even the policies of the present-day gov- Aditya: I attended the GD-PI classes of my coaching insti-
ernment are encouraging the private sector to take the lead. I tute. I met with the faculty there and got feedbacks regarding
chose to tap the opportunity and IIFT was an obvious choice my CV form. It helped me in preparing answers for HR ques-
because of the focus of the curriculum on International Busi- tions of the interview. The mock GD and mock PI sessions
ness. It would equip me to face the challenges that as a future also helped.
manager I may face in a globalised world.
Careers360: What do you think are the key factors
Careers360: When did you start preparing for IIFT that influenced your selection at the GD-PI stage?
and what was your overall strategy? Aditya: I prepared quite a lot through reading newspapers
Aditya: I started preparing in June for the exam scheduled and mock sessions for GD-PI. It instilled confidence in me
in November. I joined a weekend batch of Career Launcher and a positive energy to tackle the GD-PI challenge.
as I was out of touch with the pattern of entrance exams. Also,
I got all the study material in one place and did not have to Careers360: What was your essay topic and how did
waste time in sifting books. My strategy was to attend all the you structure it?
classes without fail. I had a habit of reading the newspaper Aditya: My essay topic was on financial inclusion in India. I
regularly so it took care of the GK part of the entrance exam. started with the definition of the term and its implication for
the masses of India. Then, I wrote about the steps taken by
Careers360: Tell us about your strong and weak areas in the government in this regard. I ended the essay on a positive
IIFT entrance test? How did you tackle your weak areas? note with some suggestions that could further deepen the
Aditya: RC was always my strong area. I scored full marks financial inclusion in the country.
in the exam. My weakest area was Data Interpretation (DI).
I went through the DI questions once but if I could not make Careers360: What would you like to advise the IIFT
sense out of them, I tried maximising my score through the aspirants?
LR questions and other sections like QA. Aditya: Time management is the key. Focus on clearing
sectional cut-offs first and then try to maximise the overall
Careers360: What was your time management strat- score. Read at least one newspaper regularly. It will help not
egy for IIFT in terms of preparations and test? only in the GA section but till your GD-PI round. Lastly, do
Aditya: I knew that the sectional cut-offs are usually very not get bogged down by low percentiles in mock tests. Focus
low in this exam. So, I attempted only that many questions in on the IIFT exam and finish your quota of failing well before
my first attempt that could easily help me clear the sectional 26 Nov, 2016.

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IIFT TOPPER INTERVIEW

For Mohit Sharma, who cracked IIFT entrance exam with a high percentile of
99.98, the section of General Knowledge can help you get some extra marks
if prepared properly. According to him, most of the candidates ignore the GK
section but it can be critical in getting a good score in the IIFT Exam.An Electron-
ics and Communication engineer, Mohit’s strength lied in Verbal Ability and he
started the exam with this section. Since IIFT gives you the advantage to attempt
the paper according to your convenience, he suggests you to start with your
strong areas and gradually move towards the weaker sections. He also stresses
on attempting the paper in a balanced way to clear sectional cutoffs of IIFT with
maximum questions in the strength area.

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Read full interview below:

Careers360: Since when did you start preparing for I was pretty confident of my verbal skills, hence I just revised
IIFT? What was the strategy you followed? the Barron’s word list and made it a habit to solve multi-
Mohit: I started my preparation in earnest from July. I ple reading comprehensions and also brushed up basics of
first analysed the exam notification and started working on Grammar.
my strategies. I found out my weak and strong sections and For General Knowledge, I struck to reading newspapers like
focused first on the weaker parts. I also made time table for Hindu and Mint and they didn’t disappoint me in the exam.
when to start giving the mocks.
In exam, I first pounced on the Verbal section, followed by
Careers360: From last two years, CAT has been in General Knowledge, LR & DI and lastly Quants.
news for its changes in the test pattern, whereasIIFT
pattern has remained on the similar lines. Do you think Careers360: What were your strong and weak areas?
IIFT should also bring some changes in its pattern in How did you tackle your weak area in the test?
terms of sections, mode of conduct, use of calculator, Mohit: I was strong in Verbal and General Knowledge sec-
along with defining definitive set of questions and tion but lagged behind in Quants. To remedy the situation,
marks? I devoted majority of time during the early phases of my
preparation to brushing up my Quants basics and deciding
Mohit: I believe IIFT is one of the best conducted com- on which topic to focus and which topics to leave altogether. I
petitive examinations in India. According to me, aptitude picked up high scoring and formulae based topics like Geom-
tests are best conducted in paper-pen format. Most of the etry, Probability, etc.
questions which appear in IIFT test are conceptual in nature
and not very calculation intensive. IIFT exam also gives the Careers360: After the exam, how did you prepare for
aspirant the freedom to choose the section of test which he the selection rounds?
wants to solve first and in the process, make and implement Mohit: After the examination, I was very confident of my
their strategies. chances of getting through. So, I almost immediately started
preparing for the next selection rounds. I read newspapers
Careers360: What was your time management strategy like Hindu and Mint religiously because having good grasp of
for IIFT; both during preparations and during the test? current affairs will give you an upper hand over other aspir-
Mohit: Since, I was weak in Quants, I dedicated most of my ants. I also read a few good books to provide a solid base for
time to brush up the basics of quants and also solve multitude my mentioned hobby, which is reading.
of problems. I chose the topics cautiously and solved every
related problem so that I was sure that I will be able to solve Careers360: What are the key factors, you think, that
most of the questions pertaining to that topic. As far as LR & influenced your selection at the GD-PI stage?
DI goes, practice is the key. I made it a habit to solve at least Mohit: According to me, you should have confidence on
five caselets every day of different type so that I felt com- your ability to shine at critical moments. In the essay round,
fortable with the topic. The key here is to solve problems of I refrained from using flowery language and stayed on the
almost every kind imaginable so that you don’t have to waste point. Group Discussions in IIFT are one of the longest you
much time during exam to analyse the data. will ever face. Everybody gets enough time to elucidate his or

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her point. Knowing the subject matter is most important in such cases.
My interview was mostly cantered on my hobby which is reading and I was able to comfort-
ably answer most of the questions they asked.

Careers360: What was your essay topic and how did you structure your write up?
Mohit: My essay topic was ‘Public-Private partnerships: a boon or bane’. I first introduced
the subject and mentioned some of the latest happenings in the field that might have trig-
gered this topic. I then went on to enunciate the benefits of PPP by giving examples. I also
mentioned some of the projects that were not able to achieve the desired results and con-
cluded by mentioning how PPP were the way to go and though there are still some creases,
it will not be beneficial to term PPP as a bane.
The important thing will writing the essay is to make sure that your sentences are coherent
and your change of paragraphs are smooth and flawless.

Careers360: What made you pursue MBA in International Business from IIFT?
Mohit: As it is widely said, “No business is domestic; all businesses are international.”
No business in today’s world is a domestic business. Every business has global ambitions
and even the businesses not going global face competition from multinational companies.
The curriculum for International Business is very closely linked to the industry expecta-
tions and thus holds you in good stride for future.

Careers360: What is your message for this year’s IIFT aspirants?

Mohit: I would suggest the aspirants to focus on their strengths and try to maximize their
marks in these areas. But, this should not mean that they ignore any section altogether for
the fear of losing out on sectional cutoffs. It is also mostly noticed that aspirants totally
ignore the general knowledge part. The general knowledge section can be critical for getting
you some extra marks and that too without taking much time.

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