My experience for Tata Institute of Social Sciences - M.A. HRM and LR Program

Always being interested in HR, TISS is the Mecca for HR in India. With all the wishes that I have behind me, I have been able to score well. I believe my experience might be able to help a few people, hence I share it here. I would love to hear from you, if this helps you in any way for your TISS preparation. Do write to me at marwahpalak1@gmail.com

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TISS NET –

The pattern of the examination changed one week before the exam and was communicated in an orientation program conducted in TISS, Mumbai, held for category students. The official notification of the change in pattern was communicated over the website 3 days prior to the exam. The earlier pattern had 30/100 questions based on GK, while the new pattern had 40/100 questions based on GK. GK being my weakest section out of Quants, Verbal Ability and GK, this was a difficult change.

The preparation – As I was preparing for CAT, TISS Quants and Verbal Ability was taken care of by this preparation. Ideally for Quants and Verbal Ability – Arun Sharma books’ Level of Difficulty 1 was sufficient, Level of Difficulty 2 would be a safe practice if you have sufficient time, this would make sure you score as high as possible in the final exam. For Logical Reasoning questions like patterns etc, you can also try RS Aggarwal. I tried only a few exercises from it because of its huge size, and paucity of time.

GK – I was in the space where I could not name even the Vice President of India before the preparation, which is my sheer ignorance towards GK, as I have never been into quizzing since school. I started my TISSNET GK preparation only after XAT which was on 3^rd January 2016, one week before TISSNET (9^th January 2016). In the beginning the size of GK syllabus can be scary but if you keep going it works out, surely. After one week of 16 hours a day GK study, I could recite all PMs, Presidents, RBI governors, important battles, state wise folk dances and other things in one breath.

Material for GK –

1) I majorly referred Manorama yearbook (yeah finished the whole book in 6 days, still cant believe it). By mistake I had ordered Manorama 2014 instead of 2015, but static GK remains the same. Quite a few facts in Manorama are incorrect so you should keep checking it online or from other books.

2) Lucent for Static GK – Whichever topics were not there in Manorama or were incorrect, I referred those topics from Lucent.

3) The website – gktoday – they have monthly current affairs’ boosters, that is indeed helpful. You can also subscribe to their Whatsapp messages on GK

4) The website linked below– which has small MCQ sets on Quants, English, reasoning and GK – This was good for revision as I was only studying GK 1 week prior to the exam.

5) Bulls eye, CareerAnna and my coaching in Nagpur - HR Mentors have GK PDFs. I did not subscribe to any course for TISS, but some of my friends did, and shared their PDFs with me, which I will share on Dropbox and post the link below.

6) The whatsapp and facebook group were really helpful for GK. Most applicants from other MA fields are very well versed with GK and are kind enough to share their notes or conduct quiz sessions. These sessions are like a revision booster.

As ignorant as I was about GK, it is slightly difficult to cover everything in 1 week. Somehow the luck was in my favor and things worked out. If you are really serious about TISS, GK is the toughest and most vast section that you should prepare for as long as you can. Maths and English are really basic Class 10 questions.

  

TISSNET Exam day –

There were serious management issues with the exam. My exam started 2 hours later than scheduled time due to server error. After the exam started there were no classification of sections. The questions were listed one after the other, 1 to 100. This made it a little difficult to prioritize which section you want to solve first. Even though all Maths or all English questions are listed in one order, say 1 to 30 all Maths questions, there were still issues with the questions. Especially for DI, the graph or pie chart was listed, then 2 questions based on it were listed and after 4 or 5 questions the 3^rd question on the same set was listed. As it is a 100 minute exam with 100 questions, each second counts. So it is important to stay alert and focused. Some of my friends said their test ended 5 minutes early automatically. So it is important you take a few mocks for the speed. Giving NMAT for non-negative, speed based exam is a good choice that is what I did. I will list the mocks’ links below.

GK and even other sections can be easier with some presence of mind. For example one GK question had a long statement based on economics, which was taken from a book and the question was which Nobel laureate said this. The options had all Indians. Among the options only Amartya Sen was a Nobel laureate in economics.

Interview preparation – After the shortlist, you are supposed to fill a DAF – Detailed Application Form, which lists your extra-curricular activities, reason for interest in HR and previous work experience in HR. I regularly read the website – peoplesmatters (they also have a FB page), for HR related current affairs.

Interview day –

You are supposed to report in the morning, the students of TISS HRM LR program give a brief presentation about the program which clears your doubts about it. The interview is very meticulously managed. The volunteers are really helpful and help you cool down in case you are nervous.

You are supposed to write a small essay on one out of 2 given topics in around 15 minutes. The topics for me were –

    1)    Justice delayed is justice denied

    2)    Aadhar card and how to implement it effectively (not the exact same words though)

I chose the first one because it was the topic of one of the debate competitions I had participated in, during school, and hence I had statistics and quotes on it.

After the written test, you need to participate in a GD. The group of around 15 people, is given 1 minute to mutually decide which topic they want the GD on. Luckily 8 to 9 people from my group wanted the 1^st topic, so we went for the 1^st one. We were given 20-25 minutes for the discussion.

Specific pointers for TISS GD –

    1)    Make sure you talk about the social and political impacts of the topic.

    2)    Make sure you give enough time to everyone to speak. One of the candidates in our GD did not speak a single word till only 5 minutes were left. The moderators then asked her if she had any opinions to contribute. As she had not spoken at all, we all let her speak for over 3 minutes continuously, due to which we could not formally conclude. Thankfully all of us were almost on a similar conclusion

    3)    TISS jury loves new points or examples from current affairs. One of the candidates talked about the Paris attacks and how quick justice was delivered, the jury liked it visibly.

    4)    In the GD and interview, do not make very strong opinions, especially if it is a social issue. You can humbly state your stand and give reasons for choosing the side that you have. Example over the JNU issue, do not stubbornly say that JNU students were right or wrong. But you can take a side and cite reasons for your choice.

The interview –

Dr. Zubin Mulla (apologies if I am spelling his name incorrectly) is quite a famous faculty of TISS MA HRM and LR Program. Many forums said that his interviews focus very specifically on “WHY HR?” and if you convince him with your reasons, you are through. I had Dr. Mulla in my panel.

There were 3 people in my panel. Dr. Mulla (P1), one sir (P2) and one mam (P3).

The mam was mostly observing and listening to my answers, she just asked one question at the last.

P1 – So introduce yourself

PM - My name is Palak, which literally means eyelashes but its contextually used in terms of swiftness or agility.I have epitomized my name by being a part of various activities in both school and at college. Currently I am in my final year of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at NIT Nagpur. My interest in management stems from my diverse interactions. I was selected by Japan govt and MHRD India for JENESYS – An international youth exchange program to visit japan for 10 days. I have also represented India at HPAIR – A conference at Harvard University.

P1 – Okay. So if I want to make the best bell, what material should I use?

PM – Sir maybe Aluminium because it has better formability and low cost

P1 – You didn’t get my question. Best bell means that gives me the best sound. I do not care about the cost.

PM – tried with a few materials, he wasn’t satisfied

P1 – Do you not have a particular test for optimizing this property?

PM – Sir I can think about optimizing a set of properties but not sound singularly

(bad start, I know)

P1 – Okay, nevermind. So why HR?

PM – gave my reason

P1 – Do you read books on HR?

PM – Yes sir

P1 – which was the last book that you read? Brief me up about it.

PM – Sir, I am currently reading this book called “The Engagement Formula” by Ross Reck. It talks about how to maximize employee engagement, reduce attrition and improve employee satisfaction. It is based on case studies like the Southwest Airlines, which have been in the aviation industry that is an economically instable industry, yet this airlines has never faced a loss since its induction. They have this really interesting policy – they have never suspended a single employee, its their strict no lay off policy.

P1 – Is that the only reason behind their success?

PM – no sir, there are various others. All the employees contribute equally to the job. All the employees have a clear idea of the vision which is customer satisfaction.

P2 – So how would you use this in say Air India?

PM – Sir as this is based on a scenario in the US, it cannot be applied verbatim.

P2 – Then why did you read the book if it cant be applied in India?

PM – No sir, the book is explicitly for Indian readers, but what I mean is it cannot be applied as it is. It needs to be modified. For example, in Southwest, if there is a quick turnaround of the flight that is scheduled, even the pilots help in taking out the thrash. The ex-CEO was very commonly seen distributing doughnuts during midnight working hours especially on days like New Year’s Eve or Christmas. This kind of equality in job can be the first step to implement in Indian companies. Similar is the case of W.L.Gore and Associates, where no matter what your position is, you are named as an Associate only.

P2 – Okay, what if you want to apply this to say a fire station? That would be dangerous right?

(P1 asks me to pass the journal that I was carrying – It had the research paper that I had published in HR, and was bookmarked)

P1 – Let me see why are you carrying this?

PM- Sir do you want me to open the page

P1 – No, no, I will have a look.

PM –sorry sir, I was saying, no, rather this would work wonderfully for a fire station as all of them would be aware that extinguishing the fire is the prime motive

P2 – Then you want all of them to hold hoses and stand? Who will lead?

PM – Sir, as all of them would be aware of the motive, even if a few firemen are unavailable, the others would happily take their place. Also anyone who is available can lead and others will follow because they know some day they might have to lead. So it would be good team work.

P2 – Okay what did you do in this HR Internship at NItika that you have mentioned?

PM – Answered

P2 – What are the qualities of a good HR person and how do you fit in?

PM – Sir a good HR manager should be able to vary his response depending on the situation. Sometimes, a situation requires urgent action while others need a thought over and introspective action. He should be able to use the diversity of his team to his advantage.

P2 – That is an obvious quality for HR managers. How do you fit in? (was trying to grill maybe)

PM -  Sir, I have been able to work with people from different nationalities in Japan and Harvard, and have been able to change my working pattern depending on the situation.

P1 – But you were not responsible for their performance right?

PM – Sir, at the end of the 10 day program in Japan, I was voted by my delegation to present a report of their learning,  on behalf of the team, at the Indian embassy in Tokyo. My report was translated into Japanese and assimilated in official records.

P1 – So you are a fresher. Why do you not want to try a core field, or even other fields of management like marketing, finance etc? Why restrict to HR directly after college?

PM – Sir, actually I have pursued an internship in core at BARC (which is just next to TISS, Mumbai so I used the abbreviation), an internship in marketing at IIM – Ahmedabad and an internship in HR. I enjoyed the HR internship the most, and that is what really interests me.

P1 – Smiles and says – do you not sleep at night? When do you find the time to do all this? Japan, Harvard, all these interns and research paper?

PM – Sir Japan was after Class 10, so that was before college. BARC and the HR internship was during 2 month ling summer break after 2^nd and 3^rd year, and for Harvard my HoD was kind enough to grant me a week long leave from college. J

P1 – Hahaha alright. Do any one of you want to ask her anything? (looks at P2 and P3)

P3 – yes. You spoke about the airlines case study. So can you tell me what impact these changes in aviation industry have?

PM – Mam, they impact various spheres. First direct impact is on the economy, as is the recent case of Kingfisher airlines

P3 – No, no I do not want a specific impact, tell me about the social impact

PM – Mam there are 2 major impacts. First, due to privatisation, air travel has now become accessible even to middle class Indians. Earlier air travel was perceived as an upper class luxury. Apart from that it has opened up jobs, for example my house-maid’s daughter is working with Air India, which is a great jump for her family.

P3 kept on nodding and smiling.

P1 – Okay Palak, that’s all ! Thank you.

I was smiling about the last “Don’t you sleep” comment for long after I walked out J

My profile – I have been interested in HR since my 2^nd year of BTech, hence my profile was aligned with it. I have published a research paper in Organizational Behavior and pursued an internship in HR.

Details of my profile can be found on –

    1)    www.marwahpalak.wix.com/palakmarwah

    2)    LinkedIn profile - https://in.linkedin.com/in/palakmarwah

    3)    You can reach me on marwahpalak1@gmail.com for any queries J

Overall score – 82/100 (TISSNET)

                             41/50 (PIT) the written test and GD – 30% weightage

                             65/75 (PI) – 30% weightage

The first column is score, the second is percentile of XAT GK 2016.

Total score – 83.40 Even though the institute does not explicitly mention that the converts’ list is in order of merit, my name is the first on the list J

Scoring around 80-85 in TISSNET is a safe bet. This would give you an edge in the final selection as TISSNET has 40% weightage at the end. 

Some links you might want to see from courses I create - 
1) Courses on Unacademy - https://unacademy.com/user/marwahpalak1
2) Courses on CareerAnna - http://www.careeranna.com/online/members/palak-marwah/


Important links to refer –

    1)    gktoday - http://www.gktoday.in/ - for monthly current affairs’ capsule

    2)    www.indiabix.com – my favorite for revision of all sections

    3)    www.peoplematters.in – HR Current affairs

    4)    Free mocks on testfunda, bullseye and a few other websites.

    5)    TIME paid account has mocks

    6)    Mocks from official TISS website

    7) Dropbox link for all material I used-https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qvu0fzdc4iol49l/AACoC9bHTdsFplFVi1iuOBCGa?dl=0

A little personal note – In XAT GK, a week before TISS, my percentile is 28.149 percentile and in TISS GK at least 30/40 questions were correct.

My teachers had been telling me all along that I have a fair chance to be shortlisted for S.P. Jain profile based interview call and I had begun to believe it. Exactly one day before TISS, the S.P.Jain shortlist came out and I was rejected. The same day CAT results came out and it wasn’t as good as I had expected. Rather I believed I would not get any calls at all. All this 24 hours before TISSNET.

They say the night is darkest before dawn, I guess as difficult as it might seem to believe it, this is true. I had truly lost hope and thought I will have to take a drop year, something I never wanted to do. But turns out there were better plans for me. I will be joining IIM Bangalore for PGP 2016-18 this June J

I would specifically like to thank ARKS Srinivas Sir and VistaMind. He has been the force behind all my converts. Archit Chandak was the guy who gave me a great pep talk a night before TISSNET because I had lost all hope due to SPJain and CAT. Also the friends that I made over TISS prep who have helped me a lot with GK Aratrika, Maanushi, Dr. Avhad, Shiladitya, Pratik, Akshaya and so many others J

Thank you! J