23 February 2014

CEED cum M.Des interview tips


Unfortunately; I have little knowledge about interview pattern (because I never faced design interviews anytime before), but the following topics/tips might help you face the interview; especially meant for M.Des. These are some tips that I gave as reply to comments by Nainika and Vaibhavi in Preferred Institutions for M.Des post as well as a request from my friend Gunjan Sobhani. Thanks to them - for initiating and making me write this post.  Hope this will help you all; at least to an extent.

Interview Tips


Passion for Design


First of all you should be in a position to clearly communicate/explain your passion towards design. Yes, it's true that interview panel firstly check your interest for that stream or overall design. So, its advisable to make a detailed/clear list of the following :
  • Your interest rate 
  • Why you are opting design as career ?
  • Is that suited for you ? (by explaining your previous design works)
  • As a designer, What you can contribute ?
  • Any of your future plans
  • Why did you choose that specific design stream/institute
Make a detailed list of the above topics and write in a paper. Revise the same many times, preferably in front of a mirror; in order to boost your confidence as well as for firm speech.

Portfolio


Major part of the interview questions were expected from your own portfolio. So, it's better if you prepare well on "HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR PORTFOLIO" prepare a list of things to be covered in your explanation and revise the same many times. Anyway; your portfolio itself should explain everything about you and your talent ! Make the following check list -
  • Design/Concept to be explained - what is your concept ?, how it works ? and what is the need for that ?
  • Features of your concept - what all can your proposed design do ?
  • Uniqueness of your concept - Any separate identity ?
  • How it acts as an alternative to the present design (if any) - by comparing and bringing any difference with similar product
  • Preferred Materials and process employed (if possible to make it better)

Prepare your portfolio 
  • Self explainable
  • visible and clear
  • Design - eye catching layout and ease of accessibility 

Design Ability

  1. Next; they may check your design ability, so like you prepared for CEED, please do the same preparation (an overview) of the topics. I also expect some General awareness questions. I even heard that they will ask some simple aptitude questions
  2. They may give a design question (or) creative exercise (or) any story writing , so be prepared for it.
  3. You are also advised to get prepared for some hands-on exercises.

Communication


Nothing much to discuss about it. Everyone knows how important communication is during an interview. Let me tell you one thing - frankly, while I was in final year B.Tech, I got rejected twice during campus placements (in-spite of being one among the toppers of our university !), the reason is obvious, I was good at technical knowledge but poor at explaining the same in front of someone. Seems like, many people face the same issue. Well, communication doesn't mean speaking fluently but it mean how we express our thoughts/ideas. 

Your views/ideas should be easily understandable by the other speaker (interviewer in this case). The above exercise 'stand in front of a mirror and practice answering/explaining to self'' is an important tool for improving communication skills very quickly (for people like me) as well as to boost your confidence level. Make the habit of 'being friendly while at interview', feel like they are your friends or colleagues to erase your inner fear.

General behavior


Other than the above, please prepare just like you prepare for any other interviews (software and core company interviews) like explanation about yourself, your passions/interests, aims, strengths and so on.

Finally I would like you to make an overview of
  • Color patterns, know about famous designs and designers
  • Sketching (esp. making of strips, stick figures)
  • Short and quick story making as well as writing
  • A list of things to be explained
  • Practicing in front of a mirror (i'm repeating this again and again to make you aware of its importance)


These are just my views. Hope this helps at least a bit, that's why I shared here.


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21 comments:

  1. hey thankyou bhanu its really very helpfull...wil keep all these in my mind :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,

      Thanks for your comments. All the best with your interview.......:)

      Delete
    2. I am from mechanical engineering and in the interview they will ask about mechanical engineering?like technical questions or our portfolio related?

      Delete
    3. No stream specific technical questions are expected during CEED interviews. Basically prepare well on ur portfolio and get ready to answer questions on it, Apart from that they might ask u design related questions, including spot-analysis type, but mostly won’t ask from mech or any stream specific for that matter. That’s is what I had heard from previous students.

      Delete
  2. Friends,

    Here is some portfolio works of mdes students of IIT Kanpur. Felt like sharing with you for your reference

    IIT Kanpur students portfolio works

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How good is the institution for studying visual design?

      Delete
    2. Hi Mitali,

      IIT Kanpur tops among all other IIT's in terms of quality of study be it is technical education (like M.Tech) or design. There's no harm in choosing IIT Kanpur. I will tell you the fact on why people are preferring IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi these days. These institutes are situated in metropolitan cities and so students could be exposed to other extra activities inside as well as outside the campus. That's the reason why almost all the students are preferring the two, and so IIT Kanpur was dragged to the bottom of the list.

      But the fact is IIT Kanpur is best for quality education. If you can deal with VC studies, then please go for it without any hesitation.

      Good luck :)

      Delete
  3. Hello,
    I am trying to get into Mdes for product design and userinterface design.
    please throw some light.Should I go for it .Is it the best institute for my further study??
    and pls let me know about what the % placement there ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Anil,

      Good to hear that you are interested in M.Des, Yes Product Design is a good selection and you know User-interface design is an intelligent selection. Not all choose that stream and ofcourse it does have good future. The only thing is you need to have passion, be it be any design stream. According to me placement follows immediately after mdes especially if you complete mdes in iit's. I am not sure about %.
      You may go through the below links for more details

      Understand whether mdes is best for you or not

      Detailed description about mdes design streams

      For further info, refer this blog posts. Good luck with your selection !

      Delete
    2. One more thing, you may check individual institute website to get more information about placement prospective's.

      Delete
  4. hello,
    i m into 2d animation so should i try for mdes in animation? will it be suitable for me ? pls suggest

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you may definitely try for mdes in animation.

      Delete
  5. Hai,
    I'm Ajay. I' much interested in car designs. I would like to pursue Transportation design course. I'm preparing for NID exam this year. So, I just wanted a brief review according to your perspective regarding the career and opportunities after the course
    but please do give me a reply.
    Thanking you ,
    Yours Sincerely

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not having much idea regarding the career and placement opportunities especially for NID, but if you ask me I can say the institute DYPDC, Pune is good in terms of gaining subject knowledge related to car and transportation design and also career-wise, but the problem is it's costly hugely to get admission. Regarding NID, I think either passed out's or prospect student would help you better than me.

      Delete
  6. Hello Bhanu,

    I am Manan Maheshwari, a B.Tech graduate looking for a future in design. I am thinking of appearing for CEED NID this year and had a few questions,
    1) What is the competition like in NID CEED exams in the sense how many appear for the exam and how many are selected?
    2) Which is harder NID or CEED?
    3) Which other private colleges are there which are really good?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, how many appear for CEED/NID depends every year n it varies as well based on several factors. But for a seriously practicing person, competition shouldn't matter!
      Again, difficulty level of both depends on applicant. If you've design background like say from fine arts, NIFT etc, then for them CEED is harder, but for students like u having btech background n for those having avg to below avg sketching skills, I think NID is harder. But being btech graduate doesn't mean u r not fit for nid. Like i said, if ur art/sketch level is good, then surely it's a better choice! But I personally feel, ceed is better for btech guys unless they are hardcore artists/art-lovers.
      u can chk this link abt institutes - List of preferred institutes for MDes

      Delete
    2. I think nid focusses better towards communication design which apparently needs good drawing skills to communicate the idea compared to ceed which focused on industrial design which needs more of object drawing and product visualization . So depending on your aptitude and what you want to apply for you are going to find the difficulty in examination. While art/art lover is a whole different ballgame( fineart, sculpting ,printmaking)
      The problem arises when considering fields like film making and animation which are more of artforms( acting, aesthetics, story telling ) once mastering the techniques( drawing, kinematics).

      I personally believe it's *high time* they should separate the two examinations ( industrial and communication ) at least for masters to make exams more relevant just like exam and portfolio requirements while applying abroad in other design unis.

      Delete
    3. Agree with you. U hve put forward some very good points!

      Delete
  7. Greetings sir,

    I want to do m.des in automobile designing. So please help my out in creating an impressive portfolio.
    Points that i should keep in mind while developing my portfolio. If you want i can send some of my work onto your personal mail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://stuffyoulook.blogspot.in/2015/01/tips-on-how-to-make-design-portfolio.html

      Delete
  8. What should I prepare for the interview if I am Gate selected student

    ReplyDelete

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