Know How to Prepare for Group Discussion (GD) & Personal Interview (PI)
You should be updated about current affairs, international events, issues affecting India and the world, etc, so that you can put forward your opinion and views when asked. By Rahul Chauhan
Nowadays, there are so many management entrance exams for admission to MBA/PGDM courses in colleges and universities in India. Every year lakhs of students prepare for them and hope to crack admission in a reputed business school of their choice. After intense preparation of entrance from good coaching institutes and experts can get a good percentile. If you have been an outgoing person in school and college, taking part in extra-curricular activities, debate, extempore, theatre, dramatics, dance etc., your verbal communication skills would be good. But that alone is not enough to crack GD/PI. Check the GD and PI preparation tips below.
Group Discussion (GD)
You should be updated about current affairs, international events, issues affecting India and the world, etc., so you can express your opinion and views when asked.
You need to have patience and effective listening skills to respond effectively in a group discussion. Remember the interview panel consists of college management people sitting only to choose the best. So, even a slight mistake can cost you heavily.
But, you need not panic, as the best way to prepare for any situation is to face it head-on. Now, as an aspirant, you will not give only one entrance exam and rely on it for admission. Every student gives at least four to five exams like CAT, MAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT, and NMAT by GMAC.
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Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.It means you should receive more than two to three interview calls from colleges if you are confident about a good score in entrance exams. I will recommend students to refer to Manorama Yearbooks and read it to cover general knowledge and current affairs topics. Also, start reading The Hindu and The Indian Express editorials, which provides deep insight into everyday issues faced by Indian society and politics. You should watch debate shows on English News channels like Times Now and NDTV 24X7. This will give you an idea about how to respond effectively during a GD session. Even talk shows on current and social affairs could be a good resource to observe and learn.
Also Read:
Personal Interview (PI)
Now, let’s move ahead to the personal interview. Here are some points one must observe:
- Introduce yourself in a very brief and formal way.
- Limit introduction to entirely yourself. DO NOT speak about parents, siblings, or family unless the interviewer asks.
- Provide straight and simple answers to the questions asked by the interviewer.
- Answer in small sentences.
- To-the-point and precise answers are far better than beating around the bush.
- Don’t try to be aggressive or overconfident. And definitely, DO NOT try to impress the panel by using some cheesy mugged-up lines. It won't work.
- Dress formally
I wish all the best and good luck to all the students appearing. But, remember one more thing. Apart from preparing for entrance exams, you should also keep focus to maintain a good percentage in your graduation also above 60 per cent throughout.
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| Preparation Guide | |
|---|---|
| GD Preparation Guide | PI Preparation Guide |
About the Author
Rahul Chauhan is the founder of a popular professional career counselling, coaching for commerce subjects and professional courses like CA, CS, ICWA, etc.
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IIM WAT-GD-PI experiences
| Student Name |
IIM |
Interview |
|---|---|---|
| Kislay Jha |
IIM Bangalore |
|
| Somansh Chordia |
IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta |
|
| Devesh Bansal |
IIM Kozhikode |
|
| Ahsaas Sharma |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Chandan Singh |
IIM Lucknow |
|
| Isha Nisar |
IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore |
|
| Nitish Nair |
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta |
|
| KA Altaf |
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta |
|
| Lakshay Kumar |
IIM Calcutta |
|
| Sourav Mishra |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Vaibhav Jatin Shah |
||
| Parth Agarwal |
||
| Anshul Aggarwal |
IIM Kozhikode |
|
| Ankur Parmar |
IIM Kozhikode |
|
| Priyanjit Biswas |
||
| Ruchika Bhartiya |
||
| Parth Agarwal |
IIM Bangalore |
|
| Ankit Anand |
IIM Bangalore |
|
| Pratham Mani |
||
| Aditi Agarwal |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Gursimran Ahuja |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Biswanath Chakraborty |
||
| Nishant Shah |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Biswanath Chakraborty |
IIM Bangalore |
|
| Achintya Bhattacharya |
IIM Bangalore |
|
| Biswanath Chakraborty |
||
| Shubham Varshney |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Shubham Ranka |
IIM Calcutta |
|
| Dhiraj Bedi |
IIM Calcutta |
|
| Wasim Khan Pathan |
IIM Calcutta |
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