Preparation for B-Schools Group Discussion and Personal Interview

After the written exam of CAT, MAT etc. one of the most daunting question for MBA aspirants is the preparations for cracking the Group Discussion and Personal Interview rounds and it is one of the most anxiously searched topics on internet.

Group discussions form the primary stage of contact between the interviewers and interviewees. These interactions separate the cream group from others and get them a seat in their dream b-schools.  Interviewers develop an impression of you in the first few minutes of the meeting, and spend the rest of the interview confirming their initial impression. Therefore, practice on projecting a calm, confident demeanor is a necessity.

The smart step to be taken in this time frame is to choose a right place to equip yourself for the coming hurdle. If you are from Kolkata and have taken any MBA entrance examination like CAT, MAT, XAT, SNAP, IIFT, IBSAT, NMAT, etc. the right place for you is CareerSkills started by IIM alumni.

How to handle different MBA entrance Group Discussions?

One needs to understand different types of Group Discussions and how to handle them. A factual topic for discussion gives a candidate a chance to prove that he is aware of and sensitive to his environment. Controversial topics are the ones that are argumentative in nature. The idea behind giving a topic like this is to see how much maturity the candidate is displaying by keeping his temper in check, by rationally and logically arguing his point of view without getting personal and emotional. Abstract topics are about intangible things. These topics are not given often for discussion, but their possibility cannot be ruled out. These topics test your lateral thinking and creativity.

Case study based GD system is also very prevalent in Institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Indore. The case study tries to simulate a real-life situation. Information about the situation will be given to you and you would be asked as a group to resolve the situation. In the case study there are no incorrect answers or perfect solutions. The objective in the case study is to get you to think about the situation.

Gaining the competitive advantage

CareerSkills helps you gain advantage over competitors by offering perfect mix of teaching methodologies, skills, practice & feedback through eminent faculties who are IIM passouts so that you have the requisite tools to ace your GP & PI.

Handling MBA entrance Group Discussion

Evaluation Criteria and Preparation – Our eminent faculties help the students with the success ingredients that help them to evaluate their own skills and aslo work on their shorcomings.

Weapons to Conquer the GD war - Making a good impression while speaking in meetings or interviews is the basic skill every professional should have.

Complete Description of Attire and Appearance - The first judgment an interviewer makes is going to be based on how you look and what you are wearing. That’s why it’s always important to dress professionally for a job interview, so we also give an idea to the students about the Right way of dressing up for GD PI.

Discussion on GDs of past years –In order to give a very concrete understanding about the module it is very important to know and discuss the Gds appeared in the passed years which is enriched with the viewpoints of the current students from IIM associated with us.

Handling MBA entrance Personal Interviews

Our academic intelligentsia through their experience, expertise and research makes you fully confident to face the interviewer’s questions and your answers. Step by step structured approach of handling problems like nervousness and stammering in an interview, which is directly related to the candidate’s unfamiliarity with the questions and a general lack of preparation are taken care of.

Self Introduction – Self introduction i.e ‘the elevator speech’ is your key to interview success has to be prepared under very professional guidance.

Preparation for subject specific knowledge – This part can be difficult because you have to be able to demonstrate your domain knowledge in terms of soft skills such as communication and team work as well as your hard skills acquired by your education and experience.

Other Important Aspects – Most important skill to handle an interview is giving direction to an interview and understanding how to make a long lasting impact on interviewers. Non-verbal communication in an interview is much more important than the verbal communication and one needs to master this art.

You will also learn

• Resume Writing and responding to questions regarding it
• Public Speaking/Viva
• Image Reflection
• Situational Conversations
• Debates/Extempore

Each student will face minimum of 6 mock Group Discussions including role plays, group tasks, case study and minimum of 3 mock Personal Interviews per candidate. Few mock GD-PIs will be video recorded for feedback.

To know more about CareerSkill’s Group Discussion and Personal Interview classes you can email at info@careerskills.in or call 9903222555 or 9748222555. Visit our website – www.CareerSkills.in for more details

Tags: B-Schools Group Discussion and Personal Interview Preparation, Group Discussion and Personal Interview, Group Discussion and Personal Interview Preparation, Preparation for B-Schools Group Discussion and Personal Interview

Interview of Ravi Handa: Author of Biz World

Early this week I spent a fascinating hour with Ravi Handa – author, trainer, blogger, quiz master and above all an amazing person. I’d like to share that interview with you as an example of a person who is doing everything to help students struggling in competitive examinations. His latest endeavor is an amazing book named ‘Biz World’

About the book:

‘Biz World’ is everything you wanted to know about major Global and Indian companies like the history behind their names, the names of their founders and current heads, their taglines, etc. Students, appearing for competitive examinations that test Business Awareness, will find this collection of information extremely valuable.The book aims to satiate the hunger of a curious mind by providing a number of interesting questions and ‘fundas’ from varied sectors right from airlines and automobiles to magazine covers and scams.

About the author:

Ravi Handa has studied Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. After that he has been involved in guiding students to clear competitive examinations and conducting quizzes at various colleges like the IITs, BITS and XLRI.

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Tags: Interview of Ravi Handa, Ravi Handa's Interview

FireUp Group Discussion CD

We have been continuously receiving lot of queries about the Group Discussion CD module. So we decided to put the details of it here for everyone’s information.

After going through the post if you have any queries, you can write us at info@fireup.co.in

For any trade queries or bulk orders you can contact us on info@fireup.co.in

For individual orders, you can place your order directly on the website using our 100% safe payment gateway.  You can pay by Net Banking, Debit Cards and Credit Card, depositing Cheque or cash directly in our account.

Free Shipping – Shipping is free to any part of India. Typically it takes 3-4 days to get the CD after placing the order.

Number of CDs - Two (includes audio, video, pdf files, word docs, etc.)

Price – MRP of this CD module is Rs. 395

Discount – Currently we are providing 10% discount. So get it for Rs. 350 flat.

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Tags: discussion group hosting, effective GD, general topics for group discussion, group discussion exercises, group discussion for mba, group discussion preparation, mba GD topics, small group discussion questions

Ask a Question – Interesting

What question will you ask?

A person dies and is about to enter Hell but then God is so kind that gave him an option. There are 2 doors one leads to Hell and the other to heaven.

There are 2 guards sitting next each door and one of them always tells lie and the other always tells the truth.

God gave the option to man to ask only one question and decide which is the Heavens door and if he can get in he will remain in Heaven for ever.

So now the question is what did the person asked to the guards ?

or, What if this question is posed to you in an interview? What will be your response?

Post your answer. Check out other’s views.

How to Prepare for Personal Interview

Fireup’s Personal Interview Preparation

A lot of candidates find personal interviews nerve-wracking. Many of them are otherwise calm, cool, and collected individuals, but find that something about interviews just sets them off and make them feel edgy and unable to present themselves at their best.

Feeling nervous at interviews can create a vicious cycle. You feel nervous, which makes you perform badly at interviews. But the fact that you perform badly at interviews understandably makes you feel nervous.

FireUp’s Interview Tips of the day- Almost all major MBA entrance examinations are over. IIMs have just declared the results of CAT. It’s high time for the candidates expecting calls or those who already have calls to buckle up their shoes for GD-PI preparation.

FireUp is here to help all of you in clearing these hurdles.  We will post few well researched articles on “How to Prepare for Group Discussion” and “How to Prepare for Interview”. So here we start.

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Tags: CAT interview, GD-PI, how to prepare for personal interview, interview preparation, MBA interview

Interview Tips

Interview Gyan of the day

Creating the Right Impact

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that interviewers are looking to recruit motivated and enthusiastic people. But you may be surprised to discover that most of your interpersonal impact comes across not in what you say, but how you say it.

Research claims that up to 55 per cent of our communication effectiveness is determined by our body language, comprising of our gestures, movements, and facial expressions.

A lot of candidates talk about trying to ‘be themselves’ during interviews. These candidates say that they tend to warm up only when they get to know people better and that they feel fake in having to ‘act up’ with interviewers. But remember that interviews are a game of sorts: Interviewers want to hire candidates who are energetic and enthusiastic from the moment they meet, so you need to focus on performing as a dynamic and passionate person – even if that isn’t how you normally like to behave until you know people better.

Today’s Puzzle

How many times a day do the hour and minute hands on a clock line up exactly with each other?

Discuss answers below:

Tags: CAT interview, GD-PI, interview

Tips for Group Discussion

Tips for Group Discussion:

Following Group Discussion Tips can help a lot in handling the GD

The method of circular response

In a new group it might be useful to begin by using the method of circular response until members become used to the more free interchange of the usual group discussion method.

The circular response method is easy to learn and gives good democratic opportunity to all members of a group. The leader starts a question around the circle. Each person has a turn. He may say, “I pass”, but he may not speak again until his turn comes around. For example, the question under discussion may be, “What is Theosophy?” The first speaker may say, “Theosophy is the Ancient Wisdom.” The second, “Theosophy is the study of religion, philosophy, and science.” The third passes; the fourth says, “I disagree with the second speaker. Theosophy is the body of knowledge discovered by that study.” And so it goes on.

After the question has gone around once, the leader may send it around again, or he may summarize agreements and disagreements and start it around in a new form to embody this progress. A member may use his turn to question the statement of another who answers in his turn, or the question may already have been answered by another before it gets to the one questioned. The group may decide whether the response will go clockwise or counterclockwise in the circle.

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Tags: GD, group discussion, group discussion tips, tips for gd

Personal Interview after CAT

Interview Tips: group discussion and personal interviews are two big hurdles after getting good percentile in CAT. These interview tips are for students preparing for their GD and PI.

Creating warmth by smiling

Don’t tell anyone, but here’s a little secret: Interviewers often hire the candidate that they like the most rather than picking the most skilled and experienced person for the job. All interviewers are subconsciously affected by factors such as warmth, rapport, and smiling.

Now, too much smiling makes you come across as a manic Cheshire cat. Following these hints generates an impression of warmth and likeability rather than an unhinged personality:

• Smile as you greet the interviewers: First impressions really count. So make sure that you are positively beaming when you first meet the interviewers. Project the impression that you are incredibly pleased to be at the interview.

• Smile when you talk about your strengths or achievements: Smiling would be incongruous when talking about difficult situations at work. But if talking about positive aspects of yourself and your working life, try to add a smile at some point.

• Smile when you leave the room: When you say your goodbyes and thank the interviewers for their time, give them another broad smile to show that you enjoyed meeting them.

Today’s Question

Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones?

Discuss below with your answers and explanations.

Tags: CAT interview, GD-PI, interview, Interview questions

Interview Tips

Interview Tips:

Using your body language

You can tell a huge amount about what goes on inside a person’s head by how they use their body language. For example, playing with a ring or repeatedly touching your hair are often interpreted as signs of nervousness. A slouched posture or drumming fingers on a table can be construed as a lack of interest. Follow these tips to project the right kind of image:

• Stand and sit up straight: Lengthen your body and hold your spine erect. Maintain a straight posture during an interview. Don’t let tiredness or nerves allow your shoulders to hunch forwards.

• Stop any fidgeting: Don’t give away any hint of nerves by moving around in a restless fashion. Keep your hands clasped lightly in your lap or rest them gently on the table.

• Use your hands to emphasise key points: Hand gestures can make people seem more sincere or credible. So use your hands occasionally to underscore key points to make yourself visually more engaging – for example, by turning your palms up and spreading your fingers to indicate sincerity or counting points off on your fingers.

• Avoid crossing your arms: Some interviewers read crossing your arms as being a sign of defensiveness. So don’t do it. However, contrary to popular opinion, you can cross your legs – so long as you don’t cross your arms across your chest as well.

• Keep your legs still: Avoid crossing or uncrossing your legs or tapping your feet. Such fidgeting can be unnerving.

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Tags: Cat Interview Tips, interview, Interview Tips, Job Interview Tips