Students’ Speak: Important points to keep in mind during Group Discussion and Personal Interview

By: Vivek Kumar

Group Discussion and Personal Interview are always considered crucial for the career. Practice more to know mistakes, work with peers, and take guidance from seniors.

I always used to practice with my classmate during campus drives. First thing what I have learned there is to make short notes of your point because when you will listen to others you might forget what you want to say. Sometimes someone else will speak about the point that you wanted to say and this is time you would have several thoughts in your mind like OMG! What to do now? Why I took so much time to speak? So, in this case, I would recommend you that wait for some time and then talk about the other point and just after that, speak up your previous point using a different vocabulary.

In PI, prepare some basic questions before facing an interview like the technology you used in your project, your hobbies, the reason for joining a particular company and the job profile, your future dream, and many more. Just keep in mind that you have to answer all these questions wisely, you could also pre-plan the answers but during the interview, take some time to respond to make it sound natural. During my PI, once I was asked if I was ok with the location (Mohali) of the company. I replied, “Yes, that’s perfectly fine, however, it would be better if I could get Delhi or Bengaluru branch as I really want to see these branches in person”. At this point, my interview went in the wrong direction which I did not realise then. I was not selected for Software Trainee profile; so it does not matter how good you technically are but if your communication skills are not up to the mark then it could get you in big trouble during interviews.

I have started recording my self-introduction video on my smartphone so that I can observe where I am lagging. Self-introduction should always be given in a very nice and professional manner as this is a very common and an important question. You can also take help from some websites by sharing your introduction video; they would provide you with tip and points to improve yourself. Practice is the only key to clear the interview, so the more you practice the more efficient you will become. For GD, talk to your friends and start practicing with them, also  record a video so that you can analyse your mistakes.

In a PI never ever discuss the salary with the technical interviewer because they do not have any say in this. In most of the jobs, they already tell you about the salary, so do not dwell over this. During the interview, always tell the interviewer that the job you have applied for is your dream job. When you get selected, just accept the offer, and join the company. So, at the time of the interview, always answer smartly

About the Author:

A writer by hobby and a coder by choice, Vivek Kumar is a student at Lovely Professional University. He is intermediate trained in JAVA, SQL, R and Tableau.