Follow these steps to crack GD and PI in the first attempt

By: Sujaine Mishra

Keeping abreast with the current scenarios around the world is always beneficial for students to clear their GD and PI rounds.

These days, every company is looking for the best out of the bunch. For top-notch companies, a candidate must be best in communication, best in presentation and understandable. Thus, the bar for MBA graduates is set high.

In this article, we will discuss the important Group Discussion (GD) topics and Personal Interview (PI) questions for MBA Graduates in Marketing specialization.

The GD topics I will be sharing are segregated in three categories - the present scenario, the pros and cons and general topics:-

* Based on the present scenario (All the members in-group have to discuss)

1. State your opinion on China-US Trade War
2. State your opinion on NRC and CAA
3. Share your thoughts about Jet Airways Crisis
4. Give a talk for 2 minutes for Start-up India
5. What is the present impact of OPEC in India?

* Based on the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, etc. (One group is divided into two groups of equal members)

1. Is social media good or bad?
2. Seeing the news on Mobile or TV
3. Live streaming is good or bad
4. India investing in Chandrayaan kind of project is good for development or not?
5. GST is beneficial or not for new businesses.

* Based on the general topics

1. Start-up City Bangalore
2. Tourism in India
3. Digital Market
4. NITI Aayog
5. Demonetisation/ GST

After qualifying the GD round, all the candidates have to face the Personal Interview (PI) round. These questions and answers given below were asked during my PI with Canara HSBC Pvt. Ltd.

Q) Tell me about yourself? -Where I stated about my strength of work, which I do best, like part-time article writing or helping poor with NGOs. I also shared my internship work with the interviewer, like the process, time taken in a day to complete the target and a bit about my studies and background of my family.

Q) According to you, what is a customer? - According to me, it depends on how companies could make loyalty and durability in the market so that people could come by trust and believe that the company would provide solutions just by a click.

Q) How to sell insurance?

The Indian market is becoming more conscious about insurance and following the western trend. I will convince the customers by telling them about the benefits of the insurance policy, the best-suited policy/ plan for them and their family members.

Q) Can you handle the pressure?

Yes, of course, I can handle pressure well. In my last internship, I was focussed on completing my assigned targets before time and under pressure which impressed my Manager.

Q) One word to describe yourself?

A situation handler and good decision-maker.

That's all.

Preparation tips for GD & PI

- Take a current scenario like Covid- 19 or its impact and go through details

- Read books on the current economic situation around the world to enhance vocabulary

- Keep up-to-date with the news, facts and figures- Read about Indian Economy and governance regulations (helpful for  management students from Marketing, Finance or HR stream)

About the Author:

Sujaine Mishra is pursuing MBA in Human Resource and Marketing from Presidency College Bangalore. She is the head placement coordinator and a final year student of 2018-2020 batch.