Group Discussion (GD) Topics & PI Experience by Prerit Kohli, IIM Indore

In a recent conversation with Shiksha, Prerit Kohli talks about his experience of GD & PI process for admission at IIM Indore. He has talked about the questions asked by the panelists and also has a few tips for aspiring students.

GD topics are usually on prevailing socio-economic trends. They can also be abstract and one-word topics like ‘Black’. Some of the topics that I came across are mentioned below:

Brexit, Impact of Technology on Jobs, Yellow Journalism, Social Media and its impact, Facebook vs Linkedin, Role of Ethics in Business.

Apart from knowledge, I primarily focused on confidence and mannerism. People put a lot of facts and knowledge on the table but these things do not make one stand out from the crowd in front of the moderator. However, confidence, delivery and the way one conducts themselves is very important and can help one earn a lot of brownie points.

I worked on increasing my knowledge of prevailing socio-economic trends by regularly reading newspapers and magazines to stay updated and by following various national and international trends including various corporates (across industry), sports and science and technological advancements.  

I had enrolled in weekend classes conducted by Career Launcher. It helped to discipline myself in a particular schedule and to bring myself up to speed. Career Launcher gave me access to skilled mentors to help me broaden my knowledge and prepare myself better. 

Most of the GDs had 10-12 participants and 2-3 panelists.

 However, confidence, delivery and the way one conducts themselves is very important and can help one earn a lot of brownie points. 

Panelists were professors across different domains like economics, quant, IT, etc. The point is not to tackle anyone but to bring forth your best and have a good conversation.

Questions faced during my PIs can be classified as below:

HR questions –

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Do you consider yourself successful? 

3. Talk about your Strengths and Weaknesses

4. What do you plan to contribute to this school?

5. What do you expect to be doing in 10 years from now?

6. Whom do you most admire?

7. What is an obstacle you have faced and how did you get through it?

Questions related to my domain and courses in my BE (Computer) were asked. Apart from the above list case studies, guess estimates and some stress questions were also asked.

Preparing for an interview is always a tricky part of the journey. I researched about the institutes and enhance my knowledge pertaining to current affairs and domain-specific subjects. The key is not knowing everything and being a jack of all trades but to have a thorough knowledge of your own domain and of the things you have claimed to know about on your application form. For instance, a computer engineer is not expected to be an expert in Economics but to know about “Computer Architecture”.

I worked on the HR and general questions by understanding my strengths and weakness. I gave many mock interviews to understand on the areas that needs to be prepared.

I believe in 3D mantra – Dedication, Devotion, and Discipline. Self-discipline is the most important strategy to ace any interview and or examination. Channelize your energy in the right direction to get the best results. Staying positive throughout your preparation journey is very important. Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out.

As far as reference material is concerned, I read national daily (Hindu, Indian Express, Mint); guidelines and material provided by Career Launcher; learnings from the experiences shared by mentors and seniors.

Sometimes stress questions are put to the candidate to test their reaction and the way one handle the situation. The best thing to do in these situations is to keep calm, think and then answer or react to the situation. Even if you don’t know the answer just stay calm and be upfront.

GDPI experience is not a one-day experience rather it is the journey from the day you start your preparation. It is an experience of self-growth with each GD & PI that you give you learn more about yourself, you learn little nuances, start picking up little cues and you keep getting better and better.

The whole process of GD & PI preparation is a journey of self-discovery. You discover your strengths, weakness, and areas of opportunity to get better. It’s not only about the knowledge but to learn how to conduct yourself. From brushing up on your domain knowledge to working on communication, confidence and discipline is indeed an enriching experience.

The best tip is to be yourself and not to pretend. The person sitting in front of you is much more experienced and has heard to all the google answers multiple times and is definitely not looking for it. Stay positive, it’s okay to not know somethings just be upfront about it. And lastly remember the person sitting in front of you is just another human looking to connect, so keep smiling and stay have a great conversation.

It is only a healthy discussion. One should take it as a discussion and not a test.

About the Author:

Hello! I am Prerit Kohli. I work as a motivational instructor and life coach, like to research emerging trends in Big Data. I have mentored and conducted many PIs/GDs and have had motivational sessions for students, young professionals and mentored them in their journey to various career choices.

Currently, I work with EXL Service in the Financial Analytics domain. I've also worked in various other analytics projects involving Big Data with companies like American Express, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel. I completed the PGPM course from Indian Institute of Management, Indore (2014-2016) after obtaining a degree in Bachelor of Engineering from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT-Delhi), in Computer.