Group Discussion (GD) Topics & PI Experience by Ragini Agrawal, IMT Nagpur

In a recent conversation with Shiksha, Ragini Agrawal talks about her experience of GD & PI process for admission at Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur. She talks about questions asked by the panelists and also has a few tips for aspiring students.

There was no GD conducted. We only had a PI round. More weightage was given to students profile, scores, and personal interview.  

But last year there was a group task in which we were given an activity and the panel was observing us. It was regarding promotion of one product for which we had made a poster. We were given notepads and there were 10 people in a group.

There was one panelist from Finance and the other one was from Business Analytics. I was very comfortable and I didn’t face any difficulty. Since I already have work experience in Tech Mahindra in a technical role, I was aware of what business roles are. I was able to explain things clearly.

Questions were related to my work experience and my next 5-year plan. It was about basic introduction, graduation stream, subject related questions, etc. Further, they asked questions on current affairs and general knowledge. They also asked about any academics project and concepts related to the particular subject field. There were questions related to cabinet news. 

I referred to PI questions available online. I cleared my CAT in 2018 so I enrolled in TIME for a crash course. They have provided us with a booklet and conducted many GD sessions. I also surfed the internet and Quora for the same. 

I went through TIME GD/PI material, Hit Bullseye Interviews, and Word Power Made Easy for Vocabulary for preparation. I referred to Arun Sharma for quantitative aptitude. Also for verbal English, I referred to Times Study material. TI also took online tests and entrance tests for practice.

I did not panic. Today I am where I wanted to be. If you have scored well in CAT then your hard work has borne fruit. So I am satisfied as per my preparation. 

It was smooth and pretty good. Since I already had work experience, my interview went smoothly. I was working as a software engineer in a technical role and I was very clear that I wanted to switch to a management role so for that either you should have a work experience for 3 years or an MBA Degree so I selected for MBA and quit my job. 

Be confident about yourself and your answers should be crisp and upto the mark. In GD many people can’t speak up or put forward their point whereas in the personal interview there is on-to-one contact. The main focus is on the candidate. It’s an advantage for the candidate to perform better in front of interviewer. One can speak up his/her points without hesitating.

In GD, your performance depends on the group but PI is all yours! In GD you are not able to showcase but PI is in your hand. GD points are hampered if you don’t know the topic very well. The other candidates will let you down as the GD topic is basic and they want everyone to speak.

About the Author:

Hi! I am Ragini Agrawal, a mechanical engineer with one and a half year of work experience as SAP ABAP consultant. I am currently pursuing PGDM course at IMT Nagpur with Marketing and Business Analytics as the area of specialisation. I am a member of the Corporate Communication Committee which handles the branding and public relations of the institute. I am passionate about art and architecture.