How to crack GD-PI/WAT rounds of top B-schools
Main purpose of the Group Discussion (GD) is to test candidates’ communication skills, leadership, spontaneity, team skills and whether they have a structured thinking process. Here's how to crack GD-PI round of top B-Schools. By Prof. Kanak Gupta
It has been said quite often that preparing for a GD-PI/WAT round of MBA institutes is like preparing for your own wedding – leading to a fresh journey with merely a window of vision, but mostly unknown; or, it’s like preparing for a war – finally, after all the hardships, you want to come out a winner. [Similarities between “marriage” and “war” have been stated explicitly too, but, for lack of space, let’s not get into that right now!]
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Yes, no matter who you are, the day will be very scary. You’d be appearing for interviews in your life for many things- getting into your college of choice, club, a job, and so on – to even go abroad, the visa procurement interview is a tough nut to crack as well!
Yes, CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of the candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion.
SNAP exam preparation requires about 6 months so candidates must start studying for it from June onwards. The SNAP exam is conducted in three sessions and the first session is conducted in the first week of December, second session is conducted in the second week and the third session is conducted in the third week. So, while making a SNAP prep plan, candidates must keep in mind which exam session will they appear for. Those who have appeared for SNAP before or are preparing for other MBA entrance exams too, can start SNAP preparation from August-September.
Also Read: Know 14 parameters on which you are judged during a GDPI-WAT
However, as in a wedding or war, with the right kind of preparation, patience and persistence, your confidence and focus would help finding your "dream spouse" or your "dream job". When you have the opportunity to land the perfect future, you have to be sure you are ready. Let's look at a few points on how to crack GDPI-WAT rounds of top MBA colleges in India.
In other words, you have to be an effective interviewee- one that everyone wants to lay their hands on, one that would walk into any establishment confidently. There are proven ways to get beyond the typical interview and make you stand out from all the other candidates, and add to that your personal quotient, content and confidence, and voila- we’d have a winner at our hands!
Also Read: Know past years' WAT/GD topics at top B-Schools
It’s like in India, everyone is fairly an expert on what works in an interview and what doesn‘t, just as we all are experts at cricket, politics and relationships. (Watching, commentating and strategising looking at the idiot box). But out there at the field, you have the one-in-a-billion Sachin Tendulkar only, who became what he did after years of practice.
Here are some tips on how to crack GD-PI/WAT rounds of top B-schools:
- MBA Group Discussions
- MBA Personal Interviews
- Personal Interview Tips
MBA Group Discussions
Group Discussions (GD) are an important element of the selection process at many B-schools despite the emergence of Written Ability Test (WAT) as preferred choice. Companies requiring a large workforce, such as IT companies, BPOs and FMCG majors often conduct GD for campus selection. The main purpose of the GD is to test candidates’ communication skills, leadership, spontaneity, team skills and whether they have a structured thinking process.
Generally in group discussions, there is an initial burst of enthusiasm where everyone is looking for the first-mover advantage (as advised by the coaching-walas) and then there is incomprehensible clutter, leading to illogical statements, factual errors and ends in a ho-hum where the participants are merely looking at each other. And then, a couple of wise souls in midst would pick up the baton, and repeat everything that had already been discussed, this time only a little louder. A group is only as good as the lowest common dominator and the bigger a group, the worse it is. A lot of fresh graduates who are (mis) guided by their peers into producing template statements during the GD process, and often speak on topics unrelated to the topic given!
Also Read: Top 100 GD/WAT topics to expect this year
To know how to crack GDPI-WAT rounds of top B-schools, remember the following:
- Try to initiate the discussion, but don’t be rude/forceful/disturbed/disturbing in case it doesn't happen
- Speak firmly, yet politely. Stay away from the ‘fish-market’.
- Use positive body language.
- Agree with the right but don’t disagree for grabbing attention only.
- Speak to the point. Don't beat around the bush.
- Maintain eye contact with the group, not the moderator.
- Practice how to enter and exit group discussions.
- Don’t underestimate your group or the moderator/interviewer.
- Read vociferously. There is no substitute to knowing everything about everything.
Personal Interview Tips
Keep the following in mind for personal interview rounds of MBA colleges in the upcoming months, and you’ll come out with flying colours.
1. Prepare like a champion: Have you seen Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar winning movie, ‘Rocky’? The protagonist prepares for every fight as if it were the championship bout, even if the opponent was too weak. For every little GD and interview, you should prepare like that.
2. Career Planning and Goal Setting: All of us today have dreams and aspirations of a great career. We benchmark our future with achievers of the times gone by, and make a constant endeavour to reach the higher-goals. Plan ahead, and know what would be required of you at each passing phase.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice: The most important advise that anyone can give you for clearing an interview is to practice as much as you can. Whilst we do not suggest that you mug-up the answers to standard Qs and As, but you start planning it in your head as to what you would be saying. Start visualising the bare details and you would see that appropriate answers would start coming to you.
4. You’ve got to get the look!
To get the part, you’ve got to look the part. Work on it!
Personal Interview Check List:
- Clothes and personal grooming (shoes, clothes, accessories, etc) should be ready a day before
- Interview folder arranged and reviewed a day before
- Personal grooming and hygiene (nails, hair, shaving, etc.)
- Location for interview checked a day before
- Travel plan for interview finalised with weather consideration
- Backup clothes, folders, certificates photocopied etc. ready
5. The regular YOU and the situation: Make sure that you thoroughly research the organisation, the industry, and the job profile. Whatever you do, you cannot appear blank at the time of the interview. Your basics about yourself – the attire, the folder, mannerisms – and content – your general knowledge, analytical skills, and specific research about that role and company – just cannot be compromised with. Have your elevator pitch about yourself ready. Practice till you reach perfection.
Get into the habit of thinking answers in a framework, such as SARA
- Set up the (S)ituation based on the question asked in your mind
- Explain the (A)ction required finding or providing a solution
- Share the (R)esult with the interviewer
- (A)nswer further based on the response to the result
Conclusion
All said and done, the personal interview round is about you. During the 10-20 minutes of the interview, you are the master of your own destiny. Paint a picture, and visualize yourself sitting there. You’re expected to provide intelligent, well-thought-out answers and exude competent confidence. Though you can’t control every situation, you can prepare to handle it. There will be butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms, and wobbling knees. However, you must give your best interview and get the college you want.
Woody Allen once famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” You’ve come this far. You’ve prepared hard and managed to get an interview cal. You’ve shown up for the interview. So, 80 per cent of the success is already done. Now, it’s time for the remaining 20 per cent.
All the best!
Prof. Kanak Gupta is a faculty of Organisational Behavior & Strategy at Jaipuria Institute of Management and Vice President at Seth M R Jaipuria Schools. An MBA from Purdue University, USA, he has 12+ years experience in academics, management consulting, start-up strategy, and soft-skills training in India, UK and Germany. He is also co-founder & President of English theatre group, Theatrecian.
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CAT is a speed based test which is designed to assess a candidate's analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems.
However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.