Students' Speak: Parameters taken into account for assessment during Group Discussion

By: Nimisha Sharma

Whenever a candidate gets a chance to speak he/she should speak confidently looking towards other candidates (everyone) and not just towards the panellist, says Nimisha.

Group Discussion is a mandatory process which every company conducts for placement. Generally, GD is an elimination round. The company just does the screening of the students in this round by testing their communication skills, confidence level, interpersonal skills, team-building skills and most importantly how you present yourself to them. As mentioned, the candidate who is appearing for GD round needs to have good communication and interpersonal skills, along with this the candidate should have sound knowledge of current affairs which gives an edge over other candidates appearing for the same GD. Usually, in GDs, people don’t get many opportunities to speak, in that case you have to create your chance in order to be heard by the panelist.

GD is judged upon following factors:-

• Body Language – Body should be in a proper posture i.e. back straight and not leaning towards the table, failure to which it seems as if candidate is not interested in the process. There should not be any hand movements pointing towards other fellow mates in a GD.
• Content – It plays the most important role in GD whereby the panelists judge you based on what you speak in that specified time allotted to you. It should be related to the topic given for discussion, if the candidate is able to put some facts and figures (should be accurate) in that case it will definitely add extra points to his/her evaluation. It’s not necessary to speak 10 lines in GD, it all depends on what you speak. It should be relevant enough·

 Voice – Candidate should focus on their voice, it should be loud and clear. Once you grab the chance to speak, then focus on your content. It might happen that you may not get another chance to speak.

• Initiate – Try to initiate the topic in GD, it gives you more time to keep your points in front of the panelist and moreover it gives a direction to the GD. Always try to give chance to a person who is not able to speak/ not speaking. This will showcase your team-building skills that you take your team along with you.

Note: - Candidate should initiate the GD only when he has full clarity on the topic given, only in that case it is beneficial otherwise candidate may land up getting 1 negative point for the wrong start.

Normally panel for GD comprises of 2-4 members of the company which include:-

1.) Head HR (Region Specific)

2.) Regional Manager

3.) Department Head

4.) Product Head

If the job role is for sales, they might be looking for someone who has good communication and interpersonal skills; if the company is hiring for the project manager role then they will look for someone who has good team-building skills. If the company has an analyst role to offer then they will look for someone who has a better understanding of the topic and who has put forward some good facts and figures. Sometimes we feel that GD is luck based but it all depends on the panelist’s mind that what quality is he looking for in the candidate which can be best suited in his/her organisation. If 3 out of 4 above mentioned factors are fulfilled then there are high chances for one to get selected in GD.

Whenever a candidate gets a chance to speak he/she should speak confidently looking towards other candidates (everyone) and not just towards the panelist.

About the Author:

Nimisha is a second-year student at IMI, Bhubaneswar. She is currently a member of the Corporate Relations team at IMI Bhubaneswar wherein she deals with campus placements. She has also presented a research paper at an international conference.