Students’ Speak: Practice can help in conquering all your weaknesses and become more confident for the D-day

By: Anushree Sen

As per my experience, there’s no other better way to prepare for GD than doing it in practice, either with your friends or family.. One can always take help from their mentors in college to conduct GD sessions among the students and create a forum for excellent information sharing. 

A Group Discussion is the most popular round in campus placements, particularly conducted for three reasons:

1. To assess the personality of the candidate
2. To assess the communication skills
3. To eliminate candidates who do not match the company’s requirements

Other reasons may include testing the technical knowledge, checking attitude towards group work, initiation skills, creativity, and general knowledge. Group discussion (GD), hence, is an invigorating discussion where a topic is analyzed and discussed among individuals who may or may not have interacted before, and in the end, the members come to a fair conclusion.

As per my experience, there’s no other better way to prepare for GD than doing it in practice, either with your friends or family. Practice can help in conquering all your weaknesses and become more confident for the D-day. One can always take help from their mentors in college to conduct GD sessions among the students and create a forum for excellent information sharing.

I, along with a few friends, used to bring all the current affairs and trends on the table for discussion. This helped us immensely in being prepared much before the placements actually started, made us more confident, created a good habit of researching current happenings across the country and the globe, and made us calmer during stressful times.

In my experience, there are a few important areas which need focus when preparing for a GD:

1. Understanding the Topic - In any discussion, it is crucial to understand what you need to speak on. Clarity of topic and thoughts is actually important to perform well.
2. Communicating Your Views - You may have excellent views on the topic, but unless you can communicate your views effectively in the discussion, it won’t work well for you. Hence practice and improve communicating clearly. Also, don’t use jargon. Try to keep it simple and easy to understand.
3. Initiating the Discussion - If you absolutely can, then initiating the group discussion is always seen in a positive light. By taking the initiative, you will be able to give a structure to the discussion and define the manner in which the discussion progresses. However, if you are not sure, it’s advisable to not take the lead. It’s not a mandatory rule. So act wisely.
4. Understanding the Group Dynamics - Your ability to act, listen, and respond within a group is something recruiters look out for. Hence, do not be aggressive in a GD. Do not force your opinions on the members. Give everyone a chance to speak.

Concluding Logically - Giving a decent conclusion to the discussion by taking everyone’s points is again a good thing to do in GDs. It shows you respect other speakers and listen actively. Carrying a notepad and pen and writing the key points told by the members will.

About the Author:

Anushree is a second-year student at Indus Business Academy, Bangalore. She is a writer, visual content creator, logophile and avid movie lover, A digital marketing enthusiast, she loves chai and is extremely fond of huskies.