Tips to prepare for & crack Group Discussion round

By: Amit Sharma

Group Discussion (GD) is a method to assess the communication skill, content knowledge and confidence of the candidate. GD round is prominently used by almost all the companies visiting university or college campus for placement drives.

Along with technical and functional knowledge, communication skill is also a crucial parameter to survive in today’s corporate world. Many firms have already started considering GD as their prominent condition for selecting the best candidate before they conduct a personal interview. The GD selection criteria and standards vary from organisation to organisation and based on the requirement of the company. Like communication, GD in itself is a relevant soft skill that every candidate is supposed to possess across the industry. GD as an assessment technique helps the recruiter to tap the best talent form large pool of applicants. 

Significance of Group Discussion

Every organisation needs people with good communication and interpersonal skills. Each designation and work in the organisation is related to another designation and work. So good interpersonal skills play an important and vital role and GD techniques validate these skills in the candidate. One of my students was sharing his experience with the challenge he is facing in completing his assignments. He is an excellent student at work but when it comes to taking recognition for his efforts, other students of the group take credit.

The student is weak in his interpersonal skills and weak in communication. The student might be excellent in various other skills but what if the student is not able to express himself in front of a peer group or in front of the assessor. The student would be losing credit, recognition and appreciation for his own efforts. A sound and healthy impression while presenting yourself is the key essential for every candidate seeking a career in a good organisation.

Parameters of assessment

1. Way of communicating with others
2. Behaviour with other people
3. Broad or narrow state of mind
4. Listening capacity of the candidate.
5. Way a candidate puts logic
6. Leadership traits of a candidate
7. Decision-making capacity of a candidate
8. Content knowledge of the candidate.
9. Attitude of the candidate
10. Confidence of the candidate
11. Critical thinking of the candidate

Tips to ace GD round

• Way to start GD: A candidate speaks confidently about the topic when they have sound knowledge about the topic.
• Taking initiative: Taking initiative means you have already won fifty percent of your battle for your selection. Taking initiative brings you in focus and reflects your leadership traits. It develops your image as a responsible person, who is always ready to shoulder responsibilities and to accept new challenges. Initiation evolves you as a leader in the group. Simple and sober quotes and short stories can be used to start a GD depending upon the availability of time.
• Maintain the continuity of GD: At times it happens that the candidate is lacking in knowledge about the topic and starts to panic, which worsens the situation. It’s advised to have patience and listen to other group members until you get an idea or a thought to speak about. Once you get the idea, take the chance and start delivering your content. Candidate should give relevant. Sometimes silence speaks more than words. Speaking less at times works more effectively than speaking more and irrelevant. Therefore be, precise and maintain the continuity of the discussion.
• Concluding the discussion: Concluding the group discussion is as essential as starting the same. Concluding the discussion gives you an edge over the other candidates. The conclusion should be short, relevant and to the point. The conclusion should be expressed by considering both sides of the whole discussion.
• Points to remember in GD: Following are the points one must consider while participating in GD.

1. Appearance: Always wear formal attire.
2. Maintain eye contact
3. Do not dominate
4. Don’t interrupt frequently
5. You should be clear with your thought and content
6. Do not talk irrelevant

Skills needed for GD

1. Interpersonal skills
2. Leadership Traits
3. Capacity of listening
4. Enhance your knowledge

Final suggestions

Your presence should be recognised by the evaluator so the candidate is supposed to be active throughout the session. Proper analysis of what others are saying and developing new ideas out of their content is one effective way to grab the attention of the assessor.

• Having less knowledge about the topic may demotivate you and gives failure as a result. Don’t worry, even if your knowledge related to the topic is less you can talk on the same topic considering from a different perspective.
• Some candidates divert the theme of discussion and move out of context. There you take initiative and lead and try to take the group discussion back to its origin.

Finally, I would say everyone likes to be appreciated and when you appreciate someone, the person feels good about himself as well as for you as well. Learn to appreciate others' point of view in a healthy and appealing way.

About the Author:

Amit Sharma is serving as an Assistant Professor at Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, since 2013. With an experience of seven years in academics, Sharma conducts faculty development programmes at school level and management development programmes at organisational level across the industry.