How to Prepare for GD/PI?

GD or Group Discussion???

What comes to your mind after reading this might be some huge advertisement of Career Launcher or T.I.M.E which shows that “Prepare for GD/PI classes with us for IIMs”.

That is why when I sat for summer internship process for abc company (can’t disclose the name due to some Non-disclosure agreements) and in GD they gave the topic, Should GDs be held?, everyone started blabbering in favour or in opposition quoting admission processes of IIMs or XLRIs or IIFTs.

 But this is not GD. This is top-of-mind recall of an advertisement where you daily saw these two alphabets written out loud.

In real terms, group discussion is just more than two individuals with common interests (or Group) sitting or standing together (depends on your convenience) and discussing an issue at hand so that a desirable conclusion can be reached with the help of consensus (and not by holding one’s collar).

It is like a normal discussion that a person enjoys with his/her friends. The only difference is that usage of slangs might go a bit against you. But there is an exciting part as well. You will be discussing with unknown people and trying to gain consensus. In other terms, you will try to sell your ideas by hook or by crook (following crook is subjected to moderator’s risk. Please think carefully before following).

Going a step ahead towards the preparation of GDs for actually cracking group discussion round, I will say prepare for best and stay prepared for the worse. It is so as GDs hold no boundaries. It may vary from AAPs decision to stop multi-brand retail FDI in Delhi to red is new black. To prepare for GDs:

• ·         Read newspaper: I know that everyone asks to do that and you might feel that it’s just 1-2 months for our GDs and no one can do wonders in that. But trust me guys, more than knowledge, it will give a boost to your confidence. When you will know about your surroundings, you will feel better equipped to deal with any GD.

• ·         Think and think Random things: Sounds crazy? But in a way this is needed to deal with abstract topics that you might face in a GD. Topics like “Delhi is a pink city” or “You can’t get an omelette if you don’t break eggs”. These topics test your imagination and power to connect topic with real world. Just think once about second topic i.e. you can't get an omelette if you don’t break eggs. 

What can you make out of it?

Whatever you think, just find a logic to support that and connect it with the theme. Don’t think that it is a weird analogy or an altogether different answer. If I am asked to think on this, I will probably agree with the statement. And an analogy can be in the field of cricket. You can’t establish new records until and unless you break previous ones. Sachin Tendulkar’s 200* in ODI would have been celebrated so much if he would have not broken a world record.

So, keep preparing for Group Discussions and keep your fingers crossed that you get a group that allows everyone to speak rather than making a fish market out there.

After GD, there is another blockage and it is present in all B-Schools i.e. Interview.

Interview is a one on one interaction with a person who is least interested to know about you or is interested to grill you (stress interview) or genuinely interested to know you (rarest of the rare cases). So, what to do in such a case where person is actually not interested to even listen to you?

Strategy will remain similar guys. Just the implementation would change. Again, you need to sell yourself and your words. You need to make the other person listen to you and take interest in you. But how to do that?

• ·         Am I looking like a gentleman- I am not saying this so that the first impression is good but it is a proven fact that people take you more seriously if you are dressed appropriately. If you are not then the topic of interview may not start from a very comfortable question answer session.

• ·         Wake up buddy- You just have 15-20 minutes to show the other person who you are and how you can be a perfect fit into their organization. In extreme cases, the time limit may go on up to 60minutes. As time is a limiting factor in this case, you need to be very active and focussed.

• ·         Glass is not half empty- People always feel that they should, somehow, prove themselves so that you are more acceptable. But it is not true. We need to change this perception as this is a mutual need and not just your need. Interviewer also seeks best of the talent from the available pool of candidates and even you want best for your career. So, be open and change your perception.

And if we talk about preparation for interview, I will suggest few basic points that should be taken care of:

• ·         Who am I- First and foremost thing is to figure out that who you are (not in psychological terms but from business point of view). Open up your CV and find a small list of 3-5 things that you did during your lifetime and few major behavioural traits that it reflects. E.g. if I worked in a startup, it shows I am enthusiastic about learning irrespective of limited number of resources and a bit of unstructured working of the organisation.
• ·         Know your CV- It is very important for anyone to know that what all you have written in the CV as sometimes (or mostly) what we have written is a little (or a lot) more than what we have done in life. So, have a look at your CV and try to find out connections between them so that you can easily knit a story around those dots.
• ·         What happened before I went in- I am not talking about those stressful whispers discussing that what happened with the person just before you. In today’s technocrat environment, stay tuned with the social media platforms where people discuss that what happened last year and how to mitigate risks involved in the interviews of a particular B-school.
• ·         Time is just here- One night before your GD/PI, sleep on time and take proper rest. Don't over exhaust yourself. Make a checklist before in which you should take into count your CV, offer letter for GD/PI, photocopy of admit card (I don't remember everything dude. Don't make a list while reading this) etc. Leave your place taking buffer time into consideration and just listen to music to lower down you anxiety levels. And finally

All the best guys!!!

(This article was originally written by the writer of this blog for some external purpose of Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management. Hence, this is just to apprise the readers of this blog about the same issue.)