TIPS FOR GD/PI

SOME TIPS FOR FRESHERS TO CRACK THE GD-PI

Hi Guys,

Sandipan Deb, SCMHRD MBA(HR) Batch of 2012-14, FRESHER 
Graduation:- B.Tech in ECE from Heritage Institute of Technolgy, Kolkata

Since the admissions process at SCMHRD and overall Symbiosis has changed to a centralized admissions process this time onwards, so this post doesn't focus on SCMHRD's admissions process in particular. When I converted SCMHRD 2 years back, the admissions process was not particularly congenial for freshers to convert in the first list and it is a known fact that over the years, people with work-experience are preferred in top B-schools and also during MBA placements. So, I would just share some tips, only for freshers, to confidently approach the MBA admissions season.

For Group Discussion:-
1. Reading newspapers is a must - Economic Times/Business Line, TOI/Hindu. Not only will it make you aware of the present happenings of the nation but also give you enough perspectives which can be put to use in topic-based Group Discussions. Evaluators like numbers and remember quoting numbers and facts and figures in your point will make it all the more credible. So be it about India's GDP growth or FDI policy or some branding strategy of an FMCG, quoting examples along with names would definitely earn you a brownie point.
Eg:-
a) Imagine you are given a topic on AAP - a paradigm shift in Indian politics. Merely quoting that India is in a state of disarray under UPA rule is too generic. Instead if you put in numbers and facts, not only will it strengthen your argument but will also make the evaluator know that this person is well read and well informed.
b) Imagine a Case Discussion where employees are facing problems with their manager OR a company is struggling to maintain it's market position, you quote some employee motivation practice of any organization OR some turnaround strategy of a major FMCG in recent times and the impact of your point will rise manifold.

2. Your communication skills (written and verbal) has to be very good. By communication, I do not mean fancy English words but clear, concise English sentences with no grammatical errors.

3. Your body language has to be perfect. Fidgeting with pens and/or notepads, constantly moving in chairs, facial expressions on not being allowed to speak or when cut by someone is a strict NO.

Remember that a Group Discussion is a simulation of the team meetings which you will have in plenty once you join an organization. And through this exercise, they are evaluating how well you can behave in teams, how easily you can communicate your view-point to the team, how wide and deep you can think about the topic/case in hand and also whether you are being able to earn respect from your team members that they bother to listen to your view-point and use it in the GD.

For Interviews:-
1. Knowing whatever you have filled in your CV is non-negotiable. You are committing a fatal mistake in case you don't know about a single keyword in your CV. My final placements interview at L&T revolved entirely about cricket. This doesn't mean that they are fooling around, they just want to know whether you have written the truth. So every activity you have done in your life, know them in and out. It should be like if you have been the General Secretary of the Student Body in your college and they ask you about it, you should be able to speak non-stop for at least 15 minutes (subject to no interruption from the interviewer)
2. Know your graduation subject and the recent trends in your discipline. This just shows your seriousness about your engineering. Never portray that you did not want to do engineering and are trying to run away from it. This not only shows your casual approach to life but also lack of decision-making ability.
3. If you have been selected for a particular specialization (say finance at SPJIMR or HR at XLRI), know why you want to take up that discipline. Know the recent trends in finance (at least in Indian context). This again will show that you are serious about that discipline. One tricky question for those opting to do HR is Why HR? It will haunt you till your final placements. So here, knowing what happens in the discipline will help you align your answer more to the actual happenings. Answers to such questions should ideally consist of your thought process towards taking up the specialization + how you think you will be able to add value to the specialization through your skillsets.
4. For questions asking you to describe a situation where you showed XYZ quality, mention situations which actually happened. In case you haven't faced such situation, tell the truth frankly. The risk of making up a situation is that in case they delve deeper, you might be caught on the wrong foot.
5. And the most important part, believe in yourself and your abilities. When I went for GD-PI at SCMHRD (it was incidentally the only call I had), people told me that it is impossible, SCMHRD always takes people with work-ex. In my GD panel of 6 people, I was the only fresher and none of the other 5 made it. 

MBA is a profession where your expertise and skills count for nothing if you don't have self-confidence. Trust me, over the next two years, you will need self-confidence in plenty. So prepare well and give it your bestest shot irrespective of the fact whether you have 1 call or 15 calls.

May luck be with you and you get the B-school of your dreams.

For any queries, feel free to reach out to me through FB or drop me a mail at sandipan_deb@scmhrd.edu