Group Discussion for the coveted management colleges are round the corner and these rounds are where decisions are made. During the GD the interviewer evaluates the candidate’s skills, capabilities and level of experience. You may anticipate some questions and prepare the ideal answers but remember that there are no standard responses. Your replies should be clear and relevant, whatever be the question.Mr. Manish Saraf, COO, PT Education explains more

Special qualities that MBA schools look for in a candidate:

While selecting candidates, the MBA schools always look for special qualities. You should have ‘fire-in-the-belly’ and zeal to achieve something big. They look out for achievers. MBA programs want students who can lead people and be responsible for the management of entire organization. Because leadership is one of the main ingredients for success, your communication skills, initiative, and motivation can become the most important aspects of the admission process which are tested through GDs.

Managerial attributes that are measured by MBA schools during the Group Discussion round:

GDs are conducted to test your managerial attributes like interpersonal skills, leadership, analytical and rational thinking, knowledge and personality traits. Communicating in a clear and fluent manner is a must. GDs are aimed at knowing your leadership potential and qualities, very good team skills, innovation, creativity, adaptability and the willingness to change, diversity in any aspect of his life etc.

How should candidates prepare themselves for GDs?

You can prepare for Group Discussions in two levels, Individual and Group level. You should focus on improving your fluency and listening skills. In order to improve your fluency, tonal quality and articulation, you should start reading aloud from a book or newspapers. You should also do some discussions in your peer group.
One of the crucial parts of GD is listening. A good listener can summarize discussions in a well manner. In this way, he can get good score by presenting a good case over an idea provided by other participants. You should do some listening exercise for the purpose of GD preparation.
For improving one’s content what should be done:

For the preparation for content, you have to pick some current affair topics and do research on them. You should understand an event from different perspectives such as personal, social, political, cultural, academic etc. You should remember some important facts and figures of the topic. You should also read national dailies such as The Economic Times, Business Standard, The Hindu etc.

Some suggestions for preparing on a Case Study topic:

When practicing for case study it is important to consider the following points:

-- Analyze information, conclude, act and recommend action.

-- Be logical and clear in your reasoning.

-- Maintain good eye contact and listen carefully to the information you are given.