Tricky hurdles..!!

So you started feeling confident about your preparation for the entrance test and see your seat fixed at a premier institute, since you have worked hard towards solving those out of box questions. Wait my dear think again, are you really prepared for some tricky hurdles. I call them tricky because it seems to be easy to get over these hurdles after you clear the aptitude round but actually statistics prove that many fail to clear these hurdles. It’s important that we give time to prepare for the same. Let’s be confident enough to crack these hurdles. So what are these hurdles actually, let us understand it one by one. The very first one is Group discussion, which is followed by a Personal Interview and in some cases an Extempore also. We will understand these terms and prepare accordingly.

Why do we actually go through a GD…??

If we go by the exact meaning a group discussion is something which is discussed about in a group. Now the group may be of any size from as small as 3 people to as big as 20 people. GD is conducted to know about various attributes of an individual which are not known if he is not in a group. So a GD is a test of group skills, social skills, leadership skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills, situation handling skills, soft skills, articulation skills etc. In general a topic is decided by the instructor and 2 to 3 minutes are given to put your thoughts together after which the discussion starts. Now the time limit is between 15 to 30 minutes in general which may vary. So it’s important to speak out your thoughts in a short, crisp, and clear manner.

Depending upon the structure a GD can be divided into 3 segments:


Plain Vanilla GD
Most often you will find yourself in a plain vanilla GD where a topic is decided by the instructor, consensus is not required, a leader is also not chosen, and topics are more of general knowledge where no technical gyan is required.

Complicated GD
Here things are quite opposite to the plain vanilla GD, the group is asked to decide on the topic, leader is chosen, group dynamics are to be taken care of by the leader and yes a consensus is to be reached after a discussion.

Specialised GD
The reason I call it a specialised GD because it puts you into some sort of a situation where a solution or role is to be played. Though the situation and character is briefed but the play is to be designed by the group. This is interesting but also requires a lot of skills to handle and pull it off well. Situations can vary from wide range right from business situations to historic situations.

Now that we are clear about how a GD can be conducted, let’s focus on some of the important points to remember:

Content is the key. It shows the level of preparation, your understanding about a topic and how you present in a logical manner substantiating with examples.

Take control of your behavioural skills, be assertive in what ever your stand may be but don’t be too aggressive.

Focus on articulation which refers to clarity of thoughts, fundamental knowledge of English, and your body language.

Leadership is the fundamental skill which is required from a budding manager so go along with the group, manage the conflicts within the group and try and gather attention of the group.

Innovation in your thought process will lead to attention from the bosses which really work as an X factor for you. So try to be innovative by giving a topic a new meaning which is in relation to the context.


Do a PEST Analysis of a GD
By Pest analysis I mean gather points from Political, Economic, Social, Technological domains. This would give you a very strong position and would raise you above average since you would touch most of the aspects a topic can have. When you go through your points use your body language to your advantage. Say if you use your hands to count the points on your fingers, group members would feel that you are very structured in your approach and have lot of content, so they will not mess around with you.
The Brahma – stra of GD
Now that you have got all the fundamental knowledge of a GD, lets be aware of certain out of the box tricks to handle the situation when you are totally lost in a GD. Work on your short story telling skill which could be a situation or a simple story, but remember to make a story in the context of the topic. This would let you speak for longer duration and catch the attention of the group. A lot depends on the skill of your story telling. So polish your brahma-stra well and use it when you struggle to gather points.
What NOT to do in a GD ??
It is as important to know what is to be done in a GD. One should be aware of certain points which can act as a deterrent in the selection process.
Slang language is BIG no even words like yaar, buddy is to be avoided. Use Friend it’s cool.
Don’t pepper your language with an accent. Be yourself.
Try to avoid fillers such as hmm, like, aaa, etc.
Don’t stress too much on your language Forget Al Pacino and Naseeruddin Shah.
Don’t interrupt or finish a sentence for an interviewer. Let the interviewer do it.
No negative words for any member in a group.
Finally, I would say don’t get too apprehensive about a GD. Prepare yourself and crack it, simple as that. So start having opinions for every situation you are put into. All d best…..!!