5 Ways To Ace Your GD/PI Preparations

With the CAT exam being over and other MBA entrance exams queued up, the journey for MBA aspirants doesn’t get over here. Scoring in these competitive exams is the first stepping stone towards the goal of getting into the top B-Schools. Simultaneously, there is the need for the aspirants to start for the preparation of Group Discussions and Personal Interviews (GD/PI) to get admission in a B-School. Working in an IT firm with hectic schedules and many entrance exams for MBA in the queue, my routines were quite frantic. I had not started with preparations of GD/PI until I got a profile-based call from S P Jain, Mumbai. Entering into one of the best B-Schools, that is SPJIMR is a dream come true for an MBA aspirant. The call was made even before the CAT results were out.

After the CAT scores announced, I was confirmed for the interview as I had cleared the overall as well as the sectional cutoff. I was overjoyed for being shortlisted but soon realized I have hardly 10 days left to prepare. Also, there was no guidance from my coaching institute, and I had to appear there without much preparation. SPJIMR conducted the group interviews, and I did not have experienced any mock interviews of a similar pattern. Unfortunately, I could not clear the group interview for the students of profile based calls. That day caused me a setback but had also taught me a lesson. After going back, I started considering my GD/PI preparations seriously and followed a timetable to embrace my preparations.

I had appeared in GD/PI for many B-Schools varying from SPJIMR to NMIMS and SIMSR to GIM etc. Every experience had taught me how to perform better, where I went wrong and what I was still lacking that needs to be aced.

Here are 5 things that you should start preparing in your daily routine from today:

1. Be well acquainted with the current news. Read any newspaper be it TOI, Mint or Economic Times (preferably for students interested in Finance). Also, you can download various applications for checking out news as Knappily, TOI, The Hindu, etc. If you are working, try utilizing the time of travelling in reading and cut down your time from social media on mobile to such apps.
2. Also keep yourself informed with essential GK in politics, geography, history and other genres. Update your information about current trends in the market and dwell into deep concerning the hot trending topics that are often asked in Group Discussions: Demonetization, GST, Cryptocurrency, the annual financial budget, etc.
3. Many of the B-Schools ask for SOPs or a detailed form to be filled. Be thorough with every word you mention in the registration form.

   Also, keep a text prepared for the basic questions like

   _Why do you want to pursue MBA?

   – Why do you want to get into a particular specialization?

   – Why are you the perfect fit for this B-School?

   – Why do you want to pursue MBA from this B-School?

   – Where do you see yourself after two years of MBA?

   – What skills do you possess that make you stand apart from the crowd?

4. Read about the Institute in detail. Do visit the website of the B-School you are appearing for GD/PI sessions, swim through the necessary information like founder, dean/director of the institute, academics, courses, specializations offered, opportunities offered apart from academics, average and highest package, major recruiters, students’ life and culture in the college.  This highlights your eagerness and sincerity to get admitted into that particular MBA University, creating a positive impression on the minds of the interviewer.
5. If you are working be acquainted with the information about your company apart from your job profile. If fresher, be ready to cope with the students having experience and in-depth industrial knowledge. Be well acquainted with the subjects you studied in bachelors and various projects or research undertaken by you.

Along with these, be a consistent part of the mock GD/PI sessions that are conducted at various coaching centers to experience it for improving one's’ skills.