So the CAT results are out and so are some shortlists, where should the candidates start from?
Candidates should begin their preparation by being up to date on their knowledge of current affairs if they have not started doing so. Two out of three parts of selection process that is WAT and GD are generally based on your knowledge of current affairs. Even in interviews some questions are based on your general awareness. So it’s high time that some part of the day is devoted to reading newspapers and staying up to date on significant events happening in the world.
What are the most important things to take care of while preparing for WAT PIs?
Some of the important things to take care of when preparing for WAT is writing practice, giving a balanced view of the entire topic – not leaning on any one side as you don’t know the biases that the evaluator might have, keeping the essay concise and the language simple. Also special attention must be given to correct grammar and spellings as they may seem insignificant but when not done right, it vexes the evaluator.
The most important thing to take care of in PIs is the confidence with which you give the answers and the body language you maintain. Sometimes even wrong answers seem convincing if said with confidence and positive attitude, and right answers look dicey if the candidate is low on confidence.
How should the students deal with stress during the interviews?
While preparing for PIs, candidate can start preparing for questions based on their Profile as these are the sure shot questions and the candidate would not want to miss out on those. Also some other questions like
(i) Introduce yourself (ii) Why MBA? (iii) Which field are you interested in and why? (iv) What are your career goals? (v) Who is your role model and why? (vi) Why that particular institute? should also be prepared. Being prepared with the answers to these questions will give the candidates confidence and help manage the stress.
You’ve had work experience. What advice would you give the freshers who have started their WAT PI preparation?
The advice to freshers for PI would be to prepare topics from any two subjects they were interested in in their undergraduate study because the evaluator does not expect the candidate to know everything but atleast considerable knowledge in the subject of candidate’s liking would be expected. Also, freshers should highlight the projects that they have done since that would be the area where they could show their analytical know-how.
It’s seen that the candidates remain confused regarding what colleges to go for. How should they deal with this?
Candidates should select colleges according to the discipline they are interested in or want to pursue and not go only after the name of the college and the peer pressure of selecting an Institute based only on ranks and placements. Field of interest is more important than the expected pay package/ placement of the college, as the initial package is not the most important thing, the quality of work you do in the industry can get you higher offers. So I would suggest that the candidates pick colleges according to institute specialization and then packages.