Yaay CAT is over! Phew (:’D) You just want to chill with your favourite series or go for that vacation. Well that is just some of you. A few others will be feeling restless thinking how you would have scores, what calls you would get and how and what to prepare. A few of you might be getting back to office after CAT. What do you do now? Do not worry, as I am here to give out a few tips. I converted my IIM Indore call with a relatively lower CAT score in the first list itself. (So you can trust me indeed :D )
Below are a few tips that you can follow, without disturbing your everyday routine (especially if you have to head back to office). In no particular order…
1. Prepare IN DEPTH of your “Tell me about yourself”:
“Tell me about yourself” is probably one of the most underrated questions. We often think, Ah that should be easy. But hey, here is the real deal! Probably all interviews WILL start with a tell me about yourself. And make sure you know each and every word you are going to talk. Because questions are going to start branching from what you are going to say. For instance, I said I love baking and trust me, I had questions shot out to me for about 10 mins about baking that included a question “What are probiotics” :P So prepare what you are going to say and start branching in, in depth. For e.g. if you are going to say you are from Delhi, learn about the history, CM, ministers, size etc about Delhi.
2. Missed out reading newspapers? – This is what you have to do to cope up with current affairs:
So current affairs! Missed out on reading out on newspapers all this while?! No issues. Just go online, research about the hot topics around the globe (e.g. currently, GST, Padmavathi, Anita suicide etc.) So everyday just go online and read about these topics. Visit blogs, see how people had debated around this topic and try to take part in debates. You have no clue how this would help you in your GDs.
3. Yes! Go for the weekend mock GDs and PIs conducted by coaching centers:
You have to get a reality check and know where you stand. And preparing in hand to attend these mocks will help you to stay on track.
4. Time to make use of those News apps:
The best thing that probably set me on track was when I downloaded those amazing Apps like Inshorts, TOI which keeps pushing notifications to your phone. I know these notifications can be annoying. But whenever you receive a notification, and you push it off, your mind tends to read it and store in unconsciously. At times you will be pricked with curiosity to spend a few minutes to read about it. Make full use of this opportunity. At once during a GD, I was able to relate to an instance about a teenager suicide in USA.
5. Write it all down:
Like how Tendulkar says in an Advertisement, it is time you grab that pen and start writing down all that you have learned that day. Just a few pointers a day would do. This would help you in 2 ways - (1) Writing always makes something stick to your memory better (2) Before going in for your GDPI just look at all that you have learned, it would like a revision and believe me, those pointers are all that you would need to look at one day before your GDPI.
Following these few pointers would merely take at maximum 1 hour of your day. As the saying goes, “Tiny drops of water make the Mighty ocean” these teeny-weeny tricks would be of great use before you head into your GDPIs.