CMAT is a national level computer based test conducted by NTA for admissions into all management programs in all AICTE approved B-Schools. The paper consists of Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Ability, Language Comprehension and General Awareness sections. The first CMAT was conducted in 2012. The next step in the admission process is the Group Discussion and Personal Interview round, which varies from institute to institute.
Group Discussion or GD, is used by an organization (company, institute, business school etc.) to gauge whether a candidate has certain personality traits desired by them like communication skills, leadership, teamwork etc.
Group Discussions in various CMAT colleges is based on a current or general topic. In Goa Institute of Management, Goa and few other CMAT institutes, the same topic is given for Essay Writing as well as Group Discussion. The topics range from general topics like Facebook - A curse to personal space to current topics related to the Indian Economy.
The average duration of a Group Discussion is 10-15 minutes. There are about 15 students in each group and there are 2 panelists. As discussed above, there are many parameters on which students are evaluated. You should not be too aggressive or argumentative in a GD. You must demonstrate various skills like knowledge, good communication skills, teamwork, etc. in order to clear this round.
Generally, the next round in some colleges, in addition to the Group Discussion round is the Essay Writing round. In this round, candidates are given a topic on which they have to write an essay in about 15 minutes. An essay is a reflection of one's personality. It checks the written communication skills, knowledge level and logical thinking ability of the candidate. An essay can be deemed as a good essay only if it has good content, organization and presentation. Make sure your essay has a proper structure. This means that the essay should have an introduction, body and a conclusion.
The topics for essay writing are often related to current affairs, for example a few topics, which were asked in previous year K.J. Somaiya Inst. of Mgt. Studies & Research essay writing round were Swatch Bharat Campaign, Low voter turnout and its impact on democracy and Global Warming.
A Personal Interview is a great opportunity for candidates to show their skills and strengths. It's a chance to show how they are a perfect fit for a particular institute or position. On the other hand, it gives a chance to the panelists to evaluate the personality of the candidate.
Typically, interview questions can be of different types, like personality-based questions, which focus on strengths, weaknesses, achievements, failures and goals of an individual. Questions regarding educational background focus on an individual's academic performance and extracurricular activities. There can also be current affairs or career planning based questions. The panelists might also ask technical questions related to your graduation subjects. The candidates should also be mentally prepared for 'stress interviews' in which there is a lot of cross questioning and difficult questions just to check the candidate's confidence.
