Once you have cleared the MBA entrance exam, it is time to gear up for the next stage of selection. After the written test, the shortlisted candidates are called to appear for Group discussion, Essay Writing and Personal Interview. This article will give you a glimpse of these three stages.
Group Discussion
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
MAT colleges is based on a current or general topic. For example: At Christ, Bangalore, last year, the topics ranged from general topics like "The CBI crisis" to typical topics like "Freedom"
The average duration of a Group Discussion is 10-15 minutes. There are about 10-12 students in each group and there are 2 to 3 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 step after the Group Discussion round is the Written Ability Test (WAT)/
Essay Writing. In this round, candidates are given a topic on which they have to write an essay. The word limit and time limit is defined before the start of this round. Generally, candidates have to write an essay of 200-400 words in 20-30 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.
The topics for essay writing are often general, like, "Online Education v/s Classroom Education" Or can be related to current affairs like "Importance of GST".
Personal Interview
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 the 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. There can also be current affairs or career planning based questions. The panelists might also ask technical questions related to your graduation subjects. The best way to prepare for interviews is by practice and preparation.
