Group Discussion and Personal Interview of Welingkar Institute for an MBA degree is not very hard nut to crack if the student is well versed in all current affairs and delivers all cues with bold confidence.
Welingkar conducts Case Discussion more often rather than Group Discussion as it was the scenario of last year. A student can approach it by dividing it into two parts.
The first one is Group Discussion/Case Study which is more orientated towards evaluating a student’s team management capability and how s/he fits in a team building activity.
The second part is all about individual assessment through Personal Interview, all of which is conducted just within 15 minutes.
GD/CD:
The most frequent advice that all the students get is to read the newspaper daily, especially the Op-Ed sections where editorials and opinions are shared by professionals regarding concurrent issues of the state.
A current affair magazine will also suffice that covers international news and provides valid statistics and figures to support their arguments.
Below are some of the competencies that a student requires while attending GD.
- The content of the discussion should be relevant to date and it should be comprehensive.
- Facts do matter but beyond the veil of numbers, it’s the analytical ability of the student of how he interprets the data is what counts the most.
- The student needs to have good oratory skills which can be practiced through extempore speeches and improvisations.
- Since it is a group discussion, teamwork is more appreciated here rather than the individual talents, so the student needs to be a better listener first of other’s viewpoints.
- Leadership skills are assessed through observation of each team member’s ability to drive the group towards a common goal and solution.
- Group Behavior is more appreciated here rather than individual dominance to see whether the student is assertive or aggressive in nature when put into a project team.
In case of Case Discussion as it was the case last year, the following are to be remembered.
- First, one needs to explain the case in brief layman’s terms so that panelists can get the jest of it.
- Next, the student has to brainstorm to identify the causes of it in order.
- Lastly, some out of the box solutions should be suggested as better alternatives.
PI:
If one were to have anything but a single characteristic in Personal Interview, then it should be bold confidence. Below are a few more that a student should have when interviewing.
- The interview should be driven by the student himself which reflects how s/he can lead a conversation in general.
- Body language, eye contact, hand gestures should be well coordinated that can rhyme with the answers.
- Transparency is the key when it comes to CV and how one can present him/herself before the panelists about his/her work experience.
- Boldness and confidence during delivery is a must which demonstrate the student’s ability to take stay afloat amidst spears of questions.
- Lastly, a simple smile on the face throughout the interview reflects positivity and competency all over the face.
If you keep the above points in mind, cracking GDPI sessions can be easily achieved.