MBA is beyond CAT, includes drilling GD talks

Bangalore: If you are a student aspiring to crack the CAT exams, then your clocks must all be tuned to the big day that's November 16th. But just acing the two hour test will not ensure the ticket to that dream B school.

It is not just the quantative skills and data interpretation test but also one has to debate their way through that one final hurdle they will face on their way to their dream school and that final hurdle is Group Discussion or the GD.

At one glance, you may think that group discussion is all about survival of the loudest. But in reality being loud isn't the best thing that you should do

GD panelists say a moderator roughly looks for three quality skills in a group discussion. The first being leadership skills. A leader is not the person who speaks the most but a person who is spoken to the most.

That means unlike our political leaders who shout a lot, in a group discussion a leader is a person who is able to display his or her views effectively and maturely. Basically like your favourite spy action hero- cool and composed even in life threatening situations.

“When you keenly observe a person, you can see him encouraging others to speak he will not be too aggressive at same time he will be assertive. It’s a perfect balance,” says faculty, TIME Institute, V Karthikeyan.

The next characteristic that a GD panel looks out for is a person with a presence of mind or basically being street smart. These type of people can think on their feet and adapt very quickly to the situation. Even when put in a spot by other members in the group they can wriggle their way out and come out victorious.

These guys are the ones that would see a movie first day first show but still be in the top 5 of the class. These are the people who have enough knowledge of basically everything under the sun.

“That's very important in today's world. You really need to be street smart, most of the time you are countering an argument, you might have planned something in mind but when somebody counters you, you have to give an opinion to that,” says V Karthikeyan.

The final and for some strange reason the last in this list is content. A person who can talk clearly and also make a lot of sense. It is, many GD panelists say the single most important factor in a group discussion.

These type of people are well read and they never miss an opportunity to exhibit their superior knowledge over others.

So you can expect a mountain of newspapers and magazines in their room and they would prefer reading a book than watching the latest bollywood flick.

“Until and unless you are rich with content nothing comes out. You might sit there repeating the same thing again and again but that's not going to take you anywhere. You need to know what you speak,” adds V Karthikeyan.

So what may look like all shouting is actually a test to ascertain what your characteristic is. So take the GD's seriously for sometimes even though you may have got those roof shattering percentiles it may be these discussions that would decide your management future.

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