Posted by girish seshamani on July 15, 2010
As a trainer for CAT\MAT and other competitive exams over the last ten years, I find lot of intelligent students not being able to crack the Group Discussion and Interview. The fear of the unknown is so high, that these set of students, see themselves as failures.
In our country, English is the second language. Apart from metropolitan cities, which have a number of convent schools, all other students stand at a huge disadvantage, since they are not exposed to the English Language. In all these states, even though the English Language is part of the curriculum, the English Language is taught in their mother tongue. The teachers themselves are not trained properly and they do not have the ability to make the English Language interesting. Moreover the interaction between students also happens in their mother tongue, with the net result being a rude shock, when they get exposed to the outside world.
When I interacted with this category of students at length their concerns were:
If we try to converse in English with our teachers, they reply in our mother tongue
English is not required for me because I am joining the family business
Our friends make fun of us or treat us as social outcasts, if we try to converse in English
Our parents are not educated and our siblings are also sailing in the same boat
Our teachers discourage the use of English
We know only a few words
We do not know how to construct a sentence and pronounce the word, so we will end up making fools of ourselves
Emotionally sensitive
Inability to speak in front of a small group or public speaking
Thinking in one’s mother tongue and translating into English
After listening to their concerns, I just asked them one question, How did you pick up your mother tongue? The answer was prompt. We learnt to speak our mother tongue by listening to our parents speak. My next question was, Did your parents teach you grammar? The answer was No
I then went on to tell them, the English Language also needs to be learnt, the same way.
I worked out a plan of action which I am listing below:
Be passionate about the English Language
Make it a point to watch News Channels, Animal Planet or National Geographic. Close your eyes and focus on the words. Likewise, if you share a passion for a particular game, as in, cricket or football, listen to the commentary
In the initial phase do not bother about your grammatical accuracy, fluency or vocabulary. Your focus should be to reach a level, where you can boldly communicate in the English Language, with whatever vocabulary you have
Identify one person in your locality who speaks the English Language fluently. Have a serious discussion with this person, and tell him that you want to improve your language, and you are prepared to stretch the limit. Ask him to correct your mistakes. Fix up a time convenient to him and interact with him for anywhere between 10 – 15 minutes daily. This conversation can be in person or on phone. Ask him to correct your mistakes and make it a point, not to repeat the same mistake again.
Avail of every opportunity that you get to speak. Never bother about the reaction of the audience. There are bound to be people in the audience who will smile sarcastically or may laugh at you, while you are delivering your speech. Let me tell you that these people are failures. They have not achieved anything in their life, and are filled with envy. Make yourself mentally so tough, that nothing should pull you down, and destroy your confidence
Do not compare yourself with anyone. You are unique
Read any magazine which is related to your area of interest. If you want to go in for fiction, there is nothing to beat, James Hadley Chase. You will not put the book down, till you have finished, reading the book fully. The language used is also simple.
Always think in English. If you think in your mother tongue, and translate into English, the structure will go horribly wrong. Let us take a sentence; Rita is beautiful, which is the right structure. Assuming that your mother tongue is Hindi, the translation will be, Rita khoobsurat hai, which when translated to English becomes, Rita beautiful is. Always remember the basic structure of the English Language, which is, Subject + Verb + Object
Practice Auto Suggestion. Human beings are blessed with two minds, conscious mind and the subconscious mind. When we go to sleep in the night, the subconscious mind comes on top and the conscious mind goes down. Auto suggestion means feeding your subconscious mind with positive thoughts. In this case, let us assume that you have to deliver a speech after one week. Everyday before going to sleep, imagine that you are one of the best speakers in the world. People admire you and they have come in huge numbers to listen to you. See yourself talking confidently, and the audience listening to you, with full attention. After your speech gets over, the entire crowds’ gets up from their seats and give you a standing applause. Do this everyday without fail, and more importantly, believe in the power of the subconscious mind. Visualize this whole scene again and again. The great tennis player, Andre Agassi, is a master of the subconscious mind. When you get up in the morning, the conscious mind comes on top, and the subconscious mind goes down. The job of the conscious mind, is purely to implement the commands, given to it, by the subconscious mind. You can rewrite your whole destiny, if you tap the power of your subconscious mind
Before I wind up, I would like to quote Martin Luther King, who said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenges and controversies”
HAPPY SPEAKING
Posted by TCYonline.com on June 10, 2010
Contributed By Ashish Kolvalker
This was probably my best – but didnt get me da result expected 
.
Date and time: April 16th – 9:30 am
Place: Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai
Reached at around 2 pm on Sunday the 15th and spent that evening at TISS – met many new PG friends – Vachan, Rajiv and of course later Saki and Ram (whom I already knew)… the stay overnite was nice – doesnt feel as if u are in Mumbai when inside the campus at TISS 
– small in size but really nice to have a walk in da evenings etc – and extremely conducive atmosphere and surroundings for study – and well – the latest news is that TISS has become wi-fi – all da info was poured in from Babu who met us on Sun evening and answered a lot of questions from our side…
Woke up early in da morning – got ready and went to the main lounge where there was a smal crowd – not as much as expected – we had a small presentation on the know-how of TISS by a second-year’ite of the HRM/LR program… later we came up and were grouped into different batches (as put on da notice board) – and were led to da different classes for the GD/PI – Mine was in class XI – 8 of us (2 absent) – 4 boys 4 gals… so even ratio
GD: Globalisation is a mixed blessing for the youth of today (it was the same topic for all the batches in my main group) – the other group had got Gandhian values etc etc… ( though the topics are being changed evryday – so dont go by them 
)
Very decent GD – chipped in a lot of times… was surprised by da female junta as some spoke real well, and real fluently. By da way we ourselves decided that we wud use paper, and recollect our thoughts for sometime – the 2 supervisors didnt have a prob with it – though when we decided on the topic as globalisation and started writing, one of them said ‘Isnt this a GD ?? ‘ – and well – one of the ladies started rite away. Two of the females seemed to be dominating the show – though all guys spoke well too – and well – chipped in a lott of good points – though the youth aspect was kinda fading away with all the industrial and economic aspect takin toll of da topic :mg: – all of us spoke without majorly cutting others – as we had been reminded that domination of the GD wud lead to getting -ve points.
Rating: 8/10
After this – we were led into a room, and were told that there is still some time for the PI. Hence we moved off – grabbed a vada-paav for a quick bite and then came back – to our disbelief the PI’s had already begun – apparently the people were being called RANDOMLY. Was surprised at this – but there was nothin we cud do. We just gave our names, and sat there hopin for a quick call. I was called in just before the lunch call – though they dedided later that I too shud be pushed in after lunch . So i went ahead, ate somethin and returned. The wait before the PI was long. The PI finally happened at around 3 to 3:15 pm. I was all jittery before as I had heard my panel had been stressing the people in da morning and blasting on GK… finally I was in…
PI: The panel – Oldish smiling lady – L (did almost all questioning)
Elderly man in between – E
Different lookin elderly person with long tied hair – D
Bakra moi 
– B
B (enters and wishes all – sits)
E: Whats these documents? (pointing to my change of name docs)
B: (Explains what were they)
E: But why did you change your name ?
B: blah blah
All 3 of them: Ok ok
L (smiling eternally :mg: ) – So u are working in XXX – how long?
B: blah blah
L: Oh – thats a lot of time – wat are u working in?
B: blah blah (cool workex questions :mg:)
L: Ohk so such a nice field – why do u want to come into HR?
B: Blah blah blah blah -( some kind of an answer which I had thought of… explained properly – wat do I get — EXPRESSIONLESS faces from all except from L – she is smiling in an understanding manner – E is checkin my papers/docs/certificates)…
E: So what do you know about HR as a field?
B: blah blah – tell them the basics
(all shaking head except D of course )
L: Ok – so Ashish tell me bout what you think of women in this present day corporate world? And what are the issues faced by them ?
B: blah blah – sexual harrasment, ego problems from men, etc etc
L: Ohkie – so wat are the things companies have been doin to prevent such things like sexual harrasment?
B: blah blah
(trying to maintain eye contact with all – but E is busy with file – doesnt look at me AT ALL – and D is well – blank – stone-faced – no expressions! )
L: Ohkie – so tell me about the reservations issue now -
wat do u think bout the reservations issue in the private sector?
B: Blah blah blah blah
L: Ohk cool – (looks at others for their turn)
D (all of a sudden): What are the different central trade unions in India?
B: (says somethin which goes kinda unheard)
D: wattt???
B: blah blah (explains)
E: Ohkay yes yes
D: (shaking head)
D: Can you name some trade union in the unorganized sector?
B: umm – dont think I know any – but i guess BMS can be one of them
D: (smilingly looks at L)
Moi understands that my answer is wrong
D: So which are the new states in India??
B: blah blah
(all quiet for sometime)
L: (asks E if he wants to ask any questions)
E: No nothin actually – so bout ur hostel accomodation at TISS — blah blah ( they were askin this to all at their interviews)
B: blah blah
L: Ohkay thats it then – thanx Ashish
E: yes thanks
D: expressionless
B: (wishes and exits)
Approx 15 min – Dont know wat to say – questions were ok and I answered without any gaps etc -managed it well- but hardly any reaction from the panel – except for the lady at times… the people before me and those after me had a similar kinda interview – though not entirely on GK questions – theirs were even shorter – some 8 to 9 min…
Looks like they were lookin for more than just mere answers…
Rating: 8.5 to 9/10 (from my side)
Travelled in da evening to Churchgate to meet a friend and stayed overnite with him – had kinda fun – and then travelled back to airport da next morning to catch flite back to Blore – Saki (chaosunlimited) and another girl accompanied me in it – so that was good fun too
General opinion: Diverse interviews being conducted – entirely on luck which panel u get, and also how ur interview goes. Heard later that my panel conducted stress interviews in the latter half of the day… was again surprised at that… The panel with the dean was stressing most of da guys (like every year) – so guess people had to watch out there…
Source: http://ashishyahoo.blogspot.com
Posted by TCYonline.com on
Contributed By Ashish Kolvalker
Posting this one a bit late – though had kind of decided that I would post all my GD/PI experiences at one shot – after having got through a particular b-school – and here I am now – a proud to-be-MDI-alumnus penning down the experiences of this year..
Jan 30th 8 AM- Pune ( first batch in the entire GD/PI process spanning 4 days)
Institute: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM)
Batch – 1XF ( had a SNAP 100 scorer in this batch too )
Composition: 10 boys, 1 gal… but well – the gal wasnt present in the GD’s and GT’s with us…
The sight of SIBM wasnt really a pleasing one for me, as I had seen it the previous day – as it was nothing more than a building – frankly speaking even smaller than my school. Though I was here, and I had to attend the GD/PI now. The previous evening had been spent meeting friends, and also meeting my buddy Chinmay at SIBM (a buddy was supposed to guide he/her through the entire GD/PI process)
There was a crowd outside SIBM – the line of students for registration had reached the road ( the institute is one building right outside the road ). I got in the line – and it didnt take time to finish the registration procedure. I was given a batch tag – and was directed upwards to one of the floors above. We were made to sit in a classroom – some 3 or 4 batches in the morning. After a brief presentation by the seniors on SIBM and its culture, we started off. The first thing on the programme was the essay
Essay as told above – Whistle Blowers are guardians to democracy..
Hardly any time to recollect thoughts and write some stuff, in fact the topic needs better understanding and better examples as a good essay – which of course mine lacked.
Rating – 5/10.
Following this we were led to separate rooms where we sat with our buddies/other coordinators, who I must say were extremely helpful. My batch was seated in a small circle, and the coordinator gave us more ideas on how life at SIBM is. Soon we were called for the interviews – which was unexpected to come before the GD’s. I was the third on the list in the group. We were led to another room, where the three of us had a seat on the bench outside. The first person was a guy who was from PG – and had interacted with him in the morning. He seemed to have a good profile (2 years at DRDO, owner of a tech-forum online etc), and I was all apprehensive of him going before me. Still I was more at ease then expected. He had a cool interview, and so did the person before me – a 2 year experienced fellow at GE.
The next to enter was me. The following is how it all went.
Panel: One internal faculty(in middle) – F
One Senior HR Manager from Pepsi – P
One IIMA pass out – A
Myself – M
F did most of the questioning.
M (enters, greets and sits down)
F: So Ashish, tell me about yourself, your schooling, your extra curriculars, your workex, your hobbies and so on.
M (prepared answer): blah blah
P: Hmm ok – so which coaching institute have you prepared this answer from?
M (taken aback): Frankly this is my own prepared answer Sir, I do not require any external preparation for this – so I did not take help from any coaching class.
P: Thats good – its a general answer rite – so it doesnt require any preparations.
M: Yes Sir it doesnt
F: So Ashish, you have had workex as a technical consultant, so why an MBA now?
M: Blah blah – interests in HR etc
F: So Ashish, I see you have done your schooling and graduation at Goa. Why then do you want to come to Pune to do your management from SIBM? I am sure Goa too has a nice management institute.
M: blah blah – why SIBM prepared answer 
– qualities SIBM possesses.
F: So what in HR interests you?
M: Blah blah – more on Traning and Development
P: Ohk – tell me more about what kinds of trainings are there in Oracle
M: Blah blah
P: Ohkay – are all these trainings required at all levels?
M: No – as you go higher in the ladder, you require to take certain types of trainings.. blah blah ( had discussed most of the T&D part with an HR manager I knew – phew – was saved here )
P: Ohk
F ( looks at A )
A: So you say you like reading – what books do you read?
M: blah blah – all kinds blah blah
A: So name some books of Paulo Coelho
M: blah blah
A: Ohkay so you have interest in Hindu mythology…especially in Mahabharata – so I suppose I can ask you anything from it (big grin)
M: I guess so (scared a bit )
A: Ohkay – how many siblings did Dhritarashtra have?
M: 100
A: Siblings?
M: (oops!!) – Oh sorry – he had one sibling – thats Pandu
A: Are you very sure?
M: Yes Sir
A: Hmm – I think you need to revise your concepts on Mahabharata again then (all laughing)
M: Perhaps sir – if you say so…(was reasonably sure of the answer)
F: Ohkay Ashish – so what if we dont offer you the admission at SIBM? Whats the backup plan?
M: (prepared answer): blah blah – have to do it this year itself – maybe correspondence in HR – cant pursue a residential MBA after this year – blah blah
F: So you are hell bent on doing HR this year itself
M: Yes Sir
F: Ohk then thank you Ashish.
M: Thank you Sir
M (thanks all and leaves)
Quite a decent interview – would rate it 8/10.
Was bugged as they didnt go through my files at all – though they were there in my hands all the while etc. – Had really arranged them well and brought – and I tot i had some things to show in them
GD – Case study ( I guess all had case studies )… first case study of my life – hence was a bit nervous…
The case was about a person who joins a company as a programmer, then the company changes its domain of technology, and along with it, this 4 yr experienced guy has to adapt to the new domain, and new business. He is unable to do it , and underperforms, hence is warned from HR manager to be removed. The guy gets pissed, applies to other companies, gets reco letters from known people etc etc. One year down the line or so, the HR manager tells him that he has to leave the company. The guy loses it and threatens to sue the company for the treatment and show the reco letters as proof etc etc.
What should the HR manager do?
PS – this is as far as I can remember the case – ne one else please correct me…
Okish discussion – lot of argument – there was more talk about the reco letters and the suing , rather than the HR manager’s alternatives for tackling the problem – probably thats where we lost out. (my opinion).
The two panelists were ok (one male one female) – the female leader stopped us twice to make the quiet people speak – the male guy was noting our expressions, how we spoke etc… the GD was stopped by the female lady (probably she got bored )
Rating for my performance: 7.5/10
Next
Group Task: (This was the weirdest part in the procedure)
Panel: 2 old gentlemen
Task 1: This was a handkerchief placed at a distance from all of us – and we had to somehow touch it by crossing the line before it, without touching any part of our body to the ground. Weird rite? We discussed for a major part of the time – but I landed up convincing them to spend more time on doing the task at the end – so we somehow started. One fellow volunteered to be held by the others – and we all held him in some strategic method. Somehow we managed to do the task eventually. Looks like they were observing more of the group dynamics in it.
Task 2: This was a restrainer-captive task – where the prof stands at one end. We have to pair ourselves with a partner. At one instance I am the restrainer, trying to hold my partner from reaching the prof at the other end of the room. Next I am the captive, and he is holding me, preventing me from reaching the prof. We had this exercise – and well, I had some fun tickling my partner (he complained, but I retorted sayin that the prof had mentioned ‘the restrainer can do nethin in his power to stop the captive’. So it was kinda allowed. . At the end of the task, we all were made to stand in a line, and were questioned one by one on whether we liked to be the restrainer or the captive. This was dumb as the others further in line would try to mould their answers acc to what we answered. I chose to be the captive, as I gave some gyaan about having a certain goal to move to etc.
Tough to rate myself – but would give it a 6.5/10.
Our group was the first to finish that day. We left at around 12 – and me and my restrainer partner (Akaash) went over and had something at a Java Green center nearby. From there we departed, and I moved to my friends place where I was staying, and prepared to leave Pune.
Overall I was kind of satisfied with the entire experience – knowing I had done well with most of the proceedings – though I knew that if I got other calls later, I would have to leave this one for them – as the last date to pay the fees (75k) was 28th Feb. Eventually I did land up converting SIBM, but took a strong decision and gave up the seat without paying the fees. I had other better interviews to attend – and was confident in cracking at least one more of them.
Source: http://ashishyahoo.blogspot.com
Posted by TCYonline.com on June 9, 2010
TCYonline.com, India’s No. 1 test prep website has come out with a platform for students to share their interview experiences with other readers. All current and previous UPSC, MBA, MCA, NDA and NTSE (finals) candidates can share their G.D.P.I. and interview experiences with nearly one million users of TCYonline.com. Even students who have appeared for Student Visa interviews can upload their experiences on TCYonline.com/blog. Apart from interview experience, achievers can also share their preparation strategies and success mantra with other students on the portal. Students studying abroad after clearing their GRE and GMAT exams can also share their stories as also their experiences of settling down in a new culture.
All that a contributor has to do is mail the stories to manav.sarmal@tcyonline.com or alternatively they can log on to www.TCYonline.com/blog and self submit their experiences.
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Posted by TCYonline.com on
Contributed By Bharat Jhurani
The CAT results have been declared and IIM hopefuls are now focussed on acing the secong leg of the admissions process — the group discussions (GD) and the personal interview (PI).
To help students prepare themselves for all the possible twists and turns a personal interview can take, we publish first-hand experiences of students who managed to breeze through their PI and others who crashed and burned.
Here, Bharat Jhurani, a first-year student at IIM Lucknow, shares his interview experience as a part of the CAT selection process.
I am an electronics and communications engineer from the GITAM college of engineering (Non-NIT, IIT!), Visakhapatnam and I graduated in 2007(yup, a fresher!).
My lone IIM call — after all those arduous AIM CATS — topping them, working hard and even managing a 99.36 percentile in CAT — was from IIM Lucknow. One single IIM call! The reason? My slightly low score in the Verbal Ability section.
Anyway, no use crying over spilt milk. I decided to give this my best shot.
My group discussion and interview were scheduled on February 17 at 2 pm, the venue being Hotel Monarch, Bangalore. I was made part of Panel II and my number was 9 (why is it always Number 9?). I was called in for the GD and the essay at about 3 pm. There were two panel members presiding and 12 of us within the group. IIM-L is known for assigning abstract topics and it maintained its reputation upon this particular occasion. The topic? ‘The most effective way to eradicate poverty is through effective governance’.
As soon as it was dictated, we were asked to write a small essay in about 150 words within 5 minutes. After the stipulated time, the papers were taken away, leaving us to discuss the topic. With such an open-ended topic thrown in, it was literally a fish fight in the beginning — everyone was hurling in whatever facts they had at hand and I was no exception! I piped up quite a number of times during the process. Overall it was a pretty good GD, but it could have been better.
Then came the time for personal interviews — they were pretty short and I presented myself before the panel at 4:30 pm. It comprised of the same individuals who presided over the GD. My interview lasted for all of six minutes.
As I entered I was asked if I would like to enroll in the Agro-Business Management (ABM) course offered by the institute. I initially relented, but then informed them that I would prefer to leave it as a second option. So much for preparation!
Following this, I was asked the cliched question — ‘Tell us about yourself’ — which I answered reasonably well, highlighting my background, my hobbies (blogging, basketball) and my accomplishments (class representative etc).
Then followed a few questions on statistics, probability and simple mathematics. I answered all well, save two — one probability query, in which I mixed up the basic concept and a definition of disjoint events, for which I incorrectly rattled off all about independent events. I got so confused that they had to explain the concept to me and not becasue I didn’t know the answer, but because I was just too stressed. The lack of comfort showed so much on my face that one of the panel members actually said, “Don’t feel tensed! Be cool. It is not a stress interview.”
When asked what I do in my free time, I mentioned my hobbies once more. The younger of the two panelists seemed very interested in blogging — he questioned me on the contents of my blog and even noted down my blogsite! I started to feel a little better about myself and hoped that he would visit it before deciding my fate!
They then asked if I had any questions for them, to which I replied in the negative. I thanked them and smiled, leaving the room confidently. That was the end of my interview.
Two months later, I found that I have made it — I got a convert and am presently the first student out here at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
Gathering from my experience, I would say that the interviewers look for passion, ability and enthusiasm in a candidate, coupled with decent knowledge of current events and decent English language skills.
Get in there confidently and you’ll emerge victorious!
Source: www.rediff.com/getahead
