How to prepare for Group Discussion?

Group Discussions is the main phase in the selection process; a candidate must score well in his level to make it to the final phase. The exchange of the thought and opinions of one another in the group discussions helps the selector to see the individual participation level and personality assessment with the way he handles the queries and be successful in taking over the other.

Being a verbal round in group level, there may be five to twelve participants in the discussion where the topic is announced and all of them try to be expressive and discuss all that circles about and around the topic. This could be a 15 to 20 minute process. 

There are structured group discussions unstructured group discussions and specialized ones. There may be a topic given or may be a general discussion without any specific topic or there may be role play. The selector assesses the level of coordination and cooperation, temperament, attitude and aptitude. 
Team players are the target candidates for selection so there are many things a candidate must understand and prepare before he or she gets into group discussions. 
Communication skills – Using effective communication, expressing thoughts clearly, be a keen listener and an active participant. Use simple language and appropriate sentences. 

Leadership qualities – Ability to takeover the group and try to be impressive in expressing the thoughts.  Do not deviate from topic.

Interpersonal quality – the candidate must be able to give room for other views and thoughts and try be a participant instead of being self centered. He should be communicating with the entire team of members.

Problem solving quality- the candidate must understand the situation and try to analyze from others pint of view and try fix up things. 

Persuasive quality – the candidate must be able to be helpful and at the same time be smart to handle things without ordering or degrading others views. 
Be confident, be a active participant, be polite, persuasive, be patient, be assertive, be natural, try some strategies at home to be successful in Group Discussions. Be presentable and give the best in you.

How to prepare for Personal Interviews?

Most of the candidates who go for the personal interviews, either for job or for B-school entrance should follow certain strategies to win over the situation. As other preparations personal interviews also need a little bit of planning and preparation that makes it a calk walk for all.
Home work for personal interviews:

If you are applying for a particular course study, know the various institutes that offer the course and also the specific study area. The subject related questions might be included in this session. Talk about your self, talk about your career plans, talk about your goals are few of the common questions asked in personal interviews, so a presentable written answers for such questions gives the confidence to answer well at the real situation. 
Stick to the point:
Try to answer the questions to the point; do not try to deviate from the subject area. Do not need to explain about things mentioned in your application, just be brief in presenting about yourself and career and highlight on your strengths, this saves a lot of time.

The first impression:
It is said that the first impression created should be the best impression, so be presentable, the professional dressing and printable mannerism must be a part. Try to be smart enough and an open mind that shall help the students. Try to tell about yourself stressing on points that makes you a unique and skillful person. 

Understand the areas for assessment:

The Strengths and weaknesses of the student

Aim and objective behind management education

Stress and Time Management skills

Past performances and experiences as indicator to future behavior

Honesty and integrity

Personality and interpersonal skills.

Tips for personal interviews:
Be a good listener, understand the question and answer to the point.

Try to make the conversation in a polite manner and pause before you go on explaining things.

Give out positive and impressive information.

Try to be yourself, do not try to impose a false personality, honesty is also another criterion measured in the personal interviews.

How to prepare for Common Admission Test (CAT)?

With different level of examinations and types included according to the course of study, the candidate has to be ready to face such hard core examinations to pursue his dream career.

Being rated the number one management entrance exam, CAT – Common Admission Test is been conducted to evaluate students. This CAT is conducted by Indian institutes for Management. Almost majority of the management institutes accept CAT as one of the main examination and also consider only the Cat scores for selection process.

Not just rating the aptitude is the basic aspect of CAT; there are many fields they take into consideration which includes areas of Quantitative ability, Data interpretation, data sufficiency, logical reasoning, reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, and verbal ability. With English and Mathematics (that includes mostly the 10th grade level) forming the basis for the questionnaire in CAT,  students need to have keen understanding of the examination first hand, as there could be few differences done in the format, areas, fields that are included in the CAT Examination.

When entering higher education level, one also need to be prepared for facing the examination with confidence, and this is gained only when the candidate is prepared well for his CAT exam. Certainly, the first thing to do is to plan and prepare for the exam.  Understand yourself, knowing where you stand. There must be a proper schedule, to fix timings for your study. Long durations or long study time in a day may not be effective. So you may spend effective three hours a day. The best time to start your Cat exam preparation shall a year, or at least six months of effective learning.

There is a free preliminary test for CAT, which could be useful. This shall help you to know the areas of improvement, the aptitude level, your strong points, the level of effective preparation is understood thereafter, and also helps to choose apt training program from authenticated institutes. Reading magazines, newspapers with a standard speed would be great idea. Section tests and comprehensive tests shall be useful to correct the mistakes and giving multiple attempts for such tests helps you to excel in the examination. 

CAT Entrance Exam Online CAT CAT Eligibility IIMs in India Common Entrance Test

The most prestigious B-Schools in India are the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). An aspiring management student has to take the famous Common Entrance Test (CAT) to be considered for admission into the IIMs. The CAT is a qualifying exam for students who want to pursue their postgraduate degree in management from the renowned IIMs in India. The CAT score can also be used for other management schools in India. IIMs select their students by the score in the CAT exam followed by a round of group discussion and personal interview.

Online CAT
As the world knows most of the competitive exams have changed to the online pattern because of the ease of working with the whole examination process. The CAT is again an online test with multiple choice questions having negative marking for wrong answers.

The exam comprises of three sections which spins around the topics of data interpretation, logical reasoning, puzzles, English language skills and arithmetic problem solving. There is no definite syllabus for preparing for the test; it just tests the general ability of the person who has to be a future manager. However the number of questions and the corresponding time duration keeps changing every year.

CAT Eligibility
The candidate who wishes to apply for a postgraduate degree in management has to have a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum aggregate of 50%. In the case of SC or ST class then a minimum of 45% is suffice to take up the test. There are some specialisations in management that require the students to have a bachelor’s degree in the same field of specialisation. For more information on CAT visit http://www.catiim.in

Why Online CAT Exam Failed?

All the students who want to persue MBA in Indian reputable institutions take up the Common Admission Test. Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) organizes this exam and based on the CAT results, they short list the candidates who are eligible and Candidates are called for Group Discussion and Personal Interview. Written examinations were held till this year but the 2010 CAT exam is to be conducted online.

Unfortunately the first attempt of conducting CAT exams in online failed due to virus attack.  Many students were stranded in many centers across India as the first CAT online test failed due to overloading.  But the IIM said that the test failed due to small technical glitches.  The IIM said that there was some problem because the window of the computer based CAT took ten days to be introduced.  2.41 lakh students took up the online test and they had an entirely new experience.  The major problem was that the students found problems only in the logging session.  Exam centers at Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Bhopal faced the logging in problems.

Students who took up the exams on the second day also faced the same problem and were unable to complete the test.  The IIM officials made assurance that the test for the students who missed out this session would be conducted soon.  Prometric and NIIT partnered together to make this CAT test but was not successful. Anyways-proper analysis and proper research would prevent such incidences in future.