GD/PI Concept

The first things first — why
B-schools conduct GD/PI when students have already gone through an acid test. Isn’t clearing MBA entrance test enough to show that you are worth it? The simple answer is NO, because B-schools are simply not looking for walking dictionaries or logarithm books. They want candidates who can be trained and polished to be managers. The entrance test is just one stage where they see whether you have basic acumen to understand the course that will be taught during the MBA programme. In that too some parts of personality like ability to take decisions, ability to perform under pressure and analytical and logical thinking are assessed. But in order to get a complete idea of a candidate’s personality, B-schools go through this long process of assessing candidate’s personality.
There can be various ways of assessing an individual’s personality but group discussions and personal interviews are accepted tools to select a student because in a limited time they can give a fair idea to B-schools whether a candidate can become a manager or not. Students may argue that if this is the case, then knowing what B-schools are looking for and presenting yourself accordingly can actually help. Knowing what B-schools are looking for can actually help but not in preparing you for a superficial mask but to help you assess whether you have those traits which B-schools are looking for.
This brings us to other question: are managerial traits natural or can they be acquired? If they are natural, what is the need to do MBA? An MBA course teaches students how to achieve larger goals and it polishes those personality traits. But there are some basic traits that a candidate should have to go through the MBA process and to know that institutes conduct GD/PI.
Group discussion
A group discussion is generally a 20-to-30 minute process whose larger objective is to select those candidates who have the ability to perform in a team. Apart from this, the kind of topic given also helps panelists to know various traits of a candidate’s personality. In most of the GDs you are made to sit in a semi-circle and discuss a given topic. The topic can be as general as ‘Women make better managers’ or as specific as ‘India-US nuclear deal.’ What matters in group discussion is your stand on the topic, your ability to analyse the given topic, your awareness about the topic, and the way you present the topic. One person from the group is asked to introduce the topic, what follows is the discussion and the conclusion. The focus here is more on leadership and decision making, because in a GD you may or may not reach a consensus because the issues given to you are debatable. The end result of GD will not always be to reach a consensus but to assess your people’s skill.
Who wins?
Those who have:
Good listening skills: Listening doesn’t mean hearing. It means listening and understanding what the other person is saying. If you have good listening skills, you will be able to keep a track of where group discussion is moving. You will know different points that have already been raised and you have to bring in some new point.

Knowledge of the topic: Some years back content was the most important aspect of GD. Although content still holds its importance but in addition to that you are also weighed on how analytical and aware are you about your surroundings. Earlier it was just about discussing pros and cons of an issue but now knowledge gathered from various sources, analysed and presented in a structured form holds the key to success in GD. Reading newspapers, magazines, and going through Economic Survey would help in enriching the content of GD.
Confidence: You have all the knowledge and good listening and analytical skills, but you do not have confidence to assert what you are saying is right, may prove a negative point. In GD panelists do not know you personally; they would only be able to judge you from what you speak.
Introduction: Introducing the topic can make or break the situation. May be you do not speak for the next 10 minutes, but if you give a good introduction you are in. When the GD begins, everybody is speaking and you might not even be listened. But when you are asked to introduce the topic, you can take the situation forward. Explain the topic, don’t read what is written. Give brief introduction to the topic and what you think of it. People think that taking a stand in GD might to go against them. But there is difference in being assertive and in being rigid. You are expected to give your point of view.
Who lose?
Those who speak a lot: Of course not speaking in GD will not take you anywhere but speaking too much can also make you lose the GD. You have all the points and you can speak a lot on GD. But it is not a one-man show. It is a group discussion. If you try to grab the attention of the panelists, cut other person short, it shows that you are not a team worker. Also speaking a lot on the topic and just repeating one point will not be appreciated. You do not speak in the entire GD, but give valid points twice that can add value to the discussion, will be appreciated.
Those who become emotional: There are topics that involve some sensitive issues. You have all the valid points to support that women make better managers, but bringing in the element of argument and accusing other persons in the group will only help you in getting rejected.
Those who over-dominate: You are taking and managing the group discussion well, listening to the arguments, giving your point of view and letting everyone speak, everything is in your favour and suddenly you decide to be a godfather of somebody who has not spoken at all and who doesn’t have one single argument to present. Cutting short somebody who is making a valid point and asking the silent one to speak, can actually cut your points.
Personal interview
Your academic skills were checked in the entrance test, your people’s skills were checked in GD, now comes the turn of gauging you on your own standards. The B-schools want to know how much you are aware of yourself and how much you relate your goals to your personal self. Students spend most of the time in going through course books whereas 90 per cent of the interview questions are based on you. What could be better than answering questions on yourself? But answering questions on yourself can catch you in a tight spot. There can be some rules set when it comes to GD because there are certain expected etiquettes, but there can be no rules set for the interview because everyone has sui generis personality. The best way to tackle interview is to sit and know you in and out. Think why you want to pursue MBA. Think and make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Not only will it help you analyse your personality, will also help you prepare many other questions for the interview. The most commonly asked questions are:
Why do you want to do MBA?
What are your personal goals?
Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line?
What are your hobbies?
What are your strengths and weakness?
Tell us about yourself.
Who win?
Those with:
Self awareness- You should be able to delve on each and every aspect of your personality, family background, the city you come from and the institutes you have studied in. If you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses you will be able to justify them, for example the panelists may ask you about your poor academic record. As long as you know why you under-perform you can prove that.
Goal clarity- You should know where the MBA programme fits in and how it will help you achieve your long-term goals. There might be different reasons for doing MBA for different people and even for one person there can be more than one objective to do MBA, but you should analyse it beforehand rather than doing it in front of the panel.
Ability to maintain calm- The real you comes up when you are under pressure situation. The panelist will try to grill you on your weakness or on the answers you are giving. They want to put you under pressure and see whether you lose your calm once put under pressure. Students at this situation become nervous and it starts showing on their faces.
Who lose?
Those who:
Give tutored answers- You have your own strengths and weaknesses. But while attending the mock interviews you were told how some students gave impressive answers and got selected. If you would try to give the same answers, you might be caught.
Lie to the panelists: They are very experienced people and can catch you if you try to bluff them on your academic record or on a fact-based question or when you try to answer the question even if you don’t know the answer.
Think that battle is over- The interview is not over till the last question is asked. The moment a candidate says, “I am sorry Sir, I don’t know the answer,” he starts coming under the pressure. There is no harm in accepting that you do not know what the population of China is. They might try to put you under pressure by asking you the population of Africa, once again you say sorry and the pressure starts mounting. The next question is of your interest, which book did you read last? You know the answer but since you have already come under pressure you might not be able to answer this question properly because you are nervous. A chain of events that might ultimately lead to getting rejected.

CALENDAR.

Dear student

Go through these the 10 bullet points to solve questions on calender.

1. 1st January 0001 was a Monday.

2. Calendar repeats after every 400 years.

3. Leap year- it is always divisible by 4, but century years are not leap years unless they are divisible by 400.

4. Odd days- remainder obtained when no. of days is divided by 7. Normal year has 1 odd day and leap year has 2 odd days.

5. Calendar moves ahead by number of odd days.

6. While checking leap year just analyze whether February falls in that period or not.

7. Century has 5 odd days and leap century has 6 odd days.

8. Take out net odd days.( add all the odd days and again divide by 7)

9. In a normal year 1st January and 2nd July and 1st October fall on the same day. In a leap year 1st January 1st July and 30th September fall on the same day.

10. 1st January 1901 was Tuesday.

We calculate odd days on the basis of the previous month.

Example – what day is it on 29th August 1982?

Method- As we know 1/1/1901 was a Tuesday now we take 1982 and 1901 - 1982-1901=81 years. - 81/4=20…. ( disregard decimal) - 81+20=101 - 101/7- remainder is 3, so 3 days from Tuesday is Friday. -Now check whether it is a leap year or not. In this case it is not a leap year. Therefore 2nd July will be Friday - Now we have to go month wise . 2nd august = 3odd days= so from Friday 3 odd days will be Monday so 29th August will be a Sunday.

Confronted with a new face of terror

What basically is terrorism, I sometimes wonder? The dictionary defines terrorism as “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce esp. for political purposes”. When I picked up the Thursday newspaper with my hot cup of chai (I always do that), I was in for a rude shock. The first page of The Times of India was splayed with pictures of the new face of terror ... “the terror attacks in Mumbai.”

Honestly speaking early in the morning when you are confronted with those visuals you can really think of nothing. Same thing has been happening since the beginning of this year. Lives lost, life scarred. Then after many days of lamenting and sadness, life moves on, not only for the people who aren’t affected but also for the people whose lives get permanently altered. What’s the point of such cowardice? Why do the terrorists always make the innocent people suffer? Is it just to prove a point? When will this amphigoric way of making innocent victims suffer stop? The common man on the roads taking the morning train or bus just to reach their work place on time is always apprehensive of whether he is going to return home or not. Be it Delhi, Hyderabad, Guwahati or Mumbai…Everyday this man wakes up takes the step towards his mundane life, doing what he does always and there comes a catastrophe like MUMBAI TERROR ATTCKS..

10 desperadoes completely jeopardized the lives of not only the common man but this time the who’s who of the high society were also sucked into the whirlpool of horror. 59 hours of blood shed and a small flicker of optimism coupled together with endless wait (at least that’s what it seemed.) people martyred, people victimized. The last few days were a combination of a huge drama of terrorism. Who could have thought that a stay or even being associated with TAJ could mutate their lives forever? The FATEFUL Wednesday and the following macabre tale of war that was waged between our heroes (ATS, Mumbai Cops, the army and the NSG) and the terrorists came to end on Saturday finally. We all mourn; we are covered with a shroud of fear. The question of ‘will I be the next one?’ always comes to one’s mind.

When will this end? When can we walk the streets again, having not to worry about death? I guess that would be an utopist world.

Just wanted to share my thoughts with you guys...about the MUMBAI MASSACRE..

Prime Numbers:

A prime numbers is a number greater than one whose factors are only one and itself. In other words, 4 is not prime, because its factors are 1, 2 and 4 (1x4, 2x2). But 5 is prime, because the only way you can get a product of 5 is by multiplying 1 and 5 (1x5). Composite numbers are those who has more than two factors. The number 1 is not prime OR composite because it has only one factor.
Here are all the prime numbers up to 500:
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127, 131, 137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163, 167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193, 197, 199, 211, 223, 227, 229, 233, 239, 241, 251, 257, 263, 269, 271, 277, 281, 283, 293, 307, 311, 313, 317, 331, 337, 347, 349, 353, 359, 367, 373, 379, 383, 389, 397, 401, 409, 419, 421, 431, 433, 439, 443, 449, 457, 461, 463, 467, 479, 487, 491, 499, ...
How to find big Prime Numbers:
Following is a somewhat celebrated result of Euler:
The function f(x) = x^2 + x + 41 is always prime for x = 0, 1 ,..., 39.
This quadratic was the record holder for centuries as a consecutive,
Distinct quadratic prime-producer for an initial range of input
Values. It is not, however, the new function is there that can give more range of prime numbers than Euler’s:
The Function:
f(x) = 36x^2 - 810x + 2753
Which is always prime for x = 0, 1, ... , 44.

ATMA 2009

Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS)ATMA-2009 (AIMS Test for Management Admissions)
ATMA-2009 on Sunday, February 08, 2009 (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.) at 31 Centres
Issue of application kits starts from: November 22, 2008Last date for receipt of completed application forms: January 20, 2009
Eligibility: Bachelor's degree in any discipline. Students appearing for their final year examinations in 2008 are also eligible to apply.Price of ATMA kit Rs.850/- by cash, by post Rs.910/- in demand draft favouring "Association of Indian Management Schools" payable at Hyderabad. (Indicate offline or online application form, name, address, Tel/Mobile no. on the reverse of the DD).How to apply: Online: Students can apply online for the test. Online application kits are available at the following sales centers across the country. (i) Office of ATMA, Hyderabad (ii) AIMS member Institutes(10) (iii) Axis Bank (25) (iv) Cerebral Heights (5) (v) Career Launcher (123) (vi) Career Forum (13) (vii) IMS Learning Centres (55) (viii) PT-Education (50). The telephone numbers and addresses are available inthe ATMA website www.atma-aims.org.Offline: For students who cannot apply online. Offline applications are available. Exclusively at Office of ATMA, Association of Indian Management Schools H.No. 8-3-677/57 A, Plot No.57, Sri Krishnadevaraya Nagar, Street No.6, Yellareddiguda, Hyderabad-500073Tel: 040-23750247, E-mail: atma.secretariat@gmail.com Website: www.atma-aims.org
For details see Hindustan Times (HR Horizons) New Delhi - November 19, 2008 pg.3

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

I asked for Strength......... And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom......... And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity......... And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage......... And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love......... And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors......... And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........ I received everything I needed!

So don’t worry even if you mess up with your CAT paper, God is just making you strong to Fly......