In this article, Vaibhav Arora, student of IIM Ahmedabad shares his WAT, PI, and GD experience
(prHWY.com) March 5, 2013 - Noida, India -- MBAUniverse.com is conducting live chat sessions (Topper's Mantra) with a number of students who have made it to reputed B schools. We also publish stories based on the live chat for our readers.
In this article, Vaibhav Arora of IIM Ahmedabad shares his WAT and GD PI experiences. Vaibhav is a student of the Agri Business Programme at IIM A. He pursued his graduation in BA (H) Business Economics from Delhi University. He achieved 97.51 percentile in CAT 2011. He has 12 months of work experience in S&P Capital IQ.
Group Discussion: Group Discussion always brushes up your GK and Current Affairs knowledge. Start a GD by giving a brief context of the topic. In Post Graduate Programme in Agribusiness Management (PGP ABM) of IIM A, the GD topics last year were related to the ABM sector. So be ready with facts and logic to discuss topics on such specializations.
Try to go through the recent updates and current affairs of various sectors. In my GD small caselets are given and students are asked as a group to come with a solution.
To do well in GD, one must have a high Knowledge Quotient. Reading newspapers and magazines on current issues, especially the year-end issues that capture the highlights of the year gone by, also helps a lot. You should watch and listen to news and current affair programmes on news channels. Candidates must keep themselves abreast of all the abstract and contemporary issues.
WAT: Written Ability Test or WAT tests your written communication skill and how aptly you can describe the given topic in a stipulated time period. The best way to prepare for essay writing is to read a lot and practice according to time. Try reading the editorial column of newspapers and magazines, they will provide you best contents.
Try to find out your weaknesses so that you can work upon them and increase your learning. Follow editorials of The Hindu and Business Line for excavating your written ability. I went through the agriculture section of Economic Times Plus to brush up my knowledge on agriculture sector as it was my specialization area.
Begin with a narrative and informative tone on the topic and some aspects of it. The beginning paragraph must be an indication of how clearly you have understood the topic and then give a best shot in writing of the same.
The concluding part of the essay should summarize thoughts carrying a positive message to the audience (In this case, the panelists) on how to fight the problem and have a happy and safe future. The essay might prove to be a source of inspiration for your reader, who happens to be your examiner also, as well as to the society.
Personal Interview: In personal interview, the question which is mostly asked from the candidate is to introduce himself. Therefore, brush up your academics, subjects studied in graduation and mention about your hobbies, key strength and weakness, your achievements and memorable events.
In IIM they want to know how you go about solving problems. So try giving some mock PI's at your training institute to get out from stress interview. Try maintaining your composure because they are willing to see how you behave under stress. Remain calm, polite and focused on the questions asked.
They might ask your favorite subject and academic questions from that subject. So be prepared with academics. IIMA focuses heavily on Academics. Almost all the candidates were asked academic questions, so be prepared from your side.
Do not go on speaking simply to fill the long pause that occurs after you finish answering a question. It might give an opportunity to interviewers to grill you on something you have inadvertently spoken.
Use simple and communicative language in an effective manner. Any wrong use of figurative and idiomatic language in conversation might get you deviated and put you in trouble.
Lastly, I just want to say that there is no specific time-limit for an interview. Sometimes it may continue for 30 minutes and in some cases, it ends in 10 minutes. So be prepared for the time limits also.
To read the previous Topper's Mantra, click on the link:
http://www.mbauniverse.com/article.php?id=6672
http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/6709/
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