MBAUniverse.com recently interviewed Prof. Ajay Singh, Chairman MDP & Corporate Interaction Committee of IIM Lucknow (Noida Campus) to find out the ways for cracking the GD round and to find out what exactly do the IIMs look for in a candidate in the interview round.

We herewith bring to you the excerpts from the interview:

Q. What do the MBA schools look for in a candidate in the interview round?

Prof. Singh: First I want to tell you that we do not reject or accept a candidate during the interview round and the GD round. We just give marks, which are all added in the final marks for the candidate.

Secondly, during the interview we don’t give much attention to the subject knowledge. We mainly try to judge your personality. The overall personality is more important for us as after two years of your course we have to provide you placements at a good company. We have to give good candidates to the invited companies.

Q. What key things one should take care of during the interview round?

Prof. Singh: For the interview round you can never guess what will the faculty ask, so you should be well prepared for the interview. You should brush up your subject knowledge and read newspapers. You should be prepared to answer questions on your college books.

During the interview your body language is important. You should not be too submissive or too aggressive. While describing about yourself you should describe your strengths.

Q. What according to you are the Do’s and Don’ts for the GD round?

Prof. Singh: See, normally candidates think that if they talk too much they will look smart, but you will look negative after a certain point of time.

You should take care of the following positive points during the GD round: exhibit proper thinking, show that you are group person, give chance to others, don’t shout, don’t be aggressive, be polite.

If you feel nervousness, then you should not worry. We don’t cut any marks for nervousness!

You might be very good in speaking English, but that will not count. The GD panel will look for your wisdom and your ability to think out of the box.

Another important point is that you should look perfectly natural. Your coaching institute may have taught you certain way of talking, but you should try to be natural.

Last and final advice for you is ‘Think before you speak’.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more advice on GD&PI!