What Skills Are Judged In GD?

What is Group Discussion?

A Group Discussion (GD) is a technique used by corporate companies, educational institutes, and other organizations to judge the communication skills of the participant.

Communication skill is a crucial factor than technical knowledge in any corporate environment.

Hence, many companies are now making Group Discussion as to their first criteria for screening the candidates before the face-to-face interviews. There indeed is a reason for giving importance to GD.

This discussion in the interview process is used for mass screening. The GD selection criteria are based on the actual company requirements.

Communication and GD are two relevant soft skills that are a must for anyone looking for a job in the IT or other fields.

Importance Of Group Discussions

As it is said that, the first impression is the best impression. The way you communicate professionally with your peers, heads and most importantly the customers is directly or indirectly an add-on to the quality of services that your company offers to the masses.

Hence, GD is a means of the strainer to strain the right candidate from a pool of applicants.

Any Software Tester requires communication with different people like team members, managers, and customers. Hence, interpersonal skill is very important for the tester.

Yesterday one of our readers mailed me about her problem. She is very good at work but when it comes to taking credit for her work, someone else is taking the credit.

Why is this happening? She is lagging in interpersonal skills. Lagging in communication. She might be proficient in many skills, but what if she isn’t able to communicate her thoughts in front of her seniors or evaluators? She will just lose the credits of her own work!

What Skills Are Judged In GD?

1) Communication skills

In GD-PI, one of the most important things that is noticed is your communication skill. Not only should you put your point across with clarity, but also assertively yet politely. Make sure that you are loud enough to be heard by one and all, but do not shout or be rude while conveying your thoughts.

2) Writing ability

Lately, many B-schools have started conducting Written Ability Test (WAT). This is a round where candidates are judged on their writing skill as well as ability to pen their thoughts/opinions in a precise and crisp manner. Since many candidates are good at expressing their thoughts verbally but their writing skill is not so strong, clearing this round becomes a challenge for them. When appearing for WAT, candidates must ensure that what they write should make sense, and most importantly, it must be grammatically correct. Try writing in short sentences, and don’t use heavy words without knowing their meaning or usage.

3) Subject knowledge

Another crucial parameter on which a candidate is judged is subject knowledge. Whether appearing in a GD or WAT, it is extremely important to have subject knowledge of the topic. Interviewers not only expect a candidate to speak or write, but they look for matter that makes sense – this can only happen if you are well-aware of the topic that is provided during the GD-WAT. 

4) Listening power

In a GD, it is important to speak and put forth your views, but it is equally important to listen to others. This is one parameter where several candidates fail. In the attempt to display their knowledge about the given topic, they forget that it is important to listen to others, and then make a supportive or counter argument.

5) Attitude

Always remember that your attitude will make a huge difference in GD-PI. Stay positive and show your positive personality. Be kind enough to give others a chance to speak, and when putting your view forth, be polite. Do not let others have an impression about you being rude or arrogant.

6) Confidence

Being confident will help you reach great heights. If you have a valid point, but do not put it across confidently, you might fail to earn a brownie point there. On the other hand, if you speak with confidence, you will be noticed and people will be interested in listening to what you have to say.

7) Leadership skills

When participating in a GD, it is important to lead the discussion – this will give the interviewer an impression that you are well-aware of the topic that needs to be discussed. Driving the discussion is a good idea, but make sure that you appear as a leader and not a dominator.

8) Way of presenting views

You must be careful about how you present your views. It must appear that the point that is being discussed in the GD is relevant and making sense. Many candidates know what to talk about or write, but they do not know how to present it. Also, when appearing for WAT, the thought process must be presented in a linear fashion, so that it makes sense. Scattered thoughts will only confuse the examiner.

9) Interaction skills

It is very important to interact with your fellow mates, and if needed, with the examiner too. Use your interactive skills and start off a discussion. Also, when attempting WAT, write as if you are interacting with the reader. This will help you in presenting your thoughts effortlessly, and at the same time, will make it simple for the examiner to understand your thought process.

10) Decision making ability

Candidates who possess decision making ability are sure to mark an impression on the examiner. At any given point of time, the examiner might expect a decision from you. If you do not know how to take a decision, you might fumble and miss out on the chance of making it to the next round.

11) Problem solving ability

Group discussions and WATs are all about testing a candidate’s problem solving ability. The examiner will lay utmost focus on how you respond to a particular situation. The problem put in front of you needs to be comprehended well to draw the right inference.

12) Critical thinking ability

Your ability to think rationally to understand or solve a problem is one of the parameters that is judged by the examiner during GD/WAT-PI. A candidate must have the ability of understanding the logical connection between the ideas that are being presented and should identify the significance of ideas to succeed in GD-WAT-PI

13) Analytical thinking

A candidate must possess the quality of analytical thinking. For any given topic, the candidate must first gather information (using his/her GK skills), identify the issues and problems that needs to be spoken about and organize the information in a systematic form.

14) Open-mindedness

It is good to have a point of view, but at the same time, it is also important for the candidate to be open to new ideas and views too. Also, one of the qualities of a good candidate is to accept what is right with a positive approach.

When it is time for you to appear in the GD-WAT-PI, keep in mind the above mentioned parameters on which you will be judged.