Interview Skills - Group Discussion & Mock Interview
GROUP DISCUSSION
Group Discussion is a methodology used by an organization to
gauge whether the candidate has certain personality traits and/or skills that
it desires in its members. In this methodology, the group of candidates is
given a topic or a situation, given a few minutes to think about the same, and
then asked to discuss the topic among themselves for 15-20 minutes.
GD evaluation is done by the subject experts based on the
discussions. A report will be prepared on analyzing the facts at the end of the
discussion.
Some of the personality traits the GD is trying to gauge may include:
* Communication skills
* Interpersonal Skills
* Leadership Skills
* Motivational Skills
* Team Building Skills
* Analytical /Logical Skills
* Reasoning ability
* Different Thinking
* Initiative
* Assertiveness
* Flexibility
* Creativity
* Ability to think on ones feet
* Why GDs are implemented commonly:
Aspects which make up a Group Discussion
are:
* Verbal Communication
* Non-verbal behavior
* Confirmation to norms
* Decision making ability
* Cooperation
You should try to be as true as possible to these aspects.
MOCK INTERVIEW
Mock
interviews enable candidates to have a fair idea about the sort of things they
are going to experience at actual interviews, and prepare them how accurately
they can deal with it. Generally these interviews are organized by career
services where a career coach trains the students and recent alumni for the new
opportunities they can explore by being perfect at the actual interview
sessions. But, accuracy does not come automatically. It needs a thorough
practice and guidance from an expert trainer. Mock interviews do just the exact
thing with the candidates to bring them to perfection and boost their
confidence.
Mock interviews help candidates
reduce their anxiety about interviewing by training them for the typical
interview questions. The person conducting the mock interview session is most
likely an experienced interviewer and a skilled trainer, who can guide
candidates whether or not their responses are suitable, along with providing
them the most appropriate set of response they should practice. In the process
the candidates gain their confidence by having the knowledge about their
strengths and shortcomings. No one is perfect enough to execute everything
faultlessly, so the purpose of these mock interviews is to point out one’s
weaknesses and guide them to bring perfection by rectifying those.
Mock interviews also prepare job seekers for behavioral-based issues in an interview. In a real interview the behavioral standard is judged much by the interviewee’s body language. So, it is very important to know how one can appear best by employing those standard set of gestures. From the moment of entry in the interview room everything about the posture will be marked minutely. Therefore, one needs to know very accurately about what the things are that one should do and what not. Right from the way of stepping into the room, greetings to the panelists, way of looking at them, style of sitting and manner of responding to them – everything counts on. And mock interview sessions are the best ways to gather knowledge about all these little details which are too important to overlook.