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Interview with Debanjan Dey

1. General Background Questions
2. Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation
3. Questions related to Group Discussion
4. Questions related to Personal Interview
5. Questions related to CAT 2009 Paper
6. Questions related to Your Future Plans

Questions related to Group Discussion

Question: How did you prepare for Group Discussions? What all resources did you use for preparation?
Answer: I joined PT Education for GD/PI preparation. My GD/PI sessions at PT Education were thorough and provided me with the inputs I required to build a strong base in MBA related knowledge. The self study I put in included brushing up on current affairs from newspapers (The Hindu, Indian Express), reading financial and management basics from magazines and Wikipedia.

Group Discussion Experience

IIM A - No Group Discussion. Essay on "India's Space Ambitions are Misplaced"
IIM B - Case Discussion on "Need for Self Governance in Cities"
IIM I - Case Study on an ethics issue in a company
IIM K - Group Discussion on "Recent Ban on Chinese Toys - Health Issue or Economic Issue?"
IIM L - Group Discussion on "You have to Break a Few Eggs to make an Omelet"

All GDs had 2 panelists. The number of participants varied from 7-10. The GD at IIM Indore and IIM Lucknow included writing an essay on the topic (20 minutes time), before proceeding with the discussion. IIM Bangalore asked us to write a summary (10 minutes time) after completing the GD.

Overall, the group discussions at IIMs were orderly and barring one or two members, everyone got a chance to speak. However, occasionally they lacked structure as people switched from one line of reasoning to another without completing their point. Thus, the flow of the discussion was not continuous, although attempts were made to bring it back to the point. The panelists at my GDs were very attentive and continually keeping notes regarding the progress. They did not interrupt before completion of the discussion time (20 minutes in all, except IIM Kozhikode which gave us 10-15 minutes). We were not made to summarize the GD, but at IIM Lucknow, one group member was specifically asked to present his views, at the end.

Personally, the positive in my GD experiences was the fact that I was able to bring up new and unique view-points. However, I did not open the discussion and feel I could have benefited by entering into the discussion earlier than I did. The GD/PI at IIM Calcutta is next in line and am currently preparing for that.

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