Everything You Should Know About Group Discussion

Group Discussion

When planning to begin your career, you will have to face many rounds of interviews. One of the most popular rounds in English group discussion among the various interview rounds. To put it straight, it is the first round of elimination acting as a hurdle between you and your dream job.

To pass through the other following interview rounds, it is first important to clear the group discussion interview round. Therefore, it is extremely important to know and understand effective group discussion tips for an interview to make a lasting impression through the round.

In this article, we present to you everything you should be aware of about the group discussion round of your job interview. You can find some simple GD tips, rules, skills, and topics that will help you have a thorough preparation for the round.

What is group discussion?

Nowadays, one of the most crucial skills demanded by every job profile is strong communication. Communication skills are more equivalent to technical skills for many job profiles. Group discussion is simply an interview round to analyze and observe the participants communication skills.

"A group discussion, commonly known as GD, is a technique used by organizations, corporates, educational institutes, etc., to observe and evaluate the communication skills of the job seekers."

Since communication skills are so important in the corporate culture, many organizations have prioritized group discussion as their first round of shortlisting candidates. Amidst the pool of candidates, only a few are selected for the face-to-face interview after the group discussion interview round.

One important fact that you should keep in mind before appearing for the group discussion is that the group discussion selection criteria are according to the companys core requirements and the job profile.

Now that you clearly understand certain group discussion points, let us take you through some of its other important aspects.

Importance of Group Discussions:

Your first impression is the last impression. Moreover, your professional communication skills with your colleagues, seniors, and most importantly, your customers define, directly or indirectly, the way your organization treats the masses.

If your communication skills are not up to the mark and you are not treating the customers properly, it will impact the organizations reputation. This, in return, will hamper the ROI and revenue numbers for the organization.

Therefore, almost all the branded and reputed organizations ensure to have candidates with the best and sober communication skills. If you have good communication skills along with other relevant skills, Rozgar.com has the best job openings to match your expertise.

Why is group discussion the first round of selection criteria?

To talk about the importance of group discussion, firstly, understand that today’s job profile requires constant communication between you and clients, team members, managers, customers, etc. As a result, having great interpersonal skills is extremely important.

For instance – imagine you are extremely talented with many skills relevant to your job profile. You are also using all those skills to perform all your duties to the best of your capabilities. But, because you lack interpersonal skills and cannot present your work, someone else will take that credit.

You surely don’t want this to happen to all the hard work you put in to perform your job responsibilities, isn’t it? To avoid any future hassles, companies ensure to evaluate their employees on their communication skills, generally during the initial rounds.

Now, as you can judge and evaluate other skills using different test parameters, the interpersonal skills are evaluated with the help of English group discussion. The organization first wants to ensure that you can present your thoughts and ideas in front of the customers before observing any other job skills.

Having the skill to present your work is one of the strongest assets you can have to make your best impression at the workplace.

How are you judged in a group discussion?

When appearing for a group discussion, be prepared to be judged on the following parameters –

  • How do you present and communicate your thoughts, ideas, and expertise?
  • How well do you behave and communicate with your teammates?
  • How acceptable and open-minded are you?
  • How well do you receive criticism?
  • How well can you listen and understand other people’s opinions?
  • How good are your problem-solving skills?
  • How confident are you?
  • According to the topic for group discussion, how much relevant talking do you do?

Types of Group Discussion –

It is time to understand the different types of group discussion that you may encounter:

a) Topic-based GD – This type of GD topic is practical and concerning to the real world. It may include socioeconomic or educational topics like “How the use of excess plastic is degrading human life?” or “Is a university degree important to be an entrepreneur?”

This type generally includes the topic for group discussion for students, which is further sub-divided as –

  • Factual GD
  • Abstract GD
  • Controversial GD

b) Case-based GD – This type of GD revolves around some real-time situation or a case study. The participants are provided with the case study a few minutes before the round to prepare their points.

This GDs main motive is to conclude the case study based on the discussion. The participants are judged for the following abilities –

  • Problem-solving
  • Analytical skills
  • Understanding the facts
  • Decision-making skills
  • Out-of-the-box thinking
  • Factual GD

c) Article-based GD – Similar to a case-study-based GD, the participants are provided with an article beforehand to prepare their points. The organization generally focuses on choosing an interesting topic for discussion to judge the relevance of each participant.
The article can be from any field like sports, politics, technology, etc. The main area of the judgment of participant’s skills is –

  • The confidence level
  • Response to the unknown field

What are the group discussion rules?

Group discussion is not just about talking about your points; instead, it is about following the group discussion rules to conclude.
So, what are the rules that should be followed? Here are some rules which should be kept in mind:

  • Your appearance will be the first thing everyone will notice. Thus, ensure wearing a formal attire
  • Your confidence level is reflected through your eyes. Thus, maintaining confident eye contact can help you go a long way. However, you should avoid continuously staring at the participants or the coordinator
  • Always keep in mind to never lose your mind in the heat of the moment. You should always maintain your cool during the discussion while allowing everyone to share their opinions and views
  • Maintain your relevance to the topic for group discussion. Also, avoid creating unnecessary chaos during the discussion
  • Remember, “quality is more important than quantity.” You may talk less but make sure to present some real hitting facts and opinions in the discussion. To do this, ensure to thoroughly understand the topic for GD.
  • Avoid dominating the other participants with your thoughts and opinions. Maintain a calm décor even if you don’t agree with someone

Some effective tips to shine out in the group discussion –

While you focus on expressing your thoughts during the group discussion, you shouldn’t neglect to portray your best behavior. Follow these tips concerning the importance that in a group discussion we should be –

  • Attentive to remain active throughout the session
  • Analyzing other participants’ opinions to present the ideas not mentioned before
  • Open to welcoming the difference in opinions, thoughts, and statements
  • Presentable about the topic according to your perception, even if you don’t have much relevant experience with it
  • Appreciative towards the shared opinions and views of other participants

Conclusion

We hope we gave you a clear understanding of group discussion examples using some of the best topic for group discussion. Use the mentioned details to crack the group discussion round like a pro to finally land into your dream job.
If you still have any other doubts or queries, do let us know in the comment section. We would love to hear from you and provide our assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

To understand and talk about the topic for GD, a participant must have the following skills:

  • Interpersonal skill – to convert a normal talk session into an impactful conversation
  • Leadership skill - rather than overpowering the other candidates, you should act as a leader to pull together the group discussion
  • Listening skill - GD isn’t just about sharing your points; you should be ready to accept others opinions and thoughts
  • Convincing power - you should try convincing the other participants with your opinions without overpowering them

For all types of group discussion, you should follow the simple act of –

  • Initiate – take the first step to get the attention of the coordinator. Remember to talk about relevant
  • Lead - when you don’t have enough information, wait and observe others’ opinions and views to lead your way in the group discussion
  • Summarise - when everyone is done sharing their thoughts, drive the discussion to its conclusion with your convincing points

To improve your GD skills, you can go through the group discussion examples or attend some online group discussion events.
You can also mock your group discussion with your friends, peers, etc. This is one of the most effective group discussion tips for freshers.

Start by introducing yourself, and then talk either in favor or against the mentioned topic. You can also check some group discussion starting lines examples to make an impressive impact on the audience.

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