How to crack a GD?

A group discussion is mainly a method of screening candidates, specially for educational institutes and fresher jobs. The idea is to assess the candidate on basis of speech, communication skills, ideas and personality. While an interview also helps to assess all of this, a GD is different as it indicates the ability of the candidate to talk and perform within a larger group. Clearly, those who outshine others in a group are the ones who taste success.

So what are the skills observed in a GD?

• Your communication skills

• Your behaviour and interaction within the group

• How you observe and listen

• How you deal with the topic, subject knowledge vis-à-vis general knowledge

• How you put forward your view

• Your decision making ability

• Your problem solving and critical thinking ability

• Whether you can come up with out-of-the-box ideas

• Your open mindedness and analytical ability

• Your confidence and attitude

So, now that you know the parameters on which you’ll be judged, here are some tested sure-shot ways to crack a much-dreaded GD.

• Maintain eye contact while speaking: Not just with the evaluators but also team-members. This speaks of your confidence. (Also read: Managing your body language )

• Initiate the proceedings: Initiating a GD is a real big plus. But this is only when you’ve understood the topic really well and have good knowledge on it. Otherwise, speaking without proper cognition can create a bad impression.

• Speak clearly and sensibly: Always speak politely, clearly and sensibly using simple and suitable words. Show controlled aggression even in disagreement but no manifestation of anger. Be calm while expressing your emotions even if the topic is something you feel passionately about. Don’t speak just to increase your speaking time. Speak sensibly and as relevant to the topic at hand, without worrying about lesser speaking time.

• Keep the discussion on track: If by chance, the group distracts from the topic or goal and begins to diverge, take the initiative to bring the discussion back on track. You’ll certainly be noticed then. This shows your power to lead and stay focussed on the discussion. Make group members aware that you’ve to come to a conclusion at the end of the discussion. So sticking to the topic is essential.

• Don’t give too much detail: Only some basic subject analysis is sufficient for you to succeed. There’s no need to mention the exact figures while giving any reference. Since there’s limited time, it’s vital that you’re precise and able to convey your thoughts in a simple way.

• Allow other group members to speak: Never interrupt someone when he/she’s speaking. Even if you don’t subscribe to their viewpoint, don’t butt in, snatching away their chance to speak. Rather make notes and clear the point when the person stops. Also make it a point to try and include members who are quiet, ask them to give their opinion too; as this shows you as a team leader.

• Be positive: Being positive is important and radiates confidence. Don’t be bossy and dominative emanating a negative body language. Always show your interest in the discussion. Positive gestures and body language will insure success. (Also read: Grow up with a positive attitude)

• Listen carefully: Speak less and listen more! This pays - even if you lack knowledge, you’ll be able to pick your points from the discussion. Pay attention to what the others are saying as that helps in framing a coherent discussion. Also it shows your team work abilities. That ways, you can also win over people.

• Dress formally: Never dress casually or to kill in a GD. Just plain comfortable clothing, formal off course.

To succeed in a GD, remember the two essential diktats that a GD is used for mass elimination and that its selection criteria are based on the company/institute requirements. Students, job hunters, however, are advised to read a lot of newspapers and magazines to be aware of the current events and happenings. This also guarantees success.

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5 stress management tips

The times are bad. Recession has hit the economy and everyone everywhere is talking about layoffs, job cuts, cost cutting, increasing productivity etc. It is natural to feel stressed under these conditions. But stress will not deliver results. It affects health and ultimately your work. You will have to get rid of stress and be prepared to take on the difficult times. Here are a couple of tips that may be of help in managing stress:

• Prioritise your health and family: First and foremost, remember, you can get a new job, but restoring health is very difficult. So, instead of getting worked up thinking about your work conditions, perform your best and remember that it is the only thing you can do. Spend your time and energy taking care of your health and family.

• Talk to your supervisor: If the situation at work is getting out of hand, talk to your supervisor about it. Tell him/her that the stress is getting to you and you need help. A proper redistribution of work may just solve the issue.

• Talk to friends/family: The best way to conquer any problem is sharing it with trusted friends and family. It helps you lighten the burden you are carrying in your head and heart and helps you relax. Moreover, they may be in a condition to suggest something that just might work for you.

• Make friends at work: Since we spend a large part of our life working, it is always good to have someone to share your feelings within the office. These colleagues can double as your support system, when required. Moreover, being at the same workplace, they are better placed than anyone else to understand what you are going through. Even the suggestions they give maybe practical and useful.

• Find time for yourself: However bad the work conditions are, ensure that you get time to do something you enjoy doing. It could include listening to music, playing a game or pursuing a hobby. It helps you relax and takes your mind away from work pressure, giving you energy and calm that helps you think better.

Remember - nobody is perfect. Working extra hours or taking unnecessary stress is neither going to improve the situation nor make you a better performer. Be a rational and positive thinker. Be realistic with your expectations and try to find happiness in small things. Don't let stress take over your calm, balanced and happy mind.

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Corruption - A way of life in India

Corruption - A way of life in India

A. Raja and others accused in the 2G spectrum “scam” have tended to be rescued somewhat by the complexity of the nature of the scam. But with the CAG reported to be talking of lakhs of crores and with 3G now on its way, it’s becoming a little easier to contextualise and comprehend the Raja case. So, with the Tamil Nadu assembly elections merely months away, how could “corruption” play out?

Last November, five Rajasthan state MLAs, in a rare display of bipartisan bonhomie from both the Congress and the BJP, blocked the Alwar highway, to protest against government and civil society efforts to audit the NREGA payments. An FIR was lodged against the MLAs, but the audit was made very difficult. Popular support was whipped up by sarpanchs against the auditors, by saying that the auditors were on their way to stall NREGA in the district, which is what they said would happen if irregularities were found. Citizens, apprehensive that whatever little was coming their way could also stop, were thereby brought on the side of the anti-audit wave. It's illustrative of why India, at a popular level, has sometimes demonstrated a politically ambivalent attitude to "corruption" as an issue.

The first corruption scandal to find its way to the floor of Parliament in 1958 was the scam of LIC buying selective shares, to rescue certain dodgy companies, not to benefit the corporation or the general public. It was raised in Parliament forcefully by Feroze Gandhi, the then PM's son-in-law, and politically secured the scalp of the finance minister. More importantly, a 24-day public inquiry by Justice M.C. Chagla established the malpractice and laid down new rules.

Over time, all parties that have held power at the Centre have had to bear the brunt of "scams" (Bofors, hawala, fodder, Taj corridor, petrol pump allotments, urea, Tehelka tapes, to name a few) that resulted in political banishing of the players involved, but otherwise little movement in bringing the matter to an appropriate close, let alone recovering public money.

Bofors was the one exception -- as the opposition parties rallied together with accusations of a kickback at the top rungs of government. That almost marked the apogee of the curve of public outrage over perceived wrongdoing -- ever since, nationally at least, corruption has not been seen as a political factor in itself.

Sun Knowledge Emerging Co of the Year in BPO

New Delhi: The economictimes.com BPO Industry Awards 2010 saw several emerging companies as well as established ones being rewarded for their achievements in the BPO industry.

The winners of the awards, which were divided in ten categories, included Sun Knowledge, which bagged the Emerging Company of the Year award, InTarvo Technologies as Domestic Company of the Year, Fidelity Information Services for Operational Excellence & Quality and Intelenet Global Services for the Technology Award in the domestic category. Another emerging company, Rural Shores, received recognition as Social Catalyst of the Year.

Among the big players, Genpact bagged the Technology Award in the International category and Wipro BPO, the business process outsourcing service line of Wipro Technologies bagged The Company of the Year in the International category award. Special jury awards were also given to Aparup Sengupta of Aegis BPO, who was chosen as CEO of the Year and David Andrews of Xchanging, who won the BPO Entrepreneur of the Year award.

The members of the jury included prominent industry leaders like Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of CyberMedia, Raman Roy, chairman and managing director of Quatrro BPO Solutions (P) Ltd and T K Arun, Editor-Delhi, The Economic Times. The awards were held in association with QAI and were enabled by Curtains Up, and organization which creates neutral knowledge based platforms for India Inc.

Disclaimer: Business article.

ART OF MANAGEMENT

WHEN IT COMES TO ART AND MANAGEMENT,THE IDEA IS NOT TO TEACH ACTING,PAINTING OR SCULPTING, BUT RATHER ‘SEEING.’BERNARD RAMANANTSOA,DEAN,HEC PARIS,SHARES HIS THOUGHTS WITH TIRNA RAY ON THE EVENT OF THE BUSINESS SCHOOL’S NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART GUIMET

IN a recent trend, post-recession, business curricula across the world are being tweaked and altered to draw elements from a cross-section of disciplines such as arts, music, history and philosophy. This new approach, feel experts in the field, will produce ‘Renaissance MBAs’ who are grounded and prepared to handle all kinds of adversities that might hit the market in the future.

According to Bernard Ramanantsoa, dean, HEC Paris, “There is most certainly a rise of ‘the renaissance MBA.’ It’s crucial that business school graduates have a clear understanding and appreciation of the complex links among social, environmental and business spheres. These leaders in training must look beyond short-term indicators to consider the broader, long-term implications of their business decisions.”

In keeping with the times, HEC Paris and the National Museum of Asian Art Guimet, France, have recently signed a three-year partnership agreement. The collaboration involves classes and seminars led by the museum speakers and curators and group work with a focus on the national exhibitions.

As to the need for this partnership, Ramanantsoa explains, “It was initiated to encourage HEC Paris students to experience the arts and traditions of the Asian and Oriental worlds with a new managerial and multi-cultural perspective. I’d like to quote Jacques Giès, president of the National Museum of Asian Art Guimet, who said that the ambition of the partnership is to open up the minds of future managers and create a wider understanding of Asia, a powerful and central, yet complex continent.”

Arguing that the current situation is as much a crisis of leadership as it is an economic crisis, Ramanantsoa says, leadership is neither an innate quality nor something taught in a classroom, but rather a skill that can be nurtured and strengthened in the right setting.

He further points out that there is a growing acceptance of the idea that the most effective business leaders of tomorrow will be people with a holistic approach to their jobs. “In the HEC Paris MSc programmes as well in the MBA programme, we propose to enrol our students in many classes on humanities and arts and sciences as well as management classes,” he informs.

Ramanantsoa adds that when it comes to art and management, the idea is not, of course, to teach acting, painting or sculpting but rather ‘seeing,’ and more generally, factoring in the soft skills that are important in business.

“By offering our students an opportunity to meet art and artists, we believe the resulting mix will produce business leaders who are able to see their decisions and actions in a wider context and, hopefully, with a more responsible and far-sighted approach,” he adds.

Disclaimer: Article from Times of India

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RBI mulls changes in regulations for foreign banks

RBI mulls changes in regulations for foreign banks

Press Trust of India / New Delhi October 24, 2010, 13:44 IST

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering changes in the rules governing the overseas players' banking operations in the country, a move aimed at in hands oversight of the overseas banks and classified domestic lenders like ICICI Bank as Indian-managed despite majority foreign holding.
As per the new regulations being mulled over by it, the central bank might ask the foreign banks to incorporate all their branches as their subsidiaries in India so that all of them are required to follow the rules governing capital adequacy ratio and sector-specific exposure limits and the RBI can have a greater regulatory oversight, sources said.
The RBI is believed to have taken up the matter with the Finance Ministry and could come out with a discussion paper on the draft guidelines after getting a go-ahead from the government, they added.
Sources said that local incorporation of the foreign banks' branches here would also help define them as Indian subsidiaries of foreign institutions or banks controlled and managed by overseas entities.
This would, in turn, help differentiate the Indian lenders such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, where the majority shareholders are overseas entities, from foreign banks.
The new regulations would describe these Indian lenders as 'Indian-managed' banks, despite them being foreign-owned in terms of their shareholding patters.
As per the new FDI norms announced by the government last year, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have been labelled as 'foreign-owned' despite being controlled by Indians and having their roots in the country. This is because of more than 74 per cent equity in these banks being held by foreigners.
After this categorisation, the ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar had said that they continue to work as an Indian- managed bank and hoped that a clarification would emerge soon on the whole issue.
HDFC Bank Chief Aditya Puri had also said earlier that HDFC Bank remained an Indian bank with majority of voting rights vested with Indians.
Regarding the local incorporation of bank branches as wholly owned subsidiaries, the RBI has so far found favourable response from the foreign banks and their only concern has been regarding any possible tax implications arising out of the change of their existing branches into new structure, sources said.
The foreign banks can get more leeway, or even a free hand, in terms of number of branches they wish to open in the country, under the local incorporation route, as against the current practice of seeking RBI's clearance for every branch to be opened, sources said.
In return, the foreign banks might be asked to open more branches in rural areas to meet the financial inclusion targets.
Among others, the local incorporation of foreign bank branches will also help insulate them against crisis in the other countries where these banks might be operating, sources said.
While the foreign banks already operating in the country have been lobbying for liberalising these branch-licensing norms for a long time, a number of other overseas players are also lining up for licences to enter the Indian banking space.
There are about 32 foreign banks present in the country with their little over 300 branches.
However, this accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of about 72,000-branch overall network of all the banks operating in the country.

Guys, its late but a complete story!!! sorry for being late....

Concerns of a true Indian

India believes in ritual, without caring to respect the substantive. Our education is as bad other aspects of society. We are people who sing saraay jahaan say acha ..while peeing. spitting randomly. We can burn kill in the name of religion but can't keep the Ganga clean? We have political parties named .......Sena, ain't our armed forces enough for battles?
One visit to IITs & IIMs would get you real dismal picture of the standard of teaching there. Its easy to get rich & successful in India by stooping low and having your intelligent quotient less than the average. Just stand up for honesty, beauty & intelligence and you have hoards of marauders vying for your blood. Talent has no place here...otherwise how could we loose battles to every johnny including a pvt ltd company from England?
We are afraid to face positive criticism...why can't some social, religious or political organsiation convince Mr Narayanamurthy of Infosys to join them in building the country? Good people have no place in public life in India they are hounded out by half baked self proclaimed decadent leaders. India is my country and i am sad for it.our education system is as bad as other systems in India. A university topper [1986] could not get a lecturer's job in journalism department of Punjabi university patiala because the VC had decided to give it to his niece, sic.
Mr Kapil sibbal can not or does not want to do anything to improve the system. He has his own axe to grind. Why can't IITs/IIms employ industry professionals with years of achievements without the ceremony of PhD or Masters? How would you bring professional culture in classrooms without them? I have been number of marketing professors who just pee on 4Ps without explaining the relationship with the shop floor. I had to leave a privately run management institute because the promoter/director of the institute was certain that sales is part of marketing function and i told him an example that sales could be an independent function too and sometime more pervasive in an nascent market. But his ego was hurt and my job..hahaa.
IITS/IIMs get PSU consulting projects only, even those projects they are unable to handle. Why can't they get projects from international corporates like the other institutes globally? UBS at PU Chandigarh has marketing teachers who can not tell names of advertising agencies, market research teachers who have n't heard of Nielsen?
How many professors are there who can teach the subject of their own choosing? On a personal note, how many Marketing Management professors in India would know the profile of Indian consuming class? How could we have good MBAs then? IIMs are just names because they get best of India students, as for teachers they are like we get anywhere else.
Kapil Sibbal can ask Nielsen or another research agency to seek opinion of students of IITs/IIMs & other national institutes on the academic standards & teaching quality. The rot is all pervasive..its not going to change unless the society changes..till then VCs & other leading academia would continue to be entrepreneurs & social engineers.
Disclaimer: It is not my original views. I got this from a comment box on some matter. Published with permission of original thinker....

Get movie tickets @ Re. 1 using your Axis Bank Visa Debit Card!!!‏

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New Certificate Course from NSE @ St. Stephen's College, New DElhi

Hi All, I am putting this email which I received from NSE, to help you guys, so if anyone is interested  in capital market courses, can contact on the given contact details.

Greetings from National Stock Exchange!


St. Stephen’s College has collaborated with the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) to introduce the NSE Certified Capital Market Professional (NCCMP) course. The proposed commencement date of the course is November 15, 2010. It is a 100 hours program (3 - 4 months) comprising theory and practical training in capital markets. Subjects covered in the course comprises of equity markets, debt markets, derivatives, macro economics, technical analysis, fundamental analysis etc. Please note that this is not exclusively for students of St. Stephen’s College; others can also participate.

Classes would be held at the St. Stephen’s College. Successful candidates would be awarded a joint St. Stephen’s - NSE certificate in capital markets.

Those interested to apply for the course may kindly contact :

Mr. Anthony Wilson St. Stephen’s College, University Enclave, Delhi - 110007.

Phone No. : 09810845147

Warm regards,

SBU-EDUCATION

‘Let Education Help You Grow’

Disclaimer: I got this information throught an email, I'm not liable for any type of discripancy.

BACI(Subsidiary of Bank of America)

Hi all,
BACI(BA Continuum India);A wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America; is hiring undergraduates for Doc Review Process and B.Com Graduates for Finance process. Walk-in this week between 11:00-15:00 any day as soon as possible.
Any query: mail me: kymanoj@in.com
or message me on facebook: Manoj K Yadav(find link on my blog)
Add: DLF Infinity Tower B, Gurgaon (Haryana)India.
Near Videocon Tower or Near Hotel The Leela

All the best!!
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