There is a large gap in the contents students study in colleges and requirements of the industry. To reduce this gap and make the SBIT students ready for the industry this cell is formed which train the students for the industry requirements.
This cell organizes the following activities:
Development Training: focused attention is given right from the Ist year for a specific industrial nature as per the prevailing requirements.
Following activities are regularly carried out at the Institute:
- Group discussions on latest topics
- Panel Discussions
- Extempore
- Seminars and Workshops on latest topics
- Training to develop language skills – Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading & Writing etc.
- Training to develop HR skills – Communication Skills (Barriers, Effective Communication), Role Plays, Goal Setting, Team Skills, Communication Sensitivity, Resume Preparation
- Personality Development Programmes (PDP) to gain interview skills, confidence building communication skills
Conducts the following based on the pattern followed by the industry for campus recruitment
- Technical Tests
- Aptitude Tests
- Mock Interviews
Higher Studies: Extends guidance to the students looking for higher studies such as GATE, GRE and TOEFL and also to choose universities.
To provide the students with experience at par with leading Universities of the world SBIT is having the Approvals, Alliances, Setups and Accreditation comprising of leading global corporations and organizations.
For Alliances visit – SBIT Alliances
For Membersips visit – SBIT Memberships
For Student Chapters visit – SBIT Student Chapters
SBIT is guided by the global leaders in education and corporate world in designing the latest curriculum and giving students un paralleled experience of the corporate world even before the students starts working. Visit SBIT Academic Advisory Council
Group Discussion
You should be updated about current affairs, international events, issues affecting India and the world, etc. so that you can put forward your opinion and views when asked.
You need to have patience and effective listening skills to respond effectively in a group discussion. Remember the interview panel consists of people who are sitting only to choose the best. So, even a slight mistake can cost you heavily.
But, you need not panic, as the best way to prepare for any situation is to face it head-on.
We wish good luck to all the students appearing. But, remember one more thing. Apart from preparing for entrance exams, you should also keep focus to maintain a good percentage in your graduation also above 70% throughout.
- Do’s & Don’ts of a Group Discussion
- How your outfit might affect your GD/PI score
- Parameters on which you are judged during GD.
- Things you should NOT do in a Group Discussion
Do’s & Don’ts of a Group Discussion
Here are some important points on the Do’s & Don’ts of a Group Discussion. Take a look.
1) Dress Formally
Dressing helps make the first impression and determines one’s personality – so do not take it casually. Dress in smart formals for GD and PI round. It will add to your confidence and keep you comfortable while speaking in a group. Positive gestures and body language will make your work easier.
2) Don’t Rush Into It
Initiating the GD is a big plus. But it works in your favour only when you understand the GD topic. If you are not sure about the topic, take your time, take a cue from others and then frame your argument. It will help you appear more measured when you speak and bring out your analytical skills.
3) Keep Eye Contact While Speaking
Stay relaxed and keep eye contact with every team member of the group discussion while speaking. Do not look at the evaluators only.
4) Allow Others to Speak
Do not interrupt others during the GD. Even if you don’t agree with their thoughts do not snatch their chance to speak. Instead make a mental note and state your points when it’s your turn. This will show that you are not desperate to blow your own trumpet and are mindful of other people’s opinion.
5) Don’t be Aggressive
Speak politely and clearly. Use simple language to convey your thoughts without being irritable. Don’t be aggressive even if you need to disagree with someone. Express your feelings calmly and politely.
6) Maintain Positive Attitude
GD is a team activity. Be confident but do not try to dominate anyone. Remember it’s a discussion and not a debate, so express your feelings calmly and politely. Ensure a positive body language. Show interest in the group discussion when others express their thoughts. This will make you appear as someone who is a team player.
7) Speak Sensibly
Do not speak just to increase your speaking time. Don’t worry even if you speak less but do not try to beat around the bush. Your thoughts should be sensible and relevant. Wasting the group’s time with your irrelevant speech or speaking without proper subject knowledge will only create a poor impression.
8) Listen Carefully to Others
Being a good listener is an important skill to succeed in group discussions. Pay attention when others speak. This will encourage coherent discussion and you will get involved in the group positively. That way, others are also more likely to be receptive to your points.
9) Avoid Time-Consuming Details
A basic subject analysis is sufficient. There’s no need to mention exact figures and statistics while making a reference. You have limited time in a GD, so be precise and convey your thoughts in a smart and crisp manner.
10) Keep the Discussion on Track
If you find the group is digressing from the topic or goal then simply take the initiative to bring the discussion back on track. Uphold and emphasize the group’s common objective to stick to the topic to arrive at some conclusion at the end of the group discussion. This will exhibit your leadership skills.
How your outfit might affect your GD/PI score
First impression is the last impression. So check out key tips on how to dress well for GD/PI round.
The way you dress can create a long-lasting impression in the minds of people. Many experts claim that dressing is quite an important factor in creating the first impression. How can someone’s clothes play an important role in meeting new people? According to a leading international designer Tom Ford, “Dressing well is a form of good manners”. And who would not be impressed with good manners! Therefore, it is often asked to dress accordingly during job interviews or Group Discussion (GD) & Personal Interview (PI) sessions.
Dressing well helps in maintaining one’s self-respect and composure. Similarly, clearing interviews and group discussion rounds can depend on your dressing sense. The way you present yourself in front of people who can help you in becoming a future manager matters a lot. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to dress well when you go for a group discussion or personal interview round.
Six tips to dress for GD/PI round
We have been taught since childhood that ‘the first impression is the last impression’. Naturally, we always try to show our best side in the first meeting. People can create the first impression through various ways such as – good behavior, table manners or dressing sense. Let’s take a look at some key tips for dressing well for GD/PI.
1. Neat & Tidy Formal Clothing
Formal dressing is recommended for GD/PI. Boys can wear formal suits or shirt and formal pants. Tie and blazers are not compulsory, but if you are comfortable in wearing these things, carry on. Girls can wear a formal shirt accompanied with either a formal skirt or pants. Again, the blazer is an option. Dirty spots on your outfit may leave a bad impression on the interviewer. Make sure whatever you wear is neat and tidy. On the day of GD/PI, take care of where you sit, where you keep your hands and how you eat so that the tidiness of your outfit is maintained.
2. Creased / Ironed
Iron your dress beforehand. Do not wait till the date of GD/PI. Get your outfit ready a night or a day before. A messy outfit depicts a messy person. Therefore, look smart by wearing smart. Wear a well-ironed pair of suit so as to look well dressed.
3. Wear Light Colors
Opt for a light-colored outfit on the day of the interview or group discussion. Colors like light blue, light baby pink, white, off-white, light brown or light grey can be worn. Both girls and boys can wear any of the above mentioned colors. Dark colors are mostly meant for evenings, while interviews are generally scheduled in mornings or afternoons. It is not that you can’t wear dark colors. Just make sure, it doesn’t look over the top. Also, neon colors are big no-no.
4. Comfortable Clothes
Whatever you wear should be comfortable. Do not wear clothes that are either too tight or too loose. If your clothes are not of your size, then get them altered beforehand. Girls should make sure that the skirts they wear should not be too short. Be comfortable in what you are wearing. Else, your discomfort might harm the way you present yourself.
5. Dress Smartly
Looking smart has its benefits. However, looking smart doesn’t guarantee selection, but yes it does play a role in leaving good impression.
6. Clean Boots
Your footwear is also a part of your dressing. Wear footwear that compliments your outfit. Formal shoes with formal outfits are the norm, so follow that. Also, make sure that your shoes are squeaky clean. Check your shoes once again before entering the interview room.
Parameters on which you are judged during GD
GD or the group discussion is a significant part of the selection process. There are a lot of misconceptions in the students when it comes to the group discussion. The students think that raising the voice, lot of speaking and getting aggressive impresses the judges and you stand more chance to get selected. Let’s look at the parameters on which you are judged in a GD.
Knowledge of the Subject
Speaking isn’t enough; you must talk relevant because the judges check the knowledge of the student on the given topic. The student must speak what makes sense. In his mind, the student can prepare a small script which should be pertinent enough to be highlighted and discussed.
Listening
In a GD, no doubt it is very important to speak up and share your views, but equally important is to be a good listener. This is one parameter which students ignore because they feel that speaking is the only thing which is important. By listening to others, you also get an advantage to frame your next elocution on the basis of what you agree with and what you disagree with.
Communication skills
You must have an impressive way of communication backed by correct diction, pronunciation, accent and confidant throw of language. Also, the student must be able to put his views loud and clear and not meekly and sheepishly. However, loud does not mean shouting. Loud means one should be heard by all.
Body language and Appearance
The body says it all at times. The judges also test how the candidate is sitting, behaving, moving his eyes, movement of his hands and legs etc. The candidate does not look confident if he has shaky hands and has weird body movements. Along with this, dressing sense is also observed. The candidate must be dressed formally in neat and clean clothes.
Leadership Skills
Being the first one, or opening the discussion is often in the favor of candidate. Acting as a leader by speaking, asking the other one to speak, and giving direction to the group impresses the panel.
Things you should NOT do in a GD
Knowledge
Whatever you do in a GD, your knowledge about the subject can’t be replaced by anything else. You are required to talk in A GD but a talk that doesn’t contain substantial value doesn’t hold any meaning. Be a voracious reader to increase your knowledge on various subjects. T.V., Newspapers, magazines, News portals etc. could be your good sources of knowledge.
Alertness and presence of mind
In a GD you are required to carefully listen to the other person’s thoughts and keep an argument, example or a supportive statement, fact, example ready to participate in the discussion. Here comes into picture your alertness and ability to think & act immediately. As you participate in a GD, make sure that you sit with an attentive mind and keep taking down the relevant points put forward by others.
Communication
You have a lot of good points to put across but if you can’t communicate them clearly, you won’t stand a chance to impress the evaluators. Practice to communicate in a clear and effective way.
Confidence
Your self-confidence adds a lot of value to your candidature. Look at every group member as you speak, avoid too much hand movement and looking at evaluators.
Leadership and team skills
Your participation in a GD clearly establishes not only your Leadership skills but also your capability to work in a team. To meet the objectives, a good leader has to be a team player.
Goal Orientation
As so many people participate in a GD the chances of discussion moving from the subject are high. Your focus on goal can get you some extra points.
Now, as you are being evaluated for the above discussed traits, you must the things that can work to your disadvantage and might cost you the selection. Following are the things that you must avoid to do as being a part of the GD
Initiating the discussion without proper subject knowledge
Though initiating the discussion helps you get immediate attention of the evaluators but if you start the discussion with irrelevant details, it works to your disadvantage. Start first only if you know the subject well otherwise wait for others to start and get a feel of the subject before entering into the discussion.
Snatching other’s chance to speak
Give other group members a chance to speak. Talking more won’t get you through the GD In fact it will give the evaluators a feeling that you are not a team player. Making short and relevant contributions of 20-30 seconds 3-4 times in the discussion is enough. Give other members also a chance to speak.
Interrupting others
Let the other person finish off his comment before you speak. Interrupting others is counted as a negative trait. Remember, it is a discussion not a debate. Don’t jump at the conclusions. Listen carefully to the other person before putting your point across.
Dialogue
In a GD you are expected to communicate with all the members of the group. Do not keep looking at one person while talking. Establish eye contact with all the members of the group. It is a many-on-many discussion not one-on-one.
Shouting or dominating
Keep you emotions under control. Do not try to dominate the group or let your emotions rule you. Sometimes it might happen that a group member might say something which hurts your emotions for example a comment on your race or religion, make sure that you do not get into an argument. Your focus should be to effectively meet the goals of GD topic.
Show off
You have to put across your knowledge on the subject during the GD but you have to be very careful about the thin demarcation between showing off and knowledge sharing. For e.g. Using statistics and facts during the GD is a good thing to do but you must not overdo it to nauseate the group members.
Low Self Confidence or Insecurities
As we have seen earlier, one of the traits evaluated during GD is your self-confidence. Do not hesitate to speak confidently. You might be short of ideas or knowledge on the subject. Listen to others and put across your thoughts in a clear and audible voice. Make sure that you make eye contact with all the group members.
Slang and negative gestures
GD is a formal discussion. Avoid informal words and negative gestures. For e.g. avoid words like gonna, wanna, ya etc. Similarly avoid gestures like pointing fingers,
knocking the desk with the pen.
If you ensure that you do not commit these mistakes during the GD, you will not have to worry about the negative marks and your chances of getting through it also become bright.
Speak politely and pleasantly
As you speak make sure that you do not speak at the top of your voice. You should be audible and clear. Remember that you are participating in a discussion which is different from a speech given out by the leaders in their rallies. Even if you disagree with the other’s point of view, disagree politely. Use phrases like, I would like to disagree a bit here, I am sorry but I think I have a slightly different point of view here.
Be precised
Abstain from using irrelevant information and data from your talks during a GD Speak precisely so that others also get a chance to put across their point of view.
Acquire and apply knowledge
Stay attentive to the ideas put forward by other group members and keep writing the important points discussed during the GD As you get a chance to speak, put forward your views about the topic. You can also agree or disagree with other’s ideas, based on your knowledge about the subject.
Agree with the right
Don’t take a stand on either extreme when the discussion begins. It might happen that you get convinced by other’s argument and want to change your stand. Respect other’s opinion as well and agree with what is right, even if you initially had a different opinion.
Speak confidently
Maintain your confidence as you speak. Establish eye contact with other members of the group and do not let your voice tremble.
Moderate
Try to moderate the discussion if any arguments arise. This is necessary to ensure that the group doesn’t wander from the goal of the GD
Use positive body language
Your body language should not demonstrate dominance or low self-confidence. Show your interest in the discussion through your gestures like bending forward a bit, nodding your head.
Be a team player
Last but not the least; be a team player as this is a group activity. Be comfortable with the group members and vice versa
Panel Discussion
A panel discussion is a format used at conventions, conferences, and meetings where a group of people who are skilled in a specific topic engage in conversation together in front of an audience.
A moderator leads the discussion by presenting questions to the panelists, ensuring the discussion stays on track, and oftentimes, will pull audience questions for the panelists to answer. Since panels are supposed to be a natural discussion, it’s important that the moderator guides the panelists in the right direction to ensure the audience receives the most value.
Panels can take place in a variety of settings that range from casual to formal. Examples of this can be a long rectangular table with each panelist sitting shoulder to shoulder, or the panelist could sit in seats that are angled towards each other on stage, which exudes a much more casual tone and is typically the more favorable option due to the comfort that it provides to not only the panelists but the audience as well. The moderator will usually be facing the panelists near the audience side on a podium.
Extempore
Some tips for doing well in an extempore presentation
Understand the challenge
An extempore speech is an impromptu speech which the candidate is required to make on a topic given there and then. No prior preparation is permissible.
An extempore presentation tests the candidate on the following:-
Ability to think off the feet: Since the candidate is required to speak on the spur of the moment, it gauges the candidate’s ability to think, organize and speak there and then.
Analysis of the topic and identification of the issue to be addressed: An extempore has a huge probability of going in a random and directionless manner if proper analysis does not precede the speech. The candidate is advised to understand the key issues which need to be addressed and then logically position them to create a coherent and well knitted presentation.
Idea generation: The biggest challenge in an extempore speech is to come out with a quick sequence of ideas. This assumes even stronger proportions because of limited time available for the task.
Prioritization and sequencing to display logical thinking: The challenge is not just to speak under time pressure, but also to make logical sense through systematic and rational listing of ideas. This becomes even more critical if the topic is an abstract one and hence dependent on one’s perception.
Ability to connect with the panel: Conventionally, the time available for an extempore presentation ranges from one to five minutes. In this limited time span, the candidate is expected to do justice to the topic, which is more likely to happen if he connects well with the panel.
Communication skills: These are important as the effectiveness of the presentation is critically determined by communication skills – both verbal and non-verbal. While articulation, fluency and modulation are key determinants of verbal effectiveness; energy, eye contact and gestures mark the efficacy of non-verbal connect.
Overall presentation skills: like body language, confidence, poise & composure – also have an important role to play in enhancing the quality of the extempore speech.
Mental Preparation
Know what to speak before delivering speech. Ponder over the topic for some time and prepare the flow of delivery. Your previous extempore practice sessions would surely help here.
Understand the audience – the direction they are most likely to accept, helps in framing the flow of speech.
Handle mental blocks smartly
At times, when you get blank about what to speak, try to manoeuvre yourself out of the situation gracefully by avoiding being nervous. Candid smiles also help and for such situations it is better to have back up plans.
Control on speech
Don’t get emotional about the respective topic, avoid getting too personal on sensitive matters and don’t deviate from the topic.
For a satisfactory performance, it is always better to use your knowledge in an intelligent way with a control on the speech. Emotional attachment with the topic may be detrimental to the overall performance, as it may limit you to only dimension of the topic.
Presenting both sides
In case of controversial topics,the candidate may choose to explore both sides, a stand which becomes difficult to take in case of GDs due to challenges of group dynamics.
In an extempore, since the candidate is the only person speaking, it becomes possible for a smart, strategic speaker to discuss both aspects of the controversial topic. However, one has to be careful about the time constraints while taking this stand.
Interview
Tips to improve interview performance
Practice good nonverbal communication
It’s about demonstrating confidence: standing straight, making eye contact and connecting with a firm handshake. That first nonverbal impression can be a great beginning—or quick ending—to your interview.
Dress for the job or company
Today’s casual dress codes do not give you permission to dress as “they” do when you interview. It is important to know what to wear to an interview and to be well-groomed. Whether you wear a suit or something less formal depends on the company culture and the position you are seeking. If possible, call to find out about the company dress code before the interview.
Listen
From the very beginning of the interview, your interviewer is giving you information, either directly or indirectly. If you are not hearing it, you are missing a major opportunity. Good communication skills include listening and letting the person know you heard what was said. Observe your interviewer, and match that style and pace.
Don’t talk too much
Telling the interviewer more than he needs to know could be a fatal mistake. When you have not prepared ahead of time, you may ramble when answering interview questions, sometimes talking yourself right out of the job. Prepare for the interview by reading through the job posting, matching your skills with the position’s requirements and relating only that information.
Don’t be too familiar
The interview is a professional meeting to talk business. This is not about making a new friend. Your level of familiarity should mimic the interviewer’s demeanor. It is important to bring energy and enthusiasm to the interview and to ask questions, but do not overstep your place as a candidate looking for a job.
Use appropriate language
It’s a given that you should use professional language during the interview. Be aware of any inappropriate slang words or references to age, race, religion, politics, or sexual orientation—these topics could send you out the door very quickly.
Right attitude
Attitude plays a key role in your interview success. There is a fine balance between confidence, professionalism, and modesty. Even if you’re putting on a performance to demonstrate your ability, overconfidence is as bad, if not worse, as being too reserved.
Take care to answer the questions
When interviewers ask for an example of a time when you did something, they are asking behavioral interview questions, which are designed to elicit a sample of your past behavior. If you fail to relate a specific example, you not only don’t answer the question, but you also miss an opportunity to prove your ability and talk about your skills.
Ask questions
When asked if they have any questions, most candidates answer, “No.” Wrong answer. Part of knowing how to interview is being ready to ask questions that demonstrate an interest in what goes on in the company. Asking questions also gives you the opportunity to find out if this is the right place for you. The best questions come from listening to what you’re asked during the interview and asking for additional information.
Don’t appear desperate
When you interview with the “please, please hire me” approach, you appear desperate and less confident. Reflect the three Cs during the interview: cool, calm, and confident.