How to compensate for your low grades?

My last article scared many students to the extent that my mail box was flooded with mails asking me to write the next article asap. I am writing this article as a reply to all those queries. I will try to cover as many things as possible; in case, something is left out then do ask by commenting under this post.

Until my fourth semester result, I was also worried about my percentage. How to improve it? Situation has stooped to such level that my aim was to get just 70% anyhow (in any one semester and not cumulative). But it happened and I scored pretty well in my fourth semester exams. And since then I have always scored more than 70% in college exam. I will share few things which I used to do.

First of all, look at the previous year question papers because most of the time syllabus is same and topics are very limited from which questions can be asked. Go through as many previous year papers as possible and prepare all the questions and topics asked in them as major chunk of your exam will be similar to it (considering that no experiment has been done with your batch).

Secondly, no need to read the entire book again and again. Just go through it once, understand it and mark the important topics and revise them.

Third, keep an eye on the topics which teachers (or professors) teach in class. Those are the most important topics and they will definitely be asked in the exams.

Fourth, try to find out the sources of questions asked in the previous years. Generally, questions are asked from the exercise portion of standard books. In case, this happens with you then go through the important exercise questions and their solution (It would be best if you solve those questions on your own but that would be pretty ideal situation for many students).

Now, let us say that you have tried all the above mentioned activities but still you are not able to achieve good score (value of good score varies from person to person) then you need to work as per your goal. Find out what you want to do in your life or what are your career aspirations?

Let me explain this point by taking few examples. Suppose you want to go for GMAT or GRE after your graduation then you need to work on your profile. You need to have healthy profile which shows dedication towards your long term goals. If you want to go in to Education sector five or seven years down the line, then you need to work a little in this sector and this should be reflected in your profile.

If you want to go for GATE or MTech., then you need to have strong knowledge of your core subjects.

If you want to go for Indian Administrative services then you need to work on general knowledge and reading habit. You have to read and learn more than your capability.  So these are the few examples I have taken to explain how you can improve or compensate for your marks.

P.S.: All the above mentioned activities were done by me and were beneficial to me. It may or may not help you. Moreover, while following the above mentioned tips do not forget to develop a strong base of your core subjects.

Click to read : How much marks matter in your career?

Tips to excel in Interview

·         Always study about the company and the job profile before you go for the interview. Interviewer might ask you about the same.

·         In stress interviews, the idea is never to loose calm and be relaxed always. Interviewer will definitely irritate you by asking stupid or irrelevant questions. He just wants to check the temperament in which you handle such situations

·         Interview is a conversation between candidate and panel (may include one or more interviewer) and nothing more than that. Your rejection in interview does not mean that you are bad. It simply means that you did not match the criterion of the company (may be you were over qualified for the job).

·         Always keep your certificates folder in your lap. Never keep it on the table.

·         The answer to "Tell me something about your self" should not be of more than 2-3 minutes.

·         Always prepare standard HR questions before hand like tell me something about your self, your strengths, weaknesses, etc. Preparing does not mean you have to learn them and recite during the interview, it means that you should have basic idea and framework in your mind.

Gross domestic product

It is an economic wealth indicator that stands for the total (gross means total) economic value of the final goods and services produced in a country in a well defined time period (generally a year). Sometimes the GDP is also expressed as a percentage which indicates the percentage growth or decline in the financial economy as compared to the previous defined time period (usually a year). GDP can be calculated in numerous ways which are logically identical. 

1) Income method: here the total value of all goods and services earned within a country are summed up.
2) Expenditure method: in this method, the total value of all final goods and services spent by the consumer, investment and government are summed up.
3) In this method the value of the total goods and capital sold are summed up.
the formula to calculate GDP is:
o GDP = C + G + I + NX
Where:
o C = All private consumption
o G = All government spending
o I = Investment by businesses
NX = The country’s net exports (total exports – total imports)


GDP is highly essential because GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living, or in other words, the GDP is an indicator of the country’s economy . a declining GDP warns the business men and the federal government to build up policies to prevent inflation, which is a major threat to the economy. 

But THE GDP is even condemned upon its inefficiency to account for the real world living conditions. It is said to reflect only the wealth expansion (economic growth) of the country or the capital consumption only. Sometimes a thing may contribute nothing to the well-being of individuals but still the government takes it into account in the GDP calculation.

Few tips to crack GD

These are the few basic points which should be taken care of while you are having a GROUP DISCUSSION:

1.       If you start GD, then always try to give structure to the GD in the starting itself. If you do that, then your half work is done.

2.      Never start GD with useless points. Start the discussion only if you have good and valid points or if you can provide a framework to the discussion.

3.      When you feel that discussion is getting monotonous, try to bring in some new and creative point. That, for sure, will be noticed by mediator and will provide you advantage.

4.       Never directly disagree with other's view point. That shows lack of team spirit and leadership skills.

5.       While summarizing, try to state view points of other members. This will show your attentiveness and alertness during the GD. (In real GD, try to note down points said by others whereas in virtual GD you can see points anytime you wish to.)

6.      If you don’t have any idea about the topic, then sit silent and listen to other members for sometime and then paraphrase and extrapolate the points said by others along with your own view point.

7.      If the topic is related to economics or is an abstract topic, try to define the topic and give a structure to the GD in the starting itself.

8.      Never get into an argument with a particular group member. It will ease the task of mediator to eliminate you from the discussion.

9.      When you feel that discussion is getting monotonous, try to bring in some new and creative point. That, for sure, will be noticed by mediator and will provide you advantage.

10.  Do not look at the mediator during the GD. That will confirm your rejection for next round.

Tell us something about yourself. - 1

Whenever you go for interview, first question you generally face is : “Tell me something about yourself”.

This question is basically an ice breaker so that you feel comfortable for the rest of the interview. But along with it, this is the most important question of the entire interview. You have to answer it very sincerely and cautiously because your entire interview can take shape depending on how you answer it.

Here a sample answer is given and questions which can be asked from it are also mentioned.

My name is ABC…, doing mechanical engineering from DTU. I have done my schooling from S.D Public School,Delhi. I have been the topper of my school since primary classes and secured 90+ in C.B.S.E Boards. I chose mechanical engineering as my branch because of my passion in cars. I had always dreamt of making my own vehicle. I am very much fascinated by speed, actions & stunts. Coming on to my academic performance, I would like to share my internships. I did my summer internship at XYZ industry- which gave me training about vehicle dynamics and taught me latest designing softwares and newest technology introduced in India i.e. Reverse Engineering. Besides that I have been also actively indulged in extra- curricular like conducting workshops & seminars, participating in various tech- non tech competitions & cultural fests held at IITs, DCE & NSIT. My source of motivation is my parents who have been very friendly and supportive. Moreover, Rahul Dravid, Steve Jobs and Dhirubhai Ambani are some of my idols.

Now, following questions can be formed from the above answer:

1.     Tell me something about your school.

2.    What do mean by topper? Does securing 90+ percent make you suitable for this job?

3.    If you are so passionate about cars, then just tell us few things which you have accomplished in this field?

4.    Name any five types of stunts which you love doing.

5.    Why did you choose to do internship at XYZ Company?

6.    What did you learn in your internship?

7.    Did you notice any improvement which could be done in the company to improve its productivity?

8.    What is reverse engineering? How it is better from the conventional technology?

9.    What all do you need to do to conduct a workshop? What did you learn by conducting a workshop? Did you have any monetary motive behind it?

10.  Tell me something about the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. How did he reach to this level?

P.S.: Above questions are just to provide you an insight about the questions that can be formed from your answer. More questions can be asked from the answers you give to the above questions. 

How to prepare for Futures First?

The only company which tests your ability to handle stress? How you work under pressure? How you react or act to the best of your abilities with limited resources?

The procedure consisted of two written tests and interview.

1.      Test 1

2.      Elimination

3.      Test 2

4.      Elimination

5.      Interview rounds

6.      Final selection

Test 1 is speed and calculation based test. In 2011, there were 30 questions to be answered in 5minutes. Main thing to consider in these types of tests is selection of question. Few questions are given deliberately to waste your time. So refrain from getting stuck there. You can definitely clear the cut off if you attempt 20 questions correctly. So take care of accuracy.

Test 2 is based on Probability and Permutations and Combinations. Work on these two topics to clear this round. Then comes the interview round. This varies from person to person. But this company is famous for its stress interviews. They can ask you anything during the interview. They can ask you to jump from first or second floor and offer you the job. They can give you three or four questions (like: 331 X 447=? ; 999 X 154 X 534=? ) with a gap of three to four seconds. One question they ask inevitably is the most adventurous or craziest thing you have done so far. So be prepared with all these things in advance if you want to crack through Futures First.

All the very best!!!

Click here to read interview experience of students who got selected.

How to prepare for Deloitte?

The basic process of company recruitment consists of three stages:1.     Written test
2.     Group case study
3.     Interview
Written test primarily consists of aptitude and verbal. Quantitative aptitude is quite easy and will be like slicing a piece of butter with a hot knife. Verbal section consists of three vocabulary based questions, Para-jumbles and a small RC. In all, there will be ten questions in English and this section was the deciding factor. I am talking this with respect to the 2011 test paper.Now, for those who cleared the first round, comes the second stage which is group case study. In this round, groups of 6 to 7 students are made and given a particular problem or case and time of 15-20 minutes. Now you have to work in a group (Mind it: work in a group) and provide a comprehensive solution to the problem. This round tests your so-called personality traits, namely team spirit, leadership skills, ability of work as a team and help team members. In this stage, you have to be an individual as well as represent your group.Interviewis mainly HR. stress is laid on activities mentioned in your CV, and few puzzles are also asked. I would suggest you to prepare standard HR interview questions as well as these are asked inevitably in all interviews.For case studies, you can study any case study like Vault’s guide.All the above suggestions/points are based on 2011 campus recruitment procedure of the company.

To read, interview experiences of students who got selected in Deloitte, click here.

Click here to download placement paper of Deloitte.