Campus Selection: An 'UN'conventional approach to Group Discussions

Hello Guys,

The new season for campus placement is about to begin in a month or two, hence I thought of writing few lines which I experienced and sensed working as a student placement coordinator last year in my college.

To begin with, firstly not every group discussion is same. Each and every company has it's own expectations from GD. But here are few tips which is applicable to most of the companies.

Basically, one is expected to show an awesome communication skills in GD. Since this is a competition it is very important that you don't fall for for the conventional method of giving chance to every one. Please note, this doesn't mean you got to overpower others, but it means you need not worry whether others are speaking or not. You need to find chance every time to place your opinions. In simple language you need to be an active speaker throughout the time allotted for GD.

Second important point is clear organisation of thoughts. This means your thought process should be well planned. No matter what the topic is, please divide the topic in to subdivisions. Later allot equal time to every subdivisions. 

Note that in a GD, you should never take a single side. Always try to evaluate both the sides of a topic. This gives a very good impression on you. Also it is very important that you don't suddenly drift from positive side to negative side. To evaluate a a topic from both the sides, you got to be in a neutral side always. Also your conclusion should include a proper evaluation of both the sides.

article to be continued.....

Remark: These tips are applicable only for the campus selection, these tips shouldn't be followed for a corporate level real life GDs

CAT 2015 : Are u an OBC CANDIDATE writing CAT? Then you need to take a look at this.

Hey Guys! 

I have seen lot of people asking questions on about OBC certificate, eligibility, income criterion and especially the validity of certificate. Firstly I'm not an expert in this, but I have done some research about this after I faced few problems during my previous admissions.

1. First and the most common question I have seen on this thread is "I have a certificate dated 20xx, is it okay to submit that during my interviews? " 

Ans: Nope, unless the certificate is of the current financial year, it's not okay to submit it. And Yeah! Financial year 2014-15 starts from March 2014 and is till March 2015. So, for the IIM interviews of the CAT-2014 season, you need to get a certificate dated after April 1st 2014. People preparing for CAT15 should apply for their certificate after March 2015. 

2. Why is it like this? I have a certificate which is valid for 5 years?

Ans: Yeah! It is like this because OBC reservation is applicable only for Non-Creamy layer applicants, which is decided based on their annual income. So, you need to get it renewed every financial year. And also note that five year validity is for OBC certificate, not for the Non-Creamy Layer Certificate

3. My father is govt. employee and my NCL certificate is not based on salary. Should I get a new one every year? And why I should I get it renewed simply?

Ans: Yep! You need to get it renewed irrespective of the method of deciding NCL status. This is firstly because it will not be mentioned in your certificate how you qualified the NCL criteria. Secondly because if your parents get promoted before the age of 40, then you might lose the OBC cover. So it's necessary for everyone to get a new certificate every year.

4. My certificate format doesn't EXACTLY match with the one on the CAT website. 

Ans: No problem, until unless all the wordings and the resolutions match with your certificate. And I'm pretty sure all the states issue the certificate in the same format, though the heading "for the admission to IIMs" might not be present. Thus this won't be a problem. But please note, if your certificate doesn't match the wordings and resolutions as given on the certificate on CAT website then, I doubt if it's a Valid Central Govt. Certificate.

5. Often people get confused with State OBC and Central OBC Certificate. Few queries are like I got certificate from my tahasildar, is it okay?

Ans: Guys, Please note State government OBC is completely different from Central govt. OBC certificate. And for Central govt. institutions it's compulsory that you submit Central govt. certificate. Please check NCBC website (www.ncbc.nic.in) for the central list of state-wise OBC (Few castes which come under Central OBC quota in few states, don't come under in few , so the central OBC list is state-wise. But note this doesn't mean state govt. and central govt. lists are same)

Coming to second part of the question, note that the State government issues both Central govt. OBC certificate and state govt. OBC certificate. But the eligibility criteria for both is completely different in many states. And about issuing authority, usually Tahasildar issues the certificates. But anyone equal to or above the rank of tahsildar can issue the certificate.

6. I have a certificate with a heading "For Central Govt. Jobs". Is it okay?

Ans: As per my previous experience, YES, it's okay! Content of the certificate is what that matter. Even if it's a rare case, they will allow you after an undertaking.

7. Should I submit income certificate?

Ans: Nope! You don't need to submit any other documents other than Non Creamy Layer Certificate. 

8. My income is more than 6 lakhs. Am I not eligible?

Ans: OBC certificates are issued on the basis of your parent's income and NOT yours. And also income is not a criteria for all the cases. For govt. employee it is based on Class, not on salaried income.  

9. My certificate doesn't has signature of competent authority but instead it has a barcode. Will it be accepted?

Ans: Yes! It will be accepted. This is esp. in case of certificate issued by states like Karnataka where the certificates are digitally signed. So, no need to worry, it will be accepted.  

10. Now there are few people appearing for interviews this season with outdated certificate. What should they do?

Ans: Risky Business. But no need to panic if you have correct central govt. certificate. Usually you'll have to submit an undertaking during your interviews, if your certificate is outdated. But I'm not sure if every IIM will do the same. So those who have interviews late in March and April, please apply for new one.

And those who are preparing for CAT 2015, it's a kind request for you people to get a certificate BEFORE you register for CAT15, else you may simply get rejected during interviews and ruin chance of another eligible candidate. So applying for certificate in July/August 2015 will be a safe option.

Right to Information

RTI - one of the landmark achievment of UPA.

Firstly thanks to them,because after a series of failure in governance

the only good naah only best thing they did was RTI.

As the name says it gives you right to ask any government organisation any information that you may like to know.

RTI is like a dhanush(bow and arrow) in your hand. And government is your shikar (target). But dont forget,if you

dont know dhanurvidya(archery) then your arrow is useless

Now here is the first twist- Remember RTI is not Kuch Bhi Puchoo (ask whatever). Famous RTI activist Krishna Raj

explain it simply as RTI is 'Suchana ka Adhikar' not pucchne ka adhikar.I know many of you would get perplexed

with the last sentence but guys this is what RTI is. Remember you can never ask a question in your RTI application.

If u do so your RTI application will directly fly to dustbin. You can ask them only to give what they define as information. Yeah.... only information... i.e duplicate copy of any print or elctronic documents, order copies and files.

Suppose if you ask " why did you pay so much for repairing roads?" , then dont waste time waiting for answer. RTI doesn't

entertain 'Why' 'How' questions. Instead it gives only information like when it started and when it's gonna completed, what has been spent on it, bills and receipts regarding it etc etc.

Now second important point- Buy Postal order of Rs.10. If you buy less than that, sometimes few officers may write

you back asking for correct application,else dont worry your application will land into dustbin.

(Note they may ask you for extra money for xerox and other postal charges depending on asked information.

Its advised to ask reciepts for everything)

Thirdly BE CAREFULLY, On postal order you will be paying money in favour of ACCOUNTS OFFICER, and not Public Information

Officer, whom actually you are gonna ask question. Your application should be addressed to information officer, but postal

order should be in favour of accounts officer

Fourthly, be within prescribed word limits. For Central govt it is around 500 words, and it varies for different state

governments. Please check this information with the office where you are gonna send it.

It may take 30 days for the concerned office to reply depending on their schedule. If you dont get reply/ dissatisfied

with what you got, then you may appeal for it.

In my next post I'll be posting some sample RTI questions. From those you'll learn how to squeeze officers for answers. Everything exists in how you ask.........

Im sorry if there are some typing mistakes.....I'll correct them soon

CREAMY LAYER : A MISTAKEN VERSION OF OBC RESERVATIONS

The word 'Creamy Layer' was introduced in 1971 to demarcate the wealthier part of the society and to exclude them from availing the reservations granted in various governmental jobs and educational institutions for the Other Backward Classes (OBC). 

      This definition was redefined properly by the Supreme Court of India in 1993 by drawing lines of exclusion for constitutional functionaries like The President , Vice President , Judges of the Supreme Court and High courts, employees of Central and State bureaucracies above a certain level, Public Sector Employees, Members of the armed forces and paramilitary personnel above the rank of colonel. The wards of persons engaged in trade, industry and professions such as a doctor, lawyer, chartered accountant, income tax consultant, financial or management consultant, dental surgeon, engineer, architect, computer specialist, film artists and other film professional, author, playwright, sports person, sports professional, media professional or any other vocations of like status whose annual income is more than 450,000.

The Mis-interpretation of 4.5 Lakh Income Limit.

·        The Income criteria is applicable only on parents income/ the post he or she holds. People wrongly assume that they don't belong to OBC category just because their own income is greater than 6 lakh. Note that your income or your husbands income doesn't matter while deciding the Creamy layer status. 

·        Secondly the Official Memorandum (OM) states that the income from salary and agriculture income cannot be CLUBBED. This is mistaken as ‘either income from salary is taken into account or income from agriculture’. But this is a misconception, they have nowhere used 'either/or' in the sentence to mean what people usually assume.

·        Thirdly, income limit criterion doesn't apply for the employees of Central and State governments. For government employees only their position in the office is the criterion for non-creamy layer status. Excluding all Class I employees and direct recruits of Class II cadre, all other govt. servants having income greater than 4.5 lakhs are still eligible for the OBC non creamy layer certificates. Also to note that if an employee gets promoted to Class I cadre after his 40 years of age, his children still come under non-creamy layer, so note that 4.5 lakh criterion thus applies only for business class not for salaried government working class.

·        It is very unfortunate that even the competent authorities, who issue the non-creamy layer certificates are under this misinterpretation and reject the applications made by the candidate for wrong reasons.

·        Please download the copies of OM available on National Commision for Backward Classes website and talk to the concerned authorities with proper proofs.

Update: Income limit is raised from 4.5 lpa to 6.0 lpa

References: OBC commision website  please visit to check all the detailed official memorandum

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS IN REFERENCE TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT POLICY OF RESERVATION IN CENTRAL GOVT POSTS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES AND NOT OF STATE GOVERNMENT. INDIVIDUAL STATE GOVERNMENT HAVE THEIR OWN POLICIES