The verbal section in the CAT obviously tests some essential verbal skills, but beneath them, it also tests some very important managerial skills. We can lay the foundations of our CAT preparation by understanding how the verbal questions are designed to uncover the skills and qualities the top B-schools look for in a candidate. The verbal section in the CAT (as of now) comprises primarily 3 kinds of questions – grammar and vocabulary (also referred to as Verbal Ability – VA), reading comprehension (RC), and verbal reasoning (VR). Traditionally, almost half of the total number of ques

Read More

Imagine that you are a tennis player – let’s say a club-level player. You have been taking tennis lessons regularly. As a result, you have acquired some skills. You have a good first serve that (may not be like Roger Federer’s, but still) can reach about 100 mph. You also have a reliable second serve with enough kick. You can generate a nice topspin (although not of 3000 rpm as Rafael Nadal’s) on your forehand, and your backhand (usually a weakness of most players, unless you are a Stan Wawrinka) is good enough to keep the ball in play till you can pull the trigger. Your volleys â€

Read More

The world of Management Education is entering a very interesting and dynamic period. Evolution will be constant in the corporate world over the coming years, maybe decades, and likewise, education has to respond to the challenges. In India in particular, management education needs to focus on solving complex issues arising from a vast population with differing needs. And if the country needs to truly grow holistically, it needs skilled professionals at the grassroots levels. Fortunately, there are enough such institutes for solving this requirement. Collectively, they are known as Sectoral

Read More

Group Discussion is a very important part of the whole selection process for entering into a B- School. The first question that arises as we start to think about Group Discussion stage is - What could be the probable topics for GD? It is a common notion that only current affairs based topics are given for GD. This is not the case. There are various kinds of GDs like abstract topic based, opinion seeking, case based, facts/knowledge based etc. We at HandaKaFunda have curated a list of the absolutely crucial topics for your GD preparation. Group Discussion - Current Affairs Based:

Read More

Starting today, I will be writing a series of articles, which gives a sense of perspective for the average Joe interviewee, helping him understand what an interviewer looks for during a CAT interview. In this article, we start at the basics - knowing oneself. An interview is an intensely personal experience and the first thing to ace, is to know yourself thoroughly. Remember that the interview is all about you, your experiences, your dreams, your personality and your unique perspective. The interviewer is there, trying to gauge you as a person and it is up to you to present your best side t

Read More

There was a time when a job was something one would get in for life. Even if one would change jobs a few times, the target would be to remain loyal to one firm for as long as possible. Even the changes would be within the sector. Then we witnessed the period when options increased, so it was easier for people to move jobs. Now, we have moved on to yet another stage of employment trends, where people continue to remain loyal to companies, but not just to one at a time. The entire ecosystem is known as the Gig Economy. The term gig economy originates from rock bands and their guitarists,

Read More

You got to admit - spending two years at a Bschool (or one year, if you study at ISB, Great Lakes etc.) will surely rank amongst your best academic experiences. From participating in multiple events, putting all-nighters before exams, forging amazing friendships, and getting the kick of THAT one dream job placement, your B-school journey is something that will stay with you for the rest of your lives. However, there will be times during your journey where you will go, "Woah! This is not what I expected". And that's okay. Most of us join with rosy images of our Bschool lives in our min

Read More

Often after the announcement of CAT/XAT results, MBA aspirants starts getting confused regarding the B-school selection. A lot of data is available about Old IIMs in public domain regarding various parameters like academics, profiles offered etc. But in case of Private B-schools barring MDI, SP Jain, information on all parameters is incomplete. Situation gets even trickier when two similar colleges are compared. Aspirants log on to various MBA related websites, Facebook and Pagalguy group of colleges. These sources can be good for knowledge about institutes but they have a risk of objectivit

Read More

First thing first, when it comes to essay writing, there could potentially be 700 deadly sins. However, space and time constraints dictate that I resist the perennial, evil temptation of writing another long-winded piece and confine myself to the top seven that lead the line-up. These seven mistakes feature routinely in majority of the essays that I assess, and often a single essay contains all of them in varying degrees. So here I go with the seven deadlies in no particular order of frequency or seriousness. Sin No 1: Irrelevance This one is a two-faced devil and both equally ugly. The

Read More

When I said in the previous post that you must write at least 100 essays, I was not joking. There are a number of reasons why this must be done. First, writing, unlike speaking or reading, is not a natural process we follow every day. Therefore, when we sit down to write, we are filled with self-doubt. Second, every writer, on most occasions, needs to motivate themselves to write. In the case of a WAT taker, the perceived disincentive for writing a bad essay outweighs the perceived incentive for writing a good essay. In other words, most WAT takers feel that a bad essay can do more damage

Read More