How To Make a Resume (With Examples)

A resume is a document commonly used in the hiring process. It includes

information about your background and qualifications and should communicate
the most important, relevant information about you to employers in a clear,
easy-to-read format. The goal is to quickly communicate why you are uniquely
qualified for the position based on your skills and experiences.
To create a resume that will get noticed by employers, you can follow a few
simple steps and best practices. The main goal to keep in mind is to make your
resume relevant and readable.
How to create a professional resume
The following steps and examples will help you design a professional resume.
1. Start by choosing the right resume format
Let’s take a closer look at the best ways to write each of these resume sections.
For more inspiration when writing or updating your resume, look at resume
samples from your industry and job title.
A “format” is the style and order in which you display information on your
resume. There are three commonly used resume formats you can choose from
depending on which is right for you: chronological (or reverse-chronological),
functional or combination.
A chronological resume format places the professional history section first and
is a good option if you have a rich professional work history with no gaps in
employment.
The functional resume format emphasises the skills section and is a good option
if you are switching industries or have some gaps in your work history.
The combination resume format is a good option if you have some professional
experience where both skills and work history are equally important.
2. Include your name and contact information
Your resume should begin with your name and contact information including
your email address and phone number. You have a choice about whether to
include your mailing address. Your name should be highly visible at the top of
your resume with a bolded or larger font than the rest of the document but no
more than a 14-point size. You might also include a link to your online portfolio
if you are applying to creative positions, for example.
3. Add a resume summary or objective
After your contact information, you have the option to include either a resume
summary or objective statement. An objective statement quickly explains your
career goals and is a good choice for those with limited professional experience
such as recent college or high school graduates. A resume summary is a short
statement that uses active language to describe your relevant work experience
and skills.
4. List your soft and hard skills
Take a moment to consider which skills make you a great fit for the job. Review
the job description and highlight keywords that you have had proven success
with in the past. Consider hard (technical) and soft (interpersonal) skills, as well
as transferable skills you can use when changing careers or industries.
Create a skills section with the keywords that are relevant to the employer. List
any required skills like certifications or licenses first.
5. List your professional history with keywords
Write your professional history section in reverse-chronological order. Start
with your most recent job and provide a short description including the
company name, time period in which you were employed, your job title and a
few key achievements during your time at the company. You might also include
relevant learnings or growth opportunities you experienced while employed
there.
When listing your professional history, you should keep a few best practices in
mind.
Use numbers to measure your impact when possible. Including specific
numerical achievements can help employers understand your direct potential
value to their company. Example: “Developed new process for requesting
supplies, reducing fulfilment time by 10%.”
Use keywords from the job description. Similar to your skills section, you
should also include information from the job description in your job history
bullets. For example, if the job description mentions the importance of meeting
sales quotas, you could include information about how you’ve met or exceeded
quotas in past roles. Example: “Achieved goal of reaching 250% annual sales
quota, winning sales MVP two quarters in a row.”
Be brief. Employers have mere seconds to review your resume, so you should
keep your descriptions as concise and relevant as possible. Try removing filler
words like “and” and “the”. You should also only list key achievements instead
of multiple lines describing your role.
Use action verbs. Make a stronger impact by using action verbs to describe your
professional achievements. Some examples include “developed”, “saved”,
“drove” and “managed”.
Follow the same process for other work experiences. If you do not have
extensive professional history, you should also include internships and volunteer
opportunities following the same format.
6. Include an education section
An education section will be especially valuable if you have limited work
experience (such as recent college or high school graduates) or if you are
transferring to a new industry. You can include information such as:
Relevant coursework
Percentage or rank
Participation in clubs or organisations
Leadership positions held
Awards, achievements or certifications
When writing your education section, you should include the names of the
institutions, dates of attendance and your degrees or areas of study. If you are
applying to mid or higher-level positions, you might remove all but the name of
your school and dates of attendance to make room for more relevant
professional experience on your resume.
If you have certifications or licenses that are relevant to the job description, you
can include them in this section as well. To save space, you can leave off any
credentials that are not directly related to the requirements of this job.
7. Consider adding optional sections
If you have significant white space on your resume, consider adding an
achievement or interests section. This can help supplement a shorter resume,
especially for those with limited work and educational experience. Make sure
that the achievements and interests you list support your career goals and are
relevant to potential employers.
8. Format your resume
While the layout of your resume is important, you should also take time to pay
attention to formatting details like font style, font size, margins and spacing.
Formatting your resume can make it look clean, professional and improve
readability. This is important when attempting to keep your employer’s
attention. Here are a few key tips that can help make your resume look polished.
Make your font between 10- and 12-point size.
Select a font that is clean and easy to read like Arial or Helvetica; avoid stylised
fonts.
Make sure your margins are 1 to 1.5 inches.
Make your name and section headers bold or slightly bigger in font size (no
more than 14 points).
Use bullet points when listing several different pieces of information like under
your education and professional history sections.
9. Proofread your resume
Carefully review your resume for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
Reading your resume backwards can help you identify errors by presenting the
words in a new order. You should also ask trusted friends, colleagues, professors
and family members if they can review your resume. Third-party opinions can
help reveal new information you might have overlooked.
If your resume is more than one page, review for ways to consolidate or shorten
each section by removing filler words or extraneous information. Two pages
may be acceptable if you are applying for high-level positions or industries like
healthcare or academia.
10. Tailor your resume for each position
It’s important to revise your resume to tailor it to each position you apply for.
For each job, adjust the keywords in the skills section so that it’s a great fit for
what the employer needs. You should also change what you emphasise in the
professional history and educational experiences sections depending on what’s
listed in the job description.
LinkedIn Etiquette and Best Practice
1. Personalization
Want to know the difference between getting your connection requests accepted or ignored?
It’s one simple thing…

Personalize them!

The first and most important best practice you ought to adhere to on LinkedIn is
personalizing every connection request you send to people, whether you know them well or
don’t know them at all.

I get it. LinkedIn makes it VERY easy to accidentally send the default connection request on
desktop and especially on the mobile app.

You must consciously avoid sending the default invitation. Instead, take the time to research
your new LinkedIn connection so you can write a personalized connection request that sky
rockets your chances of getting it accepted.

This one best practice can determine whether someone clicks Accept or Ignore in response to
your connection request. If someone clicks Ignore, they will also have the option to select I
don’t know this person.

WARNING: If you receive an excessive number of I don’t know this person responses, your
account could be restricted, destroying your ability to connect with prospects and expand
your professional network.

Personalizing your invites is not optional if you want to connect with new prospects and
succeed at generating more leads and revenue for your business.

2. Send a welcome message

“I don’t ever get leads from LinkedIn.” I hear this sentiment all the time, especially at my
public talks.

The majority of these people never took any other action on LinkedIn beyond sending and
accepting connection requests. You can’t expect customers to appear magically just because
you created an account on LinkedIn, or any other social network for that matter.
Stop collecting connections. It’s time to build relationships if you want to succeed on
LinkedIn. How do you do that?

You start by sending a short, friendly thank you/welcome message after your connection
request is accepted. In this message, thank your connection for connecting with you and show
some interest in them.

For example, you may compliment them on a piece of information you found within their
profile or a post or status update they have recently shared on LinkedIn.

Look for something you have in common, such as shared experiences, interests or
connections. Reference it in your welcome message. This is the start of your relationship-
building process on LinkedIn.

Whatever you do, do NOT ask them for anything in this message. If you do, you’ll kill the
relationship before it even begins.

To get to know your connection, it is crucial to implement this step. It is the difference
between merely adding contacts to your network and building real relationships.

No matter how many connections you have, they won’t benefit you if you don’t take the time
and effort to build relationships with them.

Think about this: Would you complain about not getting any new leads from attending a
networking function if all you did was collect business cards and never follow up with
anyone?

Well, it’s the same on LinkedIn. All you’ll end up with is a bunch of random, useless
connections if you never communicate beyond the initial connection request.

3. Don’t spam with irrelevant messages

The term spam means different things to different people.

To me, spam is anything the receiver doesn’t find valuable.

Make sure any message you send to a connection is relevant to them. Otherwise, don’t be
surprised when they don’t respond or mark it as spam.

For example, I often get messages from people who ask if I am interested in learning how to
use LinkedIn for business and inviting me to their LinkedIn webinar on the basics. They have
not taken the time to read my profile to learn I have written and created multiple online
courses and books about LinkedIn and that I speak and train others globally on the topic.

Also, I regularly get messages from people inviting me to attend their lunch-time networking
events in a city 5000 miles away.

Some people use automation tools that send mass messages to all their connections. Such
tools can be dangerous on LinkedIn for this exact reason.

Using these automation tools, people often send their entire LinkedIn networks messages
irrelevant to over 90% of the recipients.

Nothing can diminish the possibility of a relationship with a prospect faster than receiving
inappropriate messages from you.

Do NOT send your connections anything sales related or irrelevant. They will consider that
spam and this will damage your credibility.

Everything you send your connections should be positioned for their benefit – not yours – if
you want to stand a chance at building relationships with them.

4. Respond to messages/reply promptly

Just as with email, often the promptness of your response to a message on LinkedIn is as
important as the message itself.

If you are sending messages to your new connections, some of them are very likely to reply.
Check your LinkedIn inbox regularly, and respond to the messages you receive.
When people receive a message from you, they assume you are open to some form of
conversation. Responding to them when they reply to you is critical.

5. See who’s viewed your profile

Are you checking who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile? If you are not, you could be missing
out on a potential goldmine of prospects who have shown an interest in you.

If someone landed on your profile but not taken the initiative to send you a connection
request, reach out to them if you feel they are a good connection for you.

Make sure you send a personalized connection request to that person as you would to any
other potential lead. There’s no need to include “I saw you viewed my profile” in your
message.

You can also get some additional insights from the Who’s Viewed Your Profile section,
including what companies your viewers work at, the job title(s) of those viewing your profile
most often and how they are finding you.

If you have a free LinkedIn membership, you will see only the last five people who have
viewed your account. However, paid memberships enable you to see everyone who has
viewed your profile in the previous 90 days.

Additional Reading: LinkedIn Membership Levels: Free vs. Business Premium vs. Sales
Navigator

6. Use a professional headshot

People are visual, and the first thing they notice in your LinkedIn profile is your profile
photo.

According to LinkedIn, profiles with headshots are 14 times more likely to be viewed than
those without them.

You must have a photo of you – not a company logo, not a family vacation picture – a
professional headshot of you.
Don’t miss the opportunity to make a great first impression by ensuring the image is set with
a clean background and focuses on your eyes and smile.

Remember: this is your personal brand, and you only have seconds to make a positive
impression.

7. Ensure your profile passes their WIIFM filter

One of the biggest mistakes you can make on LinkedIn is writing a profile all about you
because such a profile doesn’t speak to your ideal clients.

The truth is nobody cares about you. People don’t care about your business or what you sell.
They only care about what you can do for them.

People are always viewing your profile through their WIIFM – what’s in it for me? – filter.

Speak directly to your target market when writing your LinkedIn profile. When a potential
client lands on your profile, you want them to know they’re in the right place and you are the
person who can help them with their specific problem.

8. Get it right with the name field

LinkedIn’s Terms of Service (TOS) state it is unacceptable to add personal information, such
as email addresses or phone numbers, or use symbols, numbers or special characters in the
name field.

Adding something other than your name in the name field is a violation of LinkedIn’s TOS
and can get your account restricted.

But beyond this breach of contract, using something other than your name makes you harder
to find, looks unprofessional and reduces your credibility.

There are exceptions. They include title or degree abbreviations, e.g., PhD, as well as former
names, maiden names, and nicknames people know you by.

9. Say bye-bye to a boring headline and about section

When someone lands on your LinkedIn profile, you have seconds to impress them and make
them want to learn more about you.

The very first thing they see is your headline and the beginning of your About section.

If you fail to capture their attention in that small window of time, they will click away and the
opportunity for new business will be lost. And this will happen multiple times a day.

You have 120 characters in your headline to tell people who you are and what you do. You
can further expand on this in your About section. Be sure to capture attention with the first
two lines of your About section to inspire your viewer to click Show more to open your
complete About section to learn more about you.

10. Be active
It is extremely easy for anyone viewing your profile to see just how active, or… rather…
inactive, you are on LinkedIn.

Your activity and engagement will keep you top of mind with your connections. They are
crucial ingredients to increasing your visibility on LinkedIn and building relationships. You
cannot build relationships if you aren’t present and engaging in conversations with your
prospects.

A great way to stay active and visible is to post regular status updates, and share videos as
well as share articles on LinkedIn Publisher.

It’s also essential to engage with the comments people leave on your posts as these people
have shown interest in you and the content you share.

11. Adjust your privacy settings

Privacy settings are there for your protection, but don’t forget this is a professional platform
where you want to grow your network.

LinkedIn is the place where you share your professional background and activities – not your
personal information and family photos. This allows you to be much more open with your
connections.
With this in mind, make sure that:

your profile is public,

your full name is visible to all your connections,
people are notified when you are in the news.
If you don’t want to share your information with certain people, they shouldn’t be in your
network. Remove them as a connection.

12. Never add connections to your email list

Do not export your connection’s emails and add them to your email database, and do not send
your connection messages through a third-party email marketing service provider.

Just because someone has connected with you on LinkedIn does NOT give you permission to
add them to your email list and send them emails. Not to mention this practice is illegal in
some countries.

Regardless of what country you are in, you are still liable for your actions when sending
emails to people where these regulations are enacted, such as Canada with its CAN-SPAM
Act and European Union with its GDPR Privacy Law. Violations carry strict penalties.

Whether this marketing practice is illegal or not in your country, it is highly unethical. Avoid
it entirely.

13. Leverage social proof

Social proof of your expertise shows that others have:

trusted you to engage your services

enjoyed working with you
received the results they were looking for.
It is vital you include social proof in your LinkedIn profile. Social proof dramatically
increases your credibility and authority.
LinkedIn has made establishing social proof easy by creating sections for Recommendations
as well as Skills & Endorsements in your profile.

14. Personalize recommendation requests

Always personalize your requests for recommendations.

There are default messages for many LinkedIn functions, including asking for
recommendations, but I never recommend you use them.

Always customize messages, including recommendation requests.

15. Nurture relationships

Nurture relationships with your LinkedIn connections (specifically those that are your ideal
clients) through regular engagement.

LinkedIn will notify you about trigger events, e.g., when one of your connections starts a new
job or is mentioned in the news. Take a moment to congratulate them with a personalized
message.

If you come across an article, resource or something in the news that would be relevant to
someone in your network, reach out to them personally with a note and share it with them.

When someone is commenting on your content, reply back to them.

If someone shares your content, comment on it and thank them for sharing it.

Use LinkedIn’s notifications, and pay attention to the newsfeed to find trigger events that
make it easy to reach out to someone and nurture the relationship.

Use LinkedIn and social selling The Go-Giver Way made popular by the author, Bob Burg.

Additional Reading: 5 Crucial Steps to Mastering LinkedIn Lead Generation

16. Share valuable content
Sharing content is essential to stay top of mind with your network.

But it works only if it’s the right content and is considered valuable by your ideal prospects
and clients.

When sharing content on LinkedIn, whether your own or curated, your goal must always be
to provide value to your target audience.

17. Introduce people

This is a LinkedIn best practice that can create significant social capital for you: introduce
your connections to each other when it could be beneficial to both parties.

Think of yourself as a business matchmaker. Doing this will invoke reciprocity.

Often, people will return the favor by introducing you to their connections, thus expanding
your network in a very personal way. This is an excellent opportunity to support your
connections and continue to nurture relationships.

The people you have introduced to each other will likely think of you when they come across
someone who needs what you offer and often will reciprocate with an introduction.

18. Stay positive and professional

There’s a difference between having an opinion and aggressively criticizing others.

Schoolyard-style bullying often happens on social media. Do not participate in it. Avoid
criticizing anyone publicly.

I often see heated debates online, which serve no purpose other than to turn many people off.

Remember: LinkedIn is not Facebook or Twitter. This is a professional network.

Keep things professional, or you risk damaging your credibility and diluting trust with your
connections. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever post anything of a personal nature, but limit it
and consider your audience on LinkedIn before doing so.

Keep your comments positive, and avoid wasting your time in pointless debates. After all,
you have some new business to generate!

19. Don’t be a LinkedIn open networker (LION)

While becoming a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) may seem like an excellent way to
grow your network quickly, it is neither efficient nor effective.

A LION is a person who will accept a connection request from anyone who sends them one.

You might be thinking: Don’t I want to build an extensive network?

Yes, you do. But the quality of your network is much more important than its quantity. You
should be focused on connecting with the right people, and not everyone who sends you a
connection request will be the right person for you.

Accepting connection requests from absolutely anyone, as a LION does, you risk ending up
with a network full of spammers and fake accounts.

Your network will be far more useful if you focus on connecting with reputable people and
targeted prospects.

20. Join LinkedIn groups

One of the fastest ways to expand your network is to join the right LinkedIn groups, even
though most LinkedIn groups are no longer active.

What are the right LinkedIn groups?

The right LinkedIn groups are ones your ideal clients belong to.
When you use the LinkedIn Advanced Search function to find new prospects, you search
your network. Your network consists of your 1st-, 2nd– and 3rd-level connections as well as
members of the groups you belong to.

Most people make the mistake of selecting groups filled with their industry peers and
competitors.

It’s fine to join these groups, but don’t miss out on the groups filled with prospects for you to
quickly find and connect with.

The following are some of the objectives of a group discussion activity:

To collect data

To breed fresh ideas and take inputs from a particular group

To perceive the common ideas of people on a particular topic

To identify the solution of a specific problem or issue

To select a candidate for hiring in a company

To select candidate for admission in an educational institute

To arrive at a consensus regarding a common concern

Types of Group Discussion (GDs)
A group discussion delineates how a candidate participates, behaves and contributes in a
group. There are three main types of GDs:

Topic-based GDs
Case-based GDs
Article-based GDs
Topic-based GDs
These are based on certain practical topics, such as the harmful effects of plastics on the
environment or the need of college degree for entrepreneurship. These GDs can be further
classified into:

Factual GDs: These are informative GDs that require comprehensive knowledge about a
subject. For example, the economic growth of India since independence.

Controversial GDs: These GDs are based on controversial topics, which test the ability of a
candidate to handle a situation, control anger, display patience and think critically. For
example, arranged marriage vs. love marriage.

Abstract GDs: These GDs are based on certain conceptual topics that are used to evaluate a
candidate’s creative thinking and analytical ability. For example, challenges before humanity.
Case-based GDs
In these GDs, a case study is presented to group members to read and analyse in a given
period. Candidates need to discuss the case study among themselves and reach on a com-
mon consensus to solve the given situation. This helps to evaluate their problem solving,
analytical ability, critical thinking and creative thinking skills.
Article-based GDs
Candidates are presented with an article on any field, such as politics, sports, or technology,
and asked to discuss the given situation.

Prerequisites of Group Discussion (GD)

There are some essential requirements for gaining success in a group discussion. The
following are some important requirements to be fulfilled by a candidate in order to ensure a
successful GD:

Prior knowledge
Active listening
Effective communication
Appropriate body language
Prior knowledge
A candidate with in-depth knowledge and command over the topic initiates the discussion.
He/she gets noticed and usually selected in a group discussion. However, starting the
discussion does not guarantee the selection and also it does not show the leadership qualities.

Therefore, one should start a discussion only when he/she is well acquainted with the topic.
In case, one is not well acquainted with the topic, he/she should first listen to others and then
speak.

Active listening
Only good listeners can be active participators in a discussion. Such persons listen to others
and remain attentive and active throughout the discussion. Therefore, a listener is more likely
to imbibe knowledge than a speaker. By listening carefully, a candidate can contribute by
formulating his/her own thoughts that can be verbally delivered.

Effective communication
Candidates should have good communication skills and they should take care of the
overtones. One should be able to understand other participants’ perception and thoughts.
Then, accordingly, Agree to or refute the ideas or viewpoints presented by other candidates.

Therefore, healthy and clear thoughts should be exchanged while pursuing a group discussion
to gain attention of the assessors.
Appropriate body language
Gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and tone of voice show the amount of interest a
candidate has in a group discussion. It is important to maintain eye contact with the
evaluator(s) when starting a discussion. The coordinator notices the body language of the
candidates to assess their confidence level.

Steps of Effective Group Discussion

A GD is a method used by organisations to analyse the skills of candidates and decide
whether their personality traits are desirable for the job or not.

While facing a GD, the following steps should be performed:

Initiate
Lead
Summarise
Initiate
If you want to quickly grab the attention of assessors, then start the GD. However, you must
have good knowledge or understanding of the subject being discussed. To make your speech
more interesting, you can start with a relevant quote or a short/interesting story; but keep
track of time.

Lead
There might be a situation when you do not have enough knowledge to start a discussion. In
that case, wait, watch and listen to others. As soon as you get an opening, jump in and take
charge. Move the conversation forward to make it impactful. However, remember not to
over-drag the topic. Sometimes, less is more.

Summarise
Closing a GD is another opportunity to get the attention of the evaluators. Recap the
discussion, connect the dots, highlight the key points and summarise them. Make sure that the
summary includes both the positive and negative viewpoints on the topic presented by the
candidates.

Do’s and Don’ts of Group Discussion

In this section, we will discuss some Do’s and Don’ts to be taken care of by all the candidates
who wish to perform well in a GD.

Some Do’s to be kept in mind during a GD are:

Be a good listener by being patient.

Acknowledge everyone else and what they say.

Articulate views in a way that is comprehensible to others.

Structure your thoughts and present them logically.

Read newspapers, current affairs, essays and articles to develop thought structuring.

Respect others for what they are.

Be open-minded and acknowledge the fact that people think differently about issues.

Train your mind for analytical thinking by taking all aspects into consideration.
It is also important to avoid doing certain things while participating in a GD. Some Don’ts to
be aware of while pursuing a GD are:

Avoid irrelevant talk.

Avoid interrupting others while they are talking. If you need to cut short a speaker, then do so
politely and with due apology.

Avoid dominating the conversation. Ask others to contribute. Acknowledge their viewpoints.

Avoid getting into an argument. Try to express clearly in a healthy manner.

Do not show lack of interest and negative attitude.

Avoid stating only your viewpoint.

Avoid dwelling only on one aspect of the GD.

Group Discussion Evaluation Criteria
Each group discussion exercise is assessed by one or more individuals who are trained to
observe and assess behavioural traits relevant for a specific job. The four main behavioural
traits assessed through a group discussion are shown in Figure

Let us discuss these behavioural traits in detail.

Communication skills
Analytical and interpretative skills
Interpersonal skills
Persuasive skills
Communication skills
These skills are judged on the basis of how a participant is getting his/her message across,
how he/she is using his/her body language and also listening skills.

Analytical and interpretative skills

Assessors draw conclusions about a participant’s interpreting and analysing skills by
observing how he/she uses facts and data, considers complex problems and issues, suggests
solutions, etc.

Interpersonal skills
Assessors observe the participants’ interactions with one another, how they allow one another
to express themselves, etc.

Persuasive skills
The influencing skills of participants are as- sessed based on how well they are able to
persuade one another, convince others about a viewpoint or impact others’ behaviour.
Organising a Group Discussion
A Group Discussion generally involves a group of 8-10 participants who are evaluated by a
selection panel. GDs are used to evaluate whether a candidate is a perfect fit for an
organisation or not. Be it college placements, MBA courses, job interviews or general
researches, GDs are conducted almost in every field to gauge whether the candidate possesses
the required skills and personality traits to be a part of the concerned institution. A facilitator
has to take care of all the nitty-gritties of organising a GD.

In order to conduct a successful GD, the following aspects need to be taken into
consideration:

Objective of conducting a GD
Venue setup
Time
Pre-instructions for participants
Defined parameters for selection
Role of assessor/evaluator
Clear communication of results post GD
Objective of conducting a GD
Every GD has a specific purpose such as selecting deserving candidates for admission in
professional course or gaining new talented employees in an organisation. Therefore, the
objective of a GD should be clear to all the members of the selection panel in order to select
the most deserving candidate.

Venue setup
An appropriate venue should be set up to conduct a GD. The venue should not be
overcrowded, which may make the participants feel uncomfortable. The space selected for
conducting the GD should be well-ventilated, equipped with proper lighting and should have
a proper seating arrangement.

Time
A stipulated time limit should be set for each participant to present his/her views. Firstly,
participants are given a topic and some time to understand the topic and organise their
thoughts. Thereafter they start presenting their views and opinions over the given topic. The
time provided to the participants should be logical and it should start at that time only with no
delay and waiting.

Pre-instructions for participants

Prior communication with the participants should be properly conducted along with
mentioning the time allotted to one participant to speak. The topic of discussion should be
specified clearly along with the instructions and timings of when to start and stop. Big MNCs
have their well-panned GD guide that provides instructions to the participants.

Defined parameters for selection

There are various parameters based on which a candidate is evaluated. Some of these
parameters are listening power, level of confidence, decision-making ability, analytical skills,
leadership skills, etc.

Role of assessor/evaluator
Candidates can speak whatever they like on the subject under discussion. The assessors note
down their observations for each candidate. Once the discussion is over, the assessors review
the information recorded against the desired behaviour. Therefore, a proper evaluation sheet
should be maintained for writing down observations so that no errors occur while the
selection of candidates.

Clear communication of results post GD

The results should be announced clearly post the GD. The facilitator should ensure that the
participants should not be made to wait for too long for the results.

The following are some points that you should take care of while preparing for a group
discussion:

Ensure your contribution to the group: Candidates need to make sure that they contribute to
the conversation. Candidates having avoiding behaviours or actions do not contribute to the
discussion’s outcome. Such behaviours need to be avoided and involvement in the GD is
necessary to make a mark.

Manage conflicts effectively: In case of any disagreement with members of the group, ensure
that you persuade them without getting rude and aggressive. Assessors will pick such
arrogant behaviour and highlight it as your negative aspect.
Manage your time: Candidates need to stick to the timeline al- lotted for the discussion as the
same would suggest that they are punctual and follow the timeline persistently.

Include others: Encourage those who do not speak up during the discussion and urge them to
give their opinions. This will gain assessors’ praise and group members appreciation.

Be a team player: Generally, group discussion exercises require that the members come to an
agreement on the topic being discussed. However, ensure that you do not impose your ideas
on others. A better way is to include everyone’s ideas and centre it around the organisation
rather than express something that might only benefit one member.