At most interviews, there is a Group discussion (GD) round. It has turned into a standard method of assessing candidates’ communication, leadership, and knowledge skills.
It is generally based on factual, opinion-based, case study-based, controversial, or abstract topics.
The topics of your GD can vary depending on the industry, profile, and current affairs that are going on around the world or in a particular country.
In this article, you will get to know about the following topics for group discussions that you may come across during your interviews,
- Artificial Intelligence
- Work from Home
- Cryptocurrency
- Social Media
- Climate Change
- E-commerce
- Reservation
- Leadership
Let’s see each of these topics in detail.
1. Artificial Intelligence: Boon or Bane?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a popular topic that is being talked about a lot recently throughout the world. It refers to the ability of machines to mimic human intelligence processes, such as learning, reasoning, and self-correction.
AI has many potential benefits for various fields, namely healthcare, education, entertainment, security, and business. However, it also poses some ethical, social, and economic challenges, like displacing human employees, invading privacy, creating bias, and increasing inequality. This topic is chosen by the interviewers to test your awareness of the pros and cons of AI and your skill to present a balanced argument.
2. Work from Home: Productive or Distracting?
This has become a trending topic of discussion since 2020. Work from home (WFH) is a flexible work arrangement that enables employees to complete their tasks remotely from their home or any other location they choose. It has become more prevalent due to the progression of technology.
The benefits include saving time and money on commuting, reducing stress, and improving work-life balance. However, WFH also has some drawbacks, like, lack of supervision, isolation, distractions, and blurred boundaries between professional and personal life.
This topic looks for your understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of WFH and your ability to suggest solutions to overcome the challenges.
3. Cryptocurrency: Future or Fad?
With the rise of crypto and NFTs in the last few years, this topic has become a trend in Group Discussions.
Cryptocurrency is a type of digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions. It is created and managed by a network of computers that follow a set of rules or protocols. It does not rely on any central authority or intermediary, such as a bank or government.
It has some benefits, such as faster and cheaper transactions, transparency and anonymity, decentralization, and innovation. However, it also faces some challenges which are volatility, hacking, fraud, and regulation.
This topic is relevant because the person interviewing you will want to assess your knowledge of cryptocurrency. They will also want to gauge your interest in learning about its features and your ability to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. It is also used to check how up-to-date you are with the latest trends in the technology sector (if relevant).
4. Social Media: Empowering or Addictive?
Social media is a popular and powerful platform that attracts people from all over the world. It enables users to create and share content, as well as to engage in social networking.
Social media has many advantages, such as connecting with people from different cultures and backgrounds, accessing information and entertainment, expressing opinions and views, promoting causes and businesses, and enhancing creativity and skills. However, it also has many disadvantages that cannot be ignored. Some of them are invading privacy and security, affecting mental health and well-being, and reducing productivity and attention span.
This topic is often discussed in GDs to look at your perspective regarding the awareness of the positive and negative impacts of social media and your ability to suggest ways to use it in a more responsible manner.
5. Climate Change: Reality or Myth?
Climate change is a serious and urgent issue that has been affecting the Earth for decades and is getting worse over time. This has been a famous topic for group discussions for quite some time now.
Climate change is the long-term change in the Earth’s weather patterns due to natural or human factors. Some of the effects are rising temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity, and human health issues. These effects are having devastating impacts on the environment and society. However, some people still deny or doubt the existence or severity of climate change. This can be due to various reasons, such as a lack of scientific consensus, conflicting data sources, or vested interests.
Through this topic, the interviewer aims to assess your knowledge of the causes and consequences of climate change and your ability to present evidence-based arguments.
6. E-commerce: Booming or Bursting?
E-commerce refers to the online transactions of goods and services. We all have adapted it into our daily lives.
It offers many benefits for both customers and sellers, such as easy access, wide collections, lower prices for customers, a large market, high growth, and low overhead for sellers. However, e-commerce also faces some difficulties, such as fierce competition, complex delivery, authenticity of products, and security.
This topic evaluates your knowledge of the current and emerging trends and issues of e-commerce and your ability to foresee its future opportunities and challenges.
7. Reservation: Necessary or Unfair?
Speaking of this topic, it comes with its perks and cons, can be good for some and stressful for a lot. It has a long history behind it.
Reservation is the system of allocating seats or quotas in educational institutions, government jobs, and political bodies to certain groups of people. Some of these groups are those belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, or women.
It aims to provide equal opportunities and social justice to the ones who have been historically discriminated against. However, it also faces criticism for reducing meritocracy, creating resentment and division among groups, and being misused or politicized.
8. Leadership: Born or Made?
Leadership is a skill that many people aspire to have, whether in school or in a professional career.
It is the ability to influence and motivate others to achieve certain goals. Leadership is a vital skill that is required for any organization or profession. Some people think that leadership is an innate quality that some people are born with, while others think that leadership is a learned skill that anyone can acquire through training and experience.
The topic helps the interviewer assess whether you have some qualities of a leader as well as your opinion on it. It also evaluates how you present yourself and express your way of thinking.
These are some of the famous topics for group discussions during interviews that you may encounter. If you want to ace a group discussion (GD) during an interview, you need to be well-informed about various current and relevant topics.
Also, practice speaking confidently and clearly, practice listening, hearing out what others have to say actively and respectfully, and expressing your arguments logically and politely. By doing so, you can showcase your abilities and personality to the interviewer, and increase your chances of landing your dream job.