Are u preparing for bank exams ? lets have a look this will be worth reading:
Basically any bank exam paper consists of 5
important sections:
1.Arithmetic
2.Reasoning
3.English
4.General awareness with special reference to
banking sector
5.Computer awareness
Here,I will discuss a general preparation
technique which is well suited to any student from any background.
Arithmetic:
In arithmetic we have
simplifications,percentages,profit and loss,simple and compound interests,time
and work ,time and distance,permutations and combinations,probability,income
and expenditure,allegations and mixtures,partnerships,ratios and proportions
and averages,data interpretation.
Things to do before starting to prepare for
arithmetic:
You must learn 1-20 multiplication
tables,squares of 1-30,cubes of 1-20,basic percentage to fraction
conversions(50%=1/2,75%=3/4 etc) byheart.This will greatly cut down your time
of calculations.
Most candidates are in a false assumption
that learning short cuts are enough to crack a bank exam.
Well,these days the paper setters are being
clever and are setting paper in such a way that the questions are ambiguous
cases on which some of your short cuts wont work.So,before solving problems
from a particular topic,list down all basic and possible derived formulae
covering the topic,learn them byheart and know what is what(Suppose d=st is the
formula for calculating distance when speed and time are given;You have to know
what do d,s,t stand for.You have to know the units too.You cant directly
substitute the given values if speed is in km/hr and time is in sec or vice
versa,you need to know the conversion too) .Also,while solving the
problems,first master the basic technique before going for the short-cut.
Compare both direct method and short cut
method and see which saves your time.Stick to the one which saves you time.
Reasoning:
Reasoning is a boon as well as a bane in
bank papers.You can score 95%-100% marks in reasoning or you can even score
negative marks.Reasoning is not easy but not a tough nut to crack
Reasoning has three parts:
Verbal,Non-verbal,Logical.
I personally feel that Verbal is the
easiest out of the three with sufficient practice.
In verbal,we can expect questions on
syllogisms,machine input,coded inequalities,sitting arrangements and
puzzles,directions,coding and decoding,alphabetical and numerical series.
You don’t need to be a master mind to solve
these.Even a tenth class student can solve the verbal part of reasoning given
enough time.So,you have to practice keeping in mind the time the verbal part
consumes.Solve as many verbal questions as you can in minimal time.
In non-verbal part,the questions are
basically on figure series,relation between figure,picking the odd figure
out.This one is of average difficulty
and prett y time taking because you have to sort out the logic and apply it to
every figure and eliminate the inaccurate
options.
Logical part is basically found in officer
level papers and those who are preparing for clerks don’t need to prepare this
topic.Questions can be found on cause-effect,course of action,assumption,argument,drawing
inferences and decision making.Your understanding of the question and options
is critical to get a good score in this part.So,you have to sharpen your
reading skills and combine them with some logical thinking.This section too is
a pretty time consuming section.
English:
Here comes the nightmare part. This is the
section which makes the difference between a selected and a not selected
candidate.In English,questions can be found on reading comprehension,cloze
test(paragraph with filling in the blanks),scrambled/jumbled
sentences,synonyms-antonyms(which can be asked in a variety of ways),correction
of sentences,fill in the blanks.
For comprehension ,cloze test and jumbled
sentences,you need to understand and analyse the given paragraph and sentences.Again your reading
skills play a crucial role.My opinion is to read the editorial part of
newspaper with a dictionary in hand.This will also be helpful while answering
descriptive paper,group discussions.
For correction of sentences,you need to
know basic grammar,since this is a bank exam and not an MBA entrance.Wren and
Martin book might help in this regard.
General awareness:
They say news paper reading is the best way
to score well in this section.However most of the people don’t know the technique
of reading it.You have to maintain a notes for every section.Sections can be
classified as National,International,Banking rates and events,Awards
achievements and recent appoinments,Sports,General(Who is who),Important
dates,books and authors.You have to note down the points in the related
section’s note book.Or you can even write them on scratch sheets and file them
according to sections.Being up-to –date is important.
Writing the point is an art.Suppose you
find a point ,”Amartya Sen welcomes Food security bill in India”.You have to
find out who Amartya Sen is,whats his current role/job,his past achievements
and also know about food security bill details.This approach will help you to
frame opinions which can be used in group discussions/descriptive papers.
You will even find marketing questions in
this section.Reading the questions in previous papers can help you .But don’t
prepare like an MBA,prepare like a normal graduate(Remember,minimum
qualification for Bank is graduate!!!) while you prepare for Marketing.
Computer awareness:
In computers,we can expect questions on
Computer architecture/parts of computer,hardware and software,input and output
devices,Internet and email basics,Networking basics,files and folders,MS-Office
basics and shortcuts. Read basic points to latest developments like fastest
computer developed till date.Keep an eye on latest softwares too because this
will be helpful in interview purpose..
author of this article cleared all the four tests conducted by the IBPS in 2013 viz.,and presently working as a Probationary Officer in Bank of Baroda
IBPS-RRB's Scale I officer with 135 marks
IBPS-RRB's office assistant (multipurpose) with 130 marks
IBPS-PO/MT III with 93 marks
IBPS-CLERKS with 155 marks
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