How to start preparation for entrance

Q1. How to kickstart the preparation for Bank Exams?

So, one of the standard questions that I have encountered is how to kick start the preparation for Bank exams. To counter attack this problem, we can start with a small example. Whenever we visit the doctor, he asks us about our problem or probably, he asks us for the symptoms. Based on the symptoms, he identifies the disease and starts the treatment. Same is the case with the Bank exams. We need to understand our weaknesses and create a plan to tackle this. Now the question is how to understand what my symptoms are?

What we suggest is before you start preparing for an exam, just write a small mock for the same exam. Nowadays, we have multiple websites offering these mock exams out of which the first one is free. You can refer to our site as well for free mocks and more content related to the bank exams. Once you write the test, you will get the percentiles which will help you in deciding where do you actually stand in a particular section and in the overall exam.

After writing this mock test, the next important thing is to identify the areas of strength and weakness in this mock test. Once your scores are published, you will get a detailed analysis of question wise break which includes the topic from where the problem is taken. Another report can be prepared for section and topic wise breakup. This report can be further divided into three parts, i.e., accuracy v/s no of questions attempts in a particular area. If the no if question attempts>75% and accuracy>75%, then, this area is identified as your area of strength. Similarly, if your efforts are in b/w 50-75% and accuracy is in between 50-75% then this is your area of improvement. Lastly, if your attempts and accuracy both are less than 50%, later, this area is identified as your area of weakness.

Q2. What does area of strength, improvement weakness mean?

Area of strength means that you are really good with this area. You have understood the concepts well, and you are able to apply those ideas in the applications as well. Area of improvement means that you reasonably appreciate the idea but are unable to use them in their applications. Area of weakness says the area where your conceptual framework as well its implementation is weak.

Q3. Is there any way to improve the area of improvement and weaknesses to a better level?

Well yes with constant practice and improvements, we can definitely work to make our area of development and weaknesses better. Let's try to understand what all can we do with these three different areas. As we have already discussed that area of strength symbolizes our conceptual clarity and proper implementation in the applications. For these topics, we can directly jump to level two questions and solve them. For the areas of improvement, we do have the conceptual clarity, but somehow, we are unable to implement them in the application area. To get a basic understanding, we can start with level 1 questions and then move to level 2 questions. Solving level 1 problems correctly will not only build your confidence, but it will be a great morale booster for you. You will also notice that after solving level 1 problems, you are able to understand and tackle level 2 problems in a better way. This will improve your number of attempts and accuracy and slowly and steadily, you can make this area as your area of strength. For the area of weakness, we are neither good with the concepts nor its applications. For these topics, we can start with the basics and try to understand them. After this solve level 1 questions. For most of you, the area of weakness will be the area which you don't like since the childhood, and definitely, it's hard to improve this area. However, if we get an easy question from this topic, then, it will be a miss for most of us which we do not want. Therefore, solving these level 1 questions will ensure that we do not miss out on the easy questions and with some practice, we can definitely make this as an area of improvement. Once you feel that you have improved in this topic (by having >50% attempts and accuracy), then, you can try to apply the same thing what we did in the case of the area of improvements. This is a bit subjective, and a few people would not like to go beyond a specific range on this which is perfectly fine, and everyone can decide on their own on how they want to go about this.

Q4. Another important question that I hear from students is how to analyze the mocks?

Many experts have different opinions on this, you are free to use the way you feel better. When I used to analyze the mocks, I prefer to give around twice the time for analysis as compared to the time taken to complete the exam. For example, a standard bank exam lasts for an approximate time of 2 hours, then, at least four hours must be spent on the analysis of the mock exam. The first thing that we get to see is our report card of the exam which generally includes the number of correct, incorrect and unattempted questions. It also tells us our overall percentile and accuracy. Now as soon as we start the analysis, we have a tendency to move on the wrong or unattempted questions, and we thoroughly ignore the questions that we have attempted correctly.

Well, this might come as a surprise to most of you if I am asking you guys to check for the solutions of the questions which you have solved correctly. Let us try to understand what are the possible ways of getting a correct solution.

1. You know the easiest and the best way to the question.
2. You were able to solve the question but two options are really close, and you marked one of the options, and it turns out to be correct.
3. You were able to solve the question, but it took you 2-3 mins to solve a question.
4. You simply did the guesswork and marked the answer.

If you fall in the Category 1, then, it is fine to skip the solution and move ahead. However, if you fall in category 2/3/4, then, it is better to check the solution as it will give you an alternative solution to solve the same question in a lesser amount of time. Therefore, it is a good practice to view answers to the questions that you have attempted correctly.

The difficulty level of questions is also given in the exam analysis. We need to identify the easy, moderate and challenging questions. Since every question carries equal marks, therefore, it is a good practice to attempt easy questions first followed by reasonable questions and if any time is left then tricky questions. Now, once you have identified the easy, moderate and challenging questions, then, check out how many easy questions you have attempted and how many are solved correctly. Some questions which were answered incorrectly or left unattempted needs to be revisited and it is advisable to revisit the concept and try a few easy problems to ensure that you have understood the concept correctly. Follow the same for moderate level questions. Difficult questions are better to be left unattempted.

It is also advisable to make a spreadsheet (for people using laptops/computers for preparation) or a standard table to put the area of strength, improvement, and weaknesses. It is also important to work on these areas (as explained in Question 1) and update them with every mock. At the end of five mocks, you will see a lot of topics have moved from the area of improvement to area of strength and similarly from the area of weakness to the area of improvement.

Q5. What is the best way to start the exam i.e. which section needs to be tackled first?

This is a case to case basis question, and there is no correct answer to this. Everyone comes up with a different strategy and has a different way of solving his/her paper depending on his area of strength. I can share my approach here. A regular bank exam is broadly classified into four different sections, i.e., Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability and General Awareness. I start with the GA section and try to solve this part in 8-10 mins. The best advantage of commencing with this part is that you need not solve/calculate anything. As soon as you read the question, you know if you know the answer to a question or not and then move forward. After completing GA section, I proceed to either of QA&DI section or LR section depending on the number of DI sets in the paper. I’m relatively good with the calculations and hence, if there are more DI sets in the exam then I tend to start with Quant area otherwise I start with LR. I try to wrap it up in 35-40 mins. After completing section 2, I move to Verbal Ability. I am average in this section and pick up only those questions with which I feel comfortable. Since I am fairly good at reading, I start with the Cloze passage followed by 2 RC and then Para Jumbles which constitutes 70-80% of English section. After this, I move on to Grammar and other miscellaneous questions if any. I try to give 20-22 mins for the first part and remaining 3-5 mins for the remaining questions and try to wrap up this section in 25-28 mins. And I try to spend the remaining time of 35-40 mins for the fourth section. Remaining buffer time of 3-5 mins is kept for the review at last.

Q6. I am unable to solve the full paper in the given time. There are certain questions which we are not able to see in the exam due to lack of time. How to address this issue?

This is a common problem about the aspirants targeting for Bank exams. Well there can be few reasons for the lack of time:

1. Spending extra time on the questions that you are relatively confident about. We tend to give 60-120 seconds to a question instead of 30-45 seconds.
2. Not following a proper strategy and giving extra time to your area of strength which in turns gives you less time for other areas and you end up with lower overall scores or missed sectional cut off.

If we are following a strategy of solving questions in Round 1, 2 and 3. And we try not to give more than 30-45 secs to a question, then, we will be definitely left with some extra time in hand which we can use to solve the other questions.

Q7. What is this Round 1,2,3 Strategy?

I use this round 1,2,3 strategy in the exams. After starting the paper, I try to solve all the easy questions (by easy questions, I mean questions from my area of strength which seems simple to me, and I can solve them in 30-40 secs). I will take a look at the question and identify if I need to answer this question now or I want to do it in round 2/3. If we are able to answer questions in Round 1, then, it is fine. Otherwise, we can mark for review the questions for round 2. Once I complete all the questions of Round 1 from a particular area, I go back to the questions which I have marked for Round 2. After completing Round 2, Round 3 questions can be solved if any time is left for that particular section. However, it is better advised to leave these questions and move on to the new section.

Q8. What is the best method to improve General Awareness?

In the RBI Mains Exam, most of the questions from GA were of the past 3-4 months i.e. more emphasis is given to the current affairs. Therefore, it is advisable to read the newspaper every day. This will help you in improving significantly in multiple areas:

1. You will be able to improve your score in General Awareness section.
2. You will develop a good Reading habit.
3. It will help you in developing a real interest in wide range of topics starting from Economy to Politics to Sports and Entertainment which in turn will help you in understanding the RC in a much better way.
4. This will also help you in developing your vocabulary. While reading newspapers, we encounter a couple of difficult words which we do not understand in the first go. We can mark those words and try finding out the meaning of those words. Make sure to revisit these words once in seven days to ensure that the words are tightly intact in your mind.
5. Few exams like SBI PO Mains have a descriptive section which asks you to analyze one of the current topics. This can be done if you are abreast with the latest news which can be done only reading the newspapers.
6. Clearing the written exam is just one part of the examination. Another important aspect is to clear the interviews. A large chunk of students appearing for the interview flunks in the current affairs which is seen as a bad symbol by the interview panel. Therefore, reading newspaper will keep you abreast with the latest current affairs which can be used in your favor in the interviews.

Q9. I feel very tensed one day before the exam. What can I do at this time to ease out the pressure?

It is always advisable not to study and do the things that you like to do which may be watching a movie or listening to some good music or maybe hanging out with friends. Do not stress yourself too much and try to avoid the books/notes at the last moment. Most importantly keep faith in yourself and have a positive attitude. This will help you in nailing down the field in the final exam.

Q10. Had there been a time in your life, when you have put in everything, but you fail to accomplish the task that you wanted to achieve?

Yes. It has happened to me a lot of times. I was desperately trying to search for a new job. At the same time, I had given SBI PO exam and cleared the Mains exam. Now comes the interview stage. I was desperate to get this. I enrolled myself in one of the Interview classes. My Mock Interviews were good and profs there were really hopeful that I will make it on the final list. On the day of the interview, I realized that due to my desperateness I have made quite a few mistakes in the interview and ended up getting a mere 8/30 in the Interview section due to which I didn’t make it to the final list of PO’s selected.

Lately, I realized that during the time of my mock interviews I was being myself and tried showing the same to my interviewer. However, a lot of pressure was built up in my mind at the time of the main interview which ultimately led me in screwing up the same. Therefore, it is important to maintain your positive attitude and complete calmness which in turn helps you in achieving your dreams.