How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude

How to Prepare for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude 2016

The Institute of Banking Personnel (IBPS) will conduct IBPS CWE PO/ MT Recruitment Examination in the month of October 2016. In order to secure good marks and qualify in IBPO PO Prelims 2016, here is a proper study plan on how to crack IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude section.

We will be providing important pointers about the Prelims Exam first. So, let us begin by understanding the exam pattern for IBPS PO Prelims 2016, followed by Tips to crack IBPS PO Exam.

Revisiting IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2016 (Prelims)

The Preliminary Examination for IBPS CWE PO/ MT will be a Computer-Based Test (CBT) and the pattern will be Objective MCQ type. There will be 100 questions in total from 3 sections – English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability.

The total number of questions will be 100.

The Paper mode will be English/ Hindi.

Each question carries 1 mark.

The total time to solve the entire paper is 60 minutes.

There will be sectional and overall cutoff.

Marks secured in IBPS PO Prelims will be taken into consideration while selecting candidates for Mains. The exam pattern for IBPS CWE PO/ MT Examination is pretty straight-forward but lets us see how we can crack this recruitment examination in the most efficient manner.

How to Prepare for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude 2016

We have got a number of queries from many aspirants regarding the difficulty level of the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section. The most common query was that, “The QA section was the toughest of all and we might have secured well if we had a few more minutes’. In contrary, it is considered to be one of the easiest sections as it is mainly based on calculation power, speed and accuracy.

The candidates can easily score in this section and can transform their weakness into strength, provided they have good command over all the topics and clarity about basic concepts.

Each aspirant must be able to answer the following questions after they’ve read this article on How to Prepare for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude Section.

 How do I start preparing for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude section?

Can I prepare for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude Topic-Wise?

Which topics in IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude are easy to crack?

How much time should I dedicate towards IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude?

As per the exam analysis, here is a list of topics that are important from IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude section

1. Simplification
2. Quadratic Equation
3. Approximation
4. Number Series
5. Data Interpretation – Line Graph, Bar Graph, Mixed Chart, Pie Chart etc.
6. Miscellaneous

So, without any further build-up, this our take on How to Prepare for IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude 2016.

Start with Number Systems

 Begin preparing with this topic as it is very important and it requires constant practice. This will give you ample time to prepare this topic thoroughly.

Allocate specific timing daily to practice number systems as this topic is not theoretical in nature and you cannot cram anything.

Try to understand the concepts in a better and easy way by using diagrams.

You can also refer to NCERT books in case of doubt.

Learn Squares, Cubes and Fractions

Try to master shortcut techniques for multiplication, cubes, squares, cube root, square root, etc. The following things should be at your fingertips.

Tables from 1 to 20

Square from 1 to 30

Cube from 1 to 30

Most common Fraction to Decimal Conversions and vice-versa

This will help you save a lot of time that is otherwise unnecessarily wasted in lengthy calculations. It will give you an extra edge over the others. Memorize important formulas and theorems.

Regularly Solve Math Puzzles

 If you solve math puzzles regularly, it will help you in mastering calculations and increase your speed. It is also beneficial for you as solving puzzles is a great exercise to freshen up your mind.

You can try solving the puzzles when you take a break in between your study period. This will save your precious time that you can utilize for other topics and subjects.

Time Management in Calculative Questions

Time Management is a crucial element that can make or break something. Always try to use shortcut techniques in the exam.

If any question requires lengthy calculations, mark it for later review and come back to it after you solve the other questions if you have time left in the end.

Assess Yourself

Whenever you solve a mock test or a previous year’s paper, always make it a point to monitor the time and evaluate your performance and efficiency in terms of accuracy and speed.

This will help you to know where you are lagging behind as nobody can assess you better than your own self.

Maintain Composure

Stay calm and composed at all times and don’t panic. It will only make matters worse for you. Always study with a positive attitude which will help you to retain and recall all that you have learnt over the period of time.

 Even if you are not good at a particular topic, instead of worrying and getting stressed, try to work on it. Also, don’t neglect your health and try to take out some time to meditate or exercise as a healthy mind only resides in a healthy body.

Previous Years IBPS PO Exam Papers & Mock Test Series

This goes for every recruitment examination and applies everywhere. You can never be fully confident about a paper unless you solve the actual one, and the previous years papers are the best ‘net practice’ for you before the real match.

You need to solve previous years IBPS PO Exam Papers first and your objectives should be as follows.

Understand which topics where prominent in IBPS PO Examination

Were the questions easy, moderate or difficult to solve?

How much time you were able to dedicate to each section?

What was your correct/ incorrect ratio while attempting?

Where you able to score above the IBPS PO Cutoff of that year?

A complete analysis will help you understand where you actually stand. Hence, with the analysis in mind, proceed further and solve IBPS PO Mock Tests and further strengthen your hold not only in IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude section but the entire paper.

IBPS Clerk Last month preparation

Dear Aspirants,

We have one month left for the prelims of IBPS clerk, last 30 days preparation tips to make it happen. 

Pattern of IBPS Clerk Prelims

Sr No.	Topic/ Section	Questions.	Marks	Duration
1	Reasoning	35	35	01 hour
2	Quantitative Aptitude	35	35
3	English Language	30	30
	Total	100	100

The test will consist of 100 questions, with 1 marks awarded for each correct answer and 0.25 marks deducted for every wrong answer.

IBPS Clerk Syllabus: The second step in preparation is getting acquainted with the syllabus for IBPS Clerk Prelims 2016. IBPS Clerk Syllabus English Language: There will be 30 questions (easy to moderate difficulty) covering the following topics:(click on the topic for tips , tricks and questions on that topic) Reading Comprehension Cloze passage Error spotting Para jumbles Vocabulary and Grammar  IBPS Clerk Syllabus Reasoning: In the reasoning section of IBPS Clerk 35 questions will be asked across all difficulty levels, with most of the questions falling under moderate difficulty level. The topics to be covered are: Seating arrangement Coding – Decoding Syllogisms Blood relations Inequality Miscellaneous (Puzzles, Data Sufficiency, Analogy,Ordering & Ranking, Directions) IBPS Clerk Syllabus Numerical Ability (Quants) Comparatively, the toughest section IBPS Clerk Prelim 2015. The number of questions asked from Numerical Ability is 35, covering the following topics: Ratio , Proportion Percentage  Averages  Profit & Loss  Time & Work  Time Speed & Distance  Mixtures and Alligation  Simple Interest and Compound Interest  Data Interpretation Permutation Combination  Probability Sequence & Series Quadratic Equations Simplification  Number System

IBPS Clerk Prelims Preparation in 30 Days Day 1-5 : Starting today, digest the syllabus and pattern. Go through each topic’s question. You will immediately reckon your likability for each topic. You will notice some topics are easy for you and some are a bit tedious. Identify your strong and weak topics and write them down. Since 30 days are left for the exam, you can afford to give time on weaker areas as well. However, focus most of your strength on sharpening your strength. Start reading a book or any english literature for increasing your reading speed and improving your vocabulary Day 5-10 : Now that you have identified your strong, weak sections its to time to get cracking at concepts. The time divided between strong and weak sections should ideally be 50-50 at this time. Go through individual concepts and solve basic questions. If you find some topics in which you are strong but they are taking a lot of time in solving , put them in weak sections. Keep reading English literature. Day 10-15: After the end of second week, you now have gained basic knowledge of all the topics and have reached average or above average reading speed. Identify shortcuts and tips tricks for the topics in which you are strong. Start using these new learned tips and tricks to solve questions. The ratio of time allotted to strong vs weak sections should be 60:40. i.e. 60% time should be allotted to topics that you are strong in, learning new ways to attempt questions in that and 40% of time should be allotted to weaker sections. Start giving full length and sectional mock tests. Keep reading! Day 15-20: By now some weak sections must have turned to sections that you are comfortable in. Leave other weak sections in which you are still not confident. 100% focus should be on questions you can solve confidently and correctly. Analyse your performance in mock tests and identify questions which are gobbling up most time. Solve maximum questions from that section and keep improving your solving speed. The benefits of reading 1 hour daily will start to show its effect now. You would notice you can go through questions swiftly, i.e. you can read the question quickly and get more time to actually solve the questions. This enables you to solve atleast 4-5 questions more than you could normally do. This can be the difference between selection and failure. Day 20-30:  You can now solve the entire mock test in given duration. Scour for previous year question papers and start solving them in time bound test. If you can solve the previous year paper and clear the respective cut offs, then you are good to go. If you find you are lagging with some marks, then focus on areas where you can increase your scores. Keep practicing hard. Revise concepts and again solve some basic questions(mind you thats necessary. You tend to forget the basics when you go deep into the difficult questions). Stop taking suggestions from ‘Well wishers’ and focus only on your preparation. Day before the exam: If you have followed this preparation plan for IBPS Clerk, you have prepared exceptionally well. Have no worries , get a sound sleep of 8 hours and have light food. All the best for the next day!

We hope you find the above preparation plan for 30 days useful. Please ask your questions and queries in the comments section below and we will make sure to answer them promptly.

Aspirants!!! Bank PO English prep Tips & Syllabus

Faith,courage, confidence and belief all this comes down to dust, when students get to know that there is a subject call English for competitive exams, Especially the Marathi medium students have a phobia about this subject. they consider English as a nightmare. But be assure things are not that difficult and are meant for you guys only. The only difference is hoe you approach the syllabus.

So here I am providing Bank PO English Syllabus and tips on How to Prepare for English Section. You must be aware that IBPS PO and SBI PO exams are being conducted every year.

The pattern of the exams has been changed and now there is provision of preliminary as well as of main examination. 

English language paper will be part of both preliminary as well as of main examination of Bank PO. Therefore it is very important for aspirants to understand about Bank PO English Syllabus so that they can score good marks in both pre and main exams. 

Brodly English language section of Bank PO consists of comprehension; fill in the blanks, Para jumbles, sentence corrections, idiom & phrases etc.

How to prepare for English Section: 

To perform well in the English Language section of the Bank PO right strategy would be to read a good English newspaper on a regular basis.The editorial part of the newspaper helps the aspirants not only in building their comprehension skills but also in other parts also as it helps in building your understanding of the language. Note down the difficult words and look up for their meaning in the dictionary which will automatically build your vocabulary. Friends this sounds very basic but let me tell you it is very effective. You should also try to build your knowledge of grammar which you can do by reading good grammar books of 10th level. Also attempt practice sets for English language on a regular basis and keep an eye on your score. What you can do here for improvement is that after attempting the practice set you should revisit it and find out the questions in which you have faced difficulty. Find out the solutions of such questions to make sure that you do it correctly next time. You know friends once you start doing this you will find that you are able to do well in this section since questions are based on certain patterns hence you will find similar types of questions again and again.

·         Bank PO English Syllabus Details

·         Error Correction

·         Sentence Rearrangement

·         Fill in the Blanks with Modals, Articles etc

·         Comprehension

·         Answering questions based on Unseen Passages

·         Vocabulary

·         Synonyms

·         Antonyms

·         Spellings

·         One word substitutions

·         Idioms and phrases etc.

Preparation of English can be done by developing your habit of involving yourselves more and more in reading English Paper, English Books, watching English News Channels, discussion with friends in English etc. Friends, I would like to share my own experience with you that by adopting methods which I have mentioned here, I have performed always well in English Section. English section is such a section which you can prepare during your day to day routine. The more you involve you with English the better command you will have on this language which will not only help you to qualify the English Section of Bank PO but it will also help you to perform well in your interview as well as in your professional life later.

Happy Learning Folks!!!

Taking Up These 10 Things Will Make You Smarter

There is a general perception that we can’t do much to enhance our intelligence, we are already jam pack with our daily schedule that we hardly have any time to take up new things in Life. It’s almost always believed that whether you’re smart or not is determined right at birth and you can’t do anything about it.

However, these are all misconceptions. While some people have conditions that prevent them from being able to increase their intelligence level, for most people, there are plenty of things that can be done to make them smarter.

Hobbies are integral parts of our lives, and once developed, we find ourselves immersed in them on a regular basis. Hobbies are fun and invigorating- and they can also have a great influence on our intelligence.

Below are 10 hobbies that will help to make you smarter- all backed up by scientific studies and experiments:

1. Play a musical instrument.

 “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”. Music stimulates your brain, and this has been proven by research as well.

Music has the power to invoke complex emotions and psychological states. Various researchers have shown that both listening to music and playing a musical instrument increases memory capacity.

Playing a musical instrument also teaches you patience and perseverance for it takes time and effort to learn to play a musical instrument. It also sharpens your concentration. Sometime it may help you in getting new relationship or sometime a companion to move on from breakup.

2. Read voraciously.

Books are men best friend is just a saying now.

Reading goes a long way towards increasing your intelligence level- this is further the case if you read voraciously across many different topics, from fiction and biographies, to anthologies.

Reading spiritual books like Bhagwat Geeta, or books by Vivekananda and Gautam Budhha acts like a daily booster.

Reading reduces stress, helps you to experience multiple emotions, and teaches you a lot about many subjects. All these factors help you to feel better about yourself; being at peace with yourself is one of the most important foundations for positive wellbeing.

Reading is very important for enhancing your knowledge on a subject, preparing for all sorts of situations and being more productive in how you go about achieving your goals.

3. Meditate regularly.

The foremost benefit of meditation is to help you focus on yourself and to get you to know your true self. Being engrossed in meditation helps individuals transcend to a higher state of being.

Meditation helps to reduce stress levels and gets rid of all sorts of worries. With a calm and composed state of mind obtained through meditation, you can learn, think and plan things in a much more effective way.

Regular meditation helps you to have full control over yourself. Being aware of distractions and effective methods of self-control are of the utmost significance when working to improve your intelligence.

4. Work out your brain.

Just as you need to work out regularly to keep your body fit, you also need to work out your brain to keep it in good shape. Regularly challenging the brain to do new things enhances its abilities and helps to keep you sharp.

You can work out your brain in plenty of ways such as through: sudoku, puzzles, board games, and riddles not candy crush or Temple run. All these activities help the brain to continue forming new connections. Through such activities you also learn to respond to situations in creative ways, develop the ability to see things from a lot of different perspectives and become significantly more productive.

5. Exercise often.

A healthy body helps to ensure that you have a healthy brain. After all, your brain is like another muscle in your body. Exercising regularly keeps your brain and body functioning as they are supposed to. It reduces tension and helps you to sleep better.

Doctors agree that better blood circulation to the brain means increased brain function. Various studies on mice and humans have shown that cardiovascular exercise can create new brain cells, and thus improve overall brain performance.

6. Learn a new language.

Learning a new language may not always be an easy task but it definitely has numerous advantages-making you smarter, being one of them.

The process of learning a new language involves tasks such as analyzing grammatical structures and learning new words, which enhances your intelligence and brain health.

It has also been proven through various experiments that people with high levels of verbal-linguistic intelligence are great at planning, decision-making and problem-solving.

7. Write your feelings down.

There are tons of benefits that you can receive from writing, including increasing your overall level of intelligence.

Writing improves your linguistic abilities, of course. But it also helps you to develop such skills as focus, creativity, imagination, and comprehension.

Writers are often considered as having very high levels of intelligence. You can write in different ways. You can write things with your hand or you can create your own blog. Whatever you do, you are giving words to the images in your mind; learning to express yourself clearly is a great way to boost your intelligence.

8. Travel to new places.

 Travelling is not just a way to kill your boredom- there’s lot more to it than that. Travelling can really boost your intelligence.

The physical and mental workouts involved with travelling, rid your mind of stress. As you become stress-free, you are more able to focus on tasks, observations, and deepening your understanding of subjects.

Every new place you travel to offers new things to learn. You encounter diverse people, food, culture, lifestyle and society while travelling, which puts you in touch with ideas you might never have thought of previously.

9. Cook different kinds of meals.

 Many of us feel that cooking is a mere waste of time and it’s something we very much want to avoid.

But instead of whining, you should feel happy when you have the opportunity to cook. Regular cooks, particularly the ones who try out a variety of meals, have high levels of creativity. They are committed to quality, aren’t afraid to try things out and they pay great attention to details.

Whenever you cook something, you are learning to multitask, measure with precision and make quick decisions. With all of these skills you’re acquiring, you’re becoming smarter too.

10. Participate in sports actively.

 Participating regularly in sports activities doesn’t only exercise the muscles but also does the same for the brain. Playing sports regularly makes the brain more flexible and improves overall brain health.

Sports have added benefits too. Watching sports has been linked with increased brain function, and through exercising you work out your muscles. Involvement in sport also enhances responsiveness, coordination, capabilities, and confidence.

Top athletes are known for their special form of intelligence. It doesn’t matter whether you play football, basketball or cricket. Consider being regularly involved in some form of sport to boost your brain’s performance.

Winning tips on battlefield

Winning tips on battlefield

LIC going to conduct the AAO exam on 5th, 6th and 13thMarch 2016, check here LIC AAO exam last minute tips, and last minute preparation tips for LIC AAO exam 2016. Huge numbers of candidates are going to write the exam.

Exam Day: Before the Exam

• Meditate if possible in the morning.
• Have a light and healthy Breakfast.
• Leave a bit Early don't rely on Public transport, have your private transport.
• No phone calls (for wishing your friends)no Whats app, no FB status updates.
• Take some deep breaths, 

Exam Day:  During the Exam

1. During the exam, don’t try to attempt anything which you haven’t come across before.
2. First attempt only those  sections in which you are more confident.
3. Score maximum marks in it.
4. This would increase your performance and confidence.
5. It will definitely help you in scoring in your weak areas as well.
6. Make a timeline and stick to it.
7. Don’t attempt a section for much time.
8. First clear the sectional cutoff of all the sections.
9. There are some questions that look complex but actually are very easy.
10. This is how you you should attempt.
11. First read the question in 5 seconds.
12. Take a breath and try to remember if you have seen such questions while you were preparing.
13. If you are able to figure out how to solve it quickly, then go for it. If you are unable to identify how to solve it in less than a minute, skip that question as of now.
14. Remember you only get less than a minute to solve a question.
15. So instead of wasting time do other simple questions first.
16. Time is your most important commodity here, not your ego. You can solve those lengthy questions later
17. Solving 70-80% questions with 100% accuracy is better than solving 100% questions with 70-80% accuracy.
18. Not only solving more questions require more time it also effects your overall score due to negative marking.

Success Mantras for Cracking Bank Exams

At time where private jobs are getting saturated and Govt jobs are more in demand, students are aspiring for PSU jobs. More than 7.5 lac freshers will be recruited by Indian PSU banks over the next 5 years. While the jobs are aplenty, the competition for these jobs is equally high.

But preparation for the exam is key. Success rate is only 1.5% - what this means is less than 2 out of 100 aspirants that take the bank exam actually get a job. Banks select freshers for their aptitude and train them in banking enabling them to move up the value chain. Hence, cracking the aptitude test is the first major hurdle for the aspirants.

Selection Process for Bank Exam

Of about 15-16Lakhs appeared for IBPS(PO) exams in 2015, only 5 – 10% make it through the Elimination round of the Aptitude Test. Hence it is critical to prepare and make sure you cross this first hurdle successfully.

Five success mantras for cracking this examination.

1.      Take charge: Knowing where you stand on your Ability to Cract the Aptitude Test

2.      Know the Game: Know the examination process and procedure

3.      Get Trained: Get help - Professional Coaching

4.      Practice, Practice and more practice

5.      Just do it

1. Take Charge: Knowing where you stand:

This area is normally and easily overlooked by aspirants. Bank exams test only basic Aptitude, and hence it is easy to ignore the need for development and falling on the trap ‘I know all these things’.

Yes, the fact is that the exam covers basic arithmetic and aptitude. However, what gets overlooked is the need for speed coupled with Accuracy. In a typical examination, there is a major time pressure. One has to answer 250 questions in 150 minutes – a mere 36 seconds for each question.

Hence, knowing how to solve a problem does not suffice, knowing how quickly you can do the same correctly is the key. Hence, taking charge of where you stand with respect to speed and accuracy on various topics that gets covered in this exam is a must.

The best way to know where you are is to take mock tests and get to know where you stand in terms of the marks scored by you, time taken and compare your marks with the cut off marks and marks scored by other aspirants.

2. Know the Game: Know the examination

The next step is understand the examination. While the knowledge required for most aptitude tests are the same, the strategy to handle the examination will differ significantly depending on the exam itself.

For eg. the Common Written Examination (CWE) conducted by IBPS, looks for one to be well rounded across multiple areas. Hence, there are individual cut offs for each section. If one is strong in say English & have the ability to score very high, it will help his cause in selection. However, as a pre requisite one has to cross the cut of mark in each of the 5 sections. Thus, if one scores very high on English and very low in say GK, he / she will not qualify in spite of the total marks being better than the average cut offs. This needs to be understood and there are many other things. Some of the key areas are:

1.      Qualifying marks in each section

2.      Negative marks

3.      Questions with differing difficulties & strategy for handling

4.      Time management in line with the above pattern

Taking guidance on each of the exam and its uniqueness will go a long way in creating a suitable strategy for one in attacking this examination.

3. Professional Coaching

Another frequently raised question among aspirants is that ‘is there a need for professional coaching for bank exam?’

This arises generally from the fact that as confident individuals we tend to believe that we are ready for the challenge and we can crack any examination as we know most of the concepts. This confidence is absolutely necessary. However, confidence alone is not sufficient.

We need to understand the fact that a person who has an above average aptitude levels has a fair chance to crack the exam irrespective of coaching. However, ifprofessional coaching helps him to get 10-20 additional marks, this can make a huge difference – because the competition is very high and every additional mark is a value.

Yes, many people believe that what is covered in the bank exam coaching were taught in school. But the fact is, most of us tend to forget what was taught in school and a refresher is a must for one to be ready for facing the competition with time deadlines.

In addition to preparation, the benefit of professional coaching includes ability to create a strategy for the examination, understand what other aspirants are doing and also get more focussed attention on exam specific development which will come handy in the GK section of the examination.

4. Practice, Practice and more practice

Practice makes a man perfect it is said and this is definitely not without reason. More the time spent in practicing, better is the efficiency in the examination. Take Sachin for example, he has made it a habit of practicing and more he practices, more efficient he becomes at the crease. Higher the efforts prior to the examination, better is the efficiency during the examination.

Hence, a serious contender who is keen to land a job in banking needs to put in hours and hours of hard work, which has the ability of providing rewards in multiples.

The practice must be well directed. A misdirected practice has the danger of de railing your preparation. If the Australian team spends hours and hours of practice for playing a short pitch ball for a tour to India – is it going to be of any value? Similarly, for any examination, practice has to be focused and in line with the requirements.

A professional guidance in understanding the areas which require practice will go a long way in making one better equipped to crack the bank examination

5. Just do it

Like in most things in life, success comes to those who enjoy what they are doing. Yes, Bank exam preparation can be an arduous task. However, one has to enjoy going through the preparation. Those who enjoy this hard work will relish the same in the future. So put in your hard work with your own heart and see how the whole world works towards making your dream come true.

Summary:

You can do it. What you need is the right approach coupled with good strategies for reaching your destiny. I am happy to sign off with this, having had my first communication with a future banker. Have a great time.