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.
