IBPS recruitment is one of the most awaited exams for the job aspirants in India, for, no exams could simply spring board you into an excellent career in nationalized banks of India, 19 of them in all by merely writing an exam of 2hrs (until recently) and land up as an assistant manager in the bank. The security of the job, the five digit monthly salary, the social status and acceptance that the job provides is difficult to find in any private sector jobs even in the booming IT sector.
Any Graduate can attend this open exam that usually happens in the second half of the year during August, September,October, november or december. The exam follows a strict timetable that reduces uncertainties.
Now let me come to the main theme of the blog without wasting your precious time on trivial details of the job. Such things can be discussed in another blog.
In this blog i will try to share a strategy to crack this exam.Many coaching institutes make a killing in the name of these exams by charging exorbitant fees with little results to show for it. Students often does not realise that this exam can be easily cracked by systematic work covering books that are commenly available in market at low prices.
The IBPS P O exam is divided into two parts
1. the objective exam
2. Interview
The objective exam consists of two parts.
a. Prelims
b. Mains
This has been introduced in 2015 so to filter down the applicants writing mains. But the preparation of prelims and mains should never be done separately. Many students make the mistake and end up being out of the final list.
The portions for prelims is
a. Quantitative aptitude- 35
b. Reasoning- 35
c. English language- 30 conducted for a duration of an hour.
| 1 | Reasoning Ability Paper | 35 | 35 | 01 hour |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude Paper | 35 | 35 | |
| 3 | English Language Paper | 30 | 30 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
The mains portion consist of
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 02 hours |
| 2 | General Awareness Paper | 40 | 40 | |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | |
| 4 | English Language | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
BOOKS TO BE COVERED
1. Quantitative aptitude- R S Aggarwal, Time study material etc for theoretical understanding n shortcuts
2. Reasoning- Time study material or R S Aggarwal
3. English- wren and martin and Arihant publications and sample papers
4. General awareness- Banking service chronicle magazine and sample papers
5. computer knowledge- Alok kumar or R Pillai and sample papers
Buy a comprehensive guide to IBPS PO by Disha publications for any missed out portions.
HOW TO MANAGE EXAM
The real success and failure lies in how an aspirant manages 1hr of prelims and 2hrs of mains exam time. This is because HOW YOU MANAGE THE 1+2 HOUR DETERMINE YOUR SUCCESS OR FAILURE BY 50%. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH YOU STUDY IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO WHICH ALL QUESTIONS YOU CHOOSE TO SOLVE AND WHICH YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE. Yes you read it right. You need to be aware which all questions are less time consuming and which all questions take up more time.
Remember you need not do all the questions or questions sequentially. Rather make sure that you clear individual cut offs of each sections and get a good score overall to get to the list.
For this one must remember that sections and how much time should be spent on them
| 1 | Reasoning Ability Paper | 35 - solve minimum 20 qns | 35- max 23 minutes | 01 hour |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude Paper | 35- solve minimum 15 qns | 35 -max 23 minutes | |
| 3 | English Language Paper | 30 solve minimum 25 qns | 30 -max 12 to 13 minutes | |
| Total | 60 minimum | 45-55 |
In prelims the cut off will bbe between 40 and 50.
Write 5 mock tests before attending the exam to practice managing time.
In mains the split up is
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 minimum 26 qns | 50- max 40 minutes | 02 hours |
| 2 | General Awareness Paper | 40 minimum 30 qns | 40- max 12 minutes | |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 minimum 20 qns | 50- max 40 to 45 minutes | |
| 4 | English Language | 40-minimum 30 qns | 40- max 16 minutes | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | 20 minimum 15 qns | 20 max 7 minutes | |
| Total | overall 121- 145 | 95-120 |
If you can follow this mantra in the exam with a decent level of preparation, you will come out in flying colours.
SYLLABUS
Let us classify syllabus into less time consuming(ltc), more time consuming(mtc), easy and tough
IBPS Verbal Reasoning topics
- Number series- mtc and tough
- Letter & symbol series- ltc and easy
- Statement and argument- ltc and tough
- Logical problems ltc and tough
- Alphabet test- ltc and easy
- Passage and conclusions- mtc and tough
- Blood relations- ltc and easy
- Direction sense test- mtc and easy
- Input output-mtc and easy
- Coding-decoding -mtc and easy
- Number ranking - ltc and easy
- Making judgments etc.
IBPS Non verbal Reasoning topics
- Making series / analogy- mtc and easy
- Classification- ltc and easy
- Series test- mtc and tough
- Odd figures- ltc and easy
- Miscellaneous test etc.
IBPS PO Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus :
Number system- ltc and easy,
HCF & LCM, Number series- ltc and tough,
Problems based on numbers. ltc and tough
Approximation Wrong Number-mtc and tough,
Decimal fractions-ltc and easy,
Square root and cube root- ltc and easy,
Simplifications- mtc and easy
Partnerships- mtc and easy,
Percentage- mtc and easy,
Ratio and proportions- mtc and easy,
Average & Ages Ratio & Proportion-ltc and easy.
Profit and los- ltc and easy
Simple interest and compound interest- ltc and easy
Time and work-mtc and easy
Time and distance- mtc and easy
Average-ltc and easy
Mensuration- mtc and easy
Permutation and combination- mtc and tough,
Data tables- mtc and easy
Probability- ltc and tough
Pie charts, Bar graphs, Line graphs, Mixed graphs- mtc and tough- as po questions are tight
Focus on topics that are easy or Less time consuming(ltc) and you will fly through the exam in a smart way.
English and awareness has to be studied in regular fashion to come on top by reading BSC and sample questions.
Write 5-8 mock tests to familiarize with pattern and manage time.
So all the best aspirants and tell me if you need guidance for interview. Hope this post has helped you in your venture. I have tried to convey my experience of cracking the exam in 2013 and 2014. Wish you the same success.
