Cracking IBPS P O in first attempt- strategy

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.

Life at Baroda Manipal school of banking(BMSB), singasandra

 It was a great relief to say the least when i cam to know that i had cracked ibps and was selected into Bank of Baroda. After all it was a long and continuing journey that had showed its first fruits of hard work.

After completing BTech from Viswajyothi college in Kerala in 2011, i had decided to climb the tough uphill journey to crack civil services with little or no idea of how difficult it was to find a government job in a country with a population of 1.2 billion. I had given up my campus placement in Infosys which was secure and well paying to take up path that was full of obstacles. I shifted to delhi where i have been preparing for civils.

So after two years on finally offered my next job,fhew,what a sigh of relief it was to see the appointment letter.

I packed my bags after giving civil service mains exam in December 2014 and reported at Manipal county, Singasandra, Bangalore where my training or PG Diploma in Banking and Finance course was to be completed before joining the bank as a full employee.

The beauty of Banngalore a.k.a the garden city and silicon valley of india was indeed what it was as read and heard about, a green paradise and a very pleasent climate for a person who lived in the extreme temperature of delhi.

I was inducted into the 14th batch of BMSB, i was told,and alloted room 630, my paradise along with Abdoul "Fiverose" my room partner who became one of my best friends there. The campus was lush green, well maintained with a beautiful landscape that gave a great ambiance to the place.

Life in BMSB is a busy schedule that stretches whole day. There is PT in the morning to freshen up. working hours stretch from 9am to 6pm, and then we hope to be free to enjoy your bachelor life for, the early days of your career is always beautiful, full of excitement, independence from parents both personally and financially and what not. But soon you realise that your trainers are going to burst this dream bubble. The life is pretty tight with pre class and post class work, Presentations and what not. It turns out that you have more work in the evenings afterr 6pm  than in working hours.

You are taught A to Z about your bank in BMSB, so that you are a full employee from day one.there are four semesters spreading across a year, of which last term will be in the bank so, its basically 9 months of training. The afterlife ie time after 6pm is not always that dull though. You have many colleagues around you who will work with you for another 35 years, so its a great time for friendship, finding life partners(serious and non serious), enjoying the parties in bangalore both inside and outside the campus i mean, exploring karnataka and tamilnadu if you love travelling and manymore hobbies and activities that you dreamt of doing, since music and dance is always alive in the campus.

My batch also gifted me with many friends that i will long remember. Later i had to resign in April from BMSB as i had qualified for IBPS PO MT 4 and was alloted Indian Overseas Bank which i decided to choose as i was a malayalee and IOB was headquartered in Chennai and has plenty of branches in kerala, Also i needed to continue my quest with civil services, for i had failed the civil service mains yet again.

So the journey continues, I am waiting for my joining in Indian overseas bank, felt pretty much depressed on failing civils again but decided to give it another shot, but on the job though this time, So that i am again insured (which is what it actually is for your parents are always worried about having a job) with another job in my kitty and resumption of my efforts for the exam. I miss all my friends in BMSB including Harish and Whole of 14B, for future aspirants, its a great place to learn banking i must say.

sayanora BMSB you will be there in my memories.

Rising Rape cases

Recently, NDTV reported that since 1971, there has been ten-fold increase in rape cases in India. So, no one can deny the truth. Is it part of our culture? Is it because of the modernity? Is there any ‘economic’ angle? Is our education system itself to blame?

Knowing reasons behind this unending ordeal is not enough. And no legislations can stop this crime. Is changing mindsets enough? How to change it?

As common men and women, and as future administrators, how will you solve this problem?

Since the NDTV has taken up a comparison of 1971 and 2014, let us look into how society was in 1971 and in 2014. What are the changes that have come to our society over these years. Has the gender gap increased, has pronography fired up ill habits on male population of the country, has society deteriorated and has come under the control of male chauvinist pigs when compared to levels in 1960s, and has globalization failed in its social objective of equality and gender nondiscrimination.

Let us look into a few parameters from 1971 census and 2011 census in India first. Census gives an authentic picture of how society is in its limited dimensions and is highly reliable.

The percentage of educated male : 46%(82.14% in 2011)

The percentage of educated female : 22%(65.46% in 2011)

Urbanization has led to 30% population living in cities with advanced facilities like schools, hospitals, better law enforcement etc

The sex ratio has dropped from 1971 levels due to preference for male child but is up from 2001 level.

Female work participation rate is 25.6%(up from 12.1% in 1971)

Hence it is clear that socially the standards of women and overall country have improved

The Nationl Crime Records Bureau reports cases of rape (IPC 376) and Cases of sexual assault (IPC 353) and finding seems to suggest a rise in such crimes. I completely agree to the fact that number of reported rapes in the country has risen rapidly but the point where i would like to differ is that, the claim of number of actual rapes that occur in the country cannot be concluded as increasing rapidl, rather i stand by the fact that the number of such crime getting reported has increased and those not getting reported has decreased.

Nation have become more aware of the reality of sexual violance. Strong gender movements around the world has strengthened the voice of women who earlier suffered in silence. Role of NGOs that were at nascent state in 1971, National Commission for Women was established only in 1992 to help the women in uplifting them.

The evolution from a patriarchial society where women are considered inferior to man to a modern society where both are considered equal has undergone certain friction from traditional society, but by better laws and proper action from government can control rapes in the country. Rape is the problem of indian society and will undergo only gradual change and has no quick fixes.

It is the duty of its male citizens to stand by their female citizens to overcome the ills such as rape that is  a leftover of our past. More activism and sensitivity is a right step towards controlling rape.

Finally, Blindly following statistical data to project issues should be stopped For if statistics is to be followed blindly, high divorce rates from past may get interpreted as fragmentation of our culture and higher road accidents from 1971 levels may mean deteriration of transport system and safety rules while these are not the cases in real sense

certain solutions to control rape are

1. Better gender sensitization in school and college level

2. removal of traditional mindset of dignity of house linked to women

3. Strong gender laws to act as deterrent

4. Implementation of justice Verma committee report setup post nirbhaya incident.

5. Greater gender equity in police to ease the problems in police station.

6. Community level awareness on gender issues and women empowerment so that the self respect of women in society is regained(rather than being dependent on men) - economic angle of rape can be prevented by this

7. Removing social taboos such as exclusion from village during periods as followed in certain parts of country.

8. Promoting greater interaction with opposite sex rather than considering male and female seperately.

These steps could surely forge ahead to control the menace of rape