How to prepare for Upcoming IBPS exams in 2014

Hi All,
This article is specifically target those aspirants who wants to make their career in Banking Industry as an Officer .

First thing First ,no matter how good or bad you have done in your academics , bank exams is a whole different scenario . Any one who has done exceptionally well in academics can fail this exam or any one who has not fared well can pass with a good score .So IMO everyone has an equal chance . It all comes down for effective preparation .

I will be touching few most important aspects in preparation for bank exams .Will go through the topics one by one .

General Knowledge/Current affairs

For few aspirants this is most difficult section and for some most easier . But the key to success is you can not prepare GK/CA in one week or one month .You have to continuously build upon your GK . If you follow below mentioned steps on daily basis for 3 months your CA will be as good as to crack and score heavily in this section .

Read newspaper daily

You can read a newspaper daily for 15 minutes to gain knowledge about important proceedings .

Don't watch news channels 

Most of us watch news channels to attain current affairs ,this is complete waste of time .I will recommend newspaper over news channels any day.

Have monthly subscription of magazines related to current affairs

There are so many magazines available in market covering all important events happened in a particular month.

Make charts

You can make charts and paste then in your room .Charts must have important information which is hard to memorize like
Organisations - Their Headquarters-Heads
States - CM-Governor
Ministry - Minister name
Country -Capital-Currency
e)Join some forums on Facebook : We all do Facebook .Spend time spying on others.We can use that time constructively .Most forums give daily GK questions .

Involve yourself in Discussions about current affairs with friends /seniors /intellects 

You will learn new things .This way of memorizing you will never forget .
For last minute preparation read Axiom Tits Bits
So that's for GK .
Key is the consistency .Slow and steadily build your momentum .

Reasoning

Well reasoning is not something that one can learn . It comes from within and practice . Few questions your gut-feeling will solve and few - your practice with puzzles .

I would Like to suggest one book named Reasoning by RS Aggarwal . Practice it . Try to master the concepts rather than solving questions because questions get twisted every time in reasoning .That's why its called reasoning .You have to find a reason or a method or way out . Questions like Input-output engines and sitting arrangements require practice . They are time consuming and you must practice daily to master them .It will save time in exam and also give you 10 direct marks- both questions carry 5 marks each.

Key Topics

• Sitting Arrangement
• Input-Output
• Directions
• Statement and Arguments
• Coding -Decoding

Key is sharp mind . Play chess for it :)

English

For English the first activity Reading newspapers daily can help. You will kill two birds with one stone . Current affairs as well as English .I would also like to suggest a book named Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. You can actually build your Vocab with this . There are so many words in English remembering meaning ,synonym,antonym of all is a tiresome job .So you can go through this book and actually build words or break them and understand meaning / antonym of your own . This is a gem for all aspirants who are weak in English .

Moreover a small trick to solve lengthy Comprehensions (if time is running low in exams ) is to read question first . Locate the words used in question in passage . Answer . It may not be precise method but it is fast .

Key topics

• Vocab
• Comprehension
• Grammar

Key is Newspapers and learning new words whenever you listen it .

Quantitative Aptitude

The quantitative aptitude that strikes in Bank Exams is of very basic level . But if you haven't done good in school and college in Quants then their is no other way out than practice .Practice and Practice more . You can refer Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal and Tricky Mathematics by SS chaudhary . Start with simple questions and formulas . And steadily build your skills .Then go for shortcuts . People often tends to make a mistake by directly trying to learn quick tricks which will eventually fail if you do not know the basics .One more thing a huge chunk of marks is for Data Interpretation . So try to devote more time for DI as questions are lengthy and time consuming .If you have practiced you will be more confident .

Make few topics your stronghold like

• Data Interpretation
• Profit and Loss
• Time and Work
• Mensuration.
• Ratio and Proportion

And always play on your strengths .These topics are good enough to sail you through passing marks .
Key is practice and more practice .

Computer Knowledge

For this section try to learn basics and build your knowledge on basics . Computer Knowledge contains only 20 marks so devote less time and work on basics .Books like fundamentals of computer system will be more than enough .

Key topics

• Database 
• Storage
• Softwares
• Hardware
• Networking Terms 
• Binary Systems

That's all for today dear friends hope you put on battle gears and take down the coming PO exams from horns .

Always remember key is consistency . Next exam is 3 months away . So start preparing now . 

Written By Avinash