How to prepare for SBI PO 2014 - 15 in 2 months

Friends,
SBI PO 2014 notification is announced and online examination will be held in the month of June. So, you have two months to prepare for the exam. We understand that two months seems like a little time to crack SBI PO, but you should always keep in mind that it doesn't hurt to try.

SBI PO exam consist of:

1. Objective Tests of 200 marks and time 2 hrs.

2. Descriptive Test of 50 marks and time 1 hr.

The Objective Test will be in online mode, immediately after you have to give Descriptive Test. Candidates will have to answer Descriptive Test on paper/Pen mode.

Your selection is through written and interview. You have to focus on 4 sections:

1. Reasoning

2. Data Interpretation

3. English Language

4. General Awareness + Computer + Marketing

Number of Questions:        200

Number of Sections:           4

Questions Per section:       50

Marks per question:           1

Negative marking:            1/4th of marks

                                                                         

1. Reasoning (High Level):

i. Be mentally alert in reading the question

ii. Think logically for answers

iii. Practice similar questions from previous model papers/ previous year exam papers.

Questions are related to following topics:

Syllogism: 5 Qs

Data Sufficiency: 5 Qs

Miscellaneous – 5 Qs

Inequality or Decision Making: 5 Qs

Seating Arrangement/ Puzzle Test: 15 Qs

Input Output: 5 Qs

Logical Reasoning: 10 Qs.

Which questions you have to attend first: It’s better to attempt first with that section on which you are very confident and you can attempt in a minimum time.

For Ex:

1. Syllogism

2. Miscellaneous questions

3. Inequality or Decision Making

4. Data Sufficiency

5. Input Output

6. Logical Reasoning

7. Seating Arrangement/ Puzzle Test

Note: Please do not start with Seating Arrangement/ Puzzle type’s questions because once you stuck on this you will lose your valuable time.

2. Data Analysis & Interpretation:

To score good marks in this section, you have to be quick in solving mathematical calculations. You should have good command on topics like Ratio, Percentage, and Average as in D.I. section mostly questions come on the basis of these topics.

Data Analysis & Interpretation mainly contains, Pie Charts, Bar Diagrams, Tables, Graphs, Probability & Data Analysis

It is one of the time consuming section. You have to practice more than 400+DI Sums to become master in it. So better prepare 5 sets of D.I. per day within 30mins.

In exam just attend only those questions in which you are sure to give accurate answer. Don’t do guess work over there. Don’t try to answer all DI questions.

If a DI consists of 5 questions just answer the easiest question first. Don’t do long calculations, multiplications etc..You just leave that and switch over to other question. If we do it confidentially there is no problem in scoring 25+

Note: 1. Have a fair clarity on how to get the right option in minimal time.

2. Have speed in solving this section.

3. Learn the Square till 30 and tables till 20.

3. English Language

SBI PO English paper is tough, if we compare with other competitive exams.Focus on English grammar & its deep concepts like verbs, adverbs, adjectives, noun, pronoun etc. And a good command on vocabulary would help you overcome the questions asked in the paper.

Which questions you should attempt first:

1. Fill in the Blanks.

2. Cloze Test

3. Common Error in Sentence

4. Para Jumbled

5. Passage Based questions

We recommend you to read comprehensions, if you have time at last, because if you are not able to understand in the middle of the passage, your time will be wasted. If you want to answer early, don’t spend too much of time for it. Set some time and follow the same.

Many candidates spend too much time to read passage. If you are not good in reading comprehensions so it is better to skip it. You can answer the questions just by reading the option and eliminate the option by reading the passage.  You will get idea which answer is too close to the question.

We strongly recommend you to learn the grammar part as much you can. If you are good at grammar, you can answer easily within less amount of time.

It is very important in PO exams that you have to know which question you have to leave and which question you have to answer first. There will be 20 questions from grammar section. If you can answer at least 15, you will be in safe zone.

4. General Awareness/Marketing/Computer Knowledge: This is the easiest section in SBI PO Exam.

For GK, please read the newspaper daily and make a notebook for that and note down the important news which is relevant for exam. Read the Daily Gk Updates on daily basis which is posted on our site Bankers Adda.

Note: In Gk section questions asked in a detail way. So you have to study the banking awareness and current affairs in a detail way.

For Ex;

Qs. Consider the following with respect to different liabilities of a bank:

(A) Demand Drafts (DDs)

(B) Outstanding Telegraphic Transfers (TTs)

(C) Unclaimed deposits

Which of the above is/are categorized as the Demand Liabilities of a bank?

(1) Only A                                (2) Only A & C

(3) Only A, C & D                     (4) All the above

(5) None of these

Ans is 4. All the above

Computer Awareness: Just know what are computer, how it works and its history. Try to learn each and every detail which helps the computer to perform. Also focus on MS Word, Excel and Power Point chapters.

Marketing Awareness: This section is based on Fundamental of marketing and how to serve the customer.

Also topics include:

1. Banking policy

2. Basic concept (7Ps of Marketing and 7 S of Marketing).

3. Product life cycle

4. Developing stage of organization

5. Segmentation, positioning and targeting.

Keep checking BankersAdda.com for Banking Awareness and Current Affairs. Also we will post Quiz on Computer and Marketing Awareness. So keep visiting our site.

Note: We will also publish Gk Capsule For SBI PO exam 15 or 20 days before exam, which will contain past 5 months Current and Banking Affairs events.  So this will really help in your Gk section.

5. Descriptive: Descriptive paper contains, Letter Writing, Precise Writing & Questions based on comprehension passage.

This section is really concern for many candidates who do not have good writing skills and they fear while attempting this section. Many candidates don’t know what to write and how to give answers of the questions in descriptive paper.

For this you have to read the articles/ editorial of the English News Paper and try to understand then what has been written in the given passage and after that try to write the gist of the article/editorial/passage in your own language. It will improve your vocabulary too and understanding ability of the passages.

Note: Don’t forget to read the English newspaper daily.

Map your speed: Keep Practicing:

You have to answer 200 questions with accuracy in 2 hours, which required good speed. But it is not possible to answer all the 200 questions in given stipulated time.

How to improve speed: 

1. For improving your speed just buy Online Mock Test Series for SBI PO exam because this time SBI is going to conduct online written exam.

2. You can also buy books of previous year question papers, Model Practice sets so that you will get an idea about the pattern and types of questions which was asked in previous years SBI PO exam.

3. Now, this is the easiest part of your preparation, as everyone knows that the only way to improve your speed is by PRACTICE.

Start taking one test per week for the next 2 months

You should follow all exam related instructions while giving the test. Please remember that this test is for your benefit. After the test is over, revise all the answers and see where you have made mistakes and what all questions you could have easily answered but couldn’t. This would help you in improving your score in subsequent tests that you would take.

One month before the exam, evaluated your strengths and weaknesses:

This would help you in formulating your strategy for the ‘BIG DAY’. Let say, if I found that I am relatively weaker in English as compared to other sections, I would allocate more time for English while giving the test as I need to score a minimum cut-off marks in English to pass the exam.

We should also not forget that marks scored in the written exam have almost 80% weight age in the final selection. Hence, scoring more is equally important as qualifying all the sections of the paper. So, you need to score as much as you can in your stronger section.

Once you have made your strategy, start taking 2 tests per week in the month before the exam

 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. 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: 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.

Strategies and Plan: It’s better to decide that from which section you have to start the exam before appearing in the exam and how much time you have to spend on each section.

Section	Total Qs 200 Time 120 Min.	Time
GK+ Comp+ Mark		15 min
Eng		25 min
Reasoning		35 - 40 min
D.I.		40- 45 min

Note 1: Try to practice Online Mock Test on the basis of the above given strategies, which will be easy and more comfortable for you to solve all the section.  

Note 2: For practice for SBI PO exam you can also prefer Career Power SBI PO Online Test Series which will improve your speed, efficiency and also provide the way to success. 


All the Best for upcoming SBI PO 2014

18:14