You must know that the SBI PO recruitment process involves 3 stages which are as follows:
Prelims
Mains
Interview
The prelims is just qualifying in nature. You are expected to clear the sectional cutoffs in each section and also the overall cutoff (varies for different categories – General/SC/ST) in the prelims exam to get through to the mains. The scores you obtain in the mains and the interview will be considered for final selection.
If you have a month to spare before the SBI PO then your first mission would be to clear the SBI PO Prelims. The good news is that it is easy to crack the Prelims exam.
The exam pattern for the SBI PO Prelims is as follows:
You are expected to answer 100 questions in 60 minutes. It is more than sufficient if you can answer 60 questions in 60 minutes with an accuracy of 95%.
The best part is that you can predict the type of questions and the weightage for topics as it has remained fairly consistent over the last few years.
The prelims pattern will most likely be as follows:
English Language: (30 Questions)
RC – 10, Cloze Test – 5, Parajumbles – 5, Spot the Errors – 5, Sentence Completion – 5
Quantitative Aptitude (35 Questions)
Number series – 5, Quadratic equations – 5, DI – 10 ( 2 sets of 5 questions), Simplification/ Approximation – 5
Logical Reasoning: (35 questions)
Puzzles & Data Arrangements – 20 – 25 (4–5 sets), Inequalities/Syllogisms – 5, Blood Relations/ Direction Sense – 1 or 2, Coding Decoding – 2 or 3,
You will have to answer 100 questions in 1 hour.
There will be negative marking (0.25 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer). Each question carries one mark.
My advise for you would be to make sure that you clear the prelims by making it past the cutoff. In the year 2017, the overall cutoff was 51.5 and the sectional cutoffs were Quants – 8.75, Reasoning – 10.25 and English – 6.5. The cutoffs in 2016 and 2015 were also between 45 – 50. To be safe you will have to ensure that you secure at least 53 – 55 marks.
Things you should do before you start your prep:
Learn the cubes of the first 20 natural numbers and the squares of the first 30 natural numbers.
Learn all the prime numbers from 1 – 100.
Learn how to find the cube roots and square roots of imperfect cubes and imperfect squares respectively.
These three steps will help you solve questions faster. Here are a few more tricks that may come in handy.
Start reading the newspaper everyday. Reading Metro Plus or Bangalore times doesn’t count. Read the editorials and the important news. This will help you improve your reading speed and also help you stay in touch with the current affairs. Questions will be asked on general awareness in the mains exam and it isn’t easy to prepare for the general awareness section after the prelims.
Make notes as you come across anything important in the newspaper.
For e.g: If Modi has gone to the US for a meeting then you should know the currency, language spoken, capital and people in power of both the countries involved.
As and when you come across new words while reading something, learn the synonyms (in all contexts) and antonyms for these words and start using them in sentences as much as possible.
Now that you are all caught about the SBI PO. Let’s see what you can do in the one month so you can crack the main exam.
SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern:
The Mains Exam of SBI PO will contain 155 questions carrying 200 marks and the time duration is 180 minutes. The Questions are divided into 4 Sections. The Selection will be purely based on Mains Exam. And the Exam will contain the following Subjects:
Reasoning & Computer Knowledge (60 marks).
English Language (40 marks).
Quantitative Aptitude: DI Based Questions only( 60 marks).
General Awareness (40 marks).
All Subjects in SBI PO Prelims and SBI PO Mains have sectional cutoff, so you should focus on every subject of SBI PO Prelims and mains Exam.
SBI PO Exam Preparation Tips:
- What you need is consistent efforts to excel in the SBI PO exam.
- The first and the most crucial step should be to make a proper day wise study plan for SBI PO 2016.
- From the mock Test analyse your weak areas and prepare for them.
- Practice as many mock tests as you can.
- Revise whatever you have studied regularly.
SBI PO Exam Section Wise Preparation Tips:
If you prepare well, you can clear the SBI PO exam in first attempt. But you have to prepare thoroughly for it as SBI PO Exam is not that easy. Before you begin your preparation for SBI PO, you should know about what to prepare for the exam because if you do not know correctly as what you have to study, your preparation can never be correct. Following are SBI PO Exam preparation tips:
SBI PO Preparation Tips for Reasoning Section:
Reasoning asked in SBI PO Exam is purely based on logic and is not just a mathematical skill where you learn various formula s and the work is done. The only strategy here is to practice all the type of questions as many times as you can. Some of the important topics for the exam are:
- Blood Relations.
- Syllogism.
- Statement and Conclusions.
- Missing Character.
- Seating Arrangements.
- Data sufficiency.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning.
- Coding-Decoding.
- Analogy.
SBI PO Preparation Tips for Quantitative Aptitude Section:
This section includes the basic questions to check your numerical ability. The best strategy is attempting only those questions first that are easy to attempt and have fewer calculations. You need to start from basics. Build concepts gradually and practice as much as you can. Memorize all the important shortcut techniques and. Some of the important topics for exam are:
- Number Systems.
- Number Series.
- Simple Interest & Compound Interest.
- Time & Work.
- Time & Distance.
- Profit & Loss.
- Percentage.
- Ratio and Proportion.
- Data Interpretation.
SBI PO Preparation Tips for English Language Section:
This is one of the toughest sections. You need to improve your basic English in order to excel in the exam. You need to learn basic concepts of English Grammar. Read good English magazines and newspaper to improve your reading skills. Some of the important topics for exam are:
- Reading Comprehension.
- Cloze Test.
- Spotting the Error.
- Idioms & Phrases.
- Synonyms & Antonyms.
SBI PO Preparation Tips for Banking Awareness section :
Banking Awareness or Financial Awareness or Economic Awareness section of SBI PO Exam will contain Questions based on Banking related issues and topics. You just need to keep yourself updated about current happenings and also bit knowledge of static GK that includes:
- Current Affairs of last 6 months.
- Topics related to finance and economics.
- History of Banking.
- Banking Terms.
- Fiscal & Monetary Policies.
SBI PO Preparation Tips for Computer Knowledge section:
Computer Knowledge Questions asked in SBI PO exam mainly contain questions related to basic knowledge about computer. So you need to be aware about computer here that includes:
- MS Office.
- Keyboard Shortcuts.
From the mock Test analyse your weak areas and prepare for them.
Practice as many mock tests as you can.
Revise whatever you have studied regularly.
1- Take a diagnostic test/ free mock test based on the latest exam pattern. Take this very seriously since it will give you a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses and it will also tell you where you stand. Here are some Free MOCK Test Series List where You can prepare for Exam This website Provides MOCK TEST SERIES free.
- After you have finished your diagnostic test, analyze your performance. Find out your strongest section and weakest section. Within each section, find out the topics you are good at and weak at. The basic idea is to capitalize on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses.
- Formulate your exam strategy: In the exam, you will be able to navigate between different sections. So, your strategy would be to pick your strongest section and quickly answer the questions on topics you are strong at. Make sure that you only solve enough number of questions to clear the sectional cutoff. Move on to the next two sections and repeat the same. By doing this, you would have ensured that you cleared the sectional cutoffs. Go back to your strongest section and maximize your marks in this section to clear the overall cutoff.
You could also come up with your strategy.
Note: Please make sure that you spend 2–3 minutes going through all the questions and make a note of the questions that you think are easy. This will save you a lot of time which you would end up otherwise by trying to solve difficult questions. This will also ensure that you don’t miss out on the really easy ones due to lack of time.
- Prep time:
If you are clueless about your strengths and weaknesses or if you are equally good/bad at topics/sections then this could work for you:
Quickly brush up your basic formulae, concepts and try solving the frequently asked question patterns from the topics you are strong at.
Once you feel confident about being able to solve questions from the topics you are strong at (this should take you less than 4 days) then start working on the weaker topics.
- Start the second half of your prep with your weakest section because you will have to clear the sectional cutoff. Take one topic each day and go through the basic concept videos and solved examples for all the questions that could be asked. Pick topics based on the weightage mentioned above.
- Once you are done understanding the concepts, put pen to paper. There is nothing better than practice. The SBI PO is a test of your speed and accuracy so the faster you are the better it is. Time yourself as you solve questions. You shouldn’t take more than 40–60 seconds for any question.
- Take topic specific tests at the end of each day and analyze the questions you made mistakes in. Search for more questions of the same kind and Solve, Solve and Solve until you can’t get it wrong (not until you get it right).
- The last 1 week of your preparation should be all about mocks. Never take mocks before you are not thorough with topics. Mocks are meant to instill confidence and not demoralize you. Analyze the mock test in detail and go back to the concepts you are weak at.
If you have done this, then you have put your best foot forward. Get enough sleep and eat healthy food in the run up to the exam and come exam day, WIN the exam.
Some useful links.
