How to prepare for Bank & SSC exams
simultaneously
If you are a government job aspirant, then you must be
preparing for recruitment exams conducted by SBI, IBPS, RBI or SSC. Bank and
SSC exams are one of the most sought-after exams as they are the biggest
contributors from the Public Sector in generating employment opportunities.
There is a cut-throat for these exams as millions of candidates appear every
year for these exams.
Many of you who want to try their luck in both of these
alluring opportunities must be wondering how to prepare for bank and SSC exams
simultaneously. This post features strategies to streamline your bank & SSC
preparation.
Banking exams are conducted by SBI and IBPS
for PO and Clerical positions and by RBI for Grade-‘B’ position, while
SSC conducts CGL (Combined Graduate Level) and CHSL (Combined Higher Secondary
Level) examinations. Candidates who qualify in the Preliminary exam (in
banking) or Tier-I (in SSC CGL) are subsequently called for the Main
examination (in banking) or Tier-II (in SSC CGL) and those who make it to final
level appear for a GD-PI session in bank recruitment. There is no interview in
SSC examination anymore.
Bank and SSC exam
syllabus
To prepare simultaneously for both bank and SSC exams, it is
essential that you know the syllabus of both the exams and the difference
between them.
Here are some details:
Name of the topic
|
SSC exams
|
Bank exams
|
Quantitative Aptitude
|
Basic + Advanced Math (Trigonometry, Geometry, Algebra &
Mensuration)
|
Only basic mathematics including number system, problems on CI-SI,
Profit and loss, age related problems etc.
|
Reasoning Ability
|
Verbal + Non Verbal Reasoning Easier to solve
|
High level reasoning which involves only verbal questions
|
General Awareness & Current Affairs
|
Only static GK is asked in the examination.
Static GK: Polity, History,
Geography, General Science, Computer & Miscellaneous GK
|
Banking Awareness + Current Affairs
Topics like Marketing Awareness and Computer Knowledge are asked
separately
|
English Language
|
Basic + Advanced
(Voice, Narration, Synonyms, Antonyms, Grammar)
|
Only basic English grammar is asked
|
Section-wise strategy
Let’s analyze each topic and formulate a strategy.
In any banking exam, your comprehension skills will be
tested in Reading Comprehension, Jumbled Sentences, Cloze Test, Fill in the
blanks, Error Spotting/Correction. However, SSC CGL (Tier-I & II) focuses
on the English Grammar part. So you need to have your basics right!
Reading can improve your comprehension skills and
vocabulary. Go through newspapers, journal, biographies, etc. Alternatively,
you can look check out CL’s e-books packs for English for bank and SSC to get
the best knowledge of the subject.
Since this section can help you boost your score, so make
your best effort to maximize your score. You can enroll for CL’s sectional
tests or even try solving free English Cloze Test to know your strong and weak
areas and work upon them.
Quantitative Aptitude
Develop a good command over basic concepts. For this, you
can enroll for CL’s classroom program for Bank and SSC or the correspondence
program for the same.
In banking exams, questions are primarily asked from Data
Interpretation (DI), Average, Square & Cube Roots, Percentage,
Approximation, etc. On the other hand, SSC CGL (Tier-I & II) features questions
from Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry to Trigonometry.
Read the question twice before you go ahead and start
solving.
To increase speed and number of attempts, learn short-cuts
and tricks for lengthy questions. Avoid risky short-cuts, they may prove fatal
for your score.
General Awareness
As far as SSC exams are concerned, you should go through
topics like History, Geography, Polity, Science, General Knowledge and last one
year’s current affairs. You can find e-book Packs for all these subjects here.
For banking exams, you need to focus on current affairs of
last 6 months and Banking Knowledge.
The best way to stay updated with current affairs is to keep
an eye on the current affairs, who’s who, appointments, sports and recent
changes or reforms in the Banking industry. Some bank exams give weightage to
Marketing and Computer Knowledge.
Also, you could try solving these free GK papers.
Reasoning Ability
There is a significant difference in the pattern and
difficulty level of this section. While in an SSC CGL Tier I exam, reasoning
questions are quite easy, the case is exactly opposite with banking exams. You
can also look up e-book Packs on Reasoning Ability for best study.
Banking exams emphasize on Seating Arrangements, Syllogism,
Puzzles, Input-Output, Analytical Reasoning, etc. In order to attempt more
questions in lesser time, you need to be sharp enough to deal with the
questions. SSC CGL Tier-I covers both verbal and non-verbal questions.
Practice, strategize and achieve with CL’s sectional tests
and for bank and SSC exams.
Success Tips
Know the paper pattern and previous year’s cut-off
|
Take mock tests regularly – The Topper’s recommend the CL’s Bank
& SSC test series
|
Go through previous years’ papers
|
Devise exam taking strategy
|
Stay focused and dedicated towards your goal. Prepare well without
any fear of failure. Stay positive and success will follow.
|
Keep practicing!
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