The demand for a job in the banking sector is augmenting exponentially. A lot of candidates are applying for the clerical post hence the competition is turning out to be tougher and also there are people in mass who do not succeed.
Aspirants need to be aware of the exam pattern and syllabus before applying for the post. It is important that you need to follow some strategies which will facilitate you to crack bank exam in the first attempt.
IBPS Clerk-VIII Official Notification has already released and the Preliminary Exam is going to be held on 08.12.2018, 09.12.2018, 15.12.2018 & 16.12.2018. Candidates who are new to banking exams will not know where to start the preparation and how to cover all the exam topics to achieve victory. We are here to share some useful strategies and approach to crack IBPS Clerk Prelims Exam 2018 in the first attempt. In order to obtain your seat, you have to begin your preparation with no any delay.
“A Dream doesn’t become reality through magic – It takes Sweat, Determination and Hard Work”
Selection Process:
There are two different selection phases in IBPS Clerk Examination.
| Phase-1 | Preliminary Examination | 100 marks |
| Phase-2 | Main Examination | 200 marks |
Understand the Prelims Exam Pattern:
| S. No. | Section | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| 1. | English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| 2. | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 3. | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 1 hour (60 minutes) |
Penalty for Wrong Answers:
- For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate one fourth or 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty to arrive at corrected score.
- If a question is left blank (i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate), there will be no penalty for that question.
Section-wise Preparation Strategy:
English Language, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude are the three sections included in prelims exam. Let us see the strategies for each section so it will be easy to concentrate on all the three sections efficiently.
English Language:
- Start with the basics of grammar as it plays a chief role in resolving the questions of error spotting, sentence correction, etc.
- Practice lots of questions about different topics of English so you will not find it hard to solve those questions during the exam.
- Make sure you are familiar with all types of questions that can be asked in exams.
- Newspaper reading gives you a habit of fast reading during the exam and it aids you a lot in Reading Comprehension questions. Concentrate on passages related to Banking & Economy, Social Issues, Business, etc.
- A good vocabulary will be really beneficial while solving the Para-jumble questions. Understand the theme and then try to arrange the sentences in a sequence.
- Study some phrasal verbs as it helps you to solve the Phrase Replacement questions easily.
Reasoning Ability:
- Inequality is a scoring and easy-doing topic in a short time. Understand each symbol what it means and recognize the types of inequalities.
- In Coding-Decoding, students need to focus on old pattern questions for prelims exam. These questions will be simply doable and so you can score the maximum marks without any hassles.
- Take quizzes on topics like syllogisms, Blood Relation & Direction, Ordering & Ranking and Data Sufficiency once after understanding the concepts of it. Quizzes help you to better your preparations regularly.
- There are no particular tricks and shortcuts for seating arrangement questions and so you have to practice a lot. Practice quizzes daily to become familiar with these questions and so you can understand the question easily at the time of real exam.
Quantitative Aptitude:
- Approximation/Simplification/Inequalities/Quadratic Equations are very scoring and less time-consuming. Start to prepare for these questions early in the preparation.
- Be aware of the concepts and do mental calculations to save your solving time.
- Become skilled at squares, cubes, square roots, cube roots and after that practice a combination of problems based on that. It is also good to learn some short tricks and techniques for faster calculations.
- Do one set of DI questions including types of Tabular, line, missing, bar, pie, and caselet regularly.
- Many aspirants will skip the preparation of application sums during preparation. But, it is not a right strategy and so you should focus on some easy scoring topics during your preparation.
- Focus on basic topics average, percentage, profit, and loss. First, you have to clear on the basic concepts, formulae, and shortcuts and then commence to practice on it. Solve quizzes daily on each aptitude topic and analyze your performance.
- Try the dissimilar order of attempt patterns in your mock tests to find out the right one for you. It is important that you should attempt the mock tests or quizzes without any disturbance or break as like the real exam.
Important Points to Remember:
- Take a deep research on Exam pattern and Syllabus as it is considered to be very important before commencing your preparation.
- Make a suitable timetable to study and follow it for sure.
- Start your preparation with easy topics but don’t let the tough topics to be studied at the last.
- Analyze previous year papers to track the difficulty level and the type of questions expected in the exam.
- You have to solve questions quickly with accuracy as it is a vital factor in the prelims exam.
- Don’t study all night. Proper sleep and health is essential throughout the journey of your exam preparation.
- Best online study material and mock tests play a crucial factor in the success of your exam as it helps you to practice and analyze your performance. Our IBPS Guide’s Test Series and Daily Quizzes will be helpful for your exam preparation to attain a great triumph.