It is often difficult to focus on two different exam preparation together. But candidates who want to try their luck at multiple government jobs, need to do it anyway. Currently, SBI PO exam and LIC AAO are two major recruitments that are going to take place in the coming few months. The SBI PO Prelims exam will be held from 8th June onwards and LIC AAO Prelims will take place on 4th and 5th May.
As you can see that both the exams are going to take place almost back to back. So how can candidates manage to prepare for two exams simultaneously without any problem? Keep reading to know how.
Understand the exam pattern and find the similarities
The SBI PO Prelims exam pattern is as follows:
| Subjects | Number of Questions | Time Duration |
| English Language | 30 | 1 Hour( Each Section Caries 20 Minutes) |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | |
| TOTAL | 100 |
The LIC AAO Prelims exam pattern is:
| S.No | Section | No of Questions | Max Marks | Duration |
| 1 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 2 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 3 | English Language with special emphasis on grammar, vocabulary and comprehension |
30 | 30* | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes |
As you can see that luckily, both these exams have similar exam pattern and weightage of marks. The only difference between the two exams is the time distribution. While SBI PO Prelims exam allows you to attempt any question in any section within 60 minutes, LIC AAO will give you strictly 20 minutes per section, which means you need to finish all the questions from a particular section within a stipulated time and you can’t go back once the sectional time is up.
Shortlist the sections that you need to prepare
Since the exam pattern is similar to each other for SBI PO and LIC AAO, the main sections that the candidate needs to focus on are:
- English Language
- Quantitative Aptitude
- Reasoning Ability
English Language section for both the exam carries a weightage of 30 marks while the other two sections, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning Ability carry 35 marks each.
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Find similarity in both the syllabus
Now that you know that the exam pattern is similar for both the exam, move to the next step, i.e., to determine whether or not the syllabus are also similar. For SBI PO and LIC AAO, the syllabuses are almost similar, except for a few more chapters to cover in SBI PO. The detailed syllabus for both the exam is mentioned below:
SBI PO Prelims Syllabus
| Reasoning | Quantitative Ability | English Language |
|---|---|---|
| Logical Reasoning | Simplification | Reading Comprehension |
| Alphanumeric Series | Profit & Loss | Cloze Test |
| Ranking/Direction/Alphabet Test | Mixtures & Allegations | Para jumbles |
| Data Sufficiency | Simple Interest & Compound Interest & Surds & Indices | Miscellaneous |
| Coded Inequalities | Work & Time | Fill in the blanks |
| Seating Arrangement | Time & Distance | Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting |
| Puzzle | Mensuration – Cylinder, Cone, Sphere | Paragraph Completion |
| Tabulation | Data Interpretation | |
| Syllogism | Ratio & Proportion, Percentage | |
| Blood Relations | Number Systems | |
| Input Output | Sequence & Series | |
| Coding Decoding | Permutation, Combination &Probability |
LIC AAO Prelims Syllabus
| Reasoning | Quantitative Aptitude | English Language |
|---|---|---|
| Data Interpretation
Number Series Coding Decoding Boast & Streams Clocks & Calendars Syllogism Seating Arrangement Blood relation Coded Inequalities |
Number System, Number Theory
Decimals and Fractions Simplification Ratio and Proportions Profit and Loss Mensuration Average Mixture and Allegation Problems on Ages Time & Distance/Work S.I. and C.I Partnership and Profit & Loss Data Interpretation |
Reading Comprehension
Sentence Arrangement Cloze Test Error Spotting Sentence Improvement Synonyms-Antonyms Elementary Grammar |
Create a study plan and stick to it
Now that you have syllabuses for both the exam, for each section, segregate chapters based on your preparation level into 3 categories:
- Chapters you already know
- Chapters you know but need to revise
- Chapters you have to learn
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Depending on the categories mentioned above, you can divide the syllabus of the 3 sections and make a weekly plan to cover all the categories systematically like this:
| Days | Categories |
| Monday |
Chapters you know but need to revise |
| Tuesday |
Chapters you have to learn |
| Wednesday |
Chapters you know but need to revise |
| Thursday | Chapters you have to learn |
| Friday |
Chapters you have to learn |
| Saturday |
Chapters you already know |
| Sunday | Practice Mock Tests |
You are free to make changes in the study pattern as per your convenience but whatever you do, spare a complete day for practicing mock tests. Also, while preparing for category 1 and Category 2, try to solve 2-3 mock tests in between from all the 3 categories.
Practice until you perfect it
As you can see that, you have almost a month left for SBI PO Prelims exam and 2 months for LIC AAO exam, utilize this opportunity to get your preparation strategy in place and get ready for both the exams simultaneously. If you are a working aspirant, you can also check the hacks to prepare for government exams along with a job here.
Hopefully, this article will be helpful to thousands of candidates out there who are struggling to balance the preparation for more than one exam. Try out our strategy mentioned and let us know if it worked for you!
