NEW! IBPS CLERK PDF Notes

Tips & Tricks for IBPS Clerk Exam

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is going to conduct the IBPS clerk exam 2016 through the Common Recruitment Process (CWE Clerk VI) from November 26, 2016 onwards. The process will have two stages — online exam (preliminary) and online exam (main). The provisional allotment of candidates is expected to happen in April 2017.

Over 19,000 vacancies have been released this time around. As a candidate, you can expect stiff competition from other aspirants who also wish to embark upon a career in public sector banking. Thus, it is best to understand the exam pattern and prepare yourself accordingly.

Stage – I (online exam: preliminary)

The preliminary exam will be computer-based where objective type questions of 100 marks will be asked. It will have to be completed in one hour. The exam will have three sections and the following breakup:

Numerical ability – 35 questions and 35 marks
English language – 30 questions and 30 marks
Reasoning ability – 35 questions and 35 marks

Please note that one hour is the composite time duration allotted to complete this exam. No section-wise time limit is applicable.

Stage – II (online exam: main)

The main exam will also be computer-based. It will be a 200 mark exam divided into five sections. Each section will have a separate time limit. Once the time limit for a particular section is over, you will not be able to go back to that section again. The breakup of marks and time limit allotted to the 5 sections are as follows:

Reasoning – 40 questions and 50 marks (Time: 30 minutes)
English language – 40 questions and 40 marks (Time: 30 minutes)
Quantitative aptitude – 40 questions and 50 marks (Time: 30 minutes)
General awareness – 40 questions and 40 marks (Time: 25 minutes)
Computer knowledge – 40 questions and 20 marks (Time: 20 minutes)

Things you need to keep in mind

(I) In order to get shortlisted for the main exam, you have to attain a sufficiently high overall score.
(II) In addition to the overall score, you must clear the sectional cut-offs for all the sections.
(III) For each incorrect answer, 25 per cent marks allocated to that question will be deducted from your aggregate score.
(IV) All the sections, except English language can be attempted in either English or Hindi.

Noteworthy points – exam pattern

The numerical ability / quantitative aptitude section will be primarily focused on arithmetic, data interpretation and algebra. Calculation based questions will be there in ample number.
English language section will mainly test you on reading, grammatical and word usage skills. To crack this section, effective reading ability and strong vocabulary are needed.
General awareness section will have questions from Banking GK and current affairs. Important national and international developments of the last six months comprise the current affairs portion.
Reasoning ability questions can be a little time consuming. Sitting arrangement, syllogisms, series, ranking test, direction test, coding-decoding, puzzle test, mathematical inequalities, input-output and blood relations are the topics to be covered.
Computer knowledge section will comprise areas such as : Computer hardware, computer terminology and abbreviations, internet knowledge and protocols, evolution of computer systems and programming languages, basics of networking, commonly used software packages like MS Office, cyber security, et al.