(Bank Planner) Tips to Answer Bank Exam Questions
(Bank Planner) Tips to Answer Bank Exam Questions
Bank exams, be it PO or clerical aren’t that difficult as people think. But the problem is the vacancies & applicant’s ratio. So all you need to worry is about your preparation and not the toughness of the paper.
If you are preparing for PO exam, first thing you need to know is the pattern of the exam. A written test for a PO exam consists of 2 parts, objective part and a descriptive part . The objective part consists of four sections namely, English language test, Quantitative ability, Reasoning and General Awareness/Marketing aptitude& Computer knowledge.
The exact pattern for a specific bank can be found in the ‘acquaint yourself booklet’ which you get when you apply to an exam.
But for now I’ll discuss on how to attempt a standard bank PO exam which has 225 questions in total with 135 minutes time i.e., 2 hrs and 15 minutes.
225 questions in 135 minutes comes out to be 36 seconds per question. It may seem daunting but it’s not the end of the world, since we aren’t attempting every question. If you can attempt 175-185 questions (> 190 is excellent) with 90 percent accuracy, you’ve done a good job.
So, as soon as you are told to start answering, I would recommend starting with the General awareness/ Marketing aptitude section and there won’t be much to think or solve in it. Just see the question and mark the answer. Attempt as many questions as you can in this section (only if you’re sure of the answer) but you should be able to complete the section in 25 minutes (20 minutes would be excellent).
The next section to go for would be English and generally the first 9-10 questions in it will be that of comprehensive passage. So I would recommend leaving that part of the questions as the rest of the section is pretty Basic English which is very easy. Again you should be able to complete this section in 20-25 minutes.
So we’ve done with 2 sections in 40-50 minutes and left with another 135 questions which should be done in 85-95 minutes.
Depending upon your strength, go for either Reasoning or Quantitative Aptitude (QA) but remember to solve the easiest questions first (this will be the deciding factor). Any thing that requires serious calculation in QA or serious thinking in Reasoning should be left behind at first and come back to it if time permits at the end. For example questions on circular arrangement in Reasoning and compound interest calculations in QA could be avoided.
From the feedback given by many test takers, what I found is that the DI (Data Interpretation) part in QA will be an important part in the test which is also very easiest part. Most of the question in it could be solved without even using your pen. So work hard on DI.
Coming to the time for these 2 sections,40 questions in QA
(or all that you could solve) should be completed in 30 minutes which leaves out
30-35 minutes to solve 40 questions in Reasoning. Don’t neglect the non-verbal
part in Reasoning as there would be atleast 10 questions from it.
All said and done, you should have atleast 5 minutes at the last which you could
either use to solve the Reading comprehension in English or the arrangement
questions in Reasoning.
Study Material, Postal Courses for Bank, SBI, IBPS - PO, Clerk Exams
Online Coaching and Test Series for Bank and IBPS Exams
Negative Marks - Tips to Minimise
Every candidate taking up bank exams or the first time is more concerned about Negative marks. Negative marks in bank exams are awarded to each and every wrong answer ,which ranges from 0.25.If you still have no clue on how to steer clear without negative marks, proceed reading to know about the do’s & don’ts.
What you Must do to Minimize Negative Marks ?
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Analyze the Question paper in advance by referring previous question papers. This helps to get a clear picture of the type of questions in each section. For this, previous question papers or question paper blueprints would help in knowing the pattern
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Practice is the only key. Since most bank exams expect you to complete 120-150 questions in 3 hours, its necessary for the candidates to figure out short-cut methods, easy problem solving skills so that precious time could be saved.
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Try attending mock tests using sample bank exam question papers, which will help to decide on the amount of time needed to answer each question. Time Management is the most needed skill to answer all the questions in given time.
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Prepare short notes of your preparations, formulas, important theorems etc., so you can refer to it during the last minute preparation rather than reading the books.
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Be cool & calm while writing the exam. Getting tensed on an unknown question or hurrying to complete the exam soon, contribute to negative marks largely.
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Answer the questions that you are confident of being correct, rather than getting stuck with a question & wasting time trying to answer it.
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Do not guess until you are very sure of the answer. Guessing can drastically reduce the marks without your knowing.
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Do not erase or overwrite frequently. Since the OMR sheets are read by computers, any improper erasing marks will be calculated as wrong answers, leading to negative marks.
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In an attempt to avoid negative marks, don’t skip all the unknown questions. Take calculated risks & think of the nearest answer, since there is no success without risks.
