How To Prepare For IBPS

One of our selected candidates shared his experience which is going to include all the things that he had done and should be done according to him to crack any banking exam.

He explained it in 3 major parts-

1) How to prepare for Bank Exams.
2) How to attempt Bank Exams.
3) How to crack Bank interviews.

1) HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE BANK EXAM

For the guys who are preparing for the PO exam going to be held in the month of june.. i want to share a very simple strategy to clear it… i have prepared for it in just 2 months… and my score is 174.. in po exam.. and 183 in clerk exam….and i also cleared Malwa Grameen bank clerk as well as PO… what i did to clear the exam.. ??

I have just solved the previous year papers very thoroughly… means i solve each and every previous paper.. just like as this is my exam… i set the stopwatch.. and try to complete the paper in stipulated time… and within 1 month time.. even i got such a strong hold on time.. i did not even need the stopwatch to complete it… i left the tough question and pick the easy one…

1. For English.. i did not follow any book… i just read the newspaper for nearly 2 hours.. this had solved my dual purpose… i have completed english and current affairs side by side..whatever difficult words i came through.. i note it down on a separate note book.. and revise it.. when i get time..

2.For Reasoning and maths.. i just brushed up my basics… and then went directly for the previous papers.. while solving the paper.. i took immense care of the time.. wherever i found difficult question.. i left it and move to the next question.. i did not waste time on difficult question… i picked the easy one.. and do it with good accuracy… quality matters not quantity..

3. For general awareness related to banking and current affairs…. For general awareness related to banking industry.. i read the whole bank po material.. from where i came to know the fundamentals of banking industry.. For ex:- CRR,PLR,SLR..etc..for current i read hindu or indian express.. whichever i get…. and magazine.. i differ from rest all of the aspirants… all were following pratiyogita darpan.. but i followed.. competition in focus by arihant.. publisher..this is really good magazine… in PD there is a lot of matter which is of none use to us.. this wastes a lot of time…

4. For computer… i crammed each and every question of previous year papers…. i have not followed any book…

This was my strategy… I followed this strategy and would manage to clear the 5 exams.. with my only 2 months preparation….I HAVE NOT JOINED ANY COACHING INSTITUTE FOR THE PREPARATION OF IT….I just studied 8 hours daily for two months….That is all i have done to clear it.
You can practice online at Careerty.com for all the above sections.

2) HOW TO ATTEMPT THE BANK EXAM

IBPS exam is not about the toughness it is mainly about the time management..If u can manage the time properly u can solve the whole exam. Now the question arises how to manage the time..?? Yes, i am giving my personal experience how i had managed time and able to score 174 in po and 183 in clerk and also cleared malwa grameen bank clerk as well as Po in mere 2 months preparation ( I am writing this again not to earn praise from u guys..but making u believe that…. yes by preparing hard for few months u can crack the exam with good marks )

1. Firstly go for either the General awareness or computer section..whichever u feels can increase ur confidence level or which u r having a good hold… and try to complete both these section in maximum 30 minutes .. not more than this…. Because u don’t have to think in these two.. If u know the answer than u can do it otherwise not.. there is no need to think much on the questions…and side by side mark the circles in the OMR sheet….Don’t waste ur time by marking circles on the paper then the OMR sheet.

2. Then go for english section and do it in maximum 30 minutes…and if u have a weak english then take 35 minutes maximum…Don’t waste too much time in this..as it is not the scoring section.

3. And in the stage 3 u r left with 90 minutes..and devote these 90 minutes to quantitative and reasoning section..whichever u feel is my strong..waise my personal choice is go for quantitative section as reasoning contains puzzles.. and it may puzzle ur mind and u can loose ur confidence( As it contains 5 questions if u would unable to solve that puzzle definitely this would have some effect on ur confidence level ) …and in both these sections don’t go by old method of marking the answers ( solve 1 question and mark it on the OMR sheet ).. First solve 10 questions … and Collectively mark the answers in the OMR sheet..This will definitely save ur time in attempting both the sections..

That’s all..That’s how i attempted the exam..By following this… i have 5 minutes spare after completing the whole exam of clerk (not Po as it was really the tough one )….

3)HOW TO CRACK BANK INTERVIEWS

Till now i had given 7 PO interviews and got the result of 5 and 2 are in wait….and even with all odds ( engineering background and two and a half year gap) i manage to clear all the 5 interviews.. I am going to share all the questions that had been asked in my interviews.. It is not possible for me to give all the answers of the interview questions …U can write ur questions in comments i will try to answer it….The basic things which is needed to get selected in any interview are :-

1. Honest ( Give them a very honest reply…U can hide truth..but u can’t lie…There is very big difference between these two ).

2. Desperation….The interview panel checks is this guy is really desperate for the job….Is this guy really needs it…Is he/she is very serious about the job.

3. Don’t show the attitude of this kind ( Mil gayi toh bi theek na mili toh bi ) means if i will get then it’s ok and if not then it’s also ok….don’t show this….Show this ( mujhe job leni hi leni hai )…I am in the real need of the job….i am the most needy on this earth

4. Dressing sense ….

5. Don’t go blank…Very important…….some guys even many guys go blank ..don’t read anything and go for the interview…..I think this is the very wrong attitude….this does not shows ur confidence but the non seriousness towards the job…. When i went for the interviews i used to go through all the current news….and read all the DOCS of the BANK PO GD AND INTERVIEW PREPARATION

6. Don’t show i am superior to u..always show ( u r my bhagwan..tum hi mere karta dharta ho :P ) U r my god and u r everything to me.

7. Confidence

I think these are the 7 points that can give u success in any interview….. Now i am posting u all the questions that had been asked to me in my interviews…Hope u get some idea about the questions.

1)INTERVIEW WITH UNION BANK OF INDIA

My First interview was of UNION BANK OF INDIA held on 23rd of Februray at chandigarh

I entered the room and wish all the panel members ( all 3 male members ) and sat on the chair….
Question1 Tell me about yourself..??
My answer This is ..I have done B.tech in ECE with distinction..and told
about my family and hobbies

Question2 Why there is a gap of 2 years…and what are u doing presently…??
My answer Sir, Till may 2011 i have prepared for the PSU exams related to engineering sector…I cleared 3 exams but could not get the final selection…..and in may my uncle told me about the coming number of opportunities in the banking sector..then I switch to banking.

Question3 Why u could not able to get final selection..??
My answer Sir, actually in ECE particularly vacancies are very less in PSU’s and number of students applied are very high so competition would be very high..I think this would be the reason…Finally i convinced them.

Question4 What is cross selling..??
My answer Selling our products to the same customer..or selling our products to the
existing customer.

Question5 What is bank rate..??
My answer Bank rate is the rate at which bank borrow money from RBI..and RBI has
changed it after nearly the period of 9 years..and at present it is 9.5% ( Now it is 9% at the time of interview it was 9.5% )

Question6 What is Prime lending rate…??
My answer It is the rate at which bank lend to it’s most credit worthy customers.

Question7 What is base rate…??
My answer It is the rate below which bank can’t lend to their customers.

Question8 Why RBI has introduced the concept of base rate..??
My answer I think sir to avoid the bad competition between the banks…so that they could not fetch any other bank client by giving the load at low interest…and ultimately it will be a loss to the government… ( But i think i was wrong..RBI introduced the base rate concept to avoid sub prime crisis situation…as happened two years back in the USA…and to avoid recession due to this)

Question9 Is base rate same for all the banks..??
My answer I answered…yes…panel member said here u went wrong… ( The correct answer is …base rate varies from 10-10.75 % and it is upto the banks to decide the rate….but it should be between 10-10.75% )

These were the questions that had been asked in my interview…..I got 25/50 marks..and got 174+25=199..and missed by 1 mark for final selection.

2) INTERVIEW WITH SYNDICATE BANK

My Second interview was of SYNDICATE BANK held on 23rd of MARCH at Chandigarh

I entered the room and wished all the panel members ( 3 male and 1 female )

Question1 What are u doing presently..??

Question2 Why there is gap..??

My answer Same as above

Question3 What is CRR..??
My answer CRR is the money that bank has to keep with RBI.

Question4 What is present CRR rate..??
My answer 4.75 %

Question5 What is SLR rate…??
My answer It is the money that bank has to keep with him in terms of GOLD or liquid..BUT it should be 24% of net demand and time liabilities.

Question6 What is prime lending rate and base rate..??
My answer same as above

Question7 What are negotiable instruments ..??
Question8 What is the difference between cheque and draft..??
Question9 What are the functions of Reserve bank of india..??
Question10 What are the supervisory functions of RBI..??
Question11 About recent news..??
Question12 About Budget..??
Question13 Allocation of funds to banks and NABARD in the budget…??
Question14 What is service tax..??
Question15 What is excise duty..??
Question16 What is custom duty..??
Question17 Is draft a negotiable instrument

2 or 3 questions more…but i could not able to recall…Friends it is very difficult for me to provide answer to each and every question…But whereever u find any problem..write it in the comments..i will try to sort it out..!!

3) INTERVIEW WITH BANK OF INDIA

My 3rd interview was of Bank of india on 9th april at LUDHIANA

Question1 what are u doing presently and why there is a gap..??
Question2 What is the base rate of bank of india..??
Question3 Presently at which rate we lend to our customers..??
Question4 which is our national game..??
Question5 where is olympics 2012 is going to be held..??
Question6 Has our national game qualified in the olympics and after how many years..??
Question7 Where the last olympics had taken place..??
Question8 and where last to last means in 2004..??
Question9 What is link of olympics with greece..??( I said first olympics took place in greece )
Question10 What is the difference betwenn 2G and 3G..??
Question11 What is the difference between ipad and laptop ??
Question12 Which supply we are getting at home AC OR DC..??

4)INTERVIEW WITH ALLAHABAD BANK

My 4th Interview was of ALLAHABAD BANK held on 19th april at PANCHKULA.

Question1 What are u presently doing and why there is a gap..??
Question2 Difference between base rate and PLR..??
Question3 Difference between u and TATA in regard for giving the loan..??
Question4 Difference between bank rate and repo rate..??
Question5 what is sub prime crisis..??
Question6 difference between LAN and WAN..??
Question7 Recently watched movie..??
Question8 Name the woman who recently won the oscar prize for a documentary movie..??
Question10 I am facing very tough competition from the PNB and BANK OF INDIA..If i would make u branch manager of jalandhar branch…Give me 10 points how would u double the business of my bank..??

5)INTERVIEW WITH BANK OF BARODA

My 5th interview was of BANK OF BARODA held on 20th april at NEW DELHI.

Question1 Why ECE engineers are not getting the jobs in their own field..?? Why mostly ECE engineers are unemployed..??
Question2 What ur father do..??
Question3 will u even join my bank…if i would put u in manipur..??
Question4 Difference between primary and secondary memory..??
Question5 Difference between RAM and ROM..??
Question6 Difference between pen drive and USB..??
Question7 Marks in union bank of india interview..??
Question8 How ur engineering will help us..??

6)INTERVIEW WITH UCO BANK

My 6th interview was of UCO BANK held on 25th april at JALANDHAR.

Question1 Which is the most nearest branch of UCO BANK from ur home..??
Question2 U r saying that u prepared for only 3 months for this exam..?? means u are very good at mathematics…I replied yes sir….then he said..i am giving u the puzzle …solve it….He wrote on the plane paper ( 3 3 3 = 24 ) …He said use these and make it 24….within 5 sec i said first square first 3 and multiply it by second 3 and subtract third 3 from it…and he was totally surprised…..He said u are superb..I do not have any more questions for u…u can go now…

6)INTERVIEW WITH UNITED BANK OF INDIA

My 7th interview was of UNITED BANK OF INDIA held on 8th may at NEW DELHI.

Question1 Tell me about urself..??
Question2 What ur father do..??
Question3 What electronics and communication engineering deals with ??
Question4 What is satellite communication and mobile communication..??
Question5 What is difference between virus and worm.. ??
Question6 What is operating system..??
Question7 Capitals of ASSAM, TRIPURA, MIZORAM ,SIKKIM, ARUNACHAL PRADESH..??
Question8 What is ROUTER and MODEM..??
Question9 Which bank u will join if get all the joining on the same date..??

From all these 7 interviews i got the results of 5..and with god grace i got selected in all 5..and 2 results are still in wait..

I have tried my level best to explain everything here in this post…. Hope this will benefit maximum number of candidates :) :) Best of luck to all banking aspirants..Have a great future ahead..I wish u a success :) :)

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