Download


Few magazines that can be very helpful for bank exams in general. Gives you an idea about what happens in the financial world

Formal Letter Writing Template

FORMAL LETTER WRITING

From (Do not write the label ‘from’)

____________ (no commas anywhere)

____________

____________

____________

 

Place (do not write the label ‘place’)

Date (do not write the label ‘date’)

 

To (do not write the label ‘to’)

____________(no commas anywhere)

____________

____________

____________

 

Madam/Dear Sir, (Dear Madam can be avoided)

___________________________________________________________________________ (Subject. Please avoid labels like sub: subject)

 

                _____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

(indent for the first paragraph alone)

 

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

  

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

  

yours sincerely (no comma)

signature

(do not mention your name. use dummy stuff like xyz)

 

 

 

General awareness materials for bank exams

Hi All,

I am not going to provide any material over here. I will just show you where amazing materials are available. It is upto you to take effort and research them and exploit them to your advantage.

Link : http://www.bankersadda.com/
http://www.gktoday.in/
http://linkingsky.com/
http://www.bestguru.com/
http://nirdeshak.com/

Precis writing for RBI Grade B

PRECIS WRITING
Not an easy topic
As per old syllabus, this section accounts for 24 marks in english paper.
You will be given a separate sheet for precis writing (two sheets i guess. Word limit would be around 230 or 250. Not sure. Refer previous year question papers)
The sheet will resemble an excel sheet.
GENERAL TIPS FOR PRECIS:

Do not forget to give title for the precis. Prepare 3 to 4 titles. Choose the best (most relevant and catchy) and use it.
Do not write the title in the cells/boxes provided for precis. Write it on top of the page and underline it (in the horizontal margin).
Do not exceed word limit nor fall short of it. While framing the last sentence, think and write so that the number of words fit exactly with the word limit.
Do not repeat sentences as in the paragraph given. (You are expected to frame your own sentences)
Cut out examples and other trivial/repeated/extended information in the paragraph
Read the paragraph 4 to 5 times. Yes. It wouldn't be that easy to assimilate. It will be quite confusing in deciding the important/unimportant points
Basically precis is a sitter question (according to me). So attempt first.
On the last sheet of the answer paper, write down the important points of the paragraph and frame sentences and put them in the cells provided in precis sheet.
Follow the order of points as in the paragraph.
Make it legible.
Do not use separate cells for punctuation marks including full stop. You may club them with words.
Practice is required. (I know its a boring thing. But trust me practice is required. I spent my first 80 minutes on precis as i didn't practise any).
According to me 14=/+/24 is a good score.


 

RBI Grade B Phase 1 Time Management on the day of the exam

 

RBI PHASE 1

TIME MANAGEMENT ON THE DAY OF THE EXAM

(User discretion advised. This is written considering 2014 phase 1 pattern)

TOTAL TIME AVAILABLE : 130 MINUTES

NUMBER OF SECTIONS : 4

ORDER OF ATTENDING THE SECTIONS ALONG WITH TIME TO BE ALLOCATED

Ideally, you can start with English. The standard of English section isn’t mediocre anymore. Standard has been improved drastically. Nothing to fear. It isn’t comparable with CAT English section. It is doable. Just that it needs a little more concentration. Now how to attend this particular section. Aspirants who have already attended online bank exams would know how the paper would be on THE SCREEN. For the newbies, let me give an idea. All the four sections would be in different tabs. All these tabs would be placed horizontally. More or less like the below image.

 

So if you click on reasoning, first 80 questions would get listed on the right side of your screen. Just like a painting palette.

 

This would give you a rough idea. So, you will be getting a list of 60 numbers here. Right from 1 to 60 (of course with a scroll bar for the palette). So now you can imagine. If you click on quantitative aptitude, it will show the list from 61-90. If you click on English, it will show the list from 91-120. If you click on general awareness, it will show the list from 121-200.

NOTE: The order of tabs may differ. So please consider that.

 

Now back to the time plan.

 Start with the English section.

Why?

Has only 30 questions. Even quant has 30 questions only. But it will consume more time. Once you are done with 30 questions in say 12-15 minutes you will have a mental satisfaction that you have completed a section. This will keep you going.

 

So where to start in English. Please do not start from question 1. In this case, first question in english section will be 91. Why not? For sure it will be a reading comprehension. It might eat your time if it is a very very long passage. By trend (remember the blueprint you have created?) 10 questions would be asked on reading comprehensions. 5 general questions, 5 questions on synonyms/antonyms. So do not take chance. Now why directly click on 111^th question. The same trend says that the last ten questions are cloze text (Fill in the blanks). If am not wrong, we have been doing this right from 6^th grade. Piece of cake. (This time it might be only 5 as I was mentioning about the new topic for 5 marks in my earlier post). So wherever the English tab is, once you click on the tab. Click on the first number of the last ten questions. In this case it is 111. Eat the cake. Please eat within 3 minutes. Yes it is possible. Do not start clicking on answers as and when you read (can do when you find the option to be too obvious). First skim the full passage. Hardly takes 30 seconds. This will help you in understanding the essence/tone of the passage. If it is a passage with positive tone and you realise that even before you start marking answers, chances are that you won’t make any mistake. Repeating again. Do mark answers in the first go when skimming if you find the option to be too obvious in any case (positive passage/negative passage). Skimming will help because in some cases you may be thinking that the passage is positive and start clicking answers and somewhere you get to know that it isn’t positive. So few of the answers you marked maybe wrong. So to prevent that mistake, skimming is very much important. Now click on 106^th question. Should be “Rearrange the following”. Requires maybe 1-2-3 (max) minutes to solve. Once done, click on 101^st question. Should be spot the errors. Take less than a minute please. Now click on 96^th question, welcome to questions on synonyms/antonyms (NOTE: Not the general meaning or opposite is asked. It is asked in relation to the passage. For example, the word “broke“ has a lot of meanings. In the passage, in what context has the author written? You need to mention that. Same applies to antonyms too. Max 1 minute for this. So in toto, you will be consuming 8 minutes of your time. You still have 5 questions on reading comprehensions. Just leave them. We will get back if we have time. As of now, you have attended 25/30. Cut off would be around 14. So please attempt 20+ at least. If you are able to attend all 30 questions in ten minutes, well and good.

NOTE: I considered English section to be the third tab. Please act wisely and accordingly if the tab position is different. Just remember the idea of “which number to start with” for each topic in English section

 Now you are back to IBPS PO exam with two extra minutes. Ok let those 2 minutes be buffer. You have 120 minutes with 170 questions. Sounds easier isn’t it?

Start the exam now: P

Considering that you have done enough prep for General awareness section (Never say it is tough to memorise. If you say yes, you will never be able to memorise. It is cool to study general awareness stuff. You get to know what’s happening in the world. It is not dry at all)

(Already mentioned the source, still reminding once again)

Last four months gk pdfs from

Bankersadda monthly cpasules

Bankersadda finance capsules

Bankersadda consolidated capsule (if available for RBI grade b. If not, take the consolidated pdf of any other bank exam that is conducted very near to rbi phase 1)

 

In short, anything and everything related to rbi grade b by bankersadda

Nirdeshak (both monthly and finance capsules)

Gktoday

Linking sky (if you still have space in your brain)

RBI FAQ (important)

Union Budget 2015 (very important. All those numbers. Like how many crores have been allotted for this scheme, that scheme, blah blah)

Any other site that you have found to be amazing (which I haven’t found :/)

And importantly common sense. (Needed for logical guessing. Use only when you are desperate to increase your score to meet the cut off (anyway your choice)/when you are desperate to maximise your score to top the charts. If you are in between and contended with your attempts forget common sense :P)

NOTE: Most things are repetitive. Bankersadda covers everything. But a few important points may be found in the other sites mentioned above.

If you have memorised it so well, it will take you maybe 12 minutes to complete all 80 questions.

Yes. I am not kidding. (And it isn’t compulsory to attend all 80)

 

So when did you start this section? When the clock was at 120 minutes. Now it is 108 minutes. You have done (and probably dusted or you got dusted: P) with two sections.

Sigh! 80 + 20 = 110 questions. SIGH! I am great. NO. Strictly do not have this feel. Top 200-300 candidates would have done this by now. You are still running the race. No time to even feel happy/sad/neutral.

 

Ok…. You have got 3 minutes buffer. 108/107/106/105 anywhere in these minutes is fine. But once you reach 105, whatever attempts you have made even if you have only a few questions left where you can score, it is ok, leave the section and go to the next. Discipline is ver important when it comes to managing time. Many of us get carried away by tension/anxiety and lot other related stuff during exam. So keep your mind under control. So 105….. tada. You are in reasoning section now!

105 good minutes for 90 questions. Theoretically you have got more than a minute for each question.

Reasoning has been the nightmare for a lot of aspirants. But I think this is the most scoring and coolest section of all. I LOVE REASONING. And ya you too please start loving it. Helps you big time.

Basically reasoning = puzzles. Why do you have to fret? :/ Enjoy it.

As per the sample tabs above, reasoning is tab 1. So starts with question1. Go through all questions from 1 to 60 (answer whatever you know). So what all to answer in round 1? Ya you are going to split reasoning into two and attempt in two rounds. Questions from the topics below are to be attended in round 1.

Syllogisms, blood relations, coding decoding, input output, miscellaneous (statements and conclusions/inferences/cause and effect etc), data sufficiency, statement inequality (most feared topic. It’s a cake walk trust me. I have explained it in my blog). So you have 30-40 questions here (cut off would be in 30s I guess). Attempt them in round 1. So any other question that you find on your way from 1 to 60, just click on mark for review and traverse till 60 and attempt the questions on the mentioned topics. So for these questions imagine that we spare 1 minute for each question (actually you would be finishing sooner say for example all 5 syllogisms should take you a max of 2:30 minutes, input output 3-5 minutes, coding decoding 4 minutes, data sufficiency (tricky), max 1 minute for each question…….. blah blah).

So now 105-40=65 minutes. Wow! I have 65 minutes now for quant. Nope K. You do have a few questions in other sections! So you got only 35-40 minutes for quant(more than enough).

Start from the first question in quant. Cannot predict where what will be. My general idea is first 15 questions will be on data interpretation, then find the next number/odd number series, quadratic equations and five miscellaneous questions(sometimes this could be 10. Minus five questions from data interpretation in that case). Whatever it is, you would be getting a grip of all the topics in this section in the month of august, September, October, because you are gonna prepare them every morning! So what is there to fear :P

Still, you will have a few sitter questions in data interpretation, find the missing number/odd number (awful 5 questions K. I generally do not attempt or mark same option for all 5. Like b b b b b (works if you are lucky ;)) and a few in quadratic, where you get confused like hell! (if you are thorough with statement inequality, you won’t make mistake in quadratic while comparing x and y)

So let us assume that you have taken the max 40 min that we fixed, to complete say 20+ questions. Good enough. But please attempt 20+ Cut off would anyway be between 12-14. Still you cannot take risks right. So attempt 20+ with 90% accuracy. For this you need to prepare well.

 

Now look at the clock. It is at 25 minutes. Go to reasoning section. Go to marked for review questions. (They would be marked in purple (wish I am remembering properly) with a small tick mark on it.). They should be seating arrangement/logical reasoning questions and a few data sufficiency/miscellaneous/syllogisms questions that were tricky/made you perplexed. Attempt them all. Relax. Do not panic if seating arrangements isn’t working your way. Try attempting remaining stuff. Try to finish one caselet at least. Either in seating arrangements or logical reasoning, Practise a lot of inside out type seating arrangements. That is the basic seating arrangements type asked now(standard has improved! Reminding yet again).

So now look at the time. You might have been lucky in clearing all those left out reasoning questions, half satisfied with a few correct ones or badly hit with no luck.

It is ok. Now go to English section, skim the passage. QUICK. Max two minutes to read, sorry skim (of course with concentration). Answer them. Should take max 4-4.5 minutes. Remaining 2.5 minutes. Left out questions in GK (marked for review).

You are done. If you follow this you will be attempting 180+ (backed up with good (smart) prep)

 

NOTE:

·         This strategy might not work for all.

·         Might work for all

OTHER IMPORTANT TIPS:

Do not fear the number of people applying

Do not fear looking at the crowd in your centre

Do not day dream

Do not get lost

Do not get depressed (half the way. Mostly reasoning/quant would be making you feel this way :P. Close your eyes for 10 seconds. Start afresh with a new section. Come back to reasoning)

If this strategy collapses, half way it is ok. Not mandatory to follow. Do what is required at that point of time. Just see to that you attempt max possible with good accuracy keeping in mind sectional cut off.

Never think you belong to reserved category. You are a general candidate (pushes you to perform better)

At the end of the day, if you clear sectional cut offs and overall cut offs, you are in. It is as simple as that.

The person next to you, opposite you whomever, they do not play any role in your selection. It is just between you and RBI. RBI sets a standard, try to clear it.

It is just like aim for the sky, reach the roof top.

 

Aim for 170+ score. Land up with 130+ (which is very high when compared to last year). And start preparing for phase 2 (terrible pressurised days!! K ;))

 

Happy to help!

 

 

 

 

 

RBI Grade B Phase 1 Tips

 

Hi All,

This might help a few of you.

NOTE : This post is written considering the previous year pattern.

How to prep for RBI grade b Phase 1

Sections:

General awareness (80q)

English (30)

Quantitative aptitude (30)

Reasoning (60)

NOTE : Consider yourself as a general candidate even if you belong to other categories. It helps you to target more marks and prevents your from being lethargic. Trust me, this helps.

Phase 1 is for 130 minutes. No sectional time. You can attend any section at any time (according to 2014 pattern).

GOOD THING: You have got 10 extra minutes when compared to IBPS.

It is not impossible as well not so easy to attend all 200 questions. Please do not think that you are weak/slow in quant/reasoning/gk/English or whatever. It is not that tough like you think

NOTE : If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t you never will.

I assume that you have took the blueprint of the previous year question paper.

What is a blue print? Just the list of topics that are being tested.

 So download, previous year question paper if you get (please do not ask me. I don’t have it neither where it would be available) or ask any senior/aspirant who has attended the exam already.

List down the topics that are asked in each section.

Blue print example

REASONING:

Seating arrangements (5+7 questions. Two caselets)

Syllogisms (5 questions)

Input output (5 questions)

Coding decoding (5 questions)

Blood relations (5 questions)

Logical reasoning (5-7 questions)

Data sufficiency (5 questions)

Statements and conclusions/cause and effect/facts and inferences/similar topics (10-15 questions)

ENGLISH:

Reading comprehension (10 marks. Includes 5 questions on synonyms and antonyms)

Spot the errors (5 questions)

Cloze text (10 questions)

Rearrange the sentences (5 questions) and last year paper had a different set of questions for 5 marks. I do not remember them exactly. Anyone else could help.

QUANT:

Quadratic equations (5 questions)

Data interpretation (10-15 questions)

Find the odd number/next number in the series (5 questions)

Miscellaneous like time and work, percentage, profit and loss, train problems, time and distance and other chapters (5-10 questions)

GENERAL AWARENESS:

Can’t really segregate them. But you will definitely get a few questions (maybe 1 or 2 or 3 each) on important days, books, awards and designations.

NOTE: Please note that this blue print is just a sample. I just typed whatever was in my memory. You please do research and make your own blue print.

 

NOW THE PREPARATION!!

Now your blue print is done. What are you waiting for? Start preparing. Before that set a target date. Just imagine that the notification is gonna be out in the mid of September and exams in nov (on reading a few posts from a few people in the group). So if the exam is gonna be in november say November 1, you may set a target that is some 20 days before the D-Day. In this case, Oct 10, 2015.

Now prepare a time table. Draw a calendar on a rough sheet. I have attached my ugly calendar for reference. You may stick it on your cupboard or wall. So imagine that you are starting then prepare right away from tomorrow. So make a calendar starting from 11^th August and ending with Oct15th.

Oct11th-Oct15th -> Buffer (Not everyone is perfect and sticks with it)

You may follow a daily routine like this (Considering people who are working)

Wake up at 5. Ya you hear me right. Finish your daily routine and sit for studies at say 5.45. This would drag you anyway to 6.

Now at six, whatsoever, please do not be sleepy or lazy. You may even bath so that your sleep gets out of you.

NOTE: Why do you wanna become an rbi grade b? What motivates you? Write it on a sheet and stick it on your cupboard. If your current job sucks, just write, “Work hard to escape from this stupid organisation” :P

6-6:10 Do speed maths. I have already shared a document regarding this. People who have not noticed it, here you go. Open an excel sheet. Keep your capslock on.

Type a random three digit number then press X and again a random three digit number. Make 30 entries like that. It would be similar to this.

1)      452X784

2)      215X385

3)      635X210

4)      359X345

5)      789X396

6)      Blah blah till 30. Ensure there are no repeated entries. Make a new list every night before you sleep.

 

So start at 6 am. Set your alarm at 6:10. Try to finish all 30 within these 10 minutes. If you are able to do only 10, never mind you will improve as days go by. If you are somewhere near 25… you are doing great, few more days you will get all 30 in 8 minutes or 8 and a half.

 

So this 6-6.10am stuff will be in your routine, till the day before your exam (even on Saturdays and Sundays).

 

 Now starting from 6:10 and ending up at 8 am. These would be the topics you would be working on.

 

LIST OF KEY TOPICS FOR DATA INTERPRETATION

 

1)      Ratios and Proportions

2)      Percentages

3)      Profit and Loss

4)      Simplification

5)      Averages

 

These 5 topics are very important as they are useful for data interpretation. Most questions on data interpretation would somehow or the other revolve around these topics. Imagine, you will be having 10-15 questions on data interpretation. So better buy R S Agarwal for quantitative aptitude. (I don’t think it is necessary to buy more standard books like quant by arun sharma and all)

 

People who are good in quant may ignore the following tip on quant and may replace with some other thing.

 

So take four days for each topic.

 

1)      Read the explanation given in these chapters. Look at how the examples are solved. This would take one day out of the three days meant for each topic.

2)      If you do not understand a particular stuff, refer with your friends. Before that, google and see. Google has almost everything. Do not be lazy. If that is also not working, post it in the group. We have around 15k people here. Someone would help. But ideally, google will help and that is the only thing that will help you in not wasting time. So day 1 morning is over. Time to get ready to office and go. For people who have office before 8 or at 8, adjust accordingly. All you need is 2 hrs study + 1 hr to get ready/travel. So plan as it suits you.

3)      Day 1 at office: Please do not risk your job. Just do if it is possible. Now with smart phones, we can do a lot of stuff with no one noticing what we do. Just go to bankersadda website (www.bankersadda.com).

4)      Download GK pdfs for the months june and july for now. (You need to download for all the months june, july, august, sept, oct, GK should be updated till 5 days before the day of the exam). Take ten days for each month (as you have ample time). Study/read/memorise. Just make it a point you will not forget what you read until you finish the exam. So bankersadda will be done only during your travel to office, at office (if possible), travel from office to home. You can supplement the above timings by reading the pdfs over weekends.

5)      DAY 1 office over. Once you reach home, if you have time start with reasoning topics. You may find some useful explanations/tips in my blog. Sorry it is outdated. Still it might help. anandp3190.blogspot.in

6)      Once you understand a topic, there is no need for rigorous practice. Mild practice would do. Bur make sure you understand the topic well and know how to approach it in any case.

7)      So the schedule starts on Aug 12 and ends on Aug 31.

8)      By now, you would have kinda got a grip on the above mentioned five topics, june, july current affairs from bankersadda and few topics in reasoning say blood relations, syllogisms and input output.

9)      We did miss the plan on weekends. Few may work on weekends, few may not, few may work only on Saturdays. So not specifying any timing. But you may set yourself targets and try to complete them.

10)   AVAILABLE WEEKENDS: 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30. Please note: Your daily routine is included on weekends too. (speed maths, 5 key topics in quant as well the june, july gk pdfs from bankersadda)

11)   TARGET: 15, 16, 22, 23, WEEKEND:

·         Attached data interpretation question paper completely. Attached both the question paper and answer key. Answer key maybe wrong for a few questions. So do not break your head. Just post in the group. People would help. Questions maybe wrong somewhere. Again, do not break your head. If you are by now thorough with those 5 topics mentioned above, you may confidently say if question/answer key is wrong.

12)   TARGET : 29, 30 WEEKEND: (Assuming that you are kinda strong with those 5 topics, speed in calculating, got a grip in DI)

·         www.indiabix.com. Solve every data interpretation in this site.

·          Bar charts should be done in less than 3 minutes. Max 3.5 minutes (So set count down timer 3:30s for every bar chart) and complete it.

·         Line charts in less than 3 minutes. Set countdown timer of 3 minutes for every line chart and try to finish

·         Table charts -> 4:30s same as above

·         Pie chart -> 4.30s

·         You may either set countdown timer for every caselet and solve or take 10 caselets of same type. Multiply with max time for the caselet type. Say for ten line charts 30 minutes and solve. The latter works better. Gives you an exam feel

NOTE: Please do not get disturbed/let anyone disturb you.

 

So by Aug 31, you will now be having a relief that you have kinda completed 40-50 of the syllabus.

 

SEPTEMBER 1-30

Morning 6-8 am

 

·         Speed maths 10 min

·         Other topics like time and work, time and distance, 4 days each. Be careful in choosing the topics. Do not waste time on chapters like clocks, calendars from which no questions are asked. On the first day read the explanation, go through examples. Remaining three days choose 100 questions from the topic (if less, do not mind). Pick randomly. 30 from the beginning, 30 from middle, 30 from the last (will cover almost all types of problems)

 

At office, travel time (to and fro), lunch time at office  ->

 

·         August gk pdf from bankersadda (Don’t be too serious. Read casually as and when you find time)

·         Type nirdheshak in google. First link. Finance capsules, monthly capsules available (just like bankersadda). Download june, july, august. Port in your mobile and study at office as you did in august.

 

Evenings:

 

Reasoning remaining topics. What are they? Check your blue print. Type the topic name and follow it with bankersadda in google.

WEEKENDS:

 

TARGET : 5, 6: Reasoning-> seating arrangements all types.

TARGET : 12, 13: Reasoning -> statements and conclusions/cause and effect/other miscellaneous topics

TARGET : 19, 20: Reasoning -> Logical reasoning, blood relations

TARGET : 26, 27: Left out topics in reasoning

 

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS: Your wish to prepare whatever you want

 

Eg: coding decoding bankersadda

 

You will get a lot of links. Open each and solve.

 

Oct 1-10:

 

September gk pdf from bankersadda, nirdheshak, gktoday, speed maths, again indibix data interpretation (everything all again) reasoning revision.

 

Memorise all important days (google and get the list)

Memorise as many book-author that you can. You may get all these in bankersadda pdf itself. List them separately from the monthly pdf and memorise

 

Oct 10-31: Revision of all that you have done so far and every day gk that you can read from bankersadda. Also you may start studying for management paper here and there (phase 2) from PC TRIPATHI. Saves you real time when you have only one month prep time between phase 1 and phase 2. Will mention about this in another post.

 

Prepare gk till 5 days before your exam. High chances that one or two questions will be asked on the things that happened a few days before the day of the exam

 

 

IDEAL ATTEMPT CONSIDERING THE DIFFICULT OF LAST YEAR PAPER:

 

(This might vary for sure. Easy paper-> More cut off. Tougher paper->Lesser cut off) Always assume that you will get an easy paper. So try to attempt 165+ somehow with 85+% accuracy.

 

Overall 165+

 

English 25+ (score above 20 is safe)

Quant 18+ (score above 16 is safe)

Reasoning 40+ (score above 35)

GK 50+ (score above 40)

 

Improvise wherever you want. No one is gonna stop you from attending 170+, 180+ or all 200. The more the better it is. But have a thought about accuracy.

 

Happy to help.

 

Please don mind typos, I didn’t recheck what I typed. Sorry, it is a long post.