The notification for the post of RBI Assistant with 610 vacancies was published in the previous month. We have already provided the detailed Exam pattern, expected syllabus and the previous year cutoff for this exam. Preliminary phase of this exam is scheduled tentatively for 23rd and 24th December 2016. Today we are sharing with you all the strategy that should be followed while attempting this exam.
Pattern of the Exam -
As already notified, pattern of the exam has been changed from this year. Unlike previous year, exam will be conducted in 2 phases- 1. Preliminary Exam
2. Mains Exam
This will be followed by Interview.
Preliminary Exam will be conducted on the following lines -
English Language
This section will comprise of 30 questions with a total of 30 marks. You can expect questions from the following topics -
Reading Comprehension -
Ideally, it is advised to attempt this topic in the end, after you are done with the remaining topics of this section, but if you come across a story based RC, you may attempt this topic first. While attempting this topic, take note of the following -
- First, try to go through the questions and then through the passage. It will help you mark out the answers easily.
- Try to develop the habit of reading at least 2 – 3 articles daily. This will help you go through the passage quickly and help you understand the passage better in the exam.
- Although the questions will be directly based on the content of the passage, but make sure that you go through all the options provided for answer, since they are usually confusing.
Cloze test -
- This topic aims at testing your ability to comprehend text and basically consists of a passage from which some words have been eliminated.
- Read the sentence first and then try to find the correct option by substituting the given options in the sentence. You should be able to eliminate incorrect options with the help of this approach.
- If you feel stuck at some question then move on to the next one. Try and answer it and then go back to the previous question since all the sentences are logically connected.
Spotting Error / Sentence Correction -
- Go through the entire sentence properly first.
- Look up for grammatical errors, in case the structure of the sentence seems fine to you.
- Try to eliminate the options by going through the sentence properly.
- In order to correctly attempt this topic, a proper understanding of the sentence structure, word usage and grammar is advisable.
Para Jumbles
- First go through all the lines and try to understand the gist of the passage.
- Try to look up the independent sentence which mostly forms the first sentence.
- Find out the connecting sentences and try to arrange accordingly.
- Try to attempt this topic in the end, since the sentences are often confusing and the topic takes time.
Numerical Ability
This section will comprise of 35 questions with a total of 35 marks. You can expect questions from the following topics -
Number Series -
These questions basically comprise of a series of numbers which are all connected to each other logically. Once you have identified this pattern, solving the question becomes very simple. You may encounter series based on following –
- Prime Numbers
- Square/Cube Series
- Difference based Series
- Alternate term series
- Multiplication or Division Series
- Series involving combination of arithmetic functions
This topic is comparatively less time consuming and if practised well, it can prove to be highly scoring. You just need to carefully observe the pattern. You can go through the link below to find out details of number series.
Simplification/ Approximation -
Simplification questions are asked to check the ability of a student to deal with numbers. Whenever an expression with multiple arithmetic operations is given, follow the BODMAS principle for calculating the final result. Rather than calculating the exact value in terms of decimals, calculate the approximate values and then perform the operations.
Data Interpretation
The questions of this topic are mainly based on the following arithmetic chapters -
1. Ratio
2. Percentage
3. Averages
If the basics of these topics are clear, attempting DI questions becomes quite easy. You just need sufficient practice to have a good hold over this topic. You can go through the link below to have a clear understanding of the basics of this topic -
Miscellaneous Topics -
Questions under this category may be asked from the following topics -
- Problem on ages
- Profit and loss
- Averages
- Simple Interest and Compound Interest
- Ratio and Proportion
- Time and Work
- Pipes and Cisterns
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Boats and Streams
- Mixtures and Alligations
- Probability
Reasoning Ability
This section again consists of 35 questions with a total of 35 marks. You can expect questions from the following topics -
Inequality -
Inequality may be asked in two forms -
1. Coded Inequality
2. Direct Inequality
These types of questions contain two or more statement and these statements are followed by the number of conclusion. You have to find which conclusions logically follows from the given statements. Try to use Venn Diagrams to solve these questions.
Coding - Decoding -
In coding – decoding, actual words are coded in some other terms. Few coded sentences give us the idea of the concerned coded words for each of the actual words. Once all the words are decoded, answer of any related question can be given in seconds. You can go through the link below to have an in depth idea of this topic -
Puzzles / Seating Arrangement -
These form a major topic of the reasoning section. The good part about these topics is that they come in sets. Once you get the arrangement correct, you can easily answer all the questions. You can go through the links below to have a clear idea of the approach that you should follow while solving these question -
Miscellaneous Questions -
Apart from above mentioned topics, the questions may be asked from following -
- Ranking based
- Blood relations
- Distance and direction
- Alphanumeric Series
- Alphabet Coding
Key Takeaways -
- The Exam will consists of negative marking of 1/4th marks, So make sure that you work on your Accuracy and Speed because these factors can prove to be game changers for you in the exam.
- Time Management is another key feature in order to qualify this exam. Divide the time among all the sections efficiently and keeping in mind your strong and weak areas. Try to follow the under mentioned time frame -English Language - 10 - 15 minutesNumerical Ability - 20 - 25 minutesReasoning Ability - 20 - 25 minutes
- Use the 1 hour time constraint while practising. While practising, try not to spend a lot of time of any question and you can achieve this by using a timeror a stopwatch. Try the evaluate the number of questions you are able to attempt correctly. This exercise will help you manage time efficiently.
- Practice as many mock tests as you can.
