Hello all,
Thank you for choosing to read
this article. Through this write up, I attempt to give some insights which may
help you in preparing for RBI Grade B Officers exam. Below are my brief
introduction and scores.
Education: BE, MBA
Work-ex: Grade A Officer at SEBI,
PO at Union Bank of India
Attempt: 1st
Scores: Prelims - 137/200
Mains
– (1) English – 79
(2)
Economic and Social issues – 60
(3)
Finance and Management – 65
Mains
Total – 204/300
Interview
– 42/50
Grand
Total – 246/350
All
India Rank – 1
I presume that
you are already aware about the exam pattern, hence I will straightaway discuss
about the sources and strategy I followed for each phase.
(1) Prelims: A lot of people
take prelims too casually. Some start preparing for mains even before appearing
for prelims. Unless you are very good at GA and aptitude, this approach is better
avoided. In fact, prelim is a very competitive phase where out of lacs of
candidates, rarely 1500-1800 get shortlisted for the mains. So ensure that you
are well prepared for the prelims.
Strategy:
The biggest challenge of prelims exam is the GA section of
80 marks. So I will focus a little more on it. As this section has 40%
weightage, meticulous preparations are required. Honestly speaking, it is more difficult
to build up a GA base in a limited time than to say, learn some reasoning
short-cuts. The most common problem faced by aspirants is the inability to
convert GA reading into scores. The real problem here is, picking up competitive
exam magazines and random GA material just as the exam is announced, and
straightaway start mugging everything up usually do not give productive results.
GA is something which cannot be built in a day, a week or a month. It is a
regular process that one should continuously pursue. Newspaper reading should not be a compulsion but a habit!
Also, the approach of reading should be issue-based-learning rather than mere
remembrance of probable GA questions. Newspaper reading should be supplemented
with reading articles on finance and economy, watching television news and
debates etc.
Also, it is
advisable to read and understand Indian financial system in general and banking
system in particular. Try to follow and analyze a variety of issues and events
happening in financial system of India and all over the world (QE and its
impacts, IMF quota reforms, problems faced by PSBs, BASEL studies etc). Such an
approach of knowing less-and-less-of-more-and-more than knowing
more-and-more-of-less-and-less helps you maximize your attempts and score in GA
section. Also, such holistic way of reading may indirectly help you in some GA
questions where even if you don’t know the correct answer; you can eliminate
some options and make a better guess.
While writing
the prelims paper, keep a score in mind. Last year the cut-off for general
category was 126/200. Ideally, a target of say, 140+ may be set to be on a
safer side. Preference of sectional attempts is entirely subjective and should
be decided taking into consideration individual strengths and weaknesses.
Sources:
GA – One good
financial newspaper everyday (ET, BS, Mint are good. I personally prefer Mint.
However, it is up to your reading taste as to which newspaper to follow), complete
reading of economy section from www.mrunal.org,
random reading of banking awareness questions from Google and most importantly,
continuous reading of all publications of RBI web-site. Browsing Pratiyogita
Darpan during the last week before the exam will be helpful to brush up
everything. This should suffice for prelims.
Mathematics –
As the section is almost same as other bank exams, R.S.Agrawal is the most
credible source to prepare. Focus more on DI, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Time
and Work, Time and Distance. Since the section consists of only 30 marks and
may involve lot of calculations, try to score maximum in a set time period and
move on to the other sections instead of wasting time for just few more marks.
Reasoning – Like bank exams, reasoning is of high level. No
specific book needs to be followed but regular practice of CAT reasoning
material of good national coaching institutes will help a lot. Since this
section consists of 60 marks, fair amount of practice will be required if you
are not already good at it. Sitting arrangements, analytical reasoning and
syllogism need to be thoroughly prepared.
English – It comprises of just 30 marks, but can be
extremely helpful in scoring as level of the section is very moderate. If you
are good at reading comprehension and have sound grammar fundamentals, a score
of 25+ is quite possible. A book on English Grammar by S.P.Bakshi can be handy.
(2) Mains: Although it takes some efforts to go
through prelims, the real exam starts here.
Strategy:
Mains is considered
to be the most difficult part of the entire recruitment process. In fact, this
is the phase where thorough understanding of subjects is required, which is
only possible through extensive preparations. One positive thing about RBI
mains is that it offers you sufficient time to think, frame and write your
answers. Therefore, utilize the ample time you will get to articulate your
answers lucidly and coherently.
The most
important thing (and ironically the most neglected too) is developing good
writing skills. Aspirants read rigorously, make daily notes, do economic data
by heart and what not! However, little or no efforts are made in improving
writing skills. This is where I feel, the problem lies. Let us not forget that
the paper checker will not read what is there on the mind but will read what is
written on paper. So it is as much
important to be expressive and articulate as it is to be informed and aware.
It is advisable to spend 75% efforts on subject reading and 25% efforts on
writing practice. Practicing writing can be done by writing blogs on current
affairs, participating in online debates among peers or by simply writing
previous papers. Supplement your writing practice sessions by simultaneously
following some well written magazines and editorials. It will help you develop
a language which can fetch maximum marks. Take an example. Compare “If the prices
keep rising, RBI will not lower policy rates” with “Persisting inflation may
compel Central Bank to hold policy rates”. More or less, both the statements
communicate the same thing. But the selection of words and the way of
expression make the later one more effective. Therefore, make all attempts to
ensure that you write your answer with the best ‘choice of words’.
One more
important thing is the length of the answers. RBI clearly mentions in how many
words the answers need to be written. It also communicates that mere
superficial knowledge and excessively long answers may attract deduction of
marks. Keeping this in mind, ensure that the answers are succinct, well thought
out from different angles and are insightful. Stay away from writing polemical
statements about the role of Government or policies. Keep a balanced and
rational view and show-case your answers with logic and data.
Lastly, handwriting
also plays some role in scoring well. While not much can be done to improve
handwriting in a short span, all you can do is write answers neatly and make
optimum use of space available. Making your answers appear good can certainly
add 3-5 marks per paper to your final score!
Sources:
English – English generally contains
questions which are moderately difficult and hence can be attempted. One
important feature is the essay which contains 40 marks. Subject of the essay is
generally related to current affairs or economic policies. Therefore, it is
important to appear for the paper with fair understanding of the subject as
well. Letter writing and précis writing are also important questions. It is
better to go through various types of letters and practice précis writing as
knowing the technicalities can definitely lift your score up by 5-10 marks.
Ideally, one should aim a score of 70+ in this paper. No special books need to
be study, essay writing can be prepared from editorials of newspapers and
magazines, letter writing can be studied from English text-books and précis
writing can be practiced online.
Economic and Social Issues – E&S I
is the most challenging paper to score. Considering the subjectivity of the
answers, it is generally not very easy to score high in this paper. Anything
above 55 would be considered a fair score. Many books are available in the
market for this subject. Indian Economy by Mishra & Puri, Indian Economy by
Dutt & Sundaram are quite good. It is better to use both the books as some
chapters are explained well in one and some in the other. More than mugging up
economic data, it is advisable to get conceptual clarity in this subject. However,
it is always good to support the answers with relevant facts and figures.
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh is also widely read, but I found it very
elementary and it can just be used as a start up reading by those who do not
have a finance or economics background. Apart from this, regular reading of articles
on socioeconomics from Economic and Political Weekly, The Economist, Project
Syndicate, Frontline or Yojana can give some good insights and help in framing
the answers better.
Finance and
Management – F&M does need a little more preparation for those who do
not belong to management or finance background. However, the level of the paper
is set in such a way that level playing field is maintained among all streams
of aspirants. For the Finance part, Financial Management by Khan and Jain is a
standard book. But there is no need to read the entire book and only chapters
which are included in RBI syllabus need to be read. For Management part,
Principles of Management by P.C.Tripathi and P.N.Reddy is a good book. One
thing to be kept in mind that this paper is repetitive in nature, so take
reference from previous years papers and get a detailed idea. Anything beyond
60 is a decent score for this paper.
Normally the cut-off for mains to be called for
interview ranges around 170-175 for general.
(3) Interview: On a personal
level, I found the interview phase of RBI the most difficult. Although a lot
can be written about interview and yet nothing concrete can be concluded
considering the subjectivity of interviews, few peculiar things about RBI
interview I enlist below.
- RBI panel is normally very cordial but they will
grill you without you even realizing it. Therefore, it is utmost important to
go with thorough preparation and a positive mindset.
- RBI does not mind giving extremely low scores in
interviews. In fact, average scores hardly used to be 20-25, and people getting
even 0 in some cases. So interview needs to be taken very seriously to get the
final selection.
- Attire should be formal. Make sure you look calm
and composed. Listen to every single word asked by the interviewer and try to
be as normal as possible even in the most stressful minutes.
- The language you use and your choice of words
certainly make a deep impact on your performance. It is advisable to take up a
couple of mock interviews just to get the momentum going.
- Questions may range from your background to your
work profile to current economic issues. So make detailed study of everything
you have put in the bio-data form to be filled in before appearing for the
interview.
Some final words. . .
RBI Grade B Officer is not just
an exam, it is a journey. It takes almost one year for completion of the entire
recruitment process. It not only tests your aptitude, subject knowledge and
personality, it also indirectly tests your patience, perseverance, ability to
absorb stress and sincerity. It is always a dream of anyone having interest in
financial sector to get final appointment for this prestigious post. Lacs of
candidates appear but eventually hardly 80-100 make it. While there are a
variety of factors that play a role in your journey, what I personally feel is that it
is your involvement and passion that help you traverse this steep learning
curve. The more you become passionate about it, the closer you get to
know what is expected from a central banker and you start becoming that way.
Keep this spark of passion and involvement alive and enjoy the entire journey.
As Ben Bernanke puts, “If your uniform isn’t dirty, you weren’t
part of the game.” So work hard, stay positive and good things will
happen to you.
Thank you.:)
-
Madhav Joshi
