Getting a job in the banking sector is a dream of many aspirants. A job in the banking sector gives many benefits and amenities, few of them are- reputation in the society, secured job, financial security, medical insurance, provident fund and many more. No one wants to lose the opportunity of getting a job in the banking sector. Every year lakhs of aspirants prepare for banking exams but only thousands of them could reach the finals and are able to achieve jobs in the banking sector.
So, today we’ll discuss How to prepare for banking exams?
Before jumping to the banking exam preparation we need to know the exam pattern, banking exams syllabus, upcoming banking exams.
Banking exams :
Almost all banking exams have similar exam patterns and similar recruitment processes. Even the syllabus of all banking exams are mostly similar.
Banking exam patterns:
The banking exam has 3 stage recruitment process,
| Stage 1 | Preliminary Exam |
| Stage 2 | Mains Exam |
| Stage 3 | Interview Round |
- The first two stages are written tests.
- The third is the interview round. Candidates can reach the third stage, only after qualifying both the above rounds.
- The final merit list is prepared on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in the second stage (mains exam) and third stage (interview round).
Prelims exam pattern :
| Subject | No. of question | Marks | Duration | Medium of Examination |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes | English |
| Reasoning Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes | English & Hindi |
| Quantitative Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes | English & Hindi |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes/ 1 hour | ____________ |
Mains exam pattern:
| Subject | No. of question | Marks | Duration | Medium of Examination |
| English Language | 35 | 40 | 40 minutes | English |
| Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 45 | 60 | 60 minutes | English & Hindi |
| Quantitative Ability | 35 | 60 | 45 minutes | English & Hindi |
| General awareness/ Banking & Economy awareness | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes | English & Hindi |
| Total | 155 | 200 | 180 minutes | ____________ |
Important points:
- The written exam contains MCQ
- There will be negative marking of o.25 for each wrong answer, means 1 marks will get deducted for 4 wrong answers
- No negative marking for unattempted questions
- Candidates must clear the sectional cut-off
Banking exam syllabus:
Here I’m going to mention banking exam syllabus
| Subject | Syllabus |
| English Language | Reading comprehension, Cloze test, Spotting errors, Error detection, Sentence correction, Para jumbles, Vocabulary, Multiple meaning words, Synonyms, Antonyms, Idioms & phrases, Fillers, Paragraph completion, Connectors. |
| Reasoning Aptitude | Direction & distance, Blood relation, Syllogism, Tabulation, Seating arrangement, Puzzles, Alphanumeric series, Coding- decoding, Input- output, Non- verbal reasoning, Coded inequalities, Data sufficiency, Ranking & order, Logical reasoning, Analogy, Passage & conclusion,Statement conclusion, Decision making,Assertion. |
| Computer Aptitude | History of computer, Number system, Computer hardware, Computer software,Data base, Communication, Networking (LAN, WAN), Internet concept, Security tools,Computer viruses, Hacker, MS Office, MS Word, Excel, Keyboard shortcuts,Computer fundamentals & functions, Operating system, Logic gates. |
| Quantitative Ability | Number system, Mensuration, Percentage & average, Ratio & proportion, Mixtures & alligations, Profit & loss, Simple & compound interest, Time & distance, Work & time, Quadratic equation, Data interpretation, Premutation, Combination & probability, Speed & distance, Surface, area & volume, Sequence & series, |
| General awareness/ Banking & Economy awareness | National & international current affairs, Business news, Economy based current affairs, Visits, Government schemes, Government organizations, Awards & honors,Summits, Committees, Books & authors,Defense, Sports. |
Upcoming banking exams:
As like every year, this year (2020) too many banks have released their notification and notification of some banks is yet to be issued.
So, here is the list of upcoming banking exams
IBPS Bank Exams
| Exams | Notification | Registration dates | Important Dates | Mains Exam |
| IBPS PO | Notification dateAugust 2020 | Registration datesAugust- September 2020 | Prelims Exam 3rd, 4th & 10th Oct. 2020 | Mains Exam 21 Nov. 2020 |
| IBPS Clerk | Notification dateSeptember 2020 | Registration dates September 2020 | Prelims Exam12th, 13th & 19th Dec. 2020 | Mains Exam 19th Jan 2020 |
| IBPS SO | Notification date 5th Nov. 2019 | Registration dates 6th – 26th Nov. 2019 | Prelims Exam 28th & 29th Dec. 2019 | Mains Exam 25th Jan. 2020 |
| IBPS RRB | Notification date June 2020 | Registration dates June – July 2020 | Prelims Exam Officer Scale: 1st, 2nd Aug. 2020 | Mains Exam Single Officer II & III: 13th Sep. 2020 |
SBI Bank Exams
| Exams | Notification | Registration dates | Important dates | Mains exam |
| SBI Clerk | Notification date 2nd Jan. 2020 | Registration dates 3rd to 26th Jan. 2020 | Prelims exam 22th, 29thFeb and 1st , 8th Mar. 2020 | Mains exam 19th Apr. 2020 |
| SBI PO | Notification date March – April 2020 | Registration dates April 2020 | Prelims exam June 2020 | Mains exam August 2020 |
| SBI SO | Notification date 23rd Jan. 2020 | Registration dates 23rd Jan. – 12th Feb 2020 | Prelims exam 8 March 2020 | Mains exam Notified later |
RBI Bank Exams
| Exams | Notification | Important dates | Mains exam |
| RBI Grade B | Yet to be released | June 2020 (tentative) | ———— |
| RBI Assistant | 23rd Dec. 2019 – 24th Jan. 2020 | Prelims Exam14th – 15th feb. 2020 | Mains exam March 2020 |
Other bank exams
| Exams | Notification | Important dates | Mains exam |
| NABARD | May 2020 | Prelims exam June 2020 | Mains exam July 2020 |
| Punjab National Bank SO | February 2020 | Prelims exam Yet to be announced | Mains exam Yet to be announced |
| Syndicate Bank SO | May 2020 | Prelims exam To be notified later | Mains exam To be notified later |
| UNION Bank SO | March 2020 | Prelims exam To be notified later | Mains exam To be notified later |
| DENA Bank | Yet to be released | Prelims exam Notified later | Mains exam Notified later |
| Bank of BARODA | Yet to be released | Prelims exam Notified later | Mains exam Notified later |
| CANARA Bank PO | Yet to be released | Prelims exam Notified later | Mains exam Notified later |
| NABARD Grade A | 10th Jan – 31st Jan. 2020 | Prelims exam Notified later | Mains exam Notified later |
Banking exam preparation
Have you ever wondered why each and every interested aspirant isn’t able to clear the banking exams? I’ll tell you why, it’s not that they don’t work hard or they are weak in studies, the reason behind their failure is their preparation. They aren’t following the right strategy for banking exam preparation.
To crack banking exams in the first attempt, aspirants need to follow a proper strategy for banking exam preparation.
- Practice online mock tests daily
- Work on your weaknesses
- Focus on accuracy and speed, these two are the key factors that are needed while preparing for any banking exam.
- Never lose hope
- Be confident
Keep in mind that competition is very high, every aspirant is working hard. You need to work harder than them and leave them behind
Aspirants, if you are dreaming to be a part of the banking sector in the year 2020, then get up and start your preparation from now.
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