How to Prepare for IBPS Bank Exams ? - A Complete Preparation Plan for IBPS POs, Clerks and RRB Exams

Friends, initially we planned to post separate Preparation Plans for IBPS PO, IBPS Clerks, IBPS RRB POs and IBPS RRB Clerks. But as the syllabus is almost same for all these 4 exams, we felt that our readers may feel it annoying to read same HOW TOs again and again. So, here we are posting the preparation plan of all IBPS Bank Exams. Ofcourse, even the syllabus is same the difficulty level varies.

Before going into details, lets keep the following points in mind. 

1. Just Remember, Almost all the topics they cover in bank exams are of the classes 6th to 10th. So, Even a 10th Standard kid can clear this exam, if given enough time. With me? But the thing is, you have to complete the paper in given time. So, don't you think you can do it with little efforts and practice ? (this is the same answer for those people who says, "I am not from science background. That's the reason why I can't write Bank Exams". Friends, You just lack practice. Not skills. Remember it).
2. Stop saying, I have so many family problems. So, can't concentrate on preparation. First let us know, who the hell on earth don't have problems ? See, nobody will remember your problems when you failed in the exam. Even your mom, dad and close friends will say that you lost it because of your negligence. Can you show me a single person, who sincerely says that you lost it because of your personal problems ? Friends, They don't know your feelings, they don't want your emotions, all just they want is to talk about your success. So just stop searching reasons for failures and start make yourself ready for the exam.
3. Stop thinking, What if I lost this exam ? Pretty good question, isn't it? The answer is, the earth never gonna blast, the sun never gonna turn black and the most important thing, you never gonna die because of it. May be some blank faces and emotional atyachars for two or three days. Later everything gonna be fine. The only disappointing thing is, you just have to wake up in sad mood on the very next day of your result. But its not such a big deal. You will start preparing for another exam. After all we are here to win. Nobody gonna die as a loser. Who knows ?  this may be your last step towards your goal :) Be positive. Just avoid negative thoughts.

Is Coaching Necessary to clear the Bank Exam ?

Ofcourse not. now a days almost all coaching institutes have became money minded. They just concentrate on covering topics rather than explaining them. So, if you are sincere enough, then you surely can prepare on your own without taking the help of any coaching class. By doing so, you can save your valuable money and time. The only best thing with Coaching classes is, they just provide you the good environment of preparation. I mean, you will be motivated if people around you are continuously discussing about the issues related to preparation. Ofcourse, You can create this  environment by making a group with your friends too. Combined studies and sharing ideas really help you prepare well. But make sure that all your friends are sincere and enthusiastic as you. 

What if I don't have good friends ?

No problem, you can join in any facebook group in which people who prepare for bank exams interacts and helps each other. But don't waste too much time in chatting with others. 1 or 2 hours per day for a good cause is Ok.

Gathering Materials :

Don't try to buy every book with the name "IBPS Special" on it. There are more than 130 IBPS Specials in market. Three days ago my brother also bought a book with the name "IBPS PO Exams Special" with Trigonometry topics in it. I was totally clueless when he asked, "Why didn't you include Trigonometry in your IBPS Syllabus posts? Its there in the book !!!". So, before going to collect the materials just read the syllabus. Make a list of topics to read, according to it you can buy the books. Here are some books you may need to buy.

• Book of Mathematical Tables (20 Tables upto 20s)
• Book for Aptitude Shortcuts (R. S Aggrawal / M. Tyra) 
• Book for Reasoning Shortcuts (R. S Aggrawal's reasoning series is ok, but there are no shortcuts in these books. All are traditional methods).
• For English you can buy any English Grammar book of your local language. This will help you getting basic idea on English grammar. Later you can switch to any standard English grammar book like "Intermediate English Grammar" of Raymond Murphy.
• For Current Affairs you can buy Pratiyogitha Darpan / Kiran  (If you can afford around Rs. 75/- per month)  Mahindra's Current Affairs (it costs you around Rs. 30/-). But no book is perfect, better make your own short-notes on Current Affairs (We have discussed about this in detail below).
• For computer knowledge any computers book with basics and MS Office in it is enough. Now a days every school and college is providing these kind of books for their students. So, you easily can get one from any nearby second hand book shop.
• For Banking Awareness, unfortunately there is no specific book for this section in market. We feel our materials on Banking Awareness are enough for this section. If you want you can buy the book on Banking Awareness by Arihant Publications to get the basic idea. And better to follow the Economy updates from January 2013. Try to read Economic Times or The Hindu Business line.

Making Timetable :

If you are working somewhere : If you are working somewhere then it may not possible to dedicate the whole day on your preparation. Try to spend at-least five hours per day on preparation. Morning two hours and night time 3 hours. Try to practice Aptitude and Reasoning sections at morning. Try to manage reading news paper during the day time. At evening you can concentrate on English / Computer Knowledge section according to your convenience and interest. On holidays better work with practice sets and Banking and General Awareness topics. 

If you are completely dedicated to Banking Exams : Congratulations. You have the whole day with you to prepare. But don't be a book worm. Too much of anything is good for nothing. Try to wake up at 4 (We know its really difficult for you at initial days. But trust us , your body will get used to it within 4 or 5 days). Work with Aptitude and Reasoning sections according to your convenience. You can prepare till 8 or 9 depending on your interest. Later you can have breakfast and do your favorite task for 1 hour. Later read the news paper and note Important points. Try to remember if there are any new names and numbers / dates. Complete your lunch by 1 PM. Walk around for 10 to 15 minutes. Have a quick nap for two hours. Wake up by 4 PM. Prepare English for Two hours. Complete your dinner by 9. Prepare Computer / Banking Awareness or any other subject according to your convenience. Go to bed by 11 PM Sharp.


Starting Preparation : Before starting your preparation, just mug up the following things

• Math tables upto 20
• Squares up to 30
• Cubes up to 15 
• Powers of 2 (upto 12)
• Powers of 3 (upto 6)
• Complements of 100 (the difference between 100 and the given number). This will help you calculating faster. 
• Try to learn 10 new English words per day (including Antonyms and Synonyms) (you should do this upto 7 days before your exam)
• Learn place values of Alphabets.

During Preparation : 

• For Aptitude and Reasoning : Pick any topic and try to learn the basics of the topic. Once you feel you perfectly got the topic then only go for problems. And remember, example problems are always easier to read and understand. It something like, riding bicycle when somebody is holding it. At that time you will feel that you are perfect at bicycle riding. But before going to the race, you have to test yourself whether you can really ride it or not. More than 70% of our friends fail at this point. Why to point others ? even my brother too does this. He is a lazy bug. He just opens the book, reads the concept and says "Aasaan Hain !!!" and sleeps. But after exam he comes with a sad face and says "Di, the paper was very tough. Even I also couldn't answer more than 100 questions (!!!). Nobody can clear this exam". Then where on the earth all those people who have cleared the exam came from ? From mars ? The only problem is, he has laziness and attitude. Which they don't have. Hope you have got what I am trying to say. Practice... Practice... Practice.... Practice till the end of your exam. Your lazy mind always says "Are yaar, bahut hogaya.. Its enough now. You are the master of this topic". But don't listen to it. Prepare well :)
• For English Language :  Try to learn the basics first. Later you can go with concept. Luckily you don't have the descriptive paper this time. So you easily can clear the exam. And remember, spoken English is different and competitive English is different. You shouldn't be a fluent English speaker or you shouldn't learn every English word to clear the Exam with good marks. Just learn the basics perfectly and practice well. That's enough. 
• Making Notes for Current Affairs :Its better to depend on THE HINDU or The Times of India to make your CA notes. If you have any problem with them then you can go with any local language news paper. Maintain a notebook for Current Affairs. Read the news paper completely. Just write the date in the notebook as the main heading. Make some sub headings like International Events, National Events, Economy, Sports, People in News etc. Have a look at this post for the basic idea (we made it from the hindu). Don't copy the news paper as it is, just 2 or 3 lines are enough. Try to highlight if there are any names or numerical values. And don't write everything you see in the news paper. They wont ask you about silly things like Politician's second wife, Bollywood heroines' daughter and Cricketer's  ankle pains the topics which the news papers publish as  their main headlines. Just ask yourself a question "Is it going to be appear in the exam?", if you feel YES, then write it. If you feel no then don't write. Ofcourse, its not such an easy task as we are saying. We too agree. But trust us, day by day you could observe the improvement in you and finally you will be the expert of making Current Affairs notes. And who knows ? One day you may beat the admin of this blog ;)
• Just know what is computer, how it works and its history. Try to learn each and every detail which helps the computer to perform. That's it. They wont expect you to write programs.

Spirituality : Yep you heard it correct. Believe in god. Daily pray for 10 minutes (it would be more nice if you can Meditate). Ofcourse, we are not saying that the god will show you the correct options during the exam. But the feeling "somebody is there to help me" makes you stay calm and peaceful.

Important Points to Note :

• The difficulty levels of the IBPS exams (for Apti, Reasoning, Computers and English sections) are like this
• IBPS PO   >   IBPS RRB PO   >   IBPS Clerks   >   IBPS RRB Clerks
• The difficulty levels of General Awareness section is like this
• IBPS PO   >   IBPS Clerks    >  IBPS RRB PO     >   IBPS RRB Clerks 
• No need to put stress on Banking Awareness for IBPS RRB Exams. They mainly focus on Current Affairs only. 

Final words : Friends, we hope this article will help you in your preparation. And last but not the least, the main aim of Gr8AmbitionZ.com is to provide complete quality study materials of competitive exams for free. So, feel free to review our materials. So please feel free to share your views on the topics which are not clear in this blog, the areas which we should concentrate more and any other improvement you want to see in Gr8AmbitionZ so that we can make them available soon. All the Best.

That's all for now friends. Happy Reading :) 

08:35 - By Unknown 0