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Specialist Officers in Banks

By CL -
0
 

The Indian Banking sector offers opportunities for a career in specialized fields like IT, Technical, Agriculture, Legal, Marketing, HR, Finance, Rajbhasha etc. This exam will give a scorecard with the validity of the scorecard for an year. For example the score card issued for the first CWE for Specialist Officers held in March 2012 expired in April 2013, when the next Common Written Examination (CWE SPL-II) as a pre-requisite for selection of personnel for the following Specialist cadre posts in the Public Sector Banks was to be conducted online by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) tentatively in March 2013.

The specialist officer posts that the recruitment process addressed are –

01     I.T. Officer (Scale-I)
02     Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I)
03     Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I)
04     Law Officer (Scale I)
05     Technical Officer (Scale I)
06     HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I)
07     Marketing Officer (Scale I)
08     I.T. Officer (Scale-II)
09     Law Officer (Scale II)
10     Chartered Accountant (Scale II)
11     Finance Executive (Scale II)

* Subject to vacancy requirement in Participating Banks

Schedule of Events for the process of 2013 was –

Start date for Online Registration 10-01-2013
Online Payment of Application Fees 10-01-2013 to 28-01-2013
Offline Payment of Application Fees 12-01-2013 to 01-02-2013
Last date for Online Registration 28-01-2013
Download of Call letter for Examination After 06-03-2013

Date of Online Examination (Tentative) 16-03-2013 or 17-03-2013

Any eligible candidate, who aspired to join any of the Public Sector Banks listed below as an Officer in one of the Specialist Officers’ posts mentioned above, was required to clear the Common Written Examination (CWE). Candidates who qualify in CWE SPL-II, will subsequently be called for a Common Interview to be coordinated by IBPS. Candidates, successful in qualifying in both the CWE and Common Interview will be listed in the order of merit. Depending on the vacancies in each bank of his/her preference, candidate will receive through a computerised system, an offer from one of the Participating Public Sector Banks. Vacancies remaining unfilled on account of candidates declining offer, will be filled from among the remaining candidates, through subsequent iterations.
This system of Common Written Examination and common interview for recruitment of Specialist Officers in Participating PSBs has the approval of the appropriate authorities. Candidates intending to appear for CWE will have to apply to IBPS after carefully reading the advertisement regarding the process of examination and interview, eligibility criteria, online registration process, payment of prescribed application fee/ intimation charges, pattern of examination, issuance of call letters etc.

For downloading the complete notification, kindly click the link

Banking Assistants, Clerical Staff

By CL -
0
 

When we think about banking, all we really see are the front-end employees, the ones we transact with on a daily basis. However, there is a lot more that happens in a bank which makes it tick. Today’s banks have diversified their activities and work in areas such as credit cards, consumer finance, wealth management, life and general insurance, investment banking, mutual funds, pension fund regulation, stock-broking services, custodian services, private equity, etc.

While probationary officer is a sought after initiation into banking sector for scores of graduates,  IBPS, SBI or RBI and a host of other financial institutions also look for support staff who are capable of delivering the efficiency, in ever growing banking sector needs. They are termed as ‘assistants’ or ‘clerical staff’.

The job profiles do demand work ethic, customer focus and hunger for success. Dedicated and efficient work can definitely open the doors for growth in the banking space and earn a managerial role.

The early part of the journey as bank assistants or clerical staff will include –

Front office Assistant –

  • Explain, advise on and promote bank products and services to customers
  • Responsible for bringing in new customers and boosting the bank’s profits.

Book-keeping Assistant : Taking care of records for each customer’s account.

  • Initiate and open new bank accounts.
  • Answer inquiries regarding checking and savings accounts and other bank related products.
  • Receive and count working cash at beginning of shift.
  • Accept cash and cheques for deposit and check accuracy of deposit slip.
  • Identify bank customers, validate and cash checks.
  • Process cash withdrawals.
  • Perform services for customers such as ordering bank cards and checks.
  • Attempt to resolve issues and problems with customer’s accounts.

Interest Assistant : Recording interest owed to saving accounts customers and interest owed to the bank from loans and other investments.

Statement Assistant : Preparing the monthly balance sheets of checking account customers.

  • Record all transactions promptly, accurately and in compliance with bank procedures.
  • Balance currency, cash and checks in cash drawer at end of each shift.

Exchange Assistant : Working on international accounts, translating foreign currency

  • Perform specialized tasks such as preparing cashier’s checks, personal money orders, issuing traveler’s checks and exchanging foreign currency.

Loan Assistant: Recording and organising loan information.

  • Receive and verify loan payments, mortgage payments and utility bill payments.

Security Assistant: Recording, filing and looking after stocks, bonds and other investment documents.

As you grow with performance you may be even asked to –

  • Create and analyze management information and reports, which are sent to branch staff and also to the head office
  • Interact with local chambers of commerce, development agencies, solicitors, accountants etc

There are various other clerical roles you could be involved in as a bank clerk to help keep the bank in order. Just like any other business, banks need help with general tasks, such as data entry, filing, mail handlers, and messengers.

 

Remuneration – Pay scales

In the Indian Banking Sector, according to AIBEA (All India Bank Employees Association) –

With effect from 1st May 2010, the scales of pay shall be as under:

Clerical Staff 

The basic salary range is between Rs. 7200 – 19300; The initial take home salary would range between 13,000 -16,000, depending on qualification and experience. The growth trajectory is given here..

7200 – 400/3 – 8400  – 500/3 –  9900 –  600/4  - 12300 – 700/7
– 17200 – 1300/1 – 18500 – 800/1 – 19300 (20 years)

Note:

(a) Fitment in the new scales of pay shall be on a stage-to-stage basis.
(b) There shall be no change in the dates of annual increments because of the fitment.

 

RECRUITMENT

Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is vested with the responsibility of recruiting the clerical staff too, just the way they do for probationary officers, for all nationalized banks except for State Bank family (done by SBI) and Reserve Bank.

 

IBPS CWE (Clerical)

The IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel selection) also conducts the Common Written Examination for recruitment of Clerks for 19 Public Sector banks and Regional Rural banks.

Eligibility

Any graduate within the age group of 20 to 28 years is eligible for the CWE. For candidates from reserved categories, relaxation in the upper age limit is available.

Written Test Pattern

This 2-hour test consists of 200 questions (1 mark per question, 1/4th negative marking for wrong answers) – 40 each from Reasoning, English Language, Numerical Ability, General Awareness and Computer Knowledge.

Selection Process

All candidates who aspire for clerical posts need to appear for the CWE (Clerical) and secure the minimum qualifying marks (or higher) in order to get their scorecards. After getting their scorecards, candidates must apply to the various banks that they are interested in. Each bank may then conduct further selection processes, such as Group Discussion, Interviews, etc., separately.

SBI Clerical Exam

SBI’s selection process for clerical positions consists of written tests (first phase) and Group Discussions/Interviews (second phase).

Eligibility

Candidates who wish to appear for SBI’s clerical exam must be within the age group of 18 to 28 years. For candidates from reserved categories, relaxation in the upper age limit is available. Further, candidates must have passed 12th Boards with at least 60% marks or must be graduates.

Written Test Pattern

The objective test is of 135-minute duration (2 hours and 15 minutes) and consists of 200 questions (1 mark per question, 1/4th negative marking for wrong answers) – 40 each from General Awareness, General English, Quantitative Ability, Reasoning and Marketing Aptitude & Computer Knowledge.

Selection Process

The final merit list for each category is arrived at after aggregating the marks of Written Test, Group Discussion and Interview.

Probationary Officers

By CL -
0
 

Clearing the Bank PO exam conducted by IBPS, SBI or RBI is the first step towards a career in Banking sector. Survive two years as a Probationary Officer, and you are virtually guaranteed a job for life. Impress your bosses with your work ethic, customer focus and hunger for success, and you will grow in the banking space and earn a managerial role.

When we think about banking, all we really see are the front-end employees, the ones we transact with on a daily basis. However, there is a lot more that happens in a bank which makes it tick. Today’s banks have diversified their activities and work in areas such as credit cards, consumer finance, wealth management, life and general insurance, investment banking, mutual funds, pension fund regulation, stock broking services, custodian services, private equity, etc.

Some of the roles on offer to PO’s include:

  • Bank Tellers: For most customers, banking begins and ends with a teller. He’s the man with all the money. You go to him to withdraw cash and you go to him to make a deposit.
  • Bill and Account Collectors: Customers are not always able to pay-off their loans on time, and it is the job of the Collector to work out a win-win situation between the Bank and the Customer to ensure that the bank does not lose out on the money.
  • Loan Officers: The loan officer is the man who takes a decision on what is the amount of loan that should be given to each person. From student to business and personal loans, the Loan Officer has the final say on lending a helping hand.
  • Financial Customer Service Representatives: One of the key jobs for a bank is to make the most of every customer they have. The person employed in this particular role looks for customers who are just using some of the bank’s services and pitches to them ideas about adding mutual funds, credit cards, net banking, demat accounts, etc.
  • Credit Analysts: The credit analyst in a bank works on checking the credit worthiness of a customer. Usually credit analysts worth with corporate clients, and after studying their financial health, determine the risk of handing out a loan and the interest rate that should be charged as a result.

To work as a manager in the banking industry, the first stepping stone is becoming a Probationary  Officer (PO).  A PO starts as a trainee officer in the Junior Management Grade Scale (JMGS) of the bank and can rise to the highest levels, becoming a General Manager, an Executive Director or even the Chairman of the Bank.

Various nationalized and Private banks conduct their own PO exams through IBPS to recruit candidates. While different banks may have their own eligibility and selection criteria, the broad prescribed format is as listed below.

CWE (PO/MT)

The Common Written Examination, conducted by the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel selection), is one of the most important exams for those who seek a career in banks in India. The CWE is the first step in the recruitment process for Management Trainees, Bank Probationary Officers, Specialist officers and Clerks for 19 Public Sector banks and Regional Rural banks. The participating banks (in the CWE) include premier banks like Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Union Bank of India, etc.

Eligibility

Any graduate within the age group of 21 to 30 years is eligible for the CWE. For candidates from reserved categories, relaxation in the upper age limit is available.

Written Test Pattern

This 2-hour test consists of 200 questions (1 mark per question, 1/4th negative marking for wrong answers) – 50 from Reasoning, 50 from Quantitative Aptitude, 40 from English Language, 40 from General Awareness and 20 from Computer Knowledge.

Selection Process

All candidates who aspire for bank PO posts need to appear for the CWE (PO/MT) and secure the minimum qualifying marks (or higher) in order to get their scorecards. After getting their scorecards, candidates must apply to the various banks that they are interested in. Each bank may then conduct further selection processes, such as Group Discussion, Interviews, etc., separately.

SBI PO

SBI’s selection process for probationary officers consists of written tests (first phase) and Group Discussions & Interviews (second phase).

Eligibility

Any graduate within the age group of 21 to 30 years is eligible for this exam. Candidates in the final year of graduation are also permitted to appear for this exam. For candidates from reserved categories, relaxation in the upper age limit is available.

Written Test Pattern

This test includes Objective Tests of 2-hour duration and a Descriptive Test of 1-hour duration. The 2-hour objective test consists of 200 questions (1 mark per question, 1/4th negative marking for wrong answers) – 50 each from Reasoning, Data Analysis & Interpretation, English Language and General Awareness, Marketing & Computers. The descriptive test comprises précis, letter writing, essay, etc.

Selection Process

The Descriptive Test paper of only those candidates will be evaluated who have scored qualifying marks in the objective tests and are placed adequately high as per total marks in the objective test. The final merit list for each category is arrived at after aggregating the marks of Written Test, Group Discussion and Interview.

Banking Interview Resources

By CL -
0
 

This menu will consolidate all the helpful articles and resources for every interview process that you may need to prepare for, from every aspect. This will be a ever growing section. Kindly make sure that you keep coming back to this page and check for the latest article that can prove to be invaluable in cracking the interview process.

Thanks

CL Bank team.

You Got It Right – Playing with numbers

By CL -
0
 

By R. Sreenivasan (Co-FOunder, CL), article appeared in THE HINDUSTAN TIMES (Enhance). www.sreeni.org

The two principles of data interpretation are –

1. Understand the graph thoroughly

2. Build your speed and answer as fast as you can

But more important is to be comfortable with numbers and play with them. Towards this end you need to –

  • Master tables up to 30 X 30, reciprocals upto 30
  • Faster conversions from %ges to fractions and fractions to %ges with the help of knowledge of reciprocals
  • Knowledge of ratios which help in comparisons  of fractions
  • Make approximations mentally and keep eliminating the choices instead of calculating the answers going all the way, which will be time consuming.

 

In this edition let us look at one of the other variations of data interpretation called caselet, which most of the aspirants are very vary of attempting.

 

Before I look at it, I would like to bring to your notice the approximation methods that will be used here. We discussed them in the last article on DI. Many readers I believe, called the HT office seeking clarifications on the method used. You should keep in mind that you are working on approximations.  For your benefit I am discussing in detail here –

 

 Approximations through method of DIVIDE and RULEEg. Find out 64.41% of 12275 ?  How to calculate mentally and faster –
64.41% is close to 66.67% or 2/3rd  of 12275. Therefore calculate 2/3 of  (12000 + 275); which is approximately 8000 + 180. Now look at the choices and eliminate. You will realize that couple choices would vanish. But what we need is approximately 2% less than 2/3rd.  Hence next step of approximation will be as follows. 1% of 12275 is 123, hence 2% is 246. Therefore we have 8180 – 250 + 4 = 7934. Again you can eliminate choices.  Hence we have got 64.67%. Further proceeding, if 2% is 246,  .2% will be approximately 25.  Now subtract the 7934 – 25 = 7909.  Now we have got 64.47 and we needed 64.41%. We can go on and on approximating and find the value to the last decimal, as you have seen that is what we are doing. Every step of approximation will lead us closer to the exact value. CAT is not about calculation to the last decimal place. It is about approximations and eliminations.If you have observed this calculation carefully, you can do any calculation faster. Any given decimal value could be approximated to the nearest decimal value which can be easily calculated. Say 1.79% of a number, is nothing but 1% of the number,  plus .75% or ¾ of the number with decimal corrections, plus .01% of the number * 4;  also other way of doing is 1% of the number + 80% or 4/5 of the number  with decimal corrections, minus .01% of the number. 

If you have understood this. You can do any calculation by approximating with the help of the popular fractions like 1/5, ¼. 1/3, 2/5, ½, 2/3, ¾, 4/5, which over the years you have become familiar with and the computation of these fractional values of any number should not be difficult. Then in each step of approximation move either side of these computed values according to whether the required value is greater or lesser than the fractional value so computed.

 

This method demands a change in your outlook towards calculations.  But, once you starting thinking on this plane, you will realize that computations could be done mentally without resorting to pencil and paper.

 

 

Caselet

 

Food Processing: The fruits of growth

 

Significantly there were 253 foreign collaborations which accounted for 7.3 percent of total foreign direct investment – Rs. 27,300 crores – in 1993-94. And processed food exports at Rs. 5509 crores in 1994-95 constituted 6.7% of the exports from the country during that year; the 28% growth over the previous year was substantially more than the 18% growth in exports as a whole. Two third of processed food exports in 1994-95 comprised of marine products. Spices accounted for 11% while exports of fruits and vegetables accounted for 8.9% in the same year.

 

Questions –

 

  1. What was the value of total exports in 1994-95 ?
  2. What was the value of total exports in 1993-94 ?
  3. If the marine products, spices, fruits and vegetable and frozen meat comprise the processed food exports, then what is the % contribution of frozen meat to the total exports in 1994-95.
  4. What was the % of processed food exports to the total exports in 1993-94
  5. What is the amount of total foreign direct investment in the area of processed foods in the period 1993-94.

 

If you try answering the questions right away your efficiency will be low.  For answering every question you will be looking at the paragraph again and again to ascertain what the numbers signify.  A manager will solve any unstructured situation by first converting it into a situation which is structured so as to make the problem on hand easier. This is what you, as a manager aspirant, are supposed to do. Therefore convert this stream of words into a structured form – a table.

 

Now, let us see how you have to go about.  You will build the table as you go along reading the passage with your knowledge of reciprocals, percentage equivalents and approximations. You will do all the computations illustrated mentally.

 

  • Food processing industry accounted  for 7.3% of total FDI, Rs 27,300 crores in ‘93-94.

 

Given 7.3%,  is approximately equivalent to 1/14 of 27,300 cr  or little less than 2000 cr.

 

FDI (FDI in Processed foods)
‘93-94 27,300  ( ~ 2000)

 

  • Processed food  (PF) exports at Rs 5509 in 1994-95 constituted 6.7% of the exports from the country during that year.

 

Given 6.7% is approximately equivalent to 1/15 of the total exports. Or total exports is 15 times that of PF exports i.e., 15 * 5509 or  15 * 5 thousand + 15 * 5 hundreds + 15 * 9 or 75000 + 7500 + 105; approximately equivalent to 83,000.

 

FDI (FDI in Processed foods) PF exports Total exports
‘93-94 27,300  ( ~ 2000)
‘94-95 5,509 83,000

 

  • PF exports growth of 28% over the previous year in ‘94-95 is substantially higher than the total exports growth of 18%.

 

Given growth of PF exports is 28% over the previous year. It means if 1.28 is the exports in ‘94-95, it was 1.00 in ‘93-94.  Given 1.28 is 5,509 you have to find 1.0.  Now look at the figures 1.28 is little greater than 1.25. Therefore you have to find out the approximated fraction value of  1/1.25 or 4/5 of 5509 to find out the FP exports in ’93-94. If 5 parts is 5509, 4 parts will be approximately, 4400. But correcting for the approximation the actual value will be less than 4400 since the denominator has to be 1.28 instead of 1.25. Let us take it as 4300.

 

FDI (FDI in Processed foods) PF exports Total exports
‘93-94 27,300  ( ~ 2000) ~ 4,300
‘94-95    5,509 ~ 83,000

 

Given growth of total exports is 18% over the previous year. It means if 1.18 is the exports in ‘94-95, it was 1.00 in ‘93-94.  Given 1.18 is 83,000 you have to find 1.0.  Now look at the figures 1.18 is little less than 1.20. Therefore you have to find out the approximated fraction value of  1/1.2 or 5/6 of 83,000 to find out the total exports in ’93-94. If 6 parts is 83,000, 5 parts will be approximately, 70,000 ( 14 *5 = 70, 14 * 6 = 84 ).  But correcting for the approximations we had taken – 1.2 instead of 1.18 and 84,000 instead of 83,000 -  the actual value will be little less than 70,000.

 

FDI (FDI in Processed foods) PF exports Total exports
‘93-94 27,300  ( ~ 2000) ~ 4,300 ~ 70,000
‘94-95    5,509 ~ 83,000

 

  • Two third of processed food exports in 1994-95 comprised of marine products. Spices accounted for 11% while exports of fruits and vegetables accounted for 8.9% in the same year.

 

Adding all these percentages – 86.57% and subtracting from 100 we get – Rest of PF 13.43%

 

FDI (FDI in Processed foods) PF exports Total exports
‘93-94 27,300  ( ~ 2000) ~ 4,300 ~ 70,000
‘94-95    5,509 ~ 83,000
Marine prod    66.67%Spices              11.00%Fruits & Veg      8.90%REST OF PF   13.43%

 

Now we have converted the unstructured problem into structured one and answering the questions will be child’s play.

 

Answers –

 

  1. What was the value of value of total exports in 1994-95 ?        Little less than  83,000Cr
  2. What was the value of value of total exports in 1993-94 ?        Little less than 70,000Cr
  3. If the marine products, spices, fruits and vegetable and frozen meat comprise the processed food exports, then what is the % contribution of frozen meat to the total exports in 1994-95 ?

Rest of PF 13.43% is nothing but frozen meat. PF constitutes 6.67% of total exports, hence frozen meat as percentage of total exports will be 13.43% * 6.67% or approximately equal to 13% * 7% i.e. .9%

  1. What was the % of processed food exports to the total exports in 1993-94 ?

PF exports percentage of total exports is approximately 4300/70000 or little greater than 3/50 or little greater than 6%

  1. What is the amount of total foreign direct investment in the area of processed foods in the period 1993-94 ?          Little less than 2000Cr

 

By now you must have realised that the only way to run faster in DI is to work with reciprocals, ratios, their percentage equivalents, quicker approximations and elimination of choices. Every stage of approximation will help you in eliminating one or more of the given choices. Try and practise the methods discussed here in. It is  a question of sheer practise and you will start identifying the faster methods you could adopt to run faster.

 

 

Logical Reasoning (LR) for IBPS, SBI and RBI Exams

By CL -
1
 

The reasoning section of the IBPS, SBI and RBI exams test your analytical and logical reasoning skills i.e. your ability to interpret data and information given in the form of puzzles, brain teasers or clues and sort it to arrive at a meaningful outcome. It does not generally test conceptual or theoretical knowledge (apart from one or two areas) but requires a lot of practice of different question types.

The various question types asked in this section are:

Question Type Number of Questions Weightage in Section
Arrangements 12 to 15 25-30%
Sequential Output Tracing 4 to 6 10-15%
Odd Man Out/Complete the Series 5 10%
Syllogisms 6 to 8 15-20%
Data Sufficiency 4 to 6 10-15%
Critical Reasoning 6 to 8 15-20%
Visual Reasoning 5 to 10 10-25%
Total 40 100%

Apart from the question types given above, there can be miscellaneous puzzles (individually or in groups) from different areas. These question types and miscellaneous puzzles form a comprehensive list of questions appearing in the LR section. Consider each question type separately:
1) Arrangements

  • This is the most frequently tested and most important area of this section.
  • Questions in this section are generally asked in 2-3 sets of 6-7 questions each. Though the sets may be time consuming, you can get full marks (in minimal time) if you solve the set correctly.
  • Also, they do not require conceptual knowledge but an ability to read and interpret a large amount of data and represent it in forms of a figure/arrangement/table.
  • Some common arrangement types are:
– Circular
– Linear – elements in a single row/column
– Linear – elements in multiple rows/columns
– Linear – scheduling of events/activities
– Complex – multiple parameters
  • Practice as many sets as you can. As your practice increases, you will find better and more efficient ways of representing the data and arriving at the final arrangement.
  • Start representing the given data as a figure (for linear and circular arrangements) or table (for complex arrangements and scheduling based questions). Then fill up the figure/table with the direct and indirect clues. Keep marking the clues that you have already used up and separately note down the clues that you can’t use immediately.
  • Sometimes you may not be able to fill up the entire figure/table. This does not necessarily mean that you are wrong. The set may have been designed that way. Try and attempt the questions first and then re-check the table (if necessary).
  • If the arrangement based sets are perfectly solved, clearing the sectional cut-off becomes very easy.

2) Sequential Output Tracing

  • Like arrangements, these are also asked in sets of 4-6 questions. However, based on the difficulty level, you can either solve the complete set or not be able to solve a single question.
  • Here, an input in terms of numbers or words or a combination of both is given. This input is processed through a series of steps and a final output is obtained. You need to identify the logic that is applied in each step. Based on this logic, questions can be asked in two ways:
– Each question of the set has a separate input and the question has to solved accordingly – These tend to become more time consuming since this is as good as solving five-six different sets.
– One input is given and all the questions of the set are based on it – This is less time consuming but can be error-prone if you make any mistake in applying the steps to the input.
  • Typically, the patterns that are used in bank exams are:
– Rearrangements – The given words may be shifted left or right in alphabetical order or depending on the number of letters in each word. Similarly, the given numbers may be shifted in ascending/ descending order or based on some property of the number (odd/even, prime/composite, etc.)
– Replacements – This generally applies to numbers in the input. In each step, the given numbers may be replaced by some other numbers based on some mathematical operation (multiplication, division, square, etc). These are slightly difficult to identify.
  • You need a lot of practice and immense concentration for these questions as a single mistake can lead to errors in the entire set. Also, you should be able to observe the way the position/nature of the words and numbers changes.

3) Syllogisms

  • This is probably the only area in this section that requires conceptual knowledge. Consequently, most aspirants find this the most difficult part of the section.
  • It involves 2, 3, 4 or 6 statements (that conventionally sound absurd e.g. all dogs are cats) followed by a few conclusions. You need to identify the relationship between the given statements and identify the conclusions that definitely follow from the given statements.
  • These questions are rule-based i.e. certain combinations of statements lead to certain conclusions. So, they can either be solved by directly applying the rules or using the Venn diagram based approach. However, it is not possible to solve these without prior conceptual knowledge unlike the other questions in this section.

4) Data Sufficiency

  • Technically, this is the same question type that also appears in the QA section. However, the major difference here is that the data given is essentially logical in nature rather than mathematical. So, while you may not be able to attempt a DS question in the QA section if you do not know the relevant concept/formula, you can theoretically attempt each DS question based on pure logic.
  • Another difference is that data sufficiency questions in this section may have variations in terms of instructions:

– 2 statement DS questions (typical of the QA section)

– 3 statement DS questions (also asked in the QA section)

– Data redundancy questions – where the statement that is not required for the question to be solved has to be identified.

  • Again, the key to solve these questions is to read and understand the instructions very carefully, and then follow them to the letter. In a lot of cases, even if the instructions are the same, their order may change, thereby changing the answer options.

5) Visual Reasoning

  • You are generally given a sequence of 5-6 figures and you need to identify a figure that either continues the series or does not fit in.
  • These do not require conceptual knowledge but basic observation skills to identify the relevant patterns.
  • Some of the commonly used patterns are:

– Addition/subtraction of elements

– Rotation of elements – clockwise or anticlockwise

– Movement of elements – clockwise or anticlockwise

– Replacement of elements

– Combinations of the above

  • Typically, consecutive or alternate figures exhibit the same pattern. To solve these questions quickly, identify the pattern, establish the position of an element, eliminate answer options based on that and then move on to the next element.
  • Practice is essential for these questions. However, even with practice you may not be able to identify the logic for certain questions of this type in the exam. If you are unable to get the pattern in 2-3 minutes in the exam, it is advisable to leave the question for the time being and come back to it later.

6) Critical Reasoning

  • This can be considered the most difficult and error-prone area of this section because the questions test verbal reasoning skills.
  • You need to understand what exactly the question requires, apply a combination of logic and English knowledge and then solve the question accordingly.
  • The common question types in this area are:

– Implicit assumptions

– Inferences

– Cause and Effect

– Course of Action

– Strengthening and Weakening of Arguments

– Probably/Definitely True or False

  • You should decide whether to attempt these or not based on your comfort level with individual question types as well as with the pure LR questions.

7) Miscellaneous Puzzles

  • These may be individual or group questions from a large (almost infinite) number of areas. While you may not able to cover each question type, the ones that you should definitely practice are:

– Direction based questions

– Relationships – family tree, coded relationships, relationship puzzles

– Series and Analogies – number and letter series as well as analogies, alphanumeric series, odd man out questions

– Codes – letter & number codes, mixed codes, sentence coding, substitution, etc.

– Logic Puzzles – comparisons and ranks, word based puzzles, etc.

– Numerical Logic – gambling games, odd weights, cubes, etc.

– Selection Criteria

  • During preparation, if you do not have adequate time, you can practice these questions at the very end.
  • However, you should identify the question types that you are most comfortable with and accordingly attempt those if and when they appear in the exam.
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