How To Crack SBI Clerk In First Attempt: The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the SBI Clerk notification 2020 and online registration for the same has started. A total of 8000 vacancies have been announced this year. If you are planning to appear for the exam and if this is your first time, you might be wondering how to crack SBI Clerk in first attempt. In this article, you will get a definitive answer to that question.
Many people say that the probability of clearing the SBI Clerk exam in the first attempt is rather a situation of flying pigs. They keep on banging your doors and throwing some facts about 16+ lakhs people appearing every year to compete for just a few thousand SBI Clerk positions (which is quite true). While the exam is definitely difficult and competitive but cracking it in your first attempt isn’t something impossible as there are a lot of candidates who do it every year. You just need to balance up your things and that’s it.
We advise you to take a deep breath and go through this article which will be helpful in cracking the SBI Clerk in first attempt.
How To Crack SBI Clerk In First Attempt?
“Knowledge is power” is a statement that holds true in every aspect. But, are you just focussed on your books and completely neglecting about the exam’s ins/outs? Well, let’s see some specific preparation strategies that hold true most of the time.
Are You Aware Of SBI Clerk Exam Pattern?
The first thing to do is be thorough with the SBI Clerk Exam Pattern, selection process, and SBI Clerk syllabus.
Let’s have a look at SBI Clerk Preliminary exam pattern:
| Sections | Number of Questions / Marks | Duration (minutes) |
| English Language | 30 / 30 | 20 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 / 35 | 20 |
| Numerical Ability | 35 / 35 | 20 |
| TOTAL | 100 / 100 | 60 |
The SBI Clerk Preliminary exam is like an audition. Candidates who clear the Prelims are shortlisted to appear for the Main exam.
Given below is the SBI Clerk Main exam pattern:
| Sections | Number of Questions / Marks | Duration (minutes) |
| General/Financial Awareness | 50 / 50 | 35 |
| General English | 40 / 40 | 35 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 / 50 | 45 |
| Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude | 50 / 50 | 45 |
| TOTAL | 190 / 190 | 2 Hours 40 Minutes |
You should be aware of all the concepts and topics included under each of these sections.
Note that the English Language and Numerical Ability sections of SBI Clerk Prelims are almost the same as the General English and Quantitative Aptitude sections, respectively, of SBI Clerk Mains. So, for these sections, as well as for the Reasoning Ability section, your SBI Clerk Prelims preparation will help you in Mains as well.
How To Crack SBI Clerk In First Attempt: Section-wise SBI Clerk Preparation & Important Topics
So, now that you are aware of the SBI Clerk exam pattern and syllabus, let us look into how to prepare for each of these sections.
Also, you must note that there is a series of important topics which keep on appearing in the SBI Clerk examinations every year. Finish these topics thoroughly. These crucial topics can help to cover an optimum amount of syllabus in a reasonable time.
Let us now take a look at some of the sectional preparation strategy along with the important topics:
SBI Clerk Preparation For English Language/General English
The English Language section demands a regular reading habit alongside a good vocabulary to successfully clear this exam. Try developing the habit to read a good English newspaper daily. This will improve your reading portion and you will then be able to take down those mighty comprehension tests with a single click.
In addition, you must also have a strong command over the grammatical rules of the English language. So, brush up the rules of English grammar and go through a sufficient number of examples to understand their application.
Practice a sufficient number of questions from every topic you cover so as to test your knowledge.
Most of the questions from this section are based on the following:
i) Sentence Improvement
ii) Cloze test
iii) Reading Comprehension
iv) Para jumbles
v) Spotting the error
vi) Vocabulary based question
SBI Clerk Preparation For Numerical Ability/Quantitative Aptitude
Mathematics has always haunted a lot of students and it will continue to do so. The only cure to this problem? Practice!
You need to keep on practising the various topics and you will eventually find these quantitative questions as walking in the park. Most of the questions asked are formula-based. However, some might need a bit of analytical and critical thinking. Understand the theory behind the concepts and memorize the formulas. Practice them so that they are at your fingertips. Then solve a sufficient number of questions. Refer to the formulas and examples if required.
Take out some time to learn short tricks to compute a problem in less time which will be quite helpful not only in your SBI Clerk examinations but other competitive exams.
Some of the important topics for SBI Clerk Numerical Ability are as under:
i) Data Interpretation
ii) Simplification/Approximations
iii) Arithmetic (Profit & Loss, Mixtures & Allegations, Time & Distance, and more)
iv) Quadratic Equations
v) Number Series
vi) Comparison Between Quantities
SBI Clerk Preparation For Reasoning Ability
This section focuses on your quick analysing and logical reasoning abilities. To ace this section, you need to be clear with the basics.
Understand the steps to solve questions by referring to theories and examples. Develop the habit of jotting down important data provided in the questions and making diagrams. These habits are extremely crucial for this section as the questions are puzzle-based and need analysis of complex data.
The important topics for this section are as under:
i) Coding-Decoding
ii) Puzzles and Seating Arrangement
iii) Input-Output
iv) Series
v) Syllogism
vi) Inequality
The All-Round Process
Irrespective of which section you are preparing for, your strategy should include the following:
You should start taking SBI Clerk mock tests only after completing all the concepts. But make sure you have ample time before the exam to take at least 15 mock papers. After every mock test, you should do a complete analysis of your performance.
Analysis of your mock tests will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. You will get to know the particular topics where you spent more than the required amount of time, topics which you need to revise and practice more, and other gaps in your conceptual knowledge, problem-solving abilities and test-taking skills. You can then work on those particular areas and improve your score.
At Embibe, you can take SBI Clerk mock tests for free. These mock tests are based on the latest syllabus and exam pattern of SBI Clerk exam. If you unlock the Advanced Feedback Analysis, you will also get detailed analysis and feedback on your tests. This will pinpoint your areas of improvement.
What’s The Catch With The Sectional Timings?
One of the most important things to keep in mind as you prepare for SBI Clerk is that the exam has sectional timings. Each section of both Prelims and Mains is separately timed, and candidates must finish a particular section within the allocated time.
This requires one to have a proper strategy to attempt a particular section:
a. Read the questions carefully.
b. If you are not sure about a question, skip it without any hesitation.
c. If you are confident about a question, attempt it.
d. Do not spend too much time on any question.
e. Once you have gone through all the questions from a particular section and answered the ones you were sure about, you can try to solve other questions. But do not attempt any question just for the sake of it.
Some Essential Things To Keep In Mind
There are some things that you need to keep in mind while preparing for SBI Clerk:
- Keep an open mind to grasp all the concepts during your preparation.
- Make yourself a proper schedule/timetable with some necessary 5-10 minutes’ breather in between. This helps you in building concentration levels.
- You have to understand the importance of speed and accuracy in these exams. Try learning some tricks and shortcuts which will help you compute faster.
- If you are not getting good scores in mocks, there is nothing to be disappointed about. Keep on practising and learn from your mistakes.
- Do not compromise with your health. Eat healthy food and sleep well.
- Once you are done with your prelims, you should not wait for the results. Instead, start your preparation for the main exams.
- Keep yourself motivated. There is always an appreciation of hard efforts in some way or the other.
Final Words: Are You All Set To Crack SBI Clerk In First Attempt?
With the lot being said, we have come to the end of our article on how to crack SBI clerk in first attempt.
Please do let us know whether you have found this blog helpful by commenting down below. Furthermore, if you have any queries related to SBI Clerk Prelims/Main examination or any other competitive exams, you can ask in the comment section below. We will help you out.
Embibe wishes you all the best!
