How to Crack Bank PO Exams – 5 Sure Shot Tips

The growing demand of banking sector has made it the most preferred destinations for employment.
Banking jobs especially the Bank Probationary Officer (PO) has emerged as the most sought after career option in recent times. Bank PO exam is the gateway to the management cadre of the banking industry. Individual banks conduct entrance exams for bank PO as and when vacancies arise. After selection the candidate has to complete his/ her probation period.
A candidate can be asked to do anything during his/ her completion period. A bank PO aspirant should hence start preparing for bank PO exams since his/ her college days to understand the nitty-gritty of the exam. To simplify your preparation, jagranjosh.com has enlisted a few sure shot tips on cracking the exams for bank probationary officers.
1. Syllabus and Exam Pattern: Know the syllabus of the bank exam for which you are preparing and then look at the previous year question paper to gain information on the exam pattern of that particular exam. Usually the written tests for bank PO exam consist of 2 parts mainly objective test and descriptive test. While the written test consists of four sections namely, English language test, quantitative ability, Reasoning, and General Awareness/ Marketing Aptitude; the descriptive test demands the candidate to write essay length answers on current issues. Candidates selected in written test are then called for Group Discussion and/ or interview.

2. Preparing for Exam: Candidates preparing for bank PO exam are expected to have good knowledge of Mathematics up to Class X. For this purpose, the candidate should focus on preparing from NCERT books and focus on answering questions through mental calculations to speed up the process. Reasoning section needs to be extensively practiced to clear the sectional cut- off. The candidate should also work upon the English section and strong vocabulary which comes in the form of comprehension, fill-in-the-blanks, antonyms, synonyms etc. General Awareness section can easily be prepared by cultivating a habit of attentively reading a national newspaper daily.

3. Time Management: Clubbed with hard work and determination, time management is the key to crack the entry - level test for the Bank PO Exam. Besides being able to strategise time by focussing on the easier subjects first followed by the tough ones; one should also know the skill to attempt 225 questions in 135 minutes time. It means a candidate has to spill not more than 36 seconds per question. For this purpose, a candidate should attempt the easier part first like General Awareness, Marketing Aptitude first followed by others. Try attempting 175- 185 questions with 90 percent accuracy to be a step closer to your goal.

4. Leave Doubtful Questions: Try attempting those answers first of which you are confident and should not attempt any questions which are doubtful in your mind. The process of negative marking in the entrance exams will cut down the percentage of right answers with the wrong ones. A practical knowledge of this arena can be gained through solving lots of sample papers.

5. Know Banking Regulations: A bank PO aspirant is expected to have knowledge of general banking regulations and should have at least some knowledge of SEBI and its regulations. Candidates should ensure that they are aware of the key points of banking regulations.