Government exams, though look like a far placed dream to most aspirants of our country, are still the sought after jobs for many of them. The greatest advantage of a government is the job security plus perks and offers that it brings along.
A private sector job may definitely be more lucrative than a government job in many aspects, especially monetary terms, but it doesn’t equate to the satisfaction of job security offered by a government job.
It is vital to understand the common sections that appear in most government competitive exams. The quantitative aptitude section, reasoning ability, English section, and general awareness are covered in almost every exam that you’ll come across. Only the difficulty level of questions varies from exam to exam. Prepare yourself for any government exam by first trying to find out the syllabus in detail.
Once you are familiar with the syllabus and aware of what needs to be studied, the next important thing to do is to create a working time table. It indeed saves a lot of your time in organizing your studies.
Half the planning and strategizing are done in time table preparation and an effective time table works best when you specifically mention the date, time, and the subject to be covered at a particular duration.
Simultaneously with the time table, you should also have a monthly plan, weekly plan, and a daily plan in place. This is needed to plan your revision activity which is essential to give your best shot.
Under each subject and topic, list out the most important and most frequently asked questions over time. This can be done with the help of referring to previous year question papers and peer discussions.
After identifying what to study and important topics that can be probably asked, try to solve them and provide the correct explanation for each question. Writing is a good exercise to remember well, so practice writing and prepare good notes.
Making notes should be a greater part of your study exercise, and hence, the more you make notes, the better is your confidence levels!
Visual representation scores over rote learning. Make sticky notes and paste them in places where you think you will run an eye frequently. This should help for formulae, conversion codes, big data memorization, facts, and important dates.
Apart from all these, you could also take the help of visual aids like charts and representative tables to grasp easily and remember difficult data. This is especially true when you are running short of time and need to learn more data in that short span.
Thinking logically and approaching the exam paper, analytically is very important to score higher and better than others. Remember when it’s a competitive examination, every candidate’s score matters and decides your ranking.
Higher the toughness and accuracy in your answers and better the presentation in your paper, higher the ranking and chances of your selection for which the exam is conducted.
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Emerge successful in competitive government exams with these useful tips!
Here, we throw light on some possible tips and tricks that aspirants can follow to crack competitive government exams successfully.
Practice plus speed plus accuracy in the examination – the best bet!
The approach of practicing for the exam matters a lot. Some areas need in depth coverage of content, whereas others need brief details for you to know. Identify these core essentials and start practicing well. Improve your speed and be careful to find out only accurate results.
Avoid the situation of – “Jack of all, master of none.”
Practice the strategy of one examination at a time and prepare for that exam alone. Since too many government competitive exams tend to arrive at the same time, candidates tend to get carried away by applying and thus preparing for too many exams. This may not yield results as expected.
Work on your weaker areas and try to fix them
Identify your strengths and weak areas too! You may be a master in the comprehension section but lack confidence in the quantitative questions. So your goal must be to practice more of quant questions while also keeping the focus intact on the comprehension part. Allotting equal importance to all sections is vital, but prioritizing them in a different order for practice is also equally important.
Reading and simultaneously improving vocabulary is a must
Read, read, and read a lot. Reading improves not only your vocabulary but also gives you more space to understand things for the examination plus an essential thing for the general awareness section. A good vocabulary is a prerequisite for the interview rounds which you may require if shortlisted in the written round of any examination.
Take coaching if necessary
Coaching is an option you must consider if you aren’t too confident about self study. If you are doing studies amongst your own group and consulting for essential topics and questions, it might help you to a certain extent. But then, coaching gives you professional advice for any exam that you might need. Remember, coaching is not mandatory and an option which is left to you to decide.
Be familiar and thorough with redundant questions over the years
Over the years, you can find a pattern of topics and questions that keep repeating time and again. You can call them key topics and list them down for quick reference. Certain questions appear in exam papers over the years, and hence practicing them will make you more confident about other topics as well.
Go to your basics!
This is a common mistake most aspirants make! After learning higher level of questions and concepts with the examination in view, the basics and core concepts are usually overseen or ignored. This could prove costly, especially if you aren’t familiar with most asked definitions and commonly asked basic theories.
Resources are plenty, choose wisely!
You have plenty of books, online videos, journals, etc. that you can read or browse through to get enough information and content on a particular topic of study. Planning wisely for what to study and what not to study is a very important factor here. You may get volumes of information on say, bee keeping, but segregating and choosing to study what’s really needed for the exam will do the trick.
Mathematics should be your best friend!
Some of the common questions like HCF, LCM, divisibility, ratio and proportion questions, measurements, time, distance and speed related questions, etc. have been asked in papers almost every other time. So the solution is simple.
Practice as much variety of problems under each topic of mathematics, which will be useful to you to solve many related sections. Make a list of each section that you need to practice and the important formula that goes with the relevant section underneath. So this way, you would be able to associate well with numerical and maths may not be that difficult as it may seem.
Mock tests, example problems and previous year question papers are a must
Refer to as many example problems from different sources. This gives you a double advantage for sure. It gives you a better understanding of the concept you are using to solve the problem plus familiarizes you with the application of the particular concept. Make ample time to practice mock test papers in your time table so that you get to know the variety of questions that may be asked.
Apart from these tips and tricks, there are other important factors that you need to ponder on. These include reading at least two newspapers every day, keeping one updated with the latest developments in current affairs, economics, science and technology, business news, etc. Making a habit of reading at least two newspapers every day is a must for clearing any government competitive exam.
Choose the right reference materials to refer to. Candidates usually have the habit of piling up too many books will leave you confused and not knowing what to study and what not to. Do not go by common beliefs or listen to what others have got to say.
Stick to your own methodology and strategy, whether it be preparing notes or preparing for the exam. Inculcate good breathing exercises and take power breaks in between studies. Refresh yourself and revise what you learned the previous day. Putting in at least 6 to 8 hours of study and preparation for the exam is necessary.
Last but not the least, get your answers reviewed by an expert and always stay in touch with them to get quality inputs preparation-wise. Hold healthy peer discussions to see if you are missing out on any important areas, but beware not to be taken away or carried away too much by what others have got to say.
Your success depends on your own self motivation. Do not pressurize yourself too much in the last minute or rush to learn too many things the day before the exam. Check and double check the venue, timings, what needs to be carried to the examination hall, etc.