SBI PO Mains exam will be taking place tomorrow. All the best to those who are appearing for this exam! All these aspirants must be busy in the preparation of objective tests. And rightly so. But at the same time, the preparation of descriptive tests should not be put on a back burner. There are two questions (one each on essay & letter writing) in this section with a total of 50 marks and you get 30 minutes in total to answer this section. Let’s quickly have a look at the 4 steps which can improve your performance:
Read
Having scanned the topics asked in past years, it can safely be concluded that the essays are generally related to banking/finance, society, education and technology. You need to be updated on the latest happenings and for that, you need to read a lot. Reading a couple of newspapers on a daily basis will help you immensely. Not only do they provide you with different perspectives on different topics, but they also help you with the latest facts & figures. Quoting these facts & figures will most likely impress the examiner.
Write
You would have already started writing on different topics. Writing on one topic per day will barely take 15-20 minutes. Gradually, restrict your time limit to 12-15 minutes. This way you will definitely be attuned to writing good content in a limited time. Take 2-3 minutes to structure your thoughts and shortlist the headings you are going to be writing about. When writing, your introduction should familiarize the readers with what the topic is all about. You may like to include a quote as well. In the main body use the headings you shortlisted earlier so that you don’t get lost. When concluding, try to summarize all the points. Take a stand if need be depending upon the title of the topic.
Evaluate
Writing in itself is a good tool to master this skill but evaluating what you’re writing is equally important, if not more. Ask a mentor to evaluate your essay and work on flaws related to grammar, logic, context, lucidity etc. In case a mentor is not available, you yourself have to do the evaluation work by having a look at the good quality essays online on the same subject and comparing them with your own essays. See what kinds of errors you generally make and work to improve upon them.
Type
Last but not least, do sufficient practice typing on a keyboard since the exam will be online. Also, keep in mind that the keyboard provided to you might be a rugged one having some hard keys making your writing task a bit difficult. So be prepared for that as well.
Some Quick Tips
- Avoid using very difficult and unusual words unless choosing them becomes very important in the given context.
- Use a bit of facts and figures when writing on a daily basis. It may help you in memorizing it so that they’re at your disposal in the actual exam.
- Feel free to use facts & figures even when writing letters.
- Don’t choose a difficult topic for an essay just to impress the examiner; rather choose a topic about which you know well.
- Write only what you know about the topic. It’s advisable not to stretch the topic just to be close to the specified word limit.
We hope these four tips will definitely take your preparation for this section to another level. Knowing about different topics and practising writing on a regular basis is all that you need to ace this section. Wishing you all the best for your preparation and for your exam!
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