How To Prepare For Bank PO and SSC Exams Simultaneously?

Are you thinking of preparing for both the Bank PO and SSC Exams Simultaneously? Wondering if it is possible or not? Well, many students want to try their luck in both of these worthwhile opportunities. The fact is, yes, you can prepare for both the exams if you are serious about it and are dedicated enough to devote time and energy to both the Exams equally. This article will help you streamline your bank & SSC preparation at the same time.

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Banking and SSC selection process

As we know, SBI and IBPS conduct the Bank PO Exam for PO and Clerical positions, whereas, RBI conducts Grade-‘B’ exam. On the other hand, CGL (Combined Graduate Level) and CHSL (Combined Higher Secondary Level) exams are conducted by SSC. Candidates who qualify in the Preliminary exam (in banking) or Tier-I (in SSC CGL) are then called for the Main examination (in banking) or Tier-II (in SSC CGL). Those candidates who make it to the final level reach the GD and PI (Group Discussion and Personal Interview) stage in the bank recruitment process. There is no interview stage in the SSC exam now.

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Bank and SSC exam syllabus

If you want to prepare for both the exams simultaneously, then you need to figure out the topics that are similar in both the Exams and those that are different. You need to make a list of the common topics that are asked in both the SSC and Bank PO Exam and try to prepare for these common topics in a single slot. In this way, when you’ll prepare for SSC, the comment topics will also be covered from both the Exam syllabuses.

Here are some details:

Name of the Sections	SSC Exam	Bank Po Exam
Quantitative Aptitude	Basic & Advanced Math (Trigonometry, Geometry, Algebra & Mensuration)	Basic mathematics including number systems, problems on CI-SI, Profit and loss, age-related problems, etc.
Reasoning Ability	Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning is Easier to solve	High-level reasoning which involves only verbal questions
General Awareness & Current Affairs	Only static GK is asked in the examination. Static GK, including Polity, History, Geography, General Science, Computer & Miscellaneous GK	Banking Awareness  and Current Affairs Topics like Marketing Awareness and Computer Knowledge are asked separately
English Language	Basic and Advanced (Voice, Narration, Synonyms, Antonyms, Grammar)	Basic English grammar is asked

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Strategy while preparing both the exams simultaneously

When you do preparation for the Mathematics and English section of SSC, you unknowingly cover all those topics that are included in the English and Mathematics syllabus of the banking. If you’ll prepare for each and every topic of SSC completely nobody can stop you from fetching good a good score in the English and Mathematics sections in the actual Bank PO Exam. Hence, you get the advantage of preparing for both the exams and both sections in them just by preparing all the topics in SSC.

Reasoning

From the table above, you can see that the reasoning sections are different in both the Exams. SSC exams have verbal and non-verbal Reasoning questions that are easier to solve, whereas Bank PO entertains high-level reasoning questions that involve only verbal questions. The reasoning section for both the exams is quite different. Hence, you will have to prepare for the reasoning section of both exams separately. You can practice a lot of Mock Tests, and watch related videos or whatever you prefer for visible improvement. Preparing for reasoning is easy for both exams.

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Banking General Awareness

SSC General Awareness includes major topics like Polity, Current Affairs, Economics, History, Geography, General Science, etc., whereas Banking General Awareness includes Current Affairs. You only have to cover a few other important topics pertaining to financial current affairs for banking.

Essay and letter writing

For essay and letter writing SSC is more difficult to prepare for as there is no option given in essay/letter writing and its essay topics are also a bit difficult nowadays (the pattern has changed now). Hence, if you will prepare for essay and letter writing for SSC then you don’t need to prepare separately for essay and letter writing for Bank Po Exam.

To cut long story short, if you are preparing for SSC CGL then you will be required to prepare only the reasoning section, current affairs section (for mains), and interview. Plus, you will need to take Mock Test separately for the Bank PO Exam.

Exam-Preparation Tips

For fine preparation, candidates must go through the exam syllabus and accelerate it by regularly solving practice and previous year question papers and taking mock tests.

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Don’t forget that Time is Success

SBI PO exam is a time-based exam.  Hence, candidates must practice solving questions at a faster speed. This not only helps in the actual exam a lot but also increases the completion and success rate of the candidate.

Take care of Writing Speed

The final selection of the exam is based on merit, so securing good marks in the written exam also paves way for success.

General Knowledge through Newspapers

Reading the newspaper and staying updated with the current events through best study material will also help candidates score good marks in the General Awareness sections. GA section is the most scoring section in this exam.

Conclusion

Along with practicing individual subjects and topics, the mock tests should be given equal importance. Mock tests give you a real-time environment similar to an actual exam. This will give you an idea of the overall pressure and will help you identify your weak areas across all subjects. To crack the IBSP PO or SBI PO exam in the first attempt, aspirants need to plan their preparation well.

Lastly, candidates should remember that there is a negative marking of 1/4th in both Prelims and Main examination. Also, there is a sectional and overall cut-off for both the Bank PO Prelims and the Main examination. In the end, hard work always pays! Therefore, you should keep practicing and revising all the topics, along with taking as many Mock Tests as possible for the results you want!

Best of luck with your Exam!