Success Story: Karthick Kumar R, NIACL AO, RRB & IBPS Clerk

By karthick kumar|Updated : April 26th, 2017

 

Hello Aspirants, this is Karthick Kumar R from Chennai. I am currently serving in Indian Navy and retiring in this July 17. As it was my foremost duty to seek for a well reputed and an established career post my retirement, I chose for Banking & other related jobs. Since I knew the pay & perks of a government job, I was very much sure that my path should head towards a job where I can avail a decent salary, job security and good perception in the society. My preparation started from May 2016 and lasted for 10 months.  I sought advice from my senior colleagues who were working in the banking sector. 

My strategy was a unique one, but I'm sure that I was more focused than most of the people who had applied. To beat over 20 Lakh competitors was not a joke. So, I was determined from the beginning to qualify the Competitive Examinations.

I am sharing my detailed preparation strategy below :

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

The first thing I did prior to commencing my preparation was research. I did not analyze the previous year papers as IBPS had a great record of changing the pattern every now and then. I tracked all the Important Topics from the exam perspective. I prepared a list of all the Topics with their weightage ratio perspective from IBPS. My research helped me to acquaint with the difficulty level of the questions and the type of questions which may be expected in the exam. Next, I searched in the internet to figure out the best available study material. I sought advice from my seniors and friends too. I purchased some high-level MCQs books which also listed Effective Shortcuts and Tricks. I also referred to Online Sources for shortcuts.

RELIED ON BASICS

Most of us do not pay keen attention to the basics. But I am sure, basics could fetch you the extra mile that you are supposed to reach. Since, most number of calculations are finished in prime numbers, I was well versed with the tables of 13,17,19,21 & 23. Remembering Squares upto 100 and Cubes upto 50. Apart from that I used to remember 1/ values upto 50. This is most important as it could save us lot of time during our speedy calculations, especially in DI and Ratio problems. Whenever I use to study, I write down all these values in the hard copy of excel table format which I prepared.

SCHEDULE AND ITS EFFECT

As most of the aspirants do, I prepared a weekly planner & strategy to cover the important topics. I distributed the syllabus amongst the different weeks. As I had to work & study, I was not strictly adhering to the schedule. However, I had an urge to finish the entire topics by the weekend. I commenced my preparation with the High-Yielding topics at the beginning. My strategy was to dedicate enough time to the High-Yielding Topics and prepare them thoroughly and to move on to the lower yielding ones at a later stage. While preparing a topic, I simultaneously solved a large number of MCQs on each topic. This helped me to attain a firm understanding of each topic and aided me in learning the application of concepts. This exercise of consistently solving MCQs immensely helped in figuring out my weaker areas and analyze myself thoroughly.

STRATEGY FOR PRELIMS:

Since the Bar was set high, I knew that to be competitive enough, I got to score more marks in prelims. So after these many months of preparation, I was very well aware of my strengths and weaknesses. As I was lacking in application problems in QA and as it was time consuming too, I was not sure of attending these problems in the exams. However, I was more confident in my Reasoning and used to attempt atleast 30 – 35 with full accuracy. Now comes the decider – English, which I thought could be the game changer for my results. I used to attempt the fillers initially and Error spot later. If I had time, then I go for RC – which is time consuming. I used to take 8 – 10 mins for English. Thus I was able to score 65 – 75 marks on an average during my prelims.

How I Handled the Situation after Prelims:

After Prelims, the syllabus to cover becomes vast. General Awareness plays a pivotal role in fetching good marks. I prepared my own hand written notes for Static GK. Basic concept is to remember Static GK to the very best as it is going to be asked in all the competitive exams. I preferred discussing CA & Banking Awareness questions with my friends most often. Attempting MCQs of CA could make us well verse in remembering CA questions. I used to attempt all the Daily test (Sectional Wise) from Gradeup. Practicing atleast 4 – 5 hrs in the evening improved my speed and accuracy. Used to solve a puzzle / seating arrangement with time clock to gauge my speed with accuracy. Memorised Static & CA capsules from Gradeup.

 “Practice makes a man perfect”

Online Tests

I attempted online tests throughout my preparation. With every test I tried to improve my score. I attempted Sectional Tests everyday from Gradeup app & after completing the syllabus of each section. In the last one month, I attempted 3 Full-length test Every week. It took almost 4hrs for each test. Post completion of the test, I used to analyze the paper completely. This in a good way made me to realise my competition and my ranking. As I had several friends who were aspiring for a banking career, I got an opportunity to access different online exam portal sites through their account.  

Books Preferred

Although there are several competitive exam books, you got to be wiser in choosing the best books to be competitive enough. Thus I went with RS Agarwal for basic prep and Quicker Maths for shortcut tricks. For English, I preferred Lucentz and Plinth to Paramount. For Banking awareness I got NS TOOR Pocket Guide. I preferred BSC Magazine for Model question paper and General awareness questions.

MOST HAPPENING APP

Gradeup – The best “Digital Mentor” and Saviour I could ever ask for. Post a query, u get an instant solution. Need an advice – you get thousand !!! Was there with me till I achieved my dream.

 

Interview Preparation

The best part in preparing for  interview is that you get an opportunity to fight amongst the best in the market. I was sort of sure that with emboldened by the so called Experience which I had gained from INDIAN NAVY for the past 15 years made me to think that I could nail anything that would have come on my way. But in reality, the total scenario was different. Competitive Exams was a different ball game for me. At an age of 32, father of “Newly born Twins” I had to fight with my core ability to overcome all young talents. Attended 03 different interviews viz IBPS PO – 2016, NIACL AO and CWC MT. Completely different sectors with different set of preparation. I studied Banking /Insurance Interview capsule from Gradeup. Visited CWC RO and NIACL RO to get to know about the ground reality and about the organisation. Sought information about these sectors from their official websites and through Youtube videos. Since I had completed all my UG, PG degree & PG Dip through distance education, I was a bit nervous about my educational background. However, with 03 mock interview programme, I was confident enough for my interviews with full strength and valour.

Exams Appeared

  • SBI JA 2016  - CLEARED
  • IBPS PO 2016 - CLEARED MAINS BUT MISSED BY 0.6 IN FINAL LIST
  • NIACL AO SCALE I OFFCR - CLEARED AND GOT OFFER LETTER
  • CWC MT SCALE II OFFCR - CLEARED AND GOT OFFER LETTER
  • RRB CLERK - CLEARED 
  • IBPS CLERK - CLEARED 
  • IPPB - AWAITING MAINS RESULT

My Advice To Fellow Aspirants

Sheer dedication and focused towards our goal could fetch us more success. I must say without giving online mock test no one can ever crack the competitive exams. The competition has become so intense that you can even fail by a very less margin of marks. Testing oneself in a simulated environment provides an accurate evaluation of your preparation. Failures are a part and parcel of any competitive examinations. Each one has to face this at least once in one’s struggle before relishing the taste of success. Eliminate all the negative thoughts from the mind. Admire the personalities who had inspired you a lot to achieve your goal. Seek inspirational advices from them. They could change a lot in your perception and the way you approach your dream. At the age of 32 and father of three kids, with all the responsibilities as the head of the family, working and studying simultaneously if I could achieve this feat, then I am sure each and every one of you can do better with sheer dedication. Always keep the killing spirit in you and never give up.

"Wishing you all the very best for your future endeavours."

Dedication

I had a mission in my sight and I am glad that I could achieve that. I would totally dedicate my success to my “Parents”, my “Friends” and my 03 yr old “Daughter” who had stood by my side from the beginning. They were the ones whom inspired me to achieve my dream. Last but not least, Indian Navy – which had moulded me in a way to fight till the core and instilled a “Never Give Up” an attitude into me. I owe my success to Indian Navy.

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