How to Prepare Effectively for the IBPS Bank SO Exam?

June 18, 20183 Minutes Read

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IBPS or the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is an independent organization which conducts online exams to recruit officers, clerks and trainees in public sector banks in India. Public Sector Banks are those that are owned by the government of India such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank etc.

The IBPS SO (Specialist Officer) exam is one that is conducted on a yearly basis to recruit officers to specific fields like IT, HR, marketing, law, within the Public Sector Banking Sector. Because the fields for which recruitment is conducted are so specific, the exam is conducted in two phases, the first phase or the Preliminary exam is where a common aptitude test is conducted and the second phase or the Main exam is where field specific professional knowledge is tested. To ace these exams it is necessary that you practice as many bank SO mock tests as possible so that you get used to the pattern.

The benefit of this bank exam is that it gives you an opportunity to work in a field of your choice. There are multiple posts for which the SO exam is conducted. Some of these are:

• Agriculture Field Officer

• Marketing Officer (Scale I)

• HR/Personnel Officer

• IT Officer Scale I

• Law Officer

• Rajbhasha Adhikari Scale I

For each of these positions, you are required to have related qualifications. There will be a professional test held in the SO Main Exam which will have questions pertaining to the field that you have applied for. On the Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair & Lovely Career Foundation) website, you can find a number of free mock tests for the Bank SO exam, with questions prepared by experts in the field. Practice these online tests to ensure success in the final exam.

IBPS SO Exam Date 2018

As per the latest notification released by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, the SO exam 2018 will be conducted through a two phase selection process. Only those candidates who qualify in both the rounds will be considered for the final interview process. The exams are expected to be conducted on 29th and 30th December 2018 (preliminary Exam) and on 27th January 2019 (Mains Exam).

IBPS SO Exam Syllabus 2018

Detailed knowledge of the IBPS SO 2018 Syllabus is a must for the candidates who aspire to clear the exam. Since the Bank SO online test is conducted in two phases, preliminary and mains, there is a vast syllabus for the aspirants to cover. Candidates must make sure to master the general sections of reasoning, quantitative aptitude and English as well . Let's have a look at the syllabus of IBPS SO 2018 Exam:

Preliminary Exam

Broadly, these are the topics that will appear for the SO preliminary exam

Reasoning
Quantitative Aptitude
English Language.

Mains Exam

A professional test is conducted for each type of specialist officer with an entirely different syllabus.

Tips to crack the IBPS SO Exam 2018

Primarily, you need to practise as many online mock tests for IBPS bank SO exam as possible in order to ensure success in the same. You can also bear in mind the following points while you prepare:

Understand in detail about the exam : Since this exam has two phases, one with general aptitude and the next with field specific questions, you need to have a very clear understanding of what the syllabus, structure and pattern will be. Taking all the free online mock tests for Bank SOon the Glow & Lovely Careers website will give you a good understanding about this.

Prepare a time-table : Since there are many topics for you to study for this particular exam, you can make things smoother if you prepare a time-table for the same. Fix a time to study each topic in a day and follow it without fail. Keep practising online mock tests as well along with your preparation.

Focus on your weak areas: The IBPS SO exam requires you to have perfect data analysis skill, impeccable reasoning ability and polished English grammar skills. It's a competitive exam and hence, it is imperative that you be strong in all these areas. You need to identify your weak areas and work on them more. When you practice previous bank SO question papers online, you will get an idea of what type of questions come from each portion. You need to practice hard and eventually convert your weaknesses into strengths.

Practice time-bound tests - Speed is a major factor in competitive exams like these. Make sure you take all the free online bank SO mock tests available on the Glow & Lovely Careers in order to keep increasing your pace of answering.

Good luck in achieving your dream of becoming a Specialist Officer!

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