How I prepared for RBI Grade B exam while working full time ?

"I had cleared RBI Grade B exam way back in 2018. The pattern of the exam has changed a lot since then. Hence, the strategy given below may be taken on a whole as a blue print and can be implemented to prepare for any competitive examination."

After making it to the list , I have realised that most of the candidates who made it to the final list and especially the toppers have been working while they have prepared for the exam. So, it’s definitely possible to prepare for this exam while working.

First thing is that being a working candidate it is important that we restrict our resources of study since we do not have the luxury of time. So for any topic of the syllabus first make sure that you don’t refer to more than one resource. I have done the mistake of referring to many sources during my previous attempts and realised this.

Then, make sure that you fix your timing for study during the week days according to your office hours. My office timings is from 10 AM - 7.30 PM. I felt that studying after office hours didn’t work for me , so I used to take enough sleep after office hours and use my mornings to study . Quality attention of 2–3 hours every weekday will be quite enough [My timings were usually from 6AM- 9 AM.] Though I had tried to study in the night I understood that I was not able to focus more as I was tired after office hours. So try to fix your timing of study according to your office hours and your own comfort. It can be any 2–3 hours of the day where you feel you can focus more. Also make sure you have enough sleep of minimum 6 hours to keep you focused during study time.

When it comes to weekends it’s mere sacrifice. We must try to cover “ as much as possible “ during the weekends to make up for the shortfall of preparation during the weekdays.

Phase 1 : Since I already had my basics in Quants , Reasoning & English, I focused more on General Awareness Part [which has more weightage in the exam]. When the RBI notification was released in July 2018 , we had one month time for Prelims.

General Awareness : I had planned to study GK of 4 months and revise them. I utilized my lunch time[It was 45 minutes, I made sure to complete lunch early to devote time for GK] to make sure I complete atleast 10 days of GK during that time. This way I was able to complete one month’s GK in 3 weekdays. During the weekends I tried to complete the left out GK. In this way I was able to complete 4 months GK in 1 - 2 weeks time. Thereafter , I kept revising them again and again.

Quants , Reasoning & English : Since I had my basics here I had decided to take only Mocks to practice them. Weekends were the only time where I could do mocks as it takes 2 hours for each Phase 1 mock and atleast 30–40 minutes to review our performance. I had taken atleast 2 mocks every weekend so by the end of one month I had taken 10 mocks.

Since I had already failed thrice in Prelims I did not take any chance this time and took leave for 3 days + 2 days [Sat & Sun] before the actual exam. During this time, I kept revising my GK , took mocks and wherever felt I brushed up the basic formulas and shortcuts.

Don’t worry if you feel you do not have your basics in Quants , Reasoning & English. Now it’s April and even if someone starts now preparing for this Aptitude part , one can very well master the basics before the notification is out. Once your done with the Aptitude part you can start with the other sections.

Phase 2 :

Finance & Management : Since this portion was static and was totally new to me, I devoted most of my time during the one month (weekdays & weekends) and tried to complete the syllabus. Due to paucity of time I had to skip one topic in Management. But I feel my low marks in FM was because of skipping the entire topic. I would suggest others to start early and try to cover all the topics.

ESI : With respect to ESI, I had already completed my basics in Economics [Only from NCERT] , Reading HINDU Newspaper, Government Schemes and Budget before the notification was out. During the one month after notification , I did not give more time to this paper since I felt I had covered a part of the syllabus already and focused more on FM.

Again for Phase 2, I had taken 5 days + 2 days [Sat & Sun] leave , which according to me was quite a little time to revise and study left out topic. One advantage was that since I had less time I concentrated more and did not deviate as much as possible.

On the whole my preparation was made this way :

Before Notification : Reading Newspaper, Budget , Government Schemes , Basic of Aptitude & Economics NCERT.

After Notification : F&M , General Awareness and left out topics of ESI.

This is how I had prepared but every other working candidate might have different approach towards this exam. I would suggest candidates to take inputs from many sources and plan their preparation accordingly.

But it is definitely possible to clear this exam or any other competitive exam along with your work. Just that you have to put in little extra effort. Trust me , it’s worth the pain !