5 Common Mistakes to Avoid for RBI Grade B 2024 Preparation

For RBI Grade B | 07th February 2024 – 12 mins read

“Success is not about avoiding mistakes but learning from them; hence, becoming aware of your shortcomings is as important as knowing your strengths.”

– Manish Mishra

As mortal beings, we all commit mistakes on some level while performing tasks in our everyday lives.

However, the chances of repeating those same mistakes become less once we are made aware of them, and this holds true for aspirants preparing for the RBI Grade B exam.

Given the level of competition and difficulty level of this exam, many candidates, despite their diligent efforts and dedication, do not get selected.

Now, I know many of you must be wondering but isn’t that all that is required to prepare for the exam? Rigorous preparation and hard work.

Well, the answer to that question is a simple no. To ensure thorough preparation for an exam like RBI Grade B, there are a few basic but important factors that you must consider while formulating your strategy.

In this blog, I am going to discuss 5 major mistakes that can cost you an entire attempt in RBI Grade B, and by avoiding these, you can surely increase your chances of success in this exam.

So, why delay any longer? Let’s dive straight in!

Mistake No. 01: Neglecting active revision

I know many of you must be doing a revision of the topics you have covered in the exam syllabus.

However, upon interacting with students, I observed a common mistake that many aspirants commit during their preparation, which is to not revise the syllabus on a consistent basis.

Generally, after covering the syllabus within a few months, the aspirants follow their preparation with revisions for an entire month.

This is exactly where many candidates face challenges in recalling such extensive information towards the end of their preparation.

Therefore, I suggest my students do consistent revision, i.e., daily as well as weekly, as it helps them retain comprehensive details and facts for a longer duration of time.

So, do this by allocating time regularly to efficiently revise the syllabus.

Mistake No. 02: Skipping through regular tests

Well, what is the point of doing any task when we choose to remain unaware of our performance? This statement holds true for RBI Grade B aspirants.

There are many such instances where the candidates wait for the syllabus to be completed in order to give mock tests.

This is another major mistake that aspirants make during their exam preparation.

To assess your conceptual clarity of the topics as well as test your exam readiness, you must practice mock tests on a weekly basis.

By practicing tests consistently, you will gain an overall idea of whether you are heading in the right direction or not in terms of your preparation.

Hence, after completing a particular topic, attempt a mock test on that topic to assess the depth of your understanding.

Make sure you practice mock tests, which are modeled on the latest exam pattern and match the difficulty level of the actual exam.

Mistake No. 03: Juggling between the resources

The availability of resources and study materials is now both a boon and a bane for students preparing for any competitive exam.

Whether online or offline, there is a plethora of study resources and guidance available, which often more than not causes confusion amongst aspiring candidates.

As a consequence, the aspirants end up referring to study materials from multiple channels or sources, which adds to their puzzlement regarding exam preparation.

To gain clarity on the correct study materials, the first step is to select the topics that you intend to cover.

Then, identify the sources from which you would like to cover the syllabus and stick to those limited sources till the very end of your preparation.

Mistake No. 04: Forgetting the practice of answer-writing

One of the biggest mistakes that the candidates make is practicing answer-writing after clearing Phase 1.

Phase 2 entails both descriptive answers as well as objective-based questions. While Paper 1, i.e., English descriptive, contains 100 marks, the descriptive section of both ESI and ARD consists of 100 out of 200 marks.

Hence, two-thirds of the total weightage of the Phase 2 exam is based on descriptive answer writing.

Keeping that in mind, it becomes important for candidates to not leave answer-writing practice until the last minute.

After covering a considerable portion of the syllabus, begin your answer-writing practice for English descriptive, ESI, and ARD subjects.

By doing so early on in your preparation, it will give you an edge over others in getting selected for the final stage of the exam process, i.e., the interview.

Thus, I advise you to not ignore the practice of answer-writing and to inculcate this practice as soon as possible in your exam strategy.

Mistake No. 05: Not knowing when to cover current affairs

The most common question that I often get asked by aspiring candidates is: when should they start reading about current affairs?

As is the case for answer-writing, many candidates focus more on covering the static part of the syllabus first and then preparing for current affairs.

However, that is one of the wrong ways to approach the syllabus, as current affairs contain numerous facts and details, and it becomes a challenge to cover them comprehensively.

Instead of leaving it until the last minute, you must make current affairs a part of your daily study plan.

For that, you can divide your day into three sessions, e.g., during the morning and night, you can cover the static part, and during the afternoon session, you can focus on current affairs.

Employing this method will help you divide the vast current affairs section into smaller segments that you can easily cover during the day.

This will help you retain all the facts, and most of all, it will help you fight the fear of missing out, or what the millennials today like to call “FOMO.”

Advice to the aspirants

Lastly, my advice for the aspirants is to seriously consider these mistakes and make sure not to commit them during your exam preparation.

Hence, do active revision, refer to the right resources, practice answer-writing, solve as many mock tests as possible, and cover current affairs daily.

With adequate practice, focused efforts, and confidence, you can definitely increase your chances of success in this exam!

To conclude, I would like to suggest that avoiding these mistakes and instead following the tips mentioned above will increase your chances of success in this exam.

 

So, work on your shortcomings, prepare thoroughly, and stay confident, and I assure you that your dreams of becoming the future RBI Grade B officer are not that far away!

 

I wish you the utmost success in your exam preparations, and may your aspirations soar to new heights, for the human spirit that knows no bounds in terms of potential very much lies in you!