- What was the timeline of your preparation? For how many months did you prepare?
- I began preparing specifically for RBI Grade B exam only after the notification was released on 3rd July 2018. Phase – I of the exam was on 16th Aug 2018. Topics I covered in these 1.5 months,
- Practiced Quant and LR questions from free mock tests
- Made notes on GA from Kiran Prakashan magazines and revised these numerous times
- Covered certain ESI topics by reading and making notes on Budget 2018, Economic Survey 2018, Census 2011 and SECC 2011
- Read through RBI and other relevant websites and made notes
- Read up and tried to understand the basics of Finance from the first NCFM module
- After Phase – I of the exam, we had 3 weeks (extended to 4 weeks as exam got postponed this year due to Kerala floods) before Phase – II of the exam on 15th Sep 2018, in which I
- Covered remaining topics from ESI syllabus
- Read, understood derivations of and practiced Finance Numericals
- Prepared Management notes
- Revised all previously made notes
- Attempted 3 Practicemock Phase – II tests
- My interview was on 14th Dec 2018, for which I began preparing seriously from around 25th Nov 2018. But I had been jotting down potential questions since the day Phase – II results were announced on 8th Oct 2018
- Note : I had a background of having prepared for Civil Services Exam for 2 years before the RBI Grade B 2018 notification was out. This preparation, and the fact that I am comfortable with math and English, helped me with a few topics, and hence the timeline for a beginner would be different
- I began preparing specifically for RBI Grade B exam only after the notification was released on 3rd July 2018. Phase – I of the exam was on 16th Aug 2018. Topics I covered in these 1.5 months,
- Are Kiran Prakashan magazines sufficient for GA? How are these vis-à-vis Affairscloud magazines?
- I found Kiran Prakashan magazines to be sufficient for GA. The information given in these is precisely what is needed for RBI Grade B exam
- Regarding Affairscloud magazines, I was unable to locate their monthly compilations. I did read their weekly magazines for a month but these cover way too many facts, many of which are not relevant from RBI Grade B point of view. Of course Affairscloud magazines do cover all the relevant points, but the effort required to filter out the irrelevant stuff is too great
- Which newspaper, in addition to The Hindu, should I read?
- Personally, I did not refer to any newspaper other than The Hindu, which I have been reading daily for almost 3 years now
- To me, the purpose of reading any newspaper from RBI Grade B point of view is to firstly, develop a taste for economics and know the issues facing the Indian economy and secondly, keep oneself up to date on actions taken by regulators like RBI and SEBI. Both these points are very well covered by The Hindu
- Reading the Editorial and Business pages of The Hindu (and simultaneously looking up on the net terms/concepts one did not understand), should suffice. In the Business page, I would recommend reading only news related to RBI, SEBI and the Indian banking sector. Other items can be skipped. The entire Editorial page can be read daily. Keep a lookout for the small editorial on the left after every Monetary Policy Committee meet
- If still interested in reading another newspaper, I would recommend going for
LiveMintBusiness Standard
- Can I ask doubts regarding economic and financial terms?
- Due to time constraints, for now I am not in a position to answer doubts other than those stemming from the contents of my blog or those related to my preparation strategy
- Moreover, as mentioned in the first blog post, coaching is not necessary for this exam, only guidance is. I am sure everyone preparing for this exam would be able to understand all terms/concepts on their own, once they have access to authentic, relevant sources
- Having said that, if someone finds a particular concept too difficult to understand from the sources mentioned above in the blog, I would be happy to point to other sources on the net which can help make things clearer
- I find paragraph based questions of Phase – II of the exam very difficult. How did you go about solving these?
- It is essential to keep in mind that these are not typical ‘reading comprehension’ type questions and the answers are rarely mentioned within the paragraph. Mostly it is also not possible to deduce the answer from facts mentioned in the paragraph.
- In my opinion, the ‘difficulty’ associated with these questions is more of a mental block wherein we find the question difficult simply because we are unable to find the answer within the paragraph, like we are accustomed to
- Hence, I used to try and answer these questions without even reading the paragraph first
- If able to answer, I read the paragraph to confirm that the option chosen is somewhat related to the content of the paragraph
- If unable to answer, I still read the paragraph to see if some content in the paragraph helps answer the question
- Some of the scheme based questions asked in paragraphs are difficult because these are unheard of schemes – for these try and answer through intelligent guesswork, else leave as there is not much one can do about such factual questions
- Other questions asked in paragraphs are mostly straightforward and easy to answer
- Links to some of the questions answered by me on Quora so far
- Does ‘luck play a role in selection? If yes, how to negate this effect?
- How to study RBI website for this exam?
- Is preparing solely for RBI Grade B a good option?
- Sequence of preparation of Phase – II topics?
- Simplest strategy to clear Phase – I as it is all about ‘clearing the cutoff’?
- How is essay writing in RBI Grade B different from that in UPSC CSE?
- Is it necessary to read books like Datt-Sundharam and Mishra-Puri?
- Elements of a ‘good strategy’ for Phase – II?
- Test series for Phase – II – Practicemock or Oliveboard?
- When should I start preparing for RBI Grade B 2019?
RBI Grade B 2018 | no coaching notes | AIR 27
Skidha's blog 
hello sir,Kindly share the strategy and reading material for nabard grade a,as i am not eligible for rbi garde b,whether is esi section reading material same as you wrote here?
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Hi Simarjeet,
I did not prepare for NABARD Grade A and it would not be appropriate for me to make specific recommendations regarding it. However, I did look up the syllabus today, and even for ESI, there seem to be a lot of topics in addition to those mentioned in RBI Grade B syllabus. Hence I feel that the material posted by me on this blog won’t be sufficient for your preparation. Moreover, even for overlapping topics, the way questions are framed by NABARD could be different from the way they are asked by RBI. For example, for Social Issues, RBI mostly asks Govt scheme based questions, while this may not hold true for NABARD.
Some general recommendations –
1. Look up strategies and material followed by previous NABARD Grade A toppers on the net
2. Study the type of questions asked by NABARD in previous years (these may be hard to find but are available on portals like pagalguy, telegram, coaching websites etc)
3. If possible, subscribe to Kurukshetra magazine published by the Govt. The content in here is very relevant to the work that NABARD does, and even if this does not help you directly with the exam, it will help shape your views for the interview and Essay in English descriptive
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help here
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Respected Sir, 1st of all thank you for sharing such valuable information(Strategy) for the RBI Grade B– Exam. Sir i have Banking Exp. of 2 years n presently, working in a PSU bank, however regarding Phase -II (ESI & Fin.) of said exam is new to me. I have just started my prep. , Syllabus for Ph- II seems to be very vast and i guess exam is expected to be in June- July. The problem is, i get very less time (2-3 hrs/ Weekdays – 8-10/ weekends) to pre. for the exam and i m worried all the time , whether i do have sufficient time (this is my 1st n last attempt), my morale is very low … please sir kindly help me out.
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Hi Aakaash,
I’d love to help but can we take this up over e-mail, and not here on the blog, since this is not very relevant from other candidates’ point of view. Please drop me a mail on skidha1993@gmail.com
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Hello Sir,
Thanks a lot for your help. A general doubt it this year economic survey is not out. Let’s say it comes out close to exam what should I do then? How long does it take to read the economic survey?
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Hi Chaitanya, for now you should study last year’s Economic Survey. If this year’s Survey is released within 7 days of the Phase – I exam, it would be safe to not study it in detail for Phase – I, and study it in detail only for Phase – II. However, I would recommend giving it a casual read (at least Volume 1) even before the Phase – I exam. If released any time before that, do study Volume 1 in detail. Normally, it takes me 2 full days to cover Volume 1 of the Economic Survey (studying it + understanding new terms + making notes). I avoid studying Volume 2 in detail because it contains just too many facts. I just give it a casual reading and note down any highly important facts like trend in GDP.
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Hi Shreerang, can you throw some light on the joining status of your batch. This will give some idea about the effect of case pending in Delhi High Court on this year’s notification of RBI grade-B exam.
Thanks brother for the initiative.
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Hi Vaibhav, we have not received the joining date yet but joining formalities like referee and police verification, medical examination etc have begun. However, in every communication to us so far RBI has added the clause stating that joining is subject to decision of Delhi HC on the writ petition
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Hi Shreerang,
First of all, thanks a lot for running this blog.It is an amazing effort.
I have couple of questions on your answer to “Is preparing solely for “RBI Grade B” a good option?”
1. Did you quit your UPSC preparation after 2018 prelims and considered these alternatives(RBI, SEBI A, SBI PO) seriously or were these just trials? I mean, did your main priority change from UPSC to these exams?
2. Are there any serious disadvantages in the interview round, if i am preparing solely for RBI Grade B being jobless after 2 years of Work Ex?
Also, the mocks on ixambee, was the difficulty level on par with the actual exam (esp non GA sections)?
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Hi Sai Teja, sorry for the late reply. To answer your queries –
1. Although SBI PO and SEBI were ‘trials’ which I attempted without preparing much (no prep at all in case of SBI PO), RBI Grade B was not a trial for me. I really wanted to clear it and devoted all my time towards studying for it.
2. No, there are no such disadvantages. Just be confident about how you justify the gap. It is okay to say that the gap was for Civil Services preparation. And it is okay to say that you began looking for alternatives because you were unable to clear UPSC CSE. More than half my batch has that background!
3. I attempted only the free Phase 1 mocks by Ixambee and found those to be of good enough quality. No idea about their Phase 2 mocks though.
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Please let me know the kiran prakshan magazines are titled as ? As i numerous of them , which is the one to be read from your perspective ?
Thanks
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https://www.magzter.com/IN/Kiran-Prakashan/Banking-&-Current-Affairs-Update/Education/
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Will you tell us about the resources or books (online and offline) u have used for SEBI Grade A exam?
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Hi, I didn’t prepare very seriously and don’t remember much. But from what I remember, I think studying all the FAQs and other parts from SEBI website (especially Acts, Regulations etc) is very important. Sorry, couldn’t be of much help here.
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Hello sir, I’m heading towards my third year in DU. Would you please mind suggesting from where to start preparing for RBI 2021? Regards
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Hi Nishant, I have recently created a post titled ‘Strategy’ on the blog. Please refer to that
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Hello Sir , is Kiran Prakashan a reliable source for Grade B 2020.
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Hi Abhishek, I found Kiran Prakashan banking magazines to be of excellent quality. If these are being published regularly, there’s no harm in studying current affairs from these for 2020 exam.
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Sir, First of all, thank you very much for creating a helpful blog. Sir my query is related to interview and I not it is a very silly question but I am eagerly searching the answer to this question. The question is, Is it must have a clean shave while interview or we can do it with normal trimmed and formal beard. I have been seeking for this question for a long time but not getting an answer. And the reason for this question is that I look very confident, good and responsible in the beard but on the other hand in clean shave result is very opposite.
Please, sir, guide me, you are my last hope.
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Hi Vaibhav,
Personally I prefer attending interviews clean shaven. There are no fixed norms on beard while attending interviews. I would recommend that you appear in a look that makes you feel confident before the panel.
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Is Kiran Prakashan magazine also sufficient for other banking sector exams like IBPS and SBI PO?
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Sorry, I haven’t prepared much for these exams, so I not very sure. Also, Kiran Prakashan seems to have stopped publication after April 2020. But yes, in general these banking magazines should suffice for all bank related exams’ current affairs.
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How can i deal with phase 2 ESI and FM descriptive paper?
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Hi Shailesh, questions asked in descriptive very quite basic. So you just need to be thorough with basic concepts of Finance, Management and Economics. You can try picking up one concept at a time and write about it in your own words to check exactly how much you understand it. Also, typing these on notepad would be a good idea as you need typing practice for this exam as well.
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HOW MUCH TIME IS SUFFICENT FOR A NON UPSC ASPIRANT TO PREPARE FOR ESI PAPER BECAUSE ITS SYLLABUS IS VAST AND HAS TO START FROM ZERO ?
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Respected sir
Can you please provide the link of kiran prakashan magazine
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I am from Marathi medium background, so what should I do so that I can write, speak in English?
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