“Stop doubting yourself, Work Hard & Make it Happen!” : Sambit Samanta (BOB PO 2017)

Hello, folks, I’m Sambit from Kolkata, West Bengal. Finally this day is here;  I was impatiently waiting for to write my success story.

Graduation: 2013(B.Tech Mechanical Engineering)

PGDM: Power Plant engineering (NPTI, Badarpur 2015)

Well, after I did my post-graduate diploma in Power Plant, I got a job in power sector; the posting was in Gujarat. I was very much eager to join, but my parents somehow convinced me to give a try for Govt. job this time sincerely. 

So, roughly around Sept.2015 I started my preparation. My 1st sincere attempt was IBPS PO in 2015, where I was short of 1.5 marks from prelims cut off. It gave me little confidence ya, with mere 1 month of preparation I came so close, if I work little harder, better outcomes should definitely follow. 

Then continued a plethora of innumerable failures:

IBPS CLERK 2015- Failed in mains (got 112 cut off was probably 151 in West Bengal)

SBI CLERK 2016- Failed in Mains (got 122, cut off was 133)

SBI PO 2016 – Failed in Mains (missed overall cut off by 10 marks)

RRB PO 2016- Failed in Mains by .25 marks (cut off was 97.25, got 97)

RRB Assistant 2016- Failed in prelims (got 67.5, cut was skyhigh 70)

Bank Of Baroda 2016- Failed in overall cut off by 10 marks (got 96 cut off was 106)

Bank of Maharashtra 2016 – Failed in overall cut off (got 111 cut off was probably 120 or so)

IBPS PO 2016- Couldn’t make it to final list (got 37.9 cut off was 39.9)

IBPS Clerk 2016 – Failed in Mains (got 66, cut off was 80 in West Bengal)

CGL 2016- Failed in Tier I (got 133, cut off was 137)

Railways NTPC – Failed in phase I (missed cut off by 0.125 marks in West Bengal)

IPPB – Failed in prelims

NIACL AO 2017- Failed in mains (got 86, cut off was 99)

NIACL ASSISTANT 2017- Failed in prelims (got 75.5 marks, don’t remember the cut off of West Bengal)

RBI Assistant 2017- failed in prelims (got 70, cut off was 81 in West Bengal)

Bank of India (PGDM)- Failed in mains

GIC 2017- Failed in overall cut off (got 75 cut off was 96.75)

RBI Grade B- Failed in Phase II

NABARD GRADE A & B- Both failed in phase I

SBI PO 2017 – Failed in mains

NICL AO 2017 – Failed in mains

Bank Of Baroda 2017- Finally selected.

These were not the only exams I failed, there were many more. Approximately more than 50 exams, I was defeated, yet I kept on going. Ultimately, now only peace prevails. Well, I would like to share 2 formula for success-

3P- Patience, Perseverance and Purity of heart – Swami Vivekananda

Bank exams really tests our patience; smartwork + hardwork is inevitable, unless we inculcate good human values (purity of heart), success remains a farfetched journey.

3H- Head, Hand & Heart – Mahatma Gandhi

We should understand the subjects and concepts from the head (brains), we should practice ceaselessly with our hand and we should love our subject from the core of our heart.

Coming to the preparation point of view, my strategy for different subjects are mentioned below:-

Reasoning:- 

When I started preparing I avoided the puzzles, but later on I found more than 50% of the questions comprised of puzzles only, so I worked on this weakness, and made myself to some extent flexible in dealing with difficult puzzles. Aspirants, “P” for puzzle, and “P” for practice, that’s the only thing that can help. Please stay updated with the latest new pattern of questions of reasoning and practice them regularly. I won’t recommend any books, follow online study materials from various websites and apps. Also solve, puzzles using stopwatch and improve your speed.

Quant:- 

I always thought if not strong, I’m not bad in maths, but this self-reflection of mine was absolutely shattered after the debacle of SBI PO Mains Quant section. Those 45 mins were too tough for me to deal with. Guys, without any primary knowledge of Arithmetic, sectional cut off can be easily cleared, as questions of quadratic equations, approximation, series, prelims level DI doesn’t require much concept, good speed is the key factor here. So, my fellow friends, in order to score high in this sections, please go through the chapters of arithmetic in which you’re strong and do those question in the exam.

English:- 

Although I am an avid reader and consider myself good in English, still I felt jitters facing the questions in this section. Its getting tougher day by day. Reading is the of utmost importance to deal with RCs and increasing your reading speed. Apart from that, the spotting errors or sentence correction questions checks your grammar. So, be thorough with the grammar rules and practice lots of questions. I used to read editorials of the newspaper, The Telegraph everyday and it immensely helped me in faster understanding of RCs and also improved my vocabulary. Now, Vocabulary is like a vast ocean and every words are its water particles, so extensive time is required to acquire a storehouse of words. Read and maintain a notebook of new words you encounter everyday and give revision of them regularly.

I never followed any books for this section, so I would suggest, after going through the basics of grammar practice different types of qs.of recent trends.

General Awareness:- 

Now, this section is an absolute game changer, I failed lots of exams as I couldn’t score good in this section. This section doesn’t require any grey matter, just your memory is tested here, your ability to retain information and how much you’re aware of the contemporary events taking place around you. What I followed was daily current affairs updates of Bankersadda, attempted daily current affairs quizzes and Hindu quizzes. Lastly, read capsule for revision purpose. Preparing only from this two sources will cover 90% of the current affairs portions. For banking knowledge, sneak some time from your busy schedule and watch Kush Sir’s BBM shows, indeed you’ll have vivid knowledge about banking.

Computer:- You can read and rely on various capsules of computer available and then go through various types of questions that may arise from a certain section. This section is really scoring, don’t take it for granted and little effort is definitely required to excel in this section.

This was the section wise strategy, now the most important thing is to face mock tests. 

Purchase good standard quality test series and face them regularly and analyse them properly. Analysis of mock tests really plays an important role, don’t simply face the mocks without analysing and revising them regularly. I personally followed Career Power test series.

This was all about preparation. Now I would share the pivotal points that I used to follow every single day to increase my focus, concentration, awareness and presence of mind, dealing with stress and be absolutely unaffected from provocative words of near and dear ones. Now also I do these everyday without failure,

Zillion thanks to Bhagavan Krishna, my parents, my elder brother, my friends and foes, BA and everyone whoever helped me in this journey.

Friends, just keep preparing, do your best and leave everything to God, the day you refrain yourself from the fruits of your actions, success will follow.  Please be unaffected by success and failure, just be in true knowledge. All the best.

Thank you so much. 

Regards

Sambit Samanta

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