RBI Officer Grade B Dream Job of Banking Aspirant

(The Flash Strategy, Study material and Full Exam Structure)

Article By: - Gaurav (The Flash)

On request of many of aspirants Im here to share my strategy, study material and important links which
is required to crack the exam of RBI officer Grade-B also known as dream job of a banking aspirant. As
you know its RBI so I dont think I need to tell you about the level of exam but its not unbreakable.
Every exam has its own pattern and standard and need a different strategy and work. Aspirant just need
perfect strategy (smart work) practice (hard work) and stress free mind to crack present competitive
exam standard.
The aspirants who cracked RBI Grade B, also the aspirant like us. Things which make them different is
their determination, regularity and their smart work. Todays competition requirement is not only
hard work but it need smart work also. So now let me tell you about the structure of exam, and some
tips (strategy and material). (Strategy and material also will be helpful in other exams having same
structure and syllabus I.e. NABARD Officer Grade A & B)
RBI Officer Grade B exam has 3 phase in exam

Phase-1 (Preliminary Test)-Objective type

Phase-2(mains)-Objective and Descriptive (English only)
Phase-3 Interview

Phase-1 (Preliminary Test)-Objective type:-

This is the first phase of RBI Officer Grade B exam it is just qualifying, Marks secured by you in this
phase will not be counted to make final merit list so you just need to cross this hurdle. This exam is
same as other banking exam it has QA, Reasoning, English and GA with banking awareness. Having
sectional cut-off and also the overall cut-off But wait its RBI it should be different from others isnt it?
so they change the weightage of question asked in each sections. So it need different strategy than other
banking exams.
Subject No. Of question asked Maximum marks
General Awareness 80 80

Quantitative Aptitude 30 30
Reasoning 60 60
English 30 30
Total 200 200

Now lets discuss each section independently (also important for other banking Exams)
General Awareness:-
This section is the most important and most scoring section of this exam if you score 50+ in this section
then you just need to clear only sectional cut-off of other sections.so prepare it as primary and jackpot
weapon. Topics which are mostly asked in this sections belong to RBI News, Banking news and banking
terms, Govt. schemes, current Affairs (of 6 month from exam is enough) Economy, finance news, static
Gk etc.
Ok now let me tell you my strategy to score high in GA and what to read where to prepare as I scored
70.50 in this section only of RBI grade B Exam.
First thing that I need to tell you GA is not the subject that you can prepare in a day or in a week. In this
subject you need to do daily work.
Read The Hindu or The Indian express etc. newspaper daily
Read any Economic news paper for economic and finance news
Read and note down current affairs and static GK
Read important latest circulars of RBI from its official site
Where to read:-
Current Affairs:-BAs daily GK Update, The Hindu review weekly Tonics and Quizzes,
specially The Hindu Quiz and revision classes are beneficial
Economic & finance news- online news paper (Economic Times, business Line) or blogs
my recommendation www.livemint.com
The Hindu- you can read it from official site or App or you can prefer BAs monthly The
Hindu Review
Static GK- BAs static Sections
Govt. Schemes- Google it
India year book
BAs monthly magazine
Tip: - Note Down daily GK updates from BA, newspapers, economic news in your copy and revise 7 days
news on Sunday and also do quizzes based on GA daily
Quantitative Aptitude:
In most of banking exams this section is having 40-50 questions but In RBI Grade B exam this section is
having 30 questions. This section could be nightmare of some aspirants but I think you dont need to
afraid from it. Regular practice of this subject can make you master in it. (#Personal Experience). There
is a line said for this subject Jitna Pen Ghisoge Utna Dimag Chalega. Means more practice can make
your mind to face any type of problem. The questions in this section can be asked in same manner as
other banking exams and also in same pattern but important thing is you first need to attempt those
which are less calculative and took less time as we know Banking exam is the Game of Time and
Accuracy.
Simplification/approximation, Quadratic equations, Series, Data interpretation, Misc. (profit-
loss, SI-CI, boat-stream, train, time distance, time-work, mixture-allegation etc.)
Tip: - If you are good in it then try to score much by attempting more questions in your fix time for this
section and if youre not good in this subject just try to clear cut-off and score in other subject.
Where to read: - Practice book on quicker math by K.kundan, fast track arithmetic by Rajesh
Verma ,Bankersaddas Quizzes and study notes for latest standard of problems
Reasoning:-
This section has 60 questions for 60 marks and this section is also quite scoring only thing you need to
do is practice and understanding of language of question. In todays competition they tried to put
question which may eat your time as I said banking exams are the game of time and accuracy. By
attempting less time taking questions first you can attempt and score more in this section. Practice to
selection of questions in speed-test or in your Practice. As it has 60 marks try to score more to cross
over all cut-off.
Inequality, coding decoding, syllogism, input-output, misc. (age, direction, ranking, relations
etc.), puzzles, sitting arrangement, analytical reasoning
Where to read: - BAs daily quizzes, do puzzles from other sites too for understanding latest
standard, and choose any book for concepts and understanding of other topics my
recommendation -Indu sharma or R.S. Aggarwal or MK Pandey
Tip: -Prepare all topics even statement assumptions etc. sometimes you may see these questions so
Prepare for worst to give your Best
English:-
English is also having 30 questions and 30 marks in this exam sometime this section is game changer in
other banking exams but not in RBI. It does not mean you should take it lightly remember you have to
clear sectional cut-off too. Pattern and questions will be ask same as other banking exams.
Cloze test, Passage (antonyms and synonyms only), fillers, Grammar error, Para jumble, Passage
questions
Tip: - make your habit to read Any English news-paper (The Hindu and The Indian express are best),
English magazines, and novels. Learn at least 10-15 new words, write articles and then check
grammatical errors, If you are good in it then try to score much by attempting more questions in your
fix time for this section and if youre not good in this subject just try to clear cut-off and score in other
subject.
Where to read: - make your habit to read Any English news-paper (The Hindu and The Indian
express are best), English magazines, and novels. Learn at least 10-15 new words, writing
articles and then check grammatical errors, Objective General English by-SP Bakshi (for
grammar rules and concepts), BAs passages and error, filler quizzes and note down daily
wordlist. Just google GMAT reading comprehension or CAT reading comprehension youll
come across plenty of sites providing mock questions.

Phase-2 (Mains):-
Phase 2 of RBI officer Grade B exam is important phase and its marks will be added in making of final
merit list. It need subject knowledge only though RBI Officer Grade B exam invites applications from
different faculty background candidates and syllabus is only indicative not exhaustive so If you have
just started for RBI Grade B exam then dont worry 4 month is enough time to crack this exam.(both
Phase1 & Phase2).
Name of Paper Type of Paper Time Max marks

Paper-I: Objective Type 90 min 100

Economic and Social Issues

Paper-II: Descriptive, to be typed with the help 90 min 100

English (Writing Skills) of the keyboard

Paper-III: (Optional) Objective type 90 min 100

Finance and Management or
Economics or Statistics

From 2015s RBI officer Grade B notification the pattern of exam has been changed. All papers are
online and paper 1 and paper 3 is in objective type and paper 2 English is descriptive type and
answers to be typed with the help of keyboard.
Paper-I: Economic and Social Issues:-
As I said earlier the syllabus of this exam is only indicative not exhaustive .so you just need to have basic
and subject knowledge of topics you dont need to do Ph.D. in topics, basic knowledge and
understanding of topics is enough. Some aspirants opting for academically heavy books like Dutt and
sundaram for Economy .remember Guys you dont have to read the books you have to read the topics.
So always keep the syllabus in front of you and preparation should be topic wise not book wise. The
material which I have read and I am going to recommend you is might be looking lengthy but believe
me it will hardly take 20-25 days if you read it topic wise according to syllabus.
Here Im dividing strategy in two stages. I think most of us didnt read basic books so first we need to
drink some bournvita and eat some almond in our starter before moving to main course.
Foundation:
Basic understanding: sectors of economy, concept of money and development To get the Basic
idea about GDP, GNP, Public Debt, IIP, FII etc. -NCERT Class10(understanding economic
development)
Now Understand: Socialism, Communism, Capitalism, LPG (liberalisation, globalisation, and
privatisation), and Green Revolution etc. NCERT: Class11 (Indian economic development)
Finally: microeconomic concepts of supply and demand, elasticity etc. (without going to in
mathematical details) NCERTClass12: Macro Economy : money and banking, role of RBI
etc. (without going to in mathematical details)

Main Course:
After youre done with basic foundation, time for main course doing selective topic wise study from
IGNOU B.A. booklets and Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh .these books are written in very well
structure and simple language any one even non-economic background guy can understand their
language easily.
For Economic Reforms in India Industrial and Labour Policy Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Privatisation Role of Economic Planning. Globalization Opening up of the Indian Economy
Balance of Payments, Export Import Policy,
B.A. (Economics) Booklets: They will help you cover various topics such as SEBI, Indian Economy
Balance of Payments, and Export Import Policy
For International Economic Institutions IMF and World Bank WTO-read IGNOU BA books or
Google it and read from official sites or Use Gaurav Aggarwals (UPSC-2013 topper) economics
notes.
If still any topic remain use Wikipedia, google books etc.

The Flash Recommendation

NCERT Economics Books CLASS 10,11 & 12 (can be downloaded free from official sites and from
My Drive link)
IGNOU BA Economics Booklet (can be downloaded free from internet and my drive Link)
GAURAV Aggarwals notes and Official sites study of RBI and International Economic Institutions
(You can google it or download it from my drive link)
Mrunals Economy and economic survey (latest) videos Highly Recommended (YouTube
link- https://goo.gl/BMMjcE )
Use TMH GS manual for practicing economy MCQs or economics MCQs of UPSC Pre standard
for worst case
Magazines-RBI Bulletins and YOJNA
News Papers- The Hindu & Mint or Economic Times
India Year Book
The Flashs Articles
PS: - This material is standard (NCERT & IGNOU) you can get every piece of knowledge required for the
exam. Dont go for reference books (provided in RBI Syllabus) they are academic books have very depth
knowledge. You just need to clear an exam not to do Ph.D. in the subject so these heavy books should
be avoided and remember just do topic wise study. And also dont buy any readymade book for RBI
Grade B preparation its just waste of your money. Read topics the best you can get from

Paper III Finance and Management:

I had taken Finance and management in paper III optional subject. The main reason behind it
overlapping of topics and in above sources (Paper-1 Recommendations) youll find plenty of material
overlapping with Finance, and remaining topics are from current bills, schemes and finance institutions
working. So lets jump directly on management section. Again authentic IGNOU source and management
portion is like story book and does not require so much application.
Leadership theories, Formal and informal communication, Theories of motivation, Motivation and
morale, For HR topics and recruitment, training, performance appraisal, rewards and incentive
Management etc. IGNOU M.A. (Public Administration) course human resource management.

The Flash Recommendation

Principal of management-PC Tripathi
IGNOU Booklet-Financial Administration
Internet Blogs and some Official sites
YouTube Channels (UnAcademy etc.)
Mrunal.org s Public Administration section
Newspaper-The Hindu & Mint or Economic times
Magazines- RBI Bulletins & YOJNA
The Flashs Articles
PS: - I might miss some topics or unavailable in material can be read from various blogs. And you can
also prefer Finance and management by Prasanna Chandra
Adda247 is good site and appreciable initiative a by BankersAdda for preparing current affairs and I
have watched some videos of finance and banking terms on their YouTube channels. This also can be
beneficial and recommended for the preparation.

Paper II English Writing Skills

In 2015 paper they only asked Essay and precise writing that mean only writing skill English. Though
it is a skill test I cant tell you exact what to prepare for this subject but I can give you tip to prepare for
this subject.
Daily read The Hindu or The Indian Express Editorial Section
Buy any book which give you understanding of Descriptive paper means how to write essay
(Effective in less words and less time) my recommendation Descriptive English by S.P Bakshi
or compulsory English by A.P. Bhardwaj or you can take tips from blogs or YouTube or Toppers
notes
Read magazines like YOJNA or any social magazine.
Read articles and try to write it in your own language
Practice previous year papers
Do some typing practice.

Phase-3:- Interview
Read my Interview Experience here- http://goo.gl/KcOjPd
The Flash Drive Link: - https://goo.gl/9WJ9ss
I may tell you chapters or pages to read but I want you to do some homework before start preparation.
Just download and go through recommended material and put syllabus in front of you then search
required topic in the material. Mark it or make your own pdf by assembling all topics. By doing this
youll always see syllabus first for such big exams and most importantly youll understand there is
nothing from which you need to afraid of. If you did this your Fear for this exam will be gone. Your full
dedication, Smart work and stress free preparation will give you success.
ALL THE BEST!!