Competitive Exams In India after Graduation & a Complete Guide to Prepare This
Competitive exams in India are essential if you want to make a career with the Central or state government, Indian Armed Forces, nationalized banks and other public-sector companies.
They enable you to compete fairly with thousands of applicants from across the country.
Competitive exams in India can be somewhat hard because the government and public-sector employers look at hiring the best candidates for vacancies.
Importance of Competitive Exams in India
There are reasons why governments and public-sector employers ask you to pass a competitive examination.
Employment for government and Public-Sector Units (PSU jobs) in India was done straightforwardly during British colonial rule of the subcontinent and for a few years post 1947.
Jobseekers sent applications for a vacancy and had to pass one or more interviews. Those found suitable were hired.
Unfortunately, the system had many loopholes. Bio-data and interviews could not judge the skills of job seekers.
Further, it left scope for influencing the hiring process: anyone with good connections could bag a government or public-sector job based upon recommendation or pressure from higher-ups, politicians and other influential people. To a great extent, competitive exams eliminate this possibility.
Reasons for Competitive Examinations in India
The rise in the number of applicants for government jobs and PSU jobs made the old system increasingly redundant. A need to hire people with proper skills was also felt to cause functioning of governments and public-sector units.
Hence, the government and public sector hiring process introduced competitive exams
Competitive exams enable job-seekers with sufficient knowledge and skills to get suitable posts in the government and private sector. These competitive exams also develop skills employers generally look for, which are used throughout your life.
Only top scorers in competitive examinations are selected for jobs. They leave no scope for influencing the hiring process. This means you can get an excellent job with governments and PSU without fear of unfair competition from people who have high connections or can pay bribes to get selected.
Modules of Competitive Exams in India
To make a career of your choice, it is essential to know how competitive exams in India are administered. The type of tests and written papers will depend on where you are applying for a job.
Competitive exams in India can roughly be divided into four modules. There are various categories under these modules. These categories depend upon the employer and nature of the job.
- Physical Fitness: Administered through medical checks at authorised hospitals and clinics.
- Mental Aptitude: Consists of psychometric tests to gauge intelligence, problem-solving skills and personality tests.
- Skills Test: Done in the form of written exams for general knowledge and skills in languages, mathematics, general knowledge and science.
You might not have to pass the physical fitness and mental aptitude tests for some government and public-sector jobs. However, you should be prepared to take these tests too if you want to apply for good posts and make a great career.
Here we will look at the top skills-based modules of competitive exams in India.
General English for Competitive Exams in India
You will need moderate English language skills to pass this part of a competitive exam. Usually, the English language test consists of five parts.
- Comprehension: You have to read and comprehend a short article. Also, you have to answer questions based on the topic.
- Cloze Test: In this section, you have to write the appropriate word to create meaningful sentences. You will be given a paragraph or a short article where some words are removed from sentences.
- Proof Reading/ Spotting Errors: For this, you will need perfect punctuations and grammatical skills. You have to proofread an article, find and correct punctuation errors and spelling mistakes.
- Grammar Test: In this test, you will have to check a topic or sentences for proper use of nouns, verbs, tense and other grammatical features.
- Jumbled Sentences: A paragraph containing randomly arranged sentences will be given. You have to sort out these sentences and rewrite them in proper order.
English Grammar for Competitive Examinations
All the tests mentioned above require moderate level grammatical skills. You can quickly acquire them by reading English newspapers, magazines and books.
Also, there are several online guides and mobile apps that you can use to improve English grammar skills before appearing for a competitive exam.
Remember, the test requires moderate level English. This means, there is not much emphasis on the use of complicated words. Instead, vernacular words you use daily will feature in the test. But knowing their proper use and context is very important.
General Knowledge for Competitive Exams in India
General Knowledge is sometimes called General Awareness. It is a vital test for every competitive exam in India. This test can be tough unless you read newspapers daily.
You will also need a good knowledge of history and geography. Some general knowledge tests can consist of questions about various laws and rules related to your job.
Cracking a general knowledge or general awareness test can be very difficult. Thankfully, excellent books are available at bookstores and online.
Reading these will help you prepare for the general knowledge test. Remember, this field is very vast. The more you study, better your chances of passing the general knowledge/ general awareness test with excellent marks.
General Science for Competitive Exams in India
A lot of competitive exams in India also include a section called General Science. You are not expected to know all scientific terms. Basic knowledge about physics, chemistry and biology that you learned up to your Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams would be sufficient.
However, there is a catch here. If you are applying for posts as an engineer, paramedical, medical and scientific positions in the government or public sector, you will require knowledge to match qualifications.
There are certain NCERT books available online to refer for these competitive exams to prepare thoroughly for general science.
To answer general science questions, you need to stay updated with the latest scientific developments and technological terms.
These can include common words used in computer science and mobile technology, space exploration and the Internet. Here too, questions can get complicated depending upon the nature of the job you are applying.
Current affairs for the competitive exam also plays a crucial role. For that, you need to thoroughly update yourself by reading newspapers like The Hindu, The Indian Express, Times of India and magazines.
Also, average level competitive exams also include general level quant which you can be easily mastered with certain books like R.S. Aggarwal books, Arihant and many other renowned books.
