Government Exams are the toughest and elite set of exams. There are a variety of exams conducted for recruitment under state government and central government sectors throughout the year.
1. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC):
The UPSC exams, also known as Civil Services Examinations, are conducted every year for recruitment under various civil service departments such as IAS, IPS, IFS, ICAS, and so on. The recruitment process usually takes several months to complete. In order to be eligible, you should be a degree holder between 21-32 years of age.
Firstly you will need to be physically fit in all the specified areas. Next, you will need to write a qualifying preliminary exam in round 1 which is generally conducted between May to June. The preliminary exam comprises two compulsory papers each carrying 200 marks and the time duration for each paper is generally 2 hours. The most important of each paper is the penalty or negative marking you need to watch out for. The negative marking is generally one-third of the marks allotted for the question.
The preliminary test qualified candidates move on to round 2 which is the mains round which comprises 9 written tests followed by an interview. This process generally takes place in September. The written test is based on many topics specified in the syllabus and you will need to write a lot of essays. The whole writing paper carries 1750 marks and an additional personality test (interview) for 275 marks is added as well. For more details or queries refer to the UPSC portal.
2. Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (SSC-CGL):
There are many types of SSC exams such as SSC-CGL, SSC-CHSL, SSC-Multitasking, SSC-JE, and so on. Let’s go through SSC-CGL. The departments you may be eligible for include inspector of income tax, inspector of excise and customs, Examiner in Customs, Tax Assistant, etc. The dates for the exam vary depending on tiers.
For tier-1 the exam is generally conducted in March and for other tiers, it is conducted in November. And of course, you will need to be a degree holder to take the exam in the case of SSC-CGL. The tier-1 exam tests you on General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, and English Comprehension. The questions are Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and the negative mark of -0.5 exists as well.
Each section consists of 25 questions and carries 50 marks and the whole test is for 200 marks. Here is the interesting constraint, the exam needs to be completed in an hour! The model of the question paper is different for each tier so you may prepare according to the tier you choose. You can check for the detailed information from the official website.
3. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS PO/MT):
The IBPS (PO/MT) exam is conducted for the recruitment of Probationary Officers/Management trainees (PO/MT) every year. It is one of the many banking exams that lakhs of candidates take every year for recruitment into one of the participating banks.
The exam has 3 stages: preliminary exam, main exam, and interview. You must be between 20-30 years of age to be eligible. The exam tests you on English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning. Let us go through the pattern of the preliminary exam. There are three sections. The first section carries 30 marks, the second and third sections carry 35 marks each. Each question carries 1 mark and a negative mark of 0.25 exists for every incorrect choice. The overall paper is for 100 marks and the whole exam lasts an hour.
The preliminary exam-qualifying candidates take the mains exam next. The mains exam is an objective and descriptive exam where candidates will be tested in Reasoning and Computer Aptitude, English, Data Analysis and Interpretation, General Banking Awareness and Letter Writing and Essay writing in addition. The whole exam lasts for 3 hours 30 minutes and is conducted for 225 marks. The final stage of selection is the interview. For more details refer to the official website of IBPS.
There are many other exams conducted by IBPS such as IBPS SO, IBPS Clerk, IBPS RRB Officer Scale-1, etc. Based on what you want you may choose one of them and prepare accordingly.
4. Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
RBI is another banking exam like IBPS to get recruited into one of the various departments under the Reserve Bank of India. There are 2 exams conducted by RBI which are RBI assistant and RBI grade B. Let’s get to know about the commonly taken RBI grade B exam.
You should be 21-30 years old and should have attained an undergraduate degree to take the exam. You can take the test a maximum of 6 times. There are three stages in the recruitment process namely: Prelims, Mains and Interview.
Let’s get to know the pattern of the prelims test. The whole duration of the test is 2 hours. It has 4 sections which are General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, English Language, and Reasoning. The number of questions for each of these sections is 80, 30, 30, and 60 respectively. All questions are MCQs and each question carries 1 mark. For every wrong answer, you will be given a score of -0.25.
The preliminary test qualified candidates move on to the mains round. The mains test carries a total of 300 marks. There are three parts each carrying 100 marks. The parts are named Economics and Social Issues, English Writing Skills, and Finance and Management. The candidates who make it through the main test are interviewed and the interview carries 50 marks. It can be taken in English or Hindi. The successful candidates may be assigned to any of the following departments under RBI:
- Direct Recruitment general cadre
- Department of Economic Policy and Research (DEPR)
- Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM)
You can check out the official website for more details.
5. Railway Recruitment Board Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC):
RRB conducts various tests such as RRB SSC/JE, RRB ALP, RRB NTPC, etc for recruitment into posts such as Junior Clerk cum Typist, Trains Clerk, Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Station Master, etc. Out of these RRB-NTPC is taken by a lot of candidates. Let’s get to know about it.
You should be at least 18 years old to take the RRB-NTPC test. The first stage test is for a total of 100 marks and there are 3 sections: General Awareness, Mathematics, and General Intelligence and Reasoning. These sections carry 40, 30 and 30 marks respectively. The test lasts for 90 minutes. For every correct answer, you will be given a score of 1 and for every incorrect choice, you will be given a score of -1/3. The whole test is computer-based.
The qualified candidates move on to the second stage which is again a Computer Based Test. The sections are the same except the marks allotted for the sections are 50, 35, and 35 respectively. This time the total number of questions increases to 120 but has to be completed in 90 minutes as well. The same marking is followed as in the first stage.
The second stage qualifying candidates move on to the next stage. This stage varies depending on the post you are applying for. For posts such as Clerks, Accountants, and Typists a typing skill test is conducted and for posts such as Stationmaster, another aptitude test is conducted. Finally, the document verification and medical examination conclude the recruitment process.
