Know the Detailed SBI Associate Syllabus to Make Your Preparation Plan

Posted by GuduruKarthik on November 3rd, 2014

While a whole lot of industries are hit by recession, SBI has remained strong and raised the hopes of the disheartened Indian youth. Not just once, but twice in this year SBI has invited applications from eligible candidates. With the exam date quickly approaching, the aspirants are eager to know the SBI Associate Syllabus. The first step of starting preparation is by knowing the exact syllabus.

So today in this post we will discuss about the SBI Associate Syllabus. The written exam for SBI PO selections consists of 2 exams:

Online Exam: This exam contains 4 different sections:

1. General Awareness, Marketing & Computers: General awareness includes banking and current affairs which together sums upto 30 questions in the 50-question section. Computer Awareness and Marketing just tests the basics of candidate as it allots 20 marks for them together and are usually considered the easiest among all the sections of the exam.

2. English Language: Out of the 50 questions that appear in this section, around 20 questions are from Reading comprehension, while 15 would be from Faulty Construction of sentences. Jumbled Sentences and Cloze Passages account to 5 and 10 questions respectively. The most difficult questions belong to the Reading Comprehension, while for others the difficulty level varies from moderate to easy.

3. Reasoning (High Level): It is the most difficult section in the entire SBI Associate Syllabus. The important areas are Logical Reasoning, Input – output, Sentence coding, Syllogism, Puzzle / Seating Arrangement, Data Sufficiency, Direction based questions. The maximum number of marks are allotted to Logical reasoning and puzzle/seating arrangement questions which are 15 and 10 respectively. While all other types of questions each contribute 5 questions in the paper.

4. Data Analysis & Interpretation: The topics that fall under this section are Probability, questions based on Line Graph, Pie Charts, Bar Charts and Tables.  Most questions are from tables, pie and bar charts. These are moderately difficult and often considered scoring. And the other two categories of sections contribute to 10 marks together.

To clear the exam, a candidate has to obtain qualifying marks in each of these sections. The qualifying marks are decided by the Bank. The time for this online exam is 2 hours. This exam is followed by a descriptive exam.

Descriptive Exam: The online exam tests only the basic English knowledge of the candidates. To take a thorough check of their written English and business communication skills, this exam is conducted. The syllabus for this exam:

1. Letter Writing: As communication in banks major happens through hand written letters, sensing the need for this knowledge, this topic is added to the exam. In the exam anything from a formal letter requesting for a branch change to informal letter to a friend inviting him to spend holidays with you, can be asked.

2. Essay Writing: It checks the general awareness of the candidate and also his/her ability to turn his thoughts into words. The topics or essay writing are generally known to everyone but are sometimes specific to banking sector.

3. Paragraph Writing: This section is a shorter version of essay writing. It has to crisp, clear, expressive and informative too. Innovative topics like ‘If I were a tree’ to topics related to financial sector will be given in this section.

4. Reading Comprehension: Though it sounds as a simple task, the difficulty of this section depends on the passage given. While few paras reveal answers easily, few others use complex words making it difficult to understand.

5. Precise Writing: This section brings out your creative angle. It looks in a candidate for understandability and rephrasing ability.

The candidates are given one hour to complete the descriptive exam. The maximum marks for this section is 50. Even in this exam, a qualifying mark is decided by the Bank and a candidate is considered as qualified if he/she achieves marks above that.

To enter into the next level of interview, the applicant has to clear both the Online and descriptive exams. Also, answer questions bearing in mind that a 0.25 of negative marking applicable for every wrong answer. With the SBI Associate Syllabus in your hands, make your plan to preparation and make it a plan of your success!!