FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation: FCI released the FCI Manager 2022 Recruitment Notification on the 24th of August, 2022. The online registration process for the same opened on the 27th of August and will close on the 26th of September, 2022.
FCI conducts its Manager recruitment in two phases. Phase I is a general test that covers English, Quantitative, Reasoning, and General Studies. Phase II is a post-specific exam with either one of two papers depending on the post.
The Reasoning section is one of the sections that candidates may find the hardest to crack. This is because the logic for each question varies and needs time to figure out. However, that need not be a worry. With enough exposure to questions, practice, and mock tests you can surely ace the reasoning section. Hence, we’re sharing some useful tips and tricks to keep in mind for your FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation.
FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation: Syllabus
The syllabus for FCI Manager’s Reasoning section is no different from most banking and government exams. The topics are common topics covered for all exams. These are:
| Arrangement and Pattern | Direction and Distance |
| Analogy | Inequalities |
| Classification | Puzzles |
| Series | Verbal Reasoning |
| Coding and Decoding | Input-Output |
| Blood Relations | Order Ranking |
| Seating Arrangement | Syllogisms |
| Alphanumeric Series | Logical Reasoning |
FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation- Important Tips
Reasoning as a section can be scoring when you get a hang of how to solve the different types of questions. That proficiency comes with regular practice and exposure to a variety of questions of each type. Because this section is so dynamic when it comes to questions and their framing, doing maximum questions is your only way to go.
Here we’ll detail some general tips to follow for the section as a whole and some tips specific to the topics with higher weightage to make your preparation easier.
General Tips
- Proficiency in this section will come only with practice. Practicing enough questions will help make spotting patterns and breaking down questions into simple parts a lot easier.
- Make sure to learn as many tips and quick tricks as possible to help save time.
- Time is of the essence. Make sure to do enough questions so you CAN recognize the lengthier or time-taking ones. This way you can keep those questions for later or move past them and do the easier ones.
- Similarly, accuracy is important. Candidates should aim at striking a balance between accuracy and the number of questions solved.
- Keep in mind that there is a negative marking. Blind guessing is not recommended as this could backfire and cause you to lose marks.
- Practice as many mock tests as you can. Not only do these help with practicing questions, but you also get a hang of the exam atmosphere and how to perform under the stress of time constraints.
Topic-Wise Tips
Puzzles
- Puzzles usually make up a good part of the section’s marks. Make sure to practice these as much as possible.
- Puzzles have seating arrangements mostly- these can be linear, circular, or even square or rectangle-shaped arrangements.
- These are the questions that take time. So make sure to only attempt if you’re confident.
- Practicing these questions will certainly give you a lot of exposure to the different ways in which seating arrangements can be solved.
- Particularly keep in mind the direction the people/objects in the arrangement face. Whether they’re north, south, etc.
Inequalities
- Inequalities are some of the easiest and most scoring topics of Reasoning.
- All you have to do is figure out the sequence and arrange it in that manner to solve the questions.
- Keep in mind that inequalities can also be coded with the >,<, and other comparison symbols being replaced by different signs. The meaning of the signs will be given.
- For these coded inequalities, make sure to note down which coded sign corresponds to which comparison sign. For example, the question may say that @ means less than, so make sure to note that down so as to not get confused.
Syllogisms
- Another scoring topic that requires pure logical reasoning.
- There are mainly four different types of statements in syllogisms. These are the Universal Positive, Universal Negative, Particular Positive, and Particular Negative.
- For easy solving of such questions keep the AEIO rule in mind. Universal Positive- A, Universal Negative- E, Particular Positive- I, Particular Negative- O.
- Also, keep in mind the following points-
- If there are two particular statements, the conclusion cannot be universal.
- If there are two positive statements, the conclusion cannot be negative.
- If there are two negative statements, the conclusion cannot be positive.
- Two particular statements will give no conclusion unless one of the statements is a particular positive statement.
- Another way to solve these questions easily is by using Venn diagrams. Venn diagrams can help represent exceptions, combinations, and hierarchies in the statements well.
Data Sufficiency
- Data sufficiency is pretty easy. It consists of questions where you have to figure out if the given statements are sufficient to answer the question.
- You may not even need to solve the whole question in this case.
- You need to read the question, check the statements and see whether one, both, either, or neither of the statements are sufficient to arrive at an answer.
Blood Relations, Directions, Coding-Decoding, Ranking
- Blood Relations require quick thinking and concentrated reading like most of these questions. Making a diagram may help a lot in figuring these questions out. Also, be aware of the different relations to not get confused.
- Direction sense, ordering, and ranking is questions that depend on how well you orient yourself and figure out sequences.
- Coding-Decoding mainly involves figuring out the pattern being followed in the set of numbers/words/letters and decoding them.
FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation: Exam Pattern
Phase I
| Sr. No | Name of the Test | No. of Qs. | Max. Marks | Duration (minutes) | Medium of examination |
| 1 | English Language | 25 | 25 | 15 minutes | English |
| 2 | Reasoning Ability | 25 | 25 | 15 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 3 | Numerical Aptitude | 25 | 25 | 15 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 4 | General Studies | 25 | 25 | 15 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 Minutes |
From the exam pattern, it is seen that the Reasoning Section is of 25 questions of 25 marks total. 15 minutes is the time allotted.
Phase II
Phase II has 4 papers. Depending on the post, the candidate may have to appear for one paper or two papers out of the four. A candidate can apply for three kinds of Managerial posts:
- General (Manager- General, Depot, Movement)
- Technical (Manager – Technical, Civil, Electrical & Mechanical)
- Hindi (Manager – Hindi)
You can read about the exam pattern across posts for Phase II here.
The Reasoning section is asked in Paper I mostly. General Intelligence in Paper III may also cover a bit of Reasoning. The following are the exam patterns.
Paper I
| Sr. No | Name of the Test | No. of Qs. | Max. Marks | Duration (minutes) | Medium of examination |
| 1 | English Language | 25 | 25 | 20 minutes | English |
| 2 | Reasoning Ability | 25 | 25 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 3 | Numerical Aptitude | 25 | 25 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 4 | General Studies | 45 | 45 | 30 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| Total | 120 | 120 | 120 Minutes |
Like with Phase I, the Reasoning section is of 25 questions and 25 marks total. However, the time allotted for the section is slightly higher at 20 minutes.
Paper III
| Sr. No | Name of the Test | No. of Qs. | Max. Marks | Duration (minutes) | Medium of examination |
| 1 | General Hindi | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | Hindi |
| 2 | General English | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | English |
| 3 | General Awareness | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 4 | General Intelligence | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 5 | Computer Awareness (with specific reference to MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and the Internet) | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| 6 | Current Affairs | 20 | 20 | 20 minutes | Bilingual (English and Hindi) |
| Total | 120 | 120 | 120 Minutes |
Paper III has general intelligence which may cover basic numerical aptitude and reasoning. For Paper III basic revision of the Phase I syllabus will suffice.
FCI Manager Previous Year Analysis: Reasoning
If you’re confused about how to prioritize your preparation for Reasoning, first figure out your weak areas and focus on practicing them. Other than that, you can also study the weightage for different topics based on the previous year’s paper. Here we have provided a shift-wise breakdown of the number of questions from each topic for your ease of understanding. This way you can understand which topic to prioritize in your learning.
Shift 1
Difficulty level – (easy-moderate)
- Inequality: 5 questions
- Syllogism: 5 questions
- Alphanumeric Series: 1 question
- Miscellaneous(Blood Relations+ Directions+ Data Sufficiency): 4 questions
- 4 Puzzles ( Seating arrangement + Circular arrangement+ Age based+ Box based): 20 questions
Shift 2
Difficulty level – (easy)
- Puzzles (Linear+Stack based): 20 questions
- Inequality: 5 questions
- Alphabetic Series: 1 question
- Syllogism: 5 questions
- Miscellaneous(Blood Relation) – 4 questions
As you can see, the maximum number of questions has come from Puzzles. Out of the 35 questions that were asked in Reasoning at the time, 20 were exclusively puzzles. So for the best performance, it would be advisable to practice puzzles and arrangements as much as possible. Ignoring this topic will only lead to the loss of a chunk of marks which is best to avoid.
FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation: Books to Refer
Having a few but good quality study material goes a long way in making your preparation efficient. Here are a few recommended books to have at hand as you prepare for the Reasoning Section of FCI Manager.
| Book Name | Author |
| Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning | R S Aggarwal |
| A New Approach to Reasoning | B.S. Sijwali & S. Sijwali Arihant |
| Analytical Reasoning | M.K Pandey |
| Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency | Arihant Publication |
Conclusion
While reasoning may seem like an intimidating section to tackle, it is actually quite fun and easy if you figure out the patterns and logic. The only answer to that is practice. Regular, dedicated practice balancing different topics will provide an all-around preparation for this section. You can further look up tips and tricks for Reasoning on your YouTube channel!
Best of luck!
FCI Manager Reasoning Preparation: Frequently Asked Questions
No, FCI Manager doesn’t have a sectional cutoff. It only has a category-wise overall cutoff. The previous year’s cut-off for the general category was 75.
FCI has updated the exam pattern for FCI Manager 2022. Both Phase I and Phase II Paper I exams will now include a General Studies section in addition to the English, Numerical Aptitude, and Reasoning Sections. You can learn more about the change in exam pattern here.
FCI Manager has a two-phase selection process. Phase I has English, Numerical Aptitude, Reasoning, and General Studies. Phase II is a post-specific test and has 4 papers out of which candidates will have to write either one or two papers depending on the post. Considering the difference in preparation the candidate should study the syllabus and exam pattern of each and plan their preparation over a fixed time. This way you will get enough time to prepare for the post-specific subjects.
An FCI Manager will get a monthly salary in the range of 40,000-1,40,000. Read up on the FCI Manager 2022 post-wise pay scale here.
I write content to help people prepare for banking exams because I have experience as an aspirant myself. My goal is to provide accurate and easy-to-understand information for candidates. I cover various topics such as exam patterns, syllabus, study techniques, and time management to support those preparing for the exams. As a former aspirant turned content writer, I want to make the information accessible and helpful for others so that they can do well in their banking and government exams and achieve their goals.
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