The OICL AO Prelims 2017 would be held on 22nd October, 2017. With just a month to go for the exam, it’s time to buck up and prepare in a strategic manner. Through this article, we are going to help you do just that! In case, you’ve already finished your syllabus once, you can use the following study plan to structure your revisions.
An important thing to remember is that completing the syllabus on time should be one of the aspects but not the goal of the preparation. The idea is to prepare so that you can perform to the best of your abilities on the day of the exam and come out with flying colours!
Before discussing the study plan, let us first take a look at the exam pattern.
OICL Administrative Officer Selection Procedure : Phase – 1: Preliminary Exam (online objective test)
| Name of the section | Max marks | Duration | Medium |
| English Language | 30 | 60 mins | English |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | English/Hindi | |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | English/Hindi | |
| Total | 100 |
Let us now discuss the plan section wise:-
OICL AO Prelims Preparation Plan : Quantitative Aptitude Preparation
While it is important to learn all the concepts across all the topics of OICL AO Prelims Quant and practice them, it is equally important to learn them in an order. Most quant topics are interdependent, meaning, you need to know concepts of one topic to understand or solve another.
For instance, most Quant topics require you to apply concepts of Interest, Percentage and Profit & Loss. Therefore, we suggest you start by learning, what are called the base of Arithmetic section: Percentage, Profit & Loss and Interest. Understand the concepts and practice them to master them.
Start by learning topics that form the base for other topics and then move on to higher-level difficult topics that require you to have a knowledge of these base topics.
The trick to scoring marks in Quantitative Aptitude Section is to attempt the questions on Quadratic Equations, Simplification and Approximation first and then going for Number Series. The DI questions are known to be calculation intensive. Hence, make sure you practice that everyday.
Week – 1 : Quadratic Equations, Number System, Simplification, Topic Tests, Bar and Line Graphs
Week – 2 : Percentages, SI & CI, Time Speed & Distance, Time & Work, Pipes & Cisterns, Topic Tests
Week – 3 : Divisibility, Averages & Alligation, Ratio & Proportion, Topic Tests, Pie-charts, Data Sufficiency
Week – 4 : Sectional Tests, Full Length Mocks
OICL AO Prelims Preparation Plan : English Language Preparation
The English language section is the one that is a cause of worry for most of the aspirants. However, if one understands the basics then he / she can easily clear the cut-offs for this section.
The key to successfully clearing the English section is having strong basics. So, let’s see how to do just that for each of the above mentioned question types.
- Grammar
This isn’t a question type as such in the exam, however it forms the basis of important question types such as : sentence re-arrangement, idioms & phrases, error spotting, sentence correction etc. So build on your grammar by referring to helpful books such as : Wren & Martin. You can also refer to custom made e-books such as : 100 important idioms. These help you with your preparation as they cover exactly what is covered in the exam.
- Reading Comprehension Section
A good reading speed gives you an edge to score well in the exam, so make sure while preparing for RC you also work on your reading speed.
Read how to increase your reading speed here.
Week – 1 : Reading Comprehension ( Concept + Practice ), At least 5-7 passages a day, Topic Tests
Week – 2 : Vocabulary ( Concept + Practice ), Sentence Correction, Topic Tests, Mocks
Week – 3 : Para-jumbles, Para-completion, Cloze Test ( Concept + Practice )
Week – 4 : Full Length Mocks + Remaining Topic Tests
OICL AO Prelims Preparation Plan : Reasoning Section
The Reasoning section tests your problem-solving, decision-making skills and logical abilities. It takes months and constant and consistent practice to master these skills and it is not something you can achieve in a short time. Therefore, we suggest you start spending some time solving puzzles online, like Sudoku, Crossword puzzles, Mind bender puzzles, etc. These will sharpen your skills and train your brain to think logically.
Week – 1 : Analytical Reasoning, Syllogisms,
Week – 2 : Coding – Decoding, Blood Relations, Number & Letter Series
Week – 3 : Direction Sense, Logical Inequalities, Input/Output, Venn Diagrams
Week – 4 : Full Length Mocks + Remaining Sectional tests
In general, while preparing for an exam, you must decide on the following things:-
- Order of attempting various sections
- Time to be spent on each section
- Number of questions to be attempted
Understand that all the 3 things mentioned above are dynamic and would vary from person to person, or sometimes even paper to paper, based on the difficulty level. Attempting a substantial number of mock tests (both sectional & full-length) would help you decide on the above-mentioned things. Do remember, the mock tests mentioned in the study plan will serve their purpose only if you analyze them and devote sufficient time to that analysis, instead of simply taking a mock test.
Understand, that the goal is to clear the cutoffs first and then to maximize your overall score. Apart from the subject knowledge, your time management skills play an equally important role in the exam. Taking mock tests will also provide you with a situation where you can practice making such important decisions, and thus be better prepared for the actual exam.
Once you’ve done all that we’ve mentioned, rest assured that your preparation is complete. Just be confident, and go ace that exam.
Hope this helps.
All The Best!
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