Success Story of Abhay Sharma – Cleared IBPS PO 2019

Read the success story of Abhay, who has cleared the exam by properly analyzing and strategizing his approach. He says, My strategy is more about using your analyzing ability than doing Hard work with no analysis.

Take A Free IBPS PO Mock Test & Get All India Standing

1. Inspiring Story of Abhay Sharma

My Name is Abhay Sharma. This was my First serious Attempt of any Bank Exam. (Previously gave SBI PO and Canara PO just for self-evaluation). My story till graduation remained the same as most of the Indian teenagers. 10th–>Maths Science–> (Failed in IIT and AIEEE)–> Got admission in Pvt Engg College. Then I decided to take my Govt. Job aspiration seriously opted to study for UPSC during graduation. But not everything happens as per your aspirations. I got selected in TCS via Campus Placement. I Joined TCS and worked for 1.5 years but I wanted to change something around me, outside of the cubicle so I decided to choose the latter one.

I gave SBI PO in 2017 but missed Prelims by 4 marks. This boosted me that with proper preparation I will clear Banking exams at least.

I resigned on 2nd October 2017 with the strategy that I will prepare with all my heart for UPSC but If I fail then Banking will become my Safety Net. I also wanted to give another reality check to myself- gave Canara Bank PO exam, got failed but the margin of failure was 15 marks – Not bad with no preparation.

Along with UPSC, I filled IBPS PO form as my backup (Today I think so this was one of the best decisions I have taken). I did not focus on IBPS PO preparation. I just went and gave the exam to my surprise- I cleared it( ENGLISH was my savior). Luckily, the result of IBPS came before UPSC and I was selected for Interview (that was pleasant for me as at least my backup plan was working). Strategizing and Analysing helped me in clearing the exam. And it originated in me because of UPSC. Though, I didn’t clear UPSC.

Want To Crack Your Exam In First Attempt? Take A Free Mock Test Here

2. Abhay Sharma Subject-Wise Preparation Strategy

2.1 Quant Section Preparation Strategy

This was my weakness as I was not able to do practice and my speed of solving questions was not even average.

For prelims– I gave a free hand to myself for the first 3 min out of 20 mins – I selected the questions which I can solve correctly- and I solved those Ques. only

For Mains- You know cutoffs from the past two years were around 4-6 marks. What I analyzed is 

My weakness in Quants will not hamper me here much. I can concentrate on 5 to 10 Questions only for the whole time slot– Again 5 mins of time I utilized for finding these 10 Questions. I chose the simple BAR Graph Question- did all 5 Questions of it– 10 marks done– cutoff cleared– tried 2 more but they came out to be wrong.

2.1 Reasoning Section Preparation Strategy

I can weigh Myself as average in this 

For Prelims-– 3 mins for selecting Questions– rest time to solve

For Mains-– 5 mins for selecting Question– rest to solve

But here comes the catch– I didn’t practice Questions but only saw videos of Crash courses–from it- The thing I analyzed was — If variables are more than 3, I cannot solve puzzles in stipulated time and this can lead to wastage of my time.

I did not attempt any Puzzle in my Mains Exam– I did all standalone 16 Questions– and Yes, I was confident in those as I got my answers matched with the options– All 16 I did come out to be correct.

2.3 English Section Preparation Strategy

I weigh myself- Above average

The strongest point for me– I cleared this exam mainly because of my English – I have no shame in stating that but be confident in your preparation, not overconfident– you have to analyze and view the type and structures of the question so no surprise welcomes you in mains exam.

2.4 GK Section Preparation Strategy

As a UPSC aspirant- I was having knowledge of some facts and Economy basics.

I watched all videos of crash courses from an online platform, monthly magazines of Oliveboard. I worked hard on this, like really because in UPSC concepts overpower Facts but here in Bank Exams- its completely reverse

But I made a mistake– I prepared Current Affairs for 6 months ie May to October 2019– and did not focus on November Current Affairs-even I failed to recognize my intuition( I downloaded a compilation but failed to go through it)–And in the exam, 50% Questions were related to November.

I still attempted 32+ Q but my marks were not that much- only 20 marks.

If I have to give this exam again- for this section I will restrategize myself.

• Monthly Current Affairs BOLT – Download Here
• Banking Awareness BOLT – Download Here

2.5 Interview Preparation Strategy

Again strategize — Your interview will be of minimum 5 mins to max 20 mins. In most cases, it is 10 mins.

• You are not going to be asked 200-word questions. You will get at max 1 min to reply to one question. They will ask at least 5-6 questions- you can calculate the equation.
• What to study-
  • Current Affairs
  • Banking
  • Watch Mock interview videos on Youtube

The most important thing is CONFIDENCE. Answer in whatever language you are comfortable

Don’t be nervous. Smile all the time. Make them laugh if possible. One or two people will try to Grill you there. But show patience because they are there to do that, it’s their JOB.

3. His Advice To Aspirants 

• Don’t get feared by the number of applicants in any exam. Not all are serious.
• Don’t get demoralized by your failures or by the success of others.

Register Now & Prepare for the Exam of Your Choice

That brings us to the end of this article. Success Story of Abhay Sharma is a true example of how dedication and continuous effort could help you achieve what you aim for. We hope that this story motivates you and who knows the next success story could be yours.

Also, Check:

• 100+ Free Mock Tests
• Oliveboard Mobile App
• Oliveboard’s discuss forum
• Oliveboard Telegram Group
• Download BOLT – Our Monthly General Awareness free e-book