Success Story of Mamidi Veerabhadra Vinod Kumar – Cleared SBI PO

Read the success story of Vinod Kumar who cleared SBI PO examination with his determined and smart planning. He also says one needs to be truthful and confident in order to succeed in the examination. Here is his story

Success Story of Mamidi Veerabhadra Vinod Kumar

Introduction

Hi, This is Vinod. I graduated in 2016 and previously worked in an MNC for 5 years till June 2021.

Brief Description

After I resigned, I had absolutely no idea how to begin my preparation for bank exams. I searched a lot online and found out that Oliveboard provides online courses and has the best mocks for banking exams. So, I joined the “SBI PO Selection batch” course. This course had all the videos according to the exam pattern and syllabus and you also get a fair idea of how to solve questions quickly with accuracy.

Especially For English(Harshitha Mam) and Reasoning, I just followed Oliveboard videos, nothing else. Although for English, I used to watch a lot of TV shows, so that helped me too. Even during preparation, I used to watch 2-3 episodes a day.

For Quant, I have followed Career Definer Quant videos on youtube. For mains, I knew I cannot cover general awareness for the past 6-8 months, so I tried to score full marks in English and then maximum possible marks in reasoning as these two were my strongest subjects.

For general awareness, I just glanced at Oliveboard’s SBI PO bolt and attempted all mocks. I attempted around 14-16 in the exam but let me tell you all those were directly from the bolt and mocks I have prepared. I also found that the level of the exam was equivalent to the level of mocks provided by Oliveboard.

Preparation Strategy

i. English: This is the strongest subject in my preparation. I always tried to score full marks in this. For this, I have followed Harshitha Mam’s videos on Oliveboard and made notes.

ii. Reasoning: This is my next high scoring subject. I followed Oliveboard videos by Mukesh Sir and made notes.

I like English and Reasoning. If you watch Oliveboard videos and practice their mocks regularly, that would be more than enough.

iii. Quant: Although I am generally good at this, I realized while preparing for SBI PO that I am not quick enough. So for this, I followed the youtube channel of career definer where Kaushik sir has provided good tricks and tips to solve questions within a limited time frame.

In this section, I tried to solve only those questions which I felt I could solve quickly and skipped the rest, revisiting them only if I had time left in the end.

iv. General Awareness: As I said before, just follow Oliveboard mocks and SBI PO bolts provided by them.

Description : I followed the youtube videos by Harshitha Mam. For letter writing, make sure that you follow the correct format.

v. Interview: This is where I scored the most marks, 48/50 and helped me to get into the merit list.

First, I watched a complete playlist of BANKING AWARENESS BY SUPRIYO (Supriyo Panda) on Youtube to get an idea about banking basics.

Then, I focused on the latest news like Budget, cryptocurrencies(I was asked some questions on this) etc.,

I knew there were going to be questions about my experience as I resigned after 5 years of experience and coming to banking. So I prepared for that in advance.

One thing I did is I was clear on why I wanted to join the bank and politely replied “sorry, I don’t know sir” to the questions which I didn’t know the answer to. I think that helped a lot. Don’t try to outsmart the panel. Be ready for counter questions and reply confidently and truthfully even if they grill you continuously on the same topic(This actually happened to me regarding my job).

Some of my interview questions:

1) Expect any and all kinds of questions regarding your name. As my name was long, the interview started with that.

2) Then about my family and experience.

3) CryptoCurrency, blockchain technology and RBI’s planned digital currency is the same/ different from the general cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

4) questions on the budget.

5) Where I see myself in 20 years in the bank.

6) Responsibilities of PO

7)How would you improve the loan portfolio of the bank?(This I couldn’t answer)

Role of Oliveboard

The “SBI PO Selection batch” course and the mock tests provided by oliveboard really helped me a lot.

The first exam I took was SBI clerk where I scored 89 marks in prelims which boosted my confidence a lot. I was sure I scored full in English and maybe 95% reasoning as I attempted less than 20 in Quant. But, I couldn’t clear the clerk’s mains. Nevertheless, I felt a lot more confident. I felt that the level of the exam is close to that of Oliveboard mocks. In fact, I never scored more than 75 in Oliveboard mocks for clerk prelims.

I also cleared mains and gave interviews for IBPS PO and IBPS SO IT officer.

For IT Officer mains, I had strictly followed Oliveboard’s IT bolt.

Tips or advice for the fellow aspirants

I feel in order to crack SBI PO mains, you have to try to be strong in 2 subjects, moderate in one and can leave one subject as a choice. Although, I suggest at least trying to score some marks in your chosen subject. For prelims, you have to just give plenty of mocks to clear.

When it comes to interviews, be confident, truthful and clear on why you want to join banking. Try to be up to date on the latest news during your interview week and read some basics of banking.

That was all about the success story of Mamidi Veerabhadra Vinod Kumar. Read more such inspiring stories on Oliveboard App!