SEBI Grade A Success Story: Ms Kritika Cleared Bank PO, EPFO & LIC Before SEBI

Kritika cleared the SEBI Grade A exam in 2022, adding to the vast number of government exams she had already cleared in previous years. The focus of this blog is to explore the number of exams she has cleared, her strategy for these government exams, how she managed to clear SEBI Grade A, and how she came to know about SEBI as a Commerce student.

Educational Details and Exams Cleared

Kritika graduated with a B.Com honours from Sriram College of Commerce, where she had also secured the second rank academically. After this, she completed her M.Com from the Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics. After completing her M.Com, she joined SBI. Ten days later, she cleared her LIC exam and worked there for about one year and one month.

She was also selected for Bank of India as a PO, but she didn’t join that organization. Her dream job was to get into SEBI, and she needed some time to prepare. Her posting at the Bank of India would have been a bit tedious for her, so she decided to continue with LIC. While working in LIC, she got selected in EPFO as a Social Security Assistant and was working in EPFO when she got selected for SEBI. From her time in LIC, she had been studying for SEBI.

SEBI Grade A was the fifth government exam that she had cleared. So, she had already cleared four of the government exams in the previous years. 

SEBI Grade A Preparation Strategy: Brief Overview

Kritika’s experience while giving the government exams was quite enlightening. She didn’t follow any specific mantra, but she believed in a proper strategy. She emphasized the importance of adhering to the syllabus and practicing daily. According to her, practice and hard work were everything.

She then decided that she wanted to pursue SEBI. The notification didn’t come in 2019, but it came in 2020 when she was working. When she learned about this opportunity where she could work and follow her passion, she started her preparation right away. 

But as she was working, she had to give her extra. On weekdays, she could only give about two to three hours per day, so she had to work a lot on her weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays, she used to study the full day. This required a lot of dedication. It meant she was working and also had to put in hard work for some other preparation. This was her journey towards clearing the SEBI exam.

SEBI Grade A: Phase 1 Preparation Strategy

Kritika had given many government exams in the past, so the subjects of Phase 1 Paper 1 (Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English, and General Awareness) were not problematic areas for her. She took around 10-15 mock tests that were freely available online before the prelims to strengthen her grasp on these sections.

Instead, Kritika focused more on Paper 2. She prepared majorly using her previous notes. 

• Sources for Paper 2: She had a commerce background, so she used her BCom and MCom books as sources. She also used material from her previous year’s preparation. It was a blend of all these resources that she used to prepare her notes.
• Importance of Making Notes: She found making notes very important for Paper 2. She saved time by studying across the total and preparing her notes. She made multiple revisions of the same.

• Commerce and Accountancy: She found the Commerce and Accountancy paper not too difficult due to her commerce background. She advised new aspirants from non-commerce backgrounds to give it time and be patient as it might take around six months to one year for them to cover this section.

• Costing: She found the costing section easy and not many difficult questions were asked.
• Management: She found the management section a little tricky. She answered the questions she found easy and on her second reading, she realized that the options given were making the questions confusing. However, she managed to get through some questions. Multiple revisions helped her remember certain things.
• Economics: She found the IS-LM curve question a little difficult. Time management was crucial for questions in this section to tackle lengthy questions.
• Finance: She found the finance section quite easy. She prepared for it from her notes.
• Companies Act: She prepared short notes for the Companies Act and did many revisions every day which helped. She advised that one must get hold of the topic to be able to answer the questions. She emphasized the importance of making your own notes and revising again and again for all the subjects.

Phase 2 Paper 1: Descriptive English 

Kritika didn’t practice a lot for Descriptive English. She wrote only two to three essays before the paper. However, she had prepared for other government jobs and had some prepared topic knowledge. She went through only those topics.

• Interface Management: Kritika found the interface not user-friendly. She got used to it while typing. She decided not to go back as it was time-consuming. She decided to write each part in one go.
• Essay Framework: Kritika preferred the classic essay framework – introduction, body, and conclusion. She believed this framework could easily attract the examiner’s attention.

• Question Approach: Kritika started with reading comprehension, then précis, and then essay. She had a strategy for this. In reading comprehension, she first read all the questions, and then went through the passage. This way, she had direct information to write in her own words. For précis, as the information was available, she had to write in her own words. This way, she saved a significant amount of time for her essay.

In summary, Kritika’s strategy for descriptive English involved minimal practice, managing the interface, using the basic essay framework, and having a specific order of attempting the questions. 

SEBI Grade A: Phase 2 Paper 2 Strategy

Kritika found Phase 2 to be tougher than Phase 1. The questions in Phase 2 were a combination of application-based, numericals, and theoretical questions.

She started preparing after the notification, so she had only two to three months for preparation. She had to make multiple revisions and manage her time effectively to cover the syllabus within this period.

• Management: Kritika found the management part tricky, not because of the questions, but because of the options. She emphasized the importance of conceptual clarity to answer these questions.
• Economics: Kritika found the economics part tougher in Phase 2. She recalled that IS-LM questions and multiplier questionnaires were asked.
• Commerce, Accountancy, and Costing: There were more numericals in Phase 2. Kritika found the numericals lengthy. Her strategy was to go through all the questions first, mark the easy ones, and then manage her time to answer as many questions as possible. She left the numerical part for the last and decided to give 10-15 minutes to those numericals.

Kritika didn’t give any mock tests this time. Instead, she went through the previous year’s questions of other government jobs. She believed that mock tests give you an idea of the kind of questions that can come and how to manage tricky questions.

SEBI Grade A Interview Experience

Kritika scored 10 out of 15 in the interview, which is a commendable score.

• Panel Interaction: The panel was cordial and friendly. They created a very friendly environment which made Kritika comfortable.
• First Question: The first question asked to Kritika was about herself, her education qualifications, and her work experience.
• Mock Interview: Kritika gave one mock interview with Aerotap before the final interview, which she found helpful.
• Learnings from Mock Interview: Since Kritika was working, she had limited time. During the mock interview, she was provided with topics to prepare on. She worked upon improving those topics which helped her in the final interview.
• Type of Questions: In Kritika’s case, the interview was a mix of 50 percent HR questions and 50 percent technical questions. Questions were asked about her work, its relation with SEBI, and also from her background. Current affairs questions were also asked.
• Technical Questions: Technical questions were asked from SEBI and also from the organization’s website. The main aim was to check her enthusiasm and passion for joining SEBI.
• Unanswered Questions: There were many questions to which Kritika said no, like some current affairs questions and one technical question. But she remained calm and managed it well. She believes that no one can have hold of all the information that is available and no one can recall at one go. So, she followed up by saying that she would go through the information and details after the interview.

It is important to note that Kritika showed a positive attitude to the panel members. Even if she did not know, she showed the capacity to learn and the motivation to understand something to learn something.

Message for Aspirants

Kritika’s message for all aspirants is clear and inspiring. She emphasizes that even if you are not from a commerce background or a non-famous background, you should be passionate about the organization you want to join. You should be dedicated and work hard. She believes that there is nothing in this world we can’t achieve, but it requires hard work, proper time management, and motivation.

She encourages aspirants to keep themselves motivated. Even though there will be times when you will feel demotivated and face obstacles, you can surely overcome them with your mind.

For working aspirants who want to pursue any exam, Kritika has a special message. 

Remember, you have to plan your study schedule, what you have to do and when you have to revise. Through proper time management and by following the proper syllabus, you can achieve your goal!