By: Bhat Zaieem
The UT administration is all set to advertise thousands of posts in coming weeks with almost ten thousand posts being referred to JKSSB in the first phase. It is after a freeze of two years, due to two consecutive lockdowns, that the posts will be opened for recruitment. The news is great given the unemployment ratio and the economic distress the Kashmir has been going through and there maybe high curiosity among aspiring candidates about how to prepare, what books to read etc.
We all must be aware that each exam needs a different strategy depending upon the pattern of exam and the criteria put forth. The descriptive exams in our academic courses demand a completely different strategy compared to the objective exams which SSB and other recruiting bodies hold.
In my opinion, the first thing which is must to start preparation is that you must believe in yourself and your capabilities. You must have confidence in yourself but confidence alone will never help and it needs to be supplemented by hard work and dedication. Now there will be definitely those minds besieging you who will always play their pessimistic role and may harm your focus and interest. They will be saying that there is corruption, there is nepotism and the authorities must have taken the bribe or will take the candidates of their own choosing. For that I am giving you 100% assurance that the exam is 100% fair and not even a single person was selected by this approach. I don’t exclude corruption at all forms, but for SSB exams I am excluding it fully as there is no interview for the posts where you may think the possibility would arise.
So you are now determined and focused to go for the exam. The next step is to start preparing hard. But does preparation mean buying a few related books and start reading them blindly? I would suggest that we have to broaden our horizons and look for a lot more details than a few books and magazines. One must take the previous exam papers and check the standard, pattern and important areas where questions are asked. Not only this but more important before this is to vividly scan the syllabus and get a strong hold of it- you need to know the question before knowing the answer! You have to clearly go through each line and figure out each topic clearly. You don’t need to go beyond the syllabus and read whatever you see in your books. But you have to interpret the syllabus very sharply.
In case of the above mentioned exams, one doesn’t need to go through high profile books and huge reading lists. All you have to do is to just pick up your syllabus from each subject and try to cover that from few standard books.
Students from mathematics background have an edge. So the Arts and Medical students must learn basic aptitude and do justifiable practice on each topic. It is not just reading formulas but one has to understand the concepts indepth and solve questions on your own. But this must be started at the earliest when you have ample time as when the examination schedule is out, you have to be balanced for all the subjects.
So try to be consistent with your preparation, study regularly and don’t drop any portion of syllabus as the standard of exam demands you to be fully prepared. Stay determined and focused and don’t give attention to your pessimistic friends who will come up with weird ideas and discouragements. Stay positive!
The writer is a Teacher (bhatzaieem25@gmail.com)
