SSC- CHSL is one of the most opted exams in India by the aspirants who want to join the public sector. A huge number of aspirants appear for this exam every year and many of them make their way through. But, some lag behind due to various reasons and problems. Well, that does not mean that it is the end of the road, rather it is the only time to bounce back and get what we want to get.
Lack of a proper strategy and guidance is one of the crucial reasons behind the failure. A strategy is something that makes a huge difference and can seriously change the bottom line of your story, irrespective of the field or domain that you are associated with or dealing with. Similarly, for this exam as well we need a proper strategy and routine to get through.
So, here we are with a solid strategy which will help you in laying down a foundation on the basis of which you can shape your preparations.
Being an aspirant of SSC you must dedicate at least 5 to 6 hours daily to your studies. Nothing would work for anything less than this much. Only if you’ll study for 5-6 hours now, you can relax a bit during the peak time when the exam is around the corner. But remember, you should not stress yourself with a burdened feeling of preparations. It’s not the success that you’ll remember when you’ll win the battle, rather it’s the process that you’ll cherish and will remember in the name of memories hence, make the process interesting and happening.
The syllabus for SSC CHSL is divided into 4 sections, namely- general English, mathematics, general awareness and reasoning. The weightage in terms of marks and number of questions is the same for all the four respectively. Hence you need to divide equal time in all the four sections. It is recommended to start with those subjects you are weak at, but you must devote time to all the subjects and should ignore none, even if you are very good at it. Although, if you are a beginner and do not have much idea about your weaker and stronger areas then you can start with general English then move to mathematics (especially advanced maths) followed by general awareness (especially science and current affairs) and reasoning. It is often observed that students are weak at English thus, you should decide accordingly.
You have four subjects and you need to devote equal time to all of them plus some additional time to your weaker sections. By making pairs you can study two subjects in a day and other two subjects the other day, this way none of your subjects will be ignored and the cycle will go on. You can do the pairing as per your ease or else you can simply put one practical and one theoretical subject as a pair, for example- you can pair English with reasoning and mathematics with general awareness. You can divide your schedule of 6 hours into two chunks of 3 hours each, or else simply divide the study time into two halves and study accordingly.
This is a very effective formula of preparation that’ll elevate your preparations to another level. All you need to do is-solve questions on whatever you’ve read or studied during the past one or two hours. Supposedly, you’ve studied English for say, two hours now try solving questions on that same topic of English. This way you can figure out how well you’ve grasped or learnt the things and whether you can apply it while solving the questions or not. Follow the same procedure for all the subjects and you’ll see that the content you studied will be concrete solid at the back of your head.
As per this strategy plan you are going to spend one day on two subjects and another day for the rest of the two subjects. In order to keep everything fresh and to be in constant touch with all the previously studied stuff, you need to give it a quick revision. All you need to do is in the morning devote half an hour or so to whatever you’ve studied the previous day. For example- on the non-maths day just revise the formulae that you’ve learnt the previous day. This type of revision will be very quick, crisp and precise. And also you’ll not feel like missing out on anything.
Syllabus completion is a must. No matter what, you cannot miss anything from the whole syllabus, at least you should have studied it for once. Only after getting done with the whole syllabus you can find out your weak and strong areas and can work upon them accordingly.
This revision has to be done after completion of the syllabus. Now you need to follow a strict revision cycle with the help of the notes that you have already prepared. You need to divide the whole syllabus into smaller chunks of topics and sub topics, set time for them and start following the sequence religiously.
Practice sets or mocks or previous year test papers are some of the crucial things that you must include in your preparation strategy. It’ll help you in giving the final shape to your preparations and will also make you discover some of the frequently asked concepts along with the new layers of syllabus.
Follow these tips religiously and try to make them a part of your strategy, you’ll surely reap desirous results.