First Time Giving a Railway Exam? Here’s What You Need to Know!

The Indian Railways is one of the largest public sector employers in the world. It carries out several recruitment drives on a regular basis to select suitable candidates for multiple posts across various departments and disciplines. These posts range from Group D to Station Master and from Technician to Junior Engineer.

Every year lakhs of aspirants attempt the recruitment exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB)to get selected for these posts. In this article let us look at the facts about the Railway Exam preparation for someone who is appearing in such exams for the first time.

First Time Giving a Railway Exam? Here’s What You Need to Know!

The Railway Recruitment Board has released the notification for APL, Technician, RPF SI & Constable, and Junior Engineer posts for the calendar year 2024. These recruitments comprise many stages such as Computer Based Tests, Skill Tests, Psychometric Analysis Tests, etc. If you are someone taking a Railway Exam for the first time, you will need to know some things before making your preparation strategy.

1. Get Acquainted with the Post and Job Description

As you know, there are several different designations that the Railway Recruitment Board carries out the recruitment for. One of the most important aspects of preparing for the upcoming Railway Exams is to get familiar with the roles and responsibilities they will be entrusted with after getting selected. Some of the highlights of the post the candidates should be aware of are as follows.

• Post Name
• Post Level
• Pay Scale and Grade Pay
• Roles and Responsibilities of the position
• Perks and Allowances
• Promotion Aspects

2. Go through the Recruitment Process

After getting a basic idea about the post, the candidates should make themselves aware of the various features of the recruitment process for the railway post in which they wish to work. Some of the most important aspects of railway recruitment that the candidates should be aware of are as follows.

• Important Dates
• Application Process
• Selection Process
• Educational Qualification Required
• Age limit
• Exam Pattern
• Subject-wise Syllabus

3. Understanding the Exam Pattern and Syllabus

The most important step in the preparation process for any Railway Recruitment exam is to gain complete knowledge of the detailed exam pattern and syllabus for each step in the selection process. Let us consider the example of two of the most famous recruitments conducted by the Indian Railways i.e. RRB JE and RRB NTPC.

Both these exams have a two-stage exam process i.e. CBT 1 and CBT 2. When a candidate decides to appear for these exams, he/she should make themselves aware of the exact pattern of both stages before starting their preparations. Some of the things that they should focus on are:

• Structure of the Paper
• Subjects asked
• Number of Questions and Total Marks
• List of subject-wise topics

4. Crafting and Implementing a Preparation Strategy

After being aware of the exam pattern and syllabus, the candidates should make an integrated preparation strategy for all the stages of the selection process. Each candidate has his/her own sets of strengths and weaknesses according to which they should plant the various stages of the preparation process. The preparation strategy should be based on the following points:

• Learn the concepts
• Practice exam-level questions
• Go through previous year’s papers
• Make a revision plan
• Attempt sectional & full-length tests

5. Performing Well in the Exam

The candidates who are aware of the various aspects of the recruitment process and prepare for all the stages of the selection process should be ready to perform well on the exam day. The candidates should keep the following points in mind while preparing for the exam.

• Focus on speed, accuracy and time management
• Try to minimize the negative marking by avoiding silly mistakes
• Give equal importance to all the sections of the question paper
• Keep calm and handle your nerves during the exam

If a candidate is appearing for a Railway Exam for the first time, he/she should be aware of the points mentioned above to secure their dream Railway job. They should, however, know that these points should be considered along with their individual strengths and weaknesses.