Here is a quick introduction about the RBI Grade B examination. The RBI Grade B Manager is highly regarded as one of the coveted roles in the country. This position is filled through the RBI recruitment drive. It follows a three-stage process; Prelims, Mains, and Interview. While all the sections are compulsory in Prelims, two papers (English, and Economics and Social Issues) are compulsory and one paper (Finance & Management / Economics / Statistics) is optional in Mains. Both the Phase I and Phase II exams will be of objective type except the English paper in Phase II, which is of the descriptive type intended to test the writing skills. The total duration of the prelims exam is 120 minutes and mains exam is 270 minutes. The prelims exam has a total of 200 marks and the mains exam has a total of 300 marks. Only the successful candidates at the end of each stage qualify for the next round. Around 200,000 candidates apply every year and approximately 150 candidates are selected after the interview stage for the RBI Grade B position. That speaks a volume about the role. I have with me Vino, who has recently been selected as the RBI Grade B Manager among the 166 odd candidates in 2018, to share her experiences on the RBI journey.

Hello Vino, Hearty Congratulations on clearing one of the toughest exams in India on your very first attempt. Thanks for accepting the request to share your RBI exam preparation and interview experience for the benefit of future aspirants.

Could you please introduce a little about yourself?

I am Vinothini Ramakrishnan and people call me Vino. I hail from a small town known all over for its salt production and pearls, named Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) positioned in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India. I completed my under graduation in Computer Science and Engineering at one of the most prestigious engineering colleges in the state, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai. I am working as an Application Developer in the Foreign Exchange Domain for Citigroup with 3.5 years of experience. Listening to music, penning short poems in Tamil, reading and visiting historically significant places, talking to people from different walks of life are the lubricants to my life. I am a simple girl with not so simple dreams.

What prompted you to join the RBI?

In the mid-2017, I was trying to figure out my career destination and was exploring various options as my inner voice was telling me that was the right time to pursue my long-term career aspirations. One fine day, I was working with my friends on a regulatory compliance related task and we were discussing for quite some time about our financial regulator and how to get into it. This occupied prime space in my mind that day and I ended up reading in and out about the exam to be taken and what a career in RBI has to offer. After pondering for the next 3 days, I decided to give my best shot at the RBI Grade B exam in 2018.

When does the exam happen regularly? Is it fixed every year?

As far as I know, it happened every year for the past 5-6 years and I believe that it will happen annually in the upcoming years also. One cannot predict the exact month of the exam in a year. However, roughly 10-12 months gap will be there between any two successive exams.

What are the differences between the three Grade B roles – General, DEPR, and DSIM?

A person with an undergraduate degree from any background can apply for RBI Grade B General. Only those with a postgraduate degree from Economics can apply for DEPR and a postgraduate degree from Statistics can apply for DSIM. The General recruits work in all the departments whereas the DEPR and DSIM recruits, as the name suggests, work in Economic Policy and Research department, and Statistics and Information Management department respectively.

Can you tell about your preparation strategy?

I started preparing on my own for the exam with regular guidance from my seniors Mr. Manoj Kumar and Mr. Naren (both of them are RBI Grade B Officers), who took me for a protégé. I whole-heartedly thank both my mentors for what I have achieved today. Since the usual hiatus between prelims and mains is just a matter of 15-20 days, I started my preparation with Phase II (Mains) first and then I continued with Phase I (Prelims). Since I was a novice in Economics, I spent some time initially in building a solid base on Economics. Before starting the preparation, I would recommend to download the Syllabus and keep it handy with you. I followed one strategy regularly; reading the concepts given in the syllabus and then the contemporary news related to the topics given.

PHASE I – PRELIMS

As this was my first ever competitive exam, I spent considerable time for prelims, without clearing which all my mains preparation would have become futile. I would recommend the aspirants to take at least 10 mock tests before the prelims. There are four modules in the prelims; General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning.

General Awareness

I used to read GK Today, Vision IAS, and Shankar IAS monthly current affairs capsules for 8 months before the prelims. GA constitutes questions from both static and current GK.

Static GK: International Organizations, their functions, and headquarters, Capitals, Currencies, Stadiums, Awards, Dams, Sanctuaries, Temples, Days of national and international significance.

Dynamic GK: Questions related to the current trend in India’s economic and financial situations, RBI FAQs, Sustainable Development Goals, Monetary Policy Committee meetings and policies, indexes and their ranks, committees, government schemes, questions from the budget and economic survey.

English

I read the newspaper daily and that enriched my knowledge and vocabulary. Though I did not specifically use any sources for the English module, the Prelims mock tests helped me to score well in English.

Quants & Reasoning

Quant section has the typical topics such as percentage, profit and loss, simple interest, compound interest, age, numbers, speed, time, work, boats and streams, train problems, probability, and so on. Reasoning includes topics such as blood relations, seating arrangement, distance and directions, floor puzzles, and so on. I sought the help of Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations book by R.S. Aggarwal and TIME CAT materials for understanding the concepts and Kiran Publications’ Quants book and Reasoning book for practicing the concepts learnt.

PHASE II – MAINS

As the marks scored in Phase II are considered in the final merit list along with the interview score, one should try to maximize the scores as much as possible in Phase II.

Paper 1 – Economics and Social Issues (ESI)

I read the Indian Economy book by Shankarganesh, NCERT 12^th standard Macro Economics book, and NCERT 12^th standard Sociology book thoroughly to understand the basics of Economics and Sociology. Then, I regularly read contemporary articles and watched topic videos posted in Mrunal and Economics for IAS sites. These could help you score marks in the ‘Static Economic Concepts’ section which would amount to 15 marks easily. Deep diving into current year’s Budget and Economic Survey will yield you around 15-20 marks in ESI and F&M papers put together. For the Budget and Economic Survey part, the primary source should be the official sites such as Press Information Bureau and then you can refer Vision IAS, Mrunal, Insights IAS, and Forum IAS. I have also read extensively about various schemes introduced by the Government of India, International organizations, FAQs, monetary policy statements (statement on developmental policies in specific), RBI speeches, bulletins, important circulars, and annual report (make the most out of RBI site), SECC data, recent data on various ranks and indices (during the last 8 months span), Economics section of VISION IAS and Shankar IAS monthly current affairs capsules. One crucial thing is to start reading the business page and editorial section of a newspaper once you got a hold on the basics of Economics. I personally preferred reading ‘The Hindu’. You will feel that epiphanic moment of understanding the terms and its related news. In addition, it would be better to start reading a business newspaper from around 6-8 months before the prelims. I ardently recommend Mint as a business newspaper to be read.

Paper 2 – Finance & Management (F&M)

For the Management part, I would recommend the aspirants to first read the Principles of Management book by P C Tripathi and P N Reddy cover-to-cover. Then, lay your hands on Essentials Of Organizational Behavior book by Robbins, Judge, and Sanghi, and Human Resource Management book by L.M. Prasad. I read a little in these areas and alongside used online resources to read more about management topics.

When it comes to Finance part, Budget and Economics Survey part, RBI site related data plays a vital role. Read the syllabus topics from CAIIB books Bank Financial Management, and Advanced Bank Management, and JAIIB book Accounting And Finance For Bankers. It covers the problems part, risk management, Basel norms, and other finance related topics. Read the websites of NABARD, SEBI, SIDBI, NHB, EXIM to know their functions and their ongoing schemes. Also, read about the RBI Act 1935, Banking Regulations Act 1949, SEBI regulations (LODR, ICDR, and Corporate Governance), NCFM modules on Securities Market – Basic & Advanced module, Financial Inclusion and Development from the RBI site. Besides these, familiarize yourself with the general topics given in F&M syllabus from the internet.

Paper 3 – English

I did not prepare anything in specific for this paper. Daily reading of ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Mint’ assisted me in scoring good marks in English. Below are the few points for essay writing, which I would firmly suggest

• Do choose a topic, which you are quite familiar with from the five given topics.
• Try beginning the essay with a famous quote or saying.
• Do segregate and arrange the contents in paragraphs in an orderly manner.
• Do not emphasize biased view on the topics. Take a neutral stand, analyze the topics and write it in a justifiable way with specific examples and anecdotes.
• Pay attention to the paragraph headings, word limit, and grammar as they will play a bigger role along with the contents.

PHASE III – INTERVIEW

After the declaration of mains results, one would have at least 40-45 days before the interview. Preparing for an interview is brushing through what you have studied for mains. You should also be able to answer questions which are in and out from the bio-data form filled by you, details about your current job profile, questions related to your native town and state. Circulate your bio-data with your friends and gather the possible questions that can be asked from it. Remember, you are the anchor of your interview taking the panel members in your desired direction. So, rehearse well the most expected questions and the probable follow-up questions and answer them by taking at least 2-3 mock interviews. Along with the subject preparation, one should prepare mentally and physically to attend the interview by relaxing yourself and keeping in mind that D-day is all yours.

Which are the best sources to give mock tests for Prelims & Mains?

I did take mock tests for Prelims from Oliveboard and PracticeMock. I did not take any mock tests for Mains as the time interval between the Prelims and Mains was very less for me.

Can you walk us through your D-Day Interview?

My interview took place on Dec 19, 2018, at the Chennai Regional RBI Office. There were three members in the interview panel along with the chairman. The Chairman began the interview by shooting his questions and then the other panel members started asking their questions.

Chairman

• NPA
• How to resolve the NPAs
• Which sector has the most NPAs
• What is the impact of huge NPAs

Panel Member #1

• Why RBI
• What are its functions
• Sharpe Ratio
• What is the difference between forwards and futures
• Which department in RBI would you like to work in
• Current work profile
• Questions related to the Capital Markets training which I had mentioned in my bio-data

Panel Member #2

• Father’s Occupation
• How did demonetization impact our business
• Sterlite issue at my hometown
• Hackathon (bio-data based)
• FEMA
• What is the exchange rate that RBI is targeting
• Tobin tax and has it been imposed in India previously
• India’s rank in gender gap index (from that day’s newspaper)

Panel Member #3

• Participants of capital markets
• Financial Inclusion
• What are the steps taken by RBI and Government of India towards the Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy (Since I told them that I will be happy to work in any department allotted but Forex and Financial Inclusion department are my personal favorites)

The panel members were very cordial and they made me feel comfortable throughout the 25 minutes of my interview. I thoroughly enjoyed my interview and I would not call my interview as a stress interview at all.

Did you answer all the questions? When you didn’t know an answer, how did you manage?

I did not answer two of the questions asked to me. Apart from those two questions, I was able to answer other questions pretty well. When I did not know an answer, I honestly told them that I was not aware or I could not recollect the answers for those questions.

Does the cut-off for selection vary every year?

Yes, the cutoffs do vary every year depending on the competitive pool of applicants. The following are the cutoffs for Grade B General for the last three years.

2018

2017

2016

As you can see, the cut-off has been increasing every year. So, one can expect higher cut-offs in the upcoming years as well.

How do you see your career path in RBI?

The feeling that you are going to work with the prestigious central bank of the country gives anyone immense pleasure and I am not an exception here. There are 34 departments in the RBI. Working across various departments in central and regional offices is definitely going to mold your financial career. Myself being from computer science engineering background, I have plans to reap the benefits of finance and technology at my workplace whenever and wherever possible. RBI sponsors for higher education for some select 15-20 people every year. I also do have plans of doing my masters in Public Policy.

Can we expect the future RBI Governor from our Pearl City?

I am humbled here. Yes, it is the obvious dream of everyone pursuing a career in RBI. The current trend is that RBI governors are being chosen from bureaucrats/ career economists. But yeah, one could reach the level of Deputy Governor of RBI from being joined as a Grade B fresher.

What would you like to tell the RBI aspirants?

‘If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs down’. I followed this quote religiously keeping the only thought in my mind that I want to become an RBI Grade B Manager. I did have hurdles in the course of my preparation, but I kept reminding myself of the above-stated quote. The fact that I will not be having this golden time and opportunity in my life to attempt this exam again made me push myself beyond my limits. Once in a few days, I analyzed my preparation course, noted down my weak points and implemented a corrective action plan for the same. Since I was working, my work and commute ate 11 hours of my daily time. Then, 3-3.5 hours of weekday preparation and 6-8 hours of weekend preparation for one solid year landed me in a place where I am tasting the fruit of success. You can’t just hope for happy endings! You must believe in them, work and take risks!

Wishing the fellow RBI aspirants the best in all the future endeavors!!

It was nice interacting with you, Vino. Thanks for spending your valuable time to share your experience on your successful RBI Journey. Team KK wishes you the very best with your career ahead.

@Aspirants: For any queries related to the RBI Grade B exam and interview preparation, comment below or reach Vino at vinothiniramakrishnan8@gmail.com.

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