SSC PREPARATIONS For Beginners

Pawan Lakhera

   SSC PREPARATIONS


Staff Selection Commission (SSC) an organization under Government of India which recruit staff for various posts in the various Ministries, Departments and Subordinate Offices. SSC’s much awaited CGL notification 2017 will be released soon in the month of May. SSC conducts Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination for the recruitment of Grade “B” and “C” categories posts in various Government Ministries, Departments and Offices. Every year, lots of candidates apply for the CGL exam.
In this article I will provide the fine details about this exam so that all your doubts regarding this exam will be cleared in one go.

  SSC CGL 2017 Recruitment Exam: Details
  • Name of the Exam: SSC CGL 2017
  • Full Form of the SSC CGL: Staff Selection Commission – Combined Graduate Level
  • Exam Conducting Body: Staff Selection Commission
  • Exam Level: All India
  • Exam Mode: Tier 1 & 2 – Online, Tier 3 – Offline and Tier 4 for some posts.
  • Total Number of Vacancy: 4,117
  • Candidates Apply for SSC CGL Exam Every Year: 14 Lac (approximately) 

  • SSC CGL Posts / SSC CGL Salary 2017

    GroupPostsMinistries/DepartmentGrade PayGross SalaryIn Hand Salary
    Group “B”Assistant AuditOfficerIndian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG4,80054,864 – 61,42450,725 – 57,285
    Group “B”Assistant SectionOfficerCentral Secretariat Service4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantCentral Vigilance Commission4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantIntelligence Bureau4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantMinistry of Railway4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantMinistry of External Affairs4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantAFHQ4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantOther Ministries/ Departments4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”Inspector(Central Excise)CBEC4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”Inspector(Preventive Officer)CBEC4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”Inspector(Examiner)CBEC4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantEnforcement OfficerDirectorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”AssistantOther Ministries/ Departments4,20032,667 – 37,11929,455 – 33,907
    Group “B”Sub InspectorCentral Bureau of Investigation4,20032,667 – 37,11929,455 – 33,907
    Group “B”Inspector of PostsDepartment of Post4,20032,667 – 37,11929,455 – 33,907
    Group “B”StatisticalInvestigator Gr.IIMinistry of Statistics & Prog. Implementation.4,20032,667 – 37,11929,455 – 33,907
    Group “B”InspectorCentral Bureau of Narcotics4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “B”Sub InspectorNational Investigation Agency (NIA)4,20032,667 – 37,11929,455 – 33,907
    Group “C”Inspector(Income Tax)CBDT4,60041,003 – 46,18336,864 – 42,044
    Group “C”
    Auditor
    Offices under CAG
    		2,80027,766 – 31,79025,123 – 29,147
    Group “C”
    		AuditorOffices under CGDA2,80027,766 – 31,79025,123 – 29,147
    Group “C”
    		AuditorOffices under CGA
    & others    		2,80027,766 – 31,79025,123 – 29,147
    Group “C”
    		Accountant/ Junior AccountantOffices under CAG2,80027,766 – 31,79025,123 – 29,147
    Group “C”
    		Accountant/ Junior AccountantOffices under CGA
    & others    		2,80027,766 – 31,79025,123 – 29,147
    Group “C”
    		Sr. Secretariat AssistantCentral Govt. Offices/Ministries other than CSCS cadres.2,40024,446 – 28,18022,121 – 25,855
    Group “C”
    		Tax AssistantCBDT2,40024,446 – 28,18022,121 – 25,855
    Group “C”Tax AssistantCBEC2,40024,446 – 28,18022,121 – 25,855
    Group “C”CompilerRegistrar General of India2,40024,446 – 28,18022,121 – 25,855
    Group “C”Sub InspectorCentral Bureau of Narcotics2,40024,446 – 28,18022,121 – 25,855
     
  •  SSC Exam 2017 Eligibility:-
    Graduate level

    Educational Qualification-  Bachelors degree in any discipline from a recognized university.

    Age Limit- Applicants aged between 18 and 27 years of age are eligible to apply.

    10+2 level

    Educational Qualification- Should have passed 10+2 or equivalent or higher examination from a recognized board or university.

    Age Limit- Candidates aged between 18 and 27 years of age are eligible to apply.

    Age Relaxation is common for both levels

    • SC/ST- 05 years
    • OBC-03 years
    • PH- 10 years
    • PH+OBC- 13 years
    • PH+ SC/ST- 15 years

  • SSC CGL 2017 Exam Pattern & Syllabus

    Tier-1 Exam Pattern:
  • Exam is objective type and will be conducted online.
  • Question paper will be divided into 4 sections: (1) General Intelligence & Reasoning, (2) General Awareness / General knowledge, (3) Quantitative Aptitude and (4) English Comprehension.
  • There are 100 questions for 200 marks and exam duration will be 75 minutes.
  • There will be negative marking of 0.50 marks for each wrong answer.
Tier-2 Exam Pattern:
  • Exam is objective type and will be conducted online.
  • There are 4 papers, (Paper-1) Quantitative Ability, (Paper-2) English Language and Comprehension, (Paper-3) Statistics and (Paper-4) General Studies (Finance & Economics).
  • Paper-1 & 2 is compulsory for all posts and Paper-3 is only for the post of “Statistical Investigator Gr. II” & “Compiler” and Paper-4 is only for the post of “Assistant Audit Officer”.
  • Each paper carries 200 marks and exam duration is 2 hours for each paper.
  • There will be negative marking for each wrong answer, negative marking of 0.50 marks in Paper-1, Paper-3 & Paper-4 and negative marking of 0.25 marks in Paper-2.
Tier-3 Exam Pattern:
  • Exam is descriptive type and will be conducted offline.
  • Candidates need to write Essay / Précis / Letter / Application Writing etc.
  • Exam carries 100 marks and exam duration is 60 minutes and exam duration will be 80 minutes for “VH” and “Cerebral Palsy” candidates.

  • How to prepare for SSC CGL Tier I in 2 month – General Intelligence and Reasoning:

    Solving General Intelligence (GI) questions can be very tricky unless you have sufficient practice. In addition to solving practice papers, try at least 50 GI and reasoning questions every day. This way you will have practiced at least 2000 questions of GI and reasoning before your actual exam. As you go on practicing, you will gradually devise tricks of your own to tackle GI questions.

    Begin your Reasoning preparation here:

  • Testbook Reasoning: This is undoubtedly the best place to clear all concepts in order to prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 exam.
  • Testbook Reasoning Quiz: To ensure that you are actually learning and not just wasting time, keep a track of your preparation by taking these quizzes. These quizzes are prepared by keeping in mind the SSC CGL Exam pattern & last year exam analysis.
Topics like Puzzles, analogy, coding-decoding, series, figure-based questions, etc. are very scoring. Start with these and move on to more versatile questions. You will notice a massive improvement in your accuracy within a week if you practice consistently. Furthermore, non-verbal reasoning topics like image assembling, figure-counting, etc. require you to employ visual imagination. Do not skip or ignore these questions because they seem time-consuming to you. Solving them is the best way to make them less time consuming.
Note: While practicing, your aim is to be able to attempt at least 15-20 questions in 20 minutes with reasonable accuracy. In the exam also, try to solve this section in no more than 20 minutes.

How to prepare for SSC CGL in 2 month – General Awareness:

General awareness (GA) is the most scoring section of the exam. If you prepare this section thoroughly now, it will not take more than 10 minutes of your time during the exam. You can utilize the time you save here for doing calculations in Quantitative Aptitude. The exam usually has more questions from static GK than Current Affairs. Therefore, focus more on static GK and simultaneously stay in touch with Current Affairs.

Prepare the subjects in the following order of priority:

Science>> Polity>> History>> Geography>> Economy>> Miscellaneous
Static GK mainly pertains to Culture, Indian History, Geography (India+World), Environment, Economy and Polity. Instead of cramming mindlessly, make notes and mindmaps to remember facts, chronology of events, cause and effect, etc. Doing this will also make your revision process quicker. Practice at least 75 questions of GA everyday within 30 minutes. From this sections focus on those topics which are asked in SSC CGL 2016 Tier I exam.

The following material will help you cover almost all aspects of General Awareness:


  • Current Affairs App: Since you have more than two months of time, go through the notes and capsules in the App. Also, take the Daily/Weekly/Monthly Quizzes.
  • Static GK: These capsules are important to keep you up to date on trivia and events and to boost your General Awareness.
  • GK Quiz: Improve your General Awareness with these short quizzes. To prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 exam and simultaneously test yourself, these quizzes are the best platform.
  • Current Affairs Capsules: If you don’t have an Android app, read Daily/Monthly Capsules of the past 3 months.
  • Current Affairs Quiz: Make it a point to take these quizzes daily.
For the list of recommended books for this section, check out more of our posts on how to prepare this section more efficiently.
Note: When it comes to General Awareness, revision is the key to success!

How to prepare for SSC CGL in 2 months – Quantitative Aptitude

Quantitative aptitude is considered to be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the exam. But since you still have an enough time to prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 exam. So, utilise this time & make yourself expertise in at least some of the areas of quant section. For this you can start with the topics such as percentage, profit & loss, ratio & proportion, speed distance & time, boat & stream, data interpretation etc. Begin your preparation here:

  • Testbook Quant: Carefully go through all the shortcuts, concepts and tips.
  • Testbook Quant Quiz: Assess yourself with these tiny quizzes having solutions to fix your mistakes on the spot.
  • Math Shortcut Tricks: Shortcut tricks can help you big time in Quantitative Aptitude.
  • Take one mock test daily leading up to the exam.
  • Practice on app daily. When you’re travelling or bored. When you sit down to practice.
  • Read all the solutions carefully to understand the concepts used in the questions.
Simplification, interest, percentages, ratio and proportion and age-problems are easy and scoring so spend more time with these topics. Profit and loss, number series, mensuration, number systems, speed and distance, etc. are scoring topics but take more time to solve. While going through the previous years’ question papers, analyze the nature of the questions asked from these as well as other topics. Learn all the important formulas by heart and time yourself while practicing. Furthermore, practice on the app daily.
Don’t underestimate the importance of analyzing your preparationwhile preparing for Quantitative Aptitude. Solve as many different types of questions and topics as you can to know your strong and weak areas. Two weeks before the exam, practice more of those questions which you are more confident about. It’s best if you keep reviewing your strategy as per your progress.
Note: Try to allocate at least 2 hours from your entire day to practice questions from quantitative aptitude section. In the exam, don’t give more than 25 minutes to this section.

How to prepare for SSC CGL in 1 month – English Language:

There are three important aspects that you need to master to efficiently prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 English test. These are vocabulary, grammar and comprehension. If you achieve proficiency in vocabulary and grammar, you will win half the battle. After this, all you need is to work on comprehension.
The pattern and questions in this exam often get repeated. Therefore, a thorough preparation can help you wrap up this entire section within 15 minutes in the exam.
To take a look at the kind of questions you should practice, see our post on Preparing English Language for SSC CGL.

Comprehension:

Practice at least 10 comprehension passages daily. The trick here is to read the questions before you read the passage, as then while reading the passage you will know exactly what you are looking for. In fact, sometimes, the answers to all the questions which follow the passage lie in the initial paragraphs.

Vocabulary:

Since you have to prepare for the SSC CGL Tier 1 exam, you probably get to read a lot. Whenever you come across a new word, check the meaning of the word and try to reuse it and its synonyms and antonyms in sentences. Also, make sure you do this for all the new words that you come across in the model/previous years’ question papers and while studying Current Affairs. Do make it a point to go through our Word Power Made Easy Capsules to learn memory techniques for vocabulary, grammar lessons, tips, tricks and more.

Grammar:

Just like vocabulary, your grammar will also improve if you read more sincerely. In any case, try as many questions as you can on:

  • Error Spotting
  • Phrase Replacement
  • Fill in the Blanks
Once you exhaust model/previous years’ papers, move over to other sources to practice at least 30 questions of grammar each day. Try to quickly scan across newspapers like ‘The Hindu’ daily. Some other sources you can rely on are:

  • English for Competitive Exams Modules: The best technique for contextual usage, grammar.
  • Testbook English Quiz: Practice questions in tiny quizzes and see where you stand among your peers.
  • Grammarly: Type in your grammar-related query on Google and click on the links from Grammarly.
  • English Stack Exchange: Type in your grammar-related query on Google and click on links from English Stack Exchange. Or visit the forum to learn English in an unstructured format, one doubt at a time.
  • Thesaurus: Learn synonyms and antonyms for different words.

More Rules to Follow While You Prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam:


  1. The first thing you should do when you sit to study is to solve a mock question paper. Solve at least one mock paper every day.
  2. Time yourself section-wise.
  3. After you solve a mock test, review it in and out. Analyze your errors, time taken, accuracy and approach.
  4. Try different time-management strategies like the ones given below and adopt the one that suits you the best.
  5. Try more SSC CGL Tests here.

  • Give more time to sections that you are more strong in. This will ensure that you can effectively use the time duration of the exam. Remember that there are no sectional time limits and no sectional cut offs. So your job is to simply maximize your score however you can.
  • Try different order of attempt patterns in your mock tests. Some  with English first, some Quant first. Or try your toughest section first. See which strategy works best for you.

Hopefully, after reading this post you will know exactly how to prepare for SSC CGL Tier 1 exam. However, if there is still something more you need help with, then please comment below and let us know.

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