Points to remember while preparing for SSC CGL – 2022

 
SSC CGL is an open competitive examination, conducted by the Staff Selection Commission for the recruitment of candidates into various Organizations, departments, and offices under the Government of India. It is one of the most sought-after exams in the country, and if you are planning to appear for it, you should keep a few points in mind to crack the examination with a good score.

This year the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is going to conduct SSC CGL 2022 Examination to select candidates for Grade B and C government posts for a massive 20,000 vacancies (tentative) announced by the commission. If we go through the last 10 years' vacancies announced by the commission, this year you have the biggest opportunity to grab a post in the reputable departments of the central government.

This article will guide you through your SSC CGL 2022 preparation by sharing some important points that you should keep in mind while preparing:
 
1. Solve previous year’s question papers
2. Keep an eye on the cutoff
3. Increase your calculation speed
4. Focus on the current affairs
5. Strengthen your vocabulary part
6. Avoid Random Guesses
7. Take mocks regularly
8. Stay calm and positive
 

1. Solve previous year’s question papers

Going through the previous year’s question paper is one of the smart strategies that you should use to boost your score in the examination. Solving the previous year’s papers would help you a lot in getting an overview of the SSC CGL exam and understanding the examination pattern better.
 
Following are the major advantages of analyzing the previous year's papers of SSC CGL:

• Practicing previous year’s papers is the best way to get familiar with the examination pattern, the type of questions asked in the exam, and the difficulty level of the questions.
• It will give you an in-depth idea of the type of questions that are frequently asked in the SSC CGL exam. Practicing such questions on a regular basis will help you save time on examination day.
• If you’re lucky enough, you may find some repeated questions from the SSC CGL previous year’s papers with slight modifications. If you’ve practiced those questions, you’ll be able to solve these questions easily in your actual exam.
• Dealing with the previous year's questions will help you understand the weightage of each topic asked in the SSC CGL exam and which will help you to prepare your study plan accordingly.
• Solving SSC CGL previous year's question papers will also help you develop a good understanding of the type of questions to be answered first and the ones to be kept for later.

 

2. Keep an eye on the cutoff

The cutoff is the minimum score required by a candidate to qualify for any round. SSC CGL cutoff depends on the number of available vacancies as well as the difficulty level of the examination. After each stage, the commission releases post-wise and category-wise cutoffs along with the number of candidates available under each category.

Analyzing the previous year’s cutoff gives you a rough idea about the level of the exam and the amount of effort you need to put in to reach that level. Therefore, while attempting the previous year's question papers, you should familiarize yourself with the previous year's cutoffs for the SSC CGL examination as well. It will help you to get an idea of the number of good attempts required to clear the examination with a good score.
 

3. Increase your calculation speed

Certain topics in the SSC CGL examination are complex and calculative and hence you need to enhance your speed to attempt the maximum number of questions accurately within the given time. To help you with this, Smartkeeda, India’s leading test series platform for SSC, Banking, Railways, Insurance, and other government job examinations, has developed India’s first Education-Gaming-Social (EGS) platform, Qudoo, where you can play short quizzes in different subjects and validate your knowledge and enhance speed and accuracy in a fun-filled way.

Qudoo is an interactive Education-Gaming-Social platform that thrillingly tests your knowledge with exam-based free quizzes. Qudoo awards points based on Speed+Accuracy. Playing quizzes on Qudoo will help you develop speed with accuracy, the two main weapons required to ace any examination. The key benefit of attempting short quizzes on Qudoo is that they are super specific to a certain topic. This helps you quickly solve these practice problems the moment you complete a specific concept from a topic.

Ready to test yourself? Click here to download the Qudoo app now!!

 
You should also remember the following steps to increase your calculation speed in the quantitative aptitude section of ssc cgl examination:

• Memorize important formulae, cubes, and squares by heart. It will help you a lot in increasing your speed and saving time for those tricky questions.
• Learn the fraction to percentage conversion and vice versa. It will help you simplify your calculations and obtain answers within less time.
• Learn tricks to solve square roots and cube roots.
• Get rid of the habit of using calculators.
• Try to solve the previous year's question with a timer.
• Minimize the use of pen and paper and try to do mental calculations as much as possible.

 

4. Focus on the current affairs

 Nowadays, Current Affairs are of the foremost importance in the SSC CGL examination. As a rule of thumb, focusing on the last six months' current affairs can fetch you some extra marks and place you ahead on the merit list. But before just mugging up the latest news, you should go through the SSC CGL previous year's papers and make research about the type of current affairs questions asked in this exam. Different types of examinations focus on different types of current affairs. Like CA questions asked in banking examinations are more related to the latest baking events.


It is not easy to remember a huge amount of information through reading. According to a research, within one hour, people will have forgotten an average of 50 percent of the information you presented. Within 24 hours, they have forgotten an average of 70 percent of new information, and within a week, forgetting claims an average of 90 percent of it. Therefore, creating short notes of current events and revising them regularly can help you in memorizing them easily. Another proven method of retaining the information is by taking mocks and quizzes. Taking short quizzes on current affairs after studying will definitely help you in storing this data in your mind for a long time.

Testzone mock drill provides you with absolutely free, monthly updated current affairs pdf to read and revise important monthly current events before your SSC CGL exam in a short period of time. You can download the pdf for each month in Hindi or English language. You can also take free current affairs quizzes to test your knowledge.

5. Strengthen your vocabulary part

There is a good weightage of vocabulary questions in SSC Exams. Vocabulary questions are asked based on Antonyms and Synonyms, One-word substitution, Idioms and phrases, etc. Therefore, to excel in the SSC CGL 2022 English section, you need to put extra focus on the vocabulary part.

Here are some important tips you can follow to memorize vocabulary fast:

• Associating words with the mental image of anything that goes with that word: Associating words with images can be extremely useful for developing vocabulary skills for candidates having difficulty remembering the definition of new words. Take the word “bald” as an example. It describes a person as having no or little hair on his head. It sounds like the word "ball". You can picture "bald" with a "ball" in your mind. The next time you try to recall “bald,” it will be easier because of the keyword and connected imagery.

• Learning through root words: This is another powerful method to strengthen your vocabulary with minimum effort. Instead of learning 20 new words, you can learn 2 roots and about 10 words for each root word. For example, you can remember "cide" as the root word for "killing".Insecticide: a chemical used to kill insects

1. Patricide: killing of one’s father
2. Matricide: killing of one’s mother
3. Suicide: killing yourself
4. Fratricide: Killing of one’s brother
5. Infanticide: Killing of an infant

•  Read the newspaper daily: Developing a reading habit will help you a lot in building your vocabulary. Seeing words appear in a novel or a newspaper article can be far more helpful than seeing them appear on a boring vocabulary list.

• Play short vocabulary quizzes: It is no rocket science that short English vocabulary quizzes can help you memorize new words and advance your English level. Quizzes are an effective way to practice what you have recently learned, get test your skills, and also acknowledge what you still need to work on. You can play vocabulary-based free short quizzes here!

 

6. Avoid Random Guesses

There is a penalty of 0.50 marks for each incorrect attempt in the SSC CGL 2022 examination, therefore it is better to go for accuracy rather than maximizing your attempt in this examination. However, taking calculated risks can be helpful sometimes. Like in the English section, you can approach vocabulary questions by eliminating similar options and choosing the best match.

But making random guesses about the questions of which you are completely unaware can cost you your positive marks. So it's better to skip all the questions you are clueless about.
 

7. Take mocks regularly

 Champions keep playing until they get it right!

Maintaining consistency in taking mocks could be a tricky task to be done. Most of the candidates refrain from taking mock tests as once they face a low score on any mock, they lose all their motivation and feel completely baffled.
As a serious aspirant, it is expected that you would want to score high in each mock test you take. But it is not wise to let short-term failures consume you. You've to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again. You'll find yourself wiser and one step closer to your target with each test. Remember, every expert was once a beginner!

Mocks play an extremely important role in your preparation. Testzone SSC CGL 2022 mock tests are carefully designed to create an examination-like environment for you to test and validate your preparation and help you create a strategy that you know will work for you. Consistency is the critical driver for success. Therefore you should consistently take these mock tests to boost your score in the actual examination.

Click here to take SSC CGL 2022 mock test on the latest pattern!
 

8. Stay calm and positive

Every serious aspirant regardless of his/her level of preparation faces examination anxiety at some point. This examination stress can actually squeeze out your energy. The main problem arises when the stress crosses its limits and eventually starts affecting your performance. Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. Therefore, you need to handle this anxiety in order to achieve success in your exams.


Following steps can help you reduce your anxiety and remain relaxed during the exam:

• Avoid last-minute preparation: Trying to ingest a large amount of information at the last minute tends to escalate stress. Having a well-planned and organized routine is an investment that will pay itself off very quickly.

• Practice Well: A better alternative to avoid last-minute preparation is practicing mock tests regularly. Many experts believe that mimicking exam conditions and questions is the best way to prepare for an exam and reduce examination anxiety. Therefore, you should regularly practice mock tests with the best mock test series for SSC CGL 2022 examination.

• Indulge in some physical activity: According to research, physical activity can help lower your overall stress levels and improve your quality of life, both mentally and physically. Exercise is one of the most effective ways to deal with and handle stress and anxiety. 

• Get plenty of sleep: Sleep deprivation negatively affects your performance and significantly drops your ability to recall information. Therefore, to handle stress,  a good night's sleep before your exam should actually be one of your top priorities.

 
Apart from the above points, to create a proper study plan, you also need to familiarize yourself with the Latest examination pattern for the SSC CGL 2022 examination and some significant changes introduced by the commission for the upcoming examination. Since the commission has completely revised its Tier-II pattern and you must be ready to do the spadework to ace the examination with a good score.

Dear aspirants, through this article, we believe you must have received a good knowledge of the important things you must follow before appearing for the SSC CGL 2022 examination.  We advice you to remember the above-mentioned steps to achieve sure shot success in your exams.

Believe you can, you’re halfway there!
All the Best!

Thanks and Regards (Team Smartkeeda)