Introduction
If you are a final year student, placement season would surely be an overwhelming time that requires a rigorous approach to improve your Aptitude skills for the job opportunities.
Tell me something about yourself! Would probably start to come in your dreams. Making and remaking CVs, getting dressed up in formals every day, rounds of the placement department, attending pre-placement talks, and giving multiple tests a day would become the new normal. And just one wish, I get placed in this company so that I can enjoy what is left of my college time!
A lot of companies visit college campuses to recruit students every year.
The campus placement procedure of any company usually comprises 3-5 rounds. The first screening round is the Aptitude or Written test. It is followed by 1-2 coding rounds for an IT company. For a non-IT company, there are 1-2 Group Discussion (GD) rounds. And finally, there is the Personal Interview Round (Tech and or HR).
This article talks about the first round of placements- The often-ignored Aptitude Round!
Whether you are preparing for an IT job, a government job, or even for higher studies (MBA, MS, GATE, etc), getting through the aptitude test is almost always the first step. A lot of engineering students tend to ignore the aptitude test considering the level and type of questions in high school. What they forget is that competition is relative! You have to compete with people of a similar intellectual level as yours. No matter how good you are with the technical/coding part, if you do not get through the aptitude round, you are out of the race.
Also see, Must Do Coding Questions
Quick Tips From Starting Your Preparation To Your Exam Day
- Know the Syllabus: Before you start preparing for any examination, you should keep a copy of the detailed syllabus with yourself. It is to familiarize yourself with the length and breadth of the syllabus to be covered before starting. Also, having the syllabus, you will spend time and energy only on relevant topics.
- Go through Previous Year Question Papers: Again, keep a book/ printed copy of the previous year's papers. It will give you an idea of the type of questions in the exam and help you gauge their difficulty level. It will give you a reality check of the exam you are up against. Solving the previous year's questions would build confidence like nothing else will.
- Keep your Fundamentals Strong: Having strong fundamentals goes without saying in an aptitude exam. Build a strong understanding of all the topics in the syllabus. Do not try to mug up formulas or find short cuts without understanding. Try to visualize the problems in real time and see if you can apply them, which is only possible after having clear fundamentals.
- Practice, Practice & Practice: After you have gone through al the topics once, keep practicing questions. The more you practice, the better will be your speed, accuracy, and confidence level.
- Focus on Important Topics: After going through the Previous Year's Questions and Syllabus, you will get an idea of the important topics and the average weightage of every topic asked in the exam. Prioritize your preparation accordingly and focus on important topics. Cover them first, spend more time on them, and revise them more often.
- Keep your Resources Limited: In this day and age, there are innumerable preparation resources at your disposal. You will have multiple books and websites where you can prepare. Students spend a lot of time browsing through them and hobbling from one resource to another and end up wasting a lot of time and energy on this. Select one or two quality and comprehensive resources before starting your preparation and then stick to them. Some resources you can refer to are given in the next section.
- Revision: Maintain a formulas list/notes. Stick one copy of it in your room and keep one in your bag. You can look at it every now and then for revision. Remember the more you revise the better you will get!
- Keep Stress at Bay: As the exams approach, it is natural to get anxious and stressed. To overcome anxiety and stress, be well prepared in time. Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet. Most importantly, take a good night’s sleep before the exam.
- During the Exam: Don’t try new ways, just stick to your strategy. It is usually advisable to start with your forte, the section you are strongest at. Read all questions twice before solving to avoid any silly mistakes. If you are not able to solve a question in the first go, don’t stick to it. You can always come back to it in the end if time permits.
