Expert Blogger

Those preparing for the Mains segment of exams like SBI PO, IBPS PO, and NABARD Grade A for their banking careers often overlook the Descriptive English portion. Aspirants practice for months on quantitative techniques and logic, but then take the essay and letter writing portion to be just another obstacle to overcome at the very end of it all.

This would be a huge blunder on your part. The Descriptive English portion is one that you can score very easily in, provided you know how to go about it. Since the test is checked via AI-based grading software (or a rigid marking scheme in the case of human evaluators), the key to success lies in knowing what input the software expects from you.

In this article, we have discussed cracking the code of high-scoring descriptive English. 

The right Banking coaching can assist aspirants in improving their skills in descriptive English through developing their writing abilities, vocabulary, and answer structuring, which helps in scoring well in exams.

Cracking the code of high-scoring descriptive English

Read the following pointers to learn about cracking the code of high-scoring descriptive English:

Optimize for the “automated grader”

Almost all banking examinations employ automated evaluation engines for the assessment of descriptive scripts. These engines don’t evaluate your creativity or passion; rather, they assess your structural and technical skills.

The following three components play a significant role when you want to score well with an automated assessment engine:

• Perfection in Grammar and Spelling: The slightest of mistakes in spelling and grammar result in instant deduction of marks. An automated grader is very harsh on such issues.
• Appropriate Choice of Vocabulary (Without flowery language): Never employ difficult terms from a thesaurus. Rather, be accurate while using technical terminology. For example, you should write “monetary tightening” instead of “money reduction” and “fiscal deficit” in place of “budget issue.”
• Adherence to Word Limit: For example, if the question asks you to write an essay of 250 words, you should write it in 235 to 260 words.

The universal essay blueprint

A great descriptive essay has a very structured format consisting of four paragraphs rather than one large body of text that just keeps going and going without any particular organization. First, you should have an introductory paragraph that introduces your topic, uses a statistic to hook your reader, and establishes your main point. Then you should move on to the first body paragraph, where you describe the positive effects, benefits, and advances made in the field. This is then balanced out in your second body paragraph by describing the difficulties, hurdles, or potential problems associated with this topic. End with a concluding paragraph that describes a bright future ahead from a solutions-based standpoint. To get the most points possible, start each section with transitional signaling words like furthermore, conversely, and in a nutshell.

Letter writing: structure is 70% of the score

In the letter-writing assignment (formal or informal), the layout of the assignment fetches a huge number of points out of the total. No matter how short your body content is, a perfect layout can make sure that your base mark is extremely high.

While attempting to write a Formal Letter (like when writing to a Branch Manager on the topic of a loan or an editor on the topic of cybercrime), you should keep all the following things in mind in the above order, with neat line breaks:

• Address of the sender (Use placeholders like Examination Hall, XYZ city if you don’t have the address details)
• Date
• Designation and Address of the receiver
• Subject (It should be short and sweet like “Subject: Application for Education Loan Modification” – 6-8 words)
• Salutation (Respected Sir/Madam)

Harness the power of core fact anchors

If you have written an essay about digital banking or financial inclusion, then such sentences as “Digital banking is very helpful for poor people” would make your writing weak.

Make your content more advanced with the use of Fact Anchors. Just maintain a list of 10-15 facts that are applicable to almost all economic/social topics. Refer to various programs such as PMJDY, and use terms such as fintech penetration or Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The reference to real-life institutions proves to the examiner that you have executive knowledge like a banker.

A good SSC institute ensures that the candidates develop the skills of writing and grammar so that they score high marks in the descriptive English section.

Conclusion 

The process of decoding the descriptive English language does not demand that you become a great novelist. Instead, it demands that you become an effective communicator. Consider this an important aspect of your regular preparation routine. For 30 minutes, two days a week, type your essays on your desktop notepad without using the autocorrect facility to increase your typing skills. Through the process of learning formatting techniques, structuring your thoughts in a standard format, and being absolutely correct in your grammar, you turn a guessing game of the descriptive paper into your most powerful scoring tool.