UPSC EPFO Enforcement Officer exam: Best preparation strategy to ace the exam

UPSC EPFO Enforcement Officer exam: Best preparation strategy to ace the exam

The UPSC has recently notified for the 2020 recruitment of Enforcement Officer/Account Officer for filling up of 421 posts under the Enforcement Provident Fund Organisation, Ministry of Labour and Employment. The EPFO Enforcement Officer 2020 is a two-stage recruitment test, including a Recruitment Test (RT) and an Interview where the posts offered are Permanent, Group ‘B’, Non-Ministerial.

The UPSC, EPFO Enforcement Officer Recruitment Test, is to be held on 4th Oct 2020 pan-India. The two-stage examination is spread over about one year, so an aspirant gets enough time to prepare and get selected.

The UPSC EPFO EO/AO exam pattern involves the Recruitment Test consisting of 120 questions of 100 marks in total to be completed within a duration of 2 hours. The examination will comprise of objective type questions in bilingual mode (i.e. both in English and Hindi). One-third penalty is imposed for the wrong attempt.

After qualifying the recruitment test, the selected candidates would be called for the interview. The merit will be framed as per 75:25 ratio for the marks acquired in the recruitment test to that of the interview.

It is of utmost importance to have a strategy to use the knowledge and apply it effectively so that the attempt can be converted into the final selection. Some important suggestions about making the right strategy for exam preparation:

·       Have a thorough understanding of questions asked in the Previous Year Papers of UPSC.

·       For effective utilisation of time in completing syllabus, the Plan should be distributed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis with particular emphasis on Daily Target based Study Plan.

·       Sticking to a single source for any subject/topic and revising that source instead of doing the same thing from multiple sources.

·       Must involve practising questions of the previous year papers of all the exams conducted by UPSC such as CDS, CSE etc. especially of past 2-3 yrs. As the questions also get repeated from the same topics asked previously but in a different format.

·       Be more precise on what to study as a subject like Accountancy, Labour laws, Social Security etc. requires only basic understanding. We suggest without dwelling much stick to the fundamentals.

·       The English and Quant part is also very important. Practice here is the real key, and if prepared well, this part helps fetch good marks.

The strong resemblance with the syllabus of UPSC CSE, State PCS and exams like RBI Assistant, SSC CGL etc., provides a wonderful opportunity to any aspirant who is seeking to grab a top job profile in the Govt sector.

Syllabus of UPSC EPFO Enforcement Officer Exam, 2020:

We suggest the following books and resources for your preparation:

Subjects	Book List
Indian Freedom Struggle	India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra A Brief History of Modern India (Spectrum) NCERT Class XII: Modern Indian History
Indian Polity	M. Laxmikant
Indian Economy	NCERT Class XI: Indian Economic Development Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh (Selective Chapters)
Current Events and Developmental Issues	The Hindu Indian Express Govt publications such as -Kurukshetra and Yojana magazine PIB etc.
General English	The examination seeks to evaluate a candidate's understanding of English language and regular use of words. The suggested booklist for Vocabulary is "Word Power Made Easy", "30 Days", for Grammar are "Basic English Grammar" and "Intermediate English Grammar" by Raymond Murphy, and "Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionary".
Computer Application	Stick to NCERT books on Accountancy of Class XI and XII
General Accounting Principles	Stick to NCERT books on Accountancy of Class XI and XII
Quantitative Aptitude and General Mental Ability	Tata McGraw Hill CSAT manual Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning by R.S, Agarwal
Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning by R.S, Agarwal	EPFO website Ministry of Labour and Employment Website Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry of Women and Child development Ministry of Finance

UPSC EPFO Enforcement Officer exam: Best preparation strategy to ace the exam

Strategy for General English:

This section will focus on a general understanding of English of the candidates. To prepare for this section you need to solve from

Compulsory English For Civil And Judicial Services By A. P. Bhardwaj

For Grammar Part, You can also refer to English is Easy by Chetananad Singh

For Vocabulary, you can follow Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

Strategy for General Studies Conventional Areas:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiZ5Bbq-Rhz4&psig=AOvVaw2fFN6DNlRDHz-_TAf1zrdB&ust=1583000878307000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJC_s_vv9OcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Follow my Book List for UPSC Prelims Exam posted here

https://becomeiasupsc.blogspot.com/2020/01/top-must-have-books-for-upsc.html

Strategy For Industrial Relations and Labour Laws:

This is a very important area for UPSC Enforcement Officer Exam. For labour laws you don’t need to go in depth to read about Labour Laws because that will be a overkill. Just download the gist of various labour laws and revise them multiple times. That should be sufficient to prepare for this section.

Strategy for Social Security:

Just download list of Schemes launched by the GOI and read from there. That should suffice.

Strategy for Current Affairs:

·       Questions will be asked mainly from the Current Affairs & Banking Awareness topics (For instance, you may come across questions related to demonetisation)

·       This section may also include questions on Books & authors, Currencies, Important Places, Awards, Headquarters, Prime Ministers Schemes, Important Days etc.

·       It would be advisable to go through the GK updates of at least last 2 - 3 months.

·       Do not forget to prepare for static GK part as well, especially the countries, their capitals and currencies (Try to focus especially on the countries that have been in news lately, for instance, the countries visited by our Prime Minister or President or with whom any major MoU has been signed).

PDF Link –http://gradeup-question-images.grdp.co/liveData/f/2017/1/GK%20Tornado%20for%20Bank%20exams_gradeup.pdf-98.pdf updated till 15TH

January. Can use the weekly one liner for news after that.

Strategy for General Science & Knowledge of Computer Applications:

·       Fundamentals of Computer

·       History of Computer

·       Internet

·       MS Office – Word, Power point, Excel & Access

·       Memory

·       Input Output devices

·       Computer Shortcuts

·       Important Abbreviations

Strategy for General Mental Ability & Quantitative Aptitude:

·       Data Interpretation (Try to have a thorough practice of calculative sets)

·       Number Series

·       Simplification / Approximation

·       Quadratic Equations

·       Data Sufficiency

·       Arithmetic Topics including following -
Problem on Ages
Profit, Loss and Discount
Averages
Ratio and Proportion
Simple and Compound Interest
Time & Work
Mixture and Alligations
Pipes and Cisterns
Time, Speed and Distance
Boats & Streams
Probability
Geometry

 At last, some crucial tips:

·       Revision is the key! Do it multiple times. We suggest after you learn, try recalling as recalling empowers memory and hence chances of mistakes in the exam is avoided.

·       Stick to what you have already covered. Do not attempt to absorb any new content or learn new topics a week before the examination.

When exam approaches, spend more time going through mock tests and also analyse the mistakes that you commit in these.

All the best!