Strategy and tips to crack Insurance exams

Insurance exams in India consist of both private and public groups like UIIC, OICL, NIACL, NICL, and LIC. These exams are conducted for recruitment of various posts like UIIC, HFL Assistant Manager in LIC, AAO in LIC, AO in OICL Assistant in NIACL, etc.

The selection process for Insurance exams consists of the prelim exams, mains and the interview stage.

Many students find the going tough in the interview stage. However, with a few strategies, they can be in the position to ace interviews.

First of all, it is important to understand what the interviewers are expecting from an applicant. Having an understanding of the insurance job profiles will help you give your preparation the right direction. The panel evaluates your attitude, confidence, communication skills, sincerity and commitment. Further, they are looking for candidates with clarity of thought and who are aware of the important events and news from India and around the World.

The key to success in the Insurance company interviews is to justify to the panel that you are the best fit for the job! To do this, one effective tactic is to drive the interview. In this, you will try to steer the interview towards topics/ subjects that you are most comfortable in. For instance, if you are strong in Economics, make sure you bring this in the conversation at every chance you get e.g. in your introduction, strengths, etc.

Personal Questions: These include questions from your Resume or CV. For example, why did you score so less in Class 10th? What was your favorite subject in school? If you have given reading as your hobby, then, who is your favorite author? Which book are you reading currently? Also, you should expect questions like: What are the values that you cherish the most, and why? In order to check your presence of mind and the ability to think fast, sometimes, interviewers ask you to tell something that is not mentioned in your CV.

Profile-based Questions: These are questions related to your academic background and work experience, if any. Be sure to revise the basics of your graduation subjects before going for the interview. For example, revise topics like financial ratios, if you had accounting as a subject in your graduation. Also, your interview preparations will be incomplete if you do not prepare questions based on your previous job profile. Thus, you should be able to explain your role in the previous organization in a few crisp lines. Also, you may be asked about any challenges you faced on the job and what you did to overcome them. Another common question is: Why did you leave the job? Or why do want to shift to the Banking Industry?

Knowledge-based Questions: In the IBPS PO interview, expect a majority of questions which test your knowledge of areas related to the banking sector. These areas can be broadly classified as:

Banking and Insurance: Questions on banking and finance test your basic knowledge about key concepts, historical evolution and the working of important financial institutions like RBI, NABARD and SEBI.

Current Affairs: The interview panel expects the candidates to have a fair knowledge of recent developments in fields affecting the banking industry.

Economy: It is expected of you to know the basic concepts of microeconomics, like law of supply and demand and macroeconomics, like national income accounting (GDP, GNP), Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy, inflation, etc.

Taxation: You can expect a question or two on basics of taxation. Interviewer here is aiming to understand if you know the basics of taxation, what all kinds of taxes are there, how state and central government collect same and so on.

Apart from above mentioned categories, there might be questions to see if you understand the kind of work expected from you as a Bank PO and if you’ve applied for other jobs.