In response to
my article on the Gap Year, there have been several queries regarding how to prepare for GK. For XAT, GK is a part of the entrance exam, while several exams don’t have this it always helps to be updated on Current affairs, be it for GD/interviews
Sources:
- T.I.ME has a monthly magazine which covers several topics in length and breadth .This alone will not be sufficient, several of the issues are triggers to online search, while I let my curiosity get the better of me and started reading why the Duck-Billed Platypus is egg-laying as well as a mammal and forgot what I was looking for, I would urge you to keep a dedicated time schedule every day. This was something I looked forward to everyday.
- Newspapers: Skim through news and pay careful attention to editorials both for G.K as well as for the Verbal section. The newspapers have to be a mix of general as well as business. Choose any one from Hindu, Times of India, Deccan Chronicle etc. and one from Economic Times, Mint etc.
- Magazines:Frontline, The Week, India Today etc. are few magazines which talk about general trends in important areas, they also have an interesting take on politics and policies.
- News Channels: The non-controversial ones ( which are rare to find ) helped me in assimilating things which I had read.
- YouTube Videos by Experts: There is abundant content on You-Tube by experts in Marketing, Finance, Operations and other business Domains.
- A few basics I had an inclination towards marketing, in a few interviews I was asked to quote a few marketing books I had read ( I had not read any ). Ask any M.B.A student the unanimous answer would be Kotler, there are a few such books and a few articles from Harvard Business Review by authors like Peter Drucker and Theodore Levitt, frameworks by Michael Porter, which have been constants in M.B.A for years, it is interesting to find out why the works of these men have lasted the test of time, I am still in the process of finding out but they form an essential part of every M.B.A and reading about them if time permits wouldn’t hurt.
- Android Apps: There are also many Android Apps which are helpful if you need to read on the go.
If you think all of this is too much you can break up things, if you have a study group and discuss (I didn’t have one I ended up most of it on my own). The key here is to understand the deeper meaning, everyone has the facts, people are interested to know your take on them, in a G.D you will face people who have been quizzing/debating throughout their life, they are excellent with facts and arguments, if you need to make a mark in such a G.D reading on various topics and making sense of what you read is the only way.