One of the defining features of the IIFT earns that sets it apart from other competitive exams and also makes it one of the most difficult ones to crack is the General Knowledge section.
To make it into the next round one has to clear the overall cutoff's well as the sectional cutoff, in such a situation it becomes important t pay attention to this section as it can make or break your journey to IIFT.
But the good thing about the GK section is that it has a minimal cutoff, and has had a history of staying in single digits. It has remained in the range of 2-3.5 marks. The section has approximately 25 questions with each question fetching you .5 marks.
It may sound like child’s play to clear this section but many students make the mistake of playing to their strengths and concentrating on other sections while completely ignoring the GK section. They even manage to even clear the overall cutoff but are not selected because of their inability to clear the GK sectional cutoff.
Mistakes made by students in IIFT GK
The biggest folly of students is that they neglect the GK section. They put off preparing for the section until the very last moment. Students underestimate the preparation required for the GK section. But GK is not something you can leave for the last minute. This year the IIFT Exam is scheduled for 2
nd of December. The CAT exam is scheduled for 25
th November. If you are planning to study GK between 25
th and 2nd you will be diminishing your chances of clearing the IIFT exam as many people who write CAT also write IIFT. Procrastination is such a situation could cost the students as it will be key to clearing the exam. Thus, leaving your GK preparation for the eleventh hours is not something that is recommended.
Check where you stand in IIFT GK?
Before starting it’s best to check where you currently lie with respect to your GK. The easiest way to do this is to download the previous year’s papers and go through the GK sections, A customary glance through the papers will give you an idea where you stand. Attempting these questions and then calculating how much you got in each paper will provide a fair idea of the same.
Award yourself 0.5 marks for every correct answer and 0.17 for every wrong answer. If you score more 4 or more in these papers, then you don’t have much to worry about this section. You are in the clear and can actually relax. If you are in the 2.5 to 4 range, then you need to start preparing for GK. You need to give at least 3 hours a week from now on to brush up on the important stuff. If you are below 2.5 in both the papers, then it’s time to pull up your socks and prepare for the GK section.
How should you prepare for IIFT GK?
A trend that has been observed in the previous years has been that there is always a healthy mix of static general knowledge and current affairs. The questions are not difficult in nature and require you to be well informed as any MBA aspirant should be. There are questions related to international trade, staying true to its name. Knowing the basics of international trade is a must if you want to perform well in the GK section. The question in the IIFT exam are well thought out and you will not come across questions that require you to know obscure information. This section can be a game changer for you in terms of providing that extra boost to your overall score. This section takes barely 10 minutes to attempt and can give you the much-required couple of marks that may prove to be the differentiating factor.
There is no dearth of resources when it comes to preparing for GK. There are offline resources like Manorama Yearbook Review and Competition Success review. As for offline, there are many apps that provide you with flashcards and can be perused easily without much effort. Knappily is one of these apps that I would personally recommend.
Many coaching institutes have modules for GK, they can be a useful resource to prepare for the GK section.
Few important general awareness categories worth revising are:
1. International Bodies, their functions, their chief personals, and their offices. For instance; United Nations, IMF, BRICS. etc.
2. Major Sporting Events and Awards of the year like Olympics, Winter Olympics, CWG India, Asian Games, Tennis, Cricket, Football, Chess, Billiards, etc.
3. Major political events
Other economy-related events like FDI, Stock market, etc.
All this might seem daunting at first but once you start preparing, it will not pose a problem and you might actually even enjoy it. And most importantly don’t let all this information overwhelm you, if you prepare well, clearing the IIFT exam will be a breeze. All the best!