VA tips for CAT from Expert - An HR’s Perspective
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English expertise forms heart of the daily corporate activities. As an HR, I know the importance of every word that is said, mentioned in document or written to communicate your employees. Needless to say, these expertise will help you right from your CAT days, through interviews & finally to the destination as a manager, leader or a business owner. As an HR, I feel, language is something by which we try to judge people who comes for an interview or training. It silently reflects the true picture about the person. Hence, I feel strong grip on verbal abilities is essential not only for CAT, but also for your future as a successful human being.
Nevertheless to say, it is also important from CAT point of view. Indeed RC forms a very imporatnt part of English section. People strong at passage reading and understaning can really go guns in english. However, apart from having a good reading speed and a knack of understanding the paragraphs, one also needs to have the ability to pick up the best passage.
Its very obviuos that one cant solve all the passages in the paper. Also its very very obvious that the passages that appear in CAT are baffling and verbose. One wrong passage taken and your half time goes in reading the passage. This can inturn effect your speed and accuracy both. Hence, adopting a strategy for selection of passage also is important. Some tips that I had heard (also I practised myself) are: -
1) Check the lenght of the passage - the bigger, the bigger the confusing.
2) Read the questions first, rather rhan going to passaages directly - If you can make some sense of questions, you surely can make sense of the passage too.
3) First and the last passages are normally easy/hard. Or the in between passages are better to understand……
And on and on goes the strategy…bla bla bla…
Sometimes these strategies work. Sometimes they don’t.
Critics would say Long passages are sometimes easier. Also one would say sometimes questions are difficult from which one cant interpret the passage quality.
What I personally feel is that READING IS THE KEY to every lock that a passage contains. If you have good reading skills, you are: -
- familiar with lot of words.
- understanding becomes easier
- sometimes what you have read comes as a passage (heaven abode… :)…)
- Your gut instincts become sharper for identifying the key words or atleast glimpsing thier placement; so that any question on it and bang you know the answer….
Anyways, the tips given above are quite subjective and might work at times. What really matters is what you do on the D Day (Why not C Day?)
Anyways, do ensure you have formed your own strategy to find the key for every lock the passage presents you. Because key once found would imply cut offs cleared…
All the best guys and gals…
About the author: Miss Disha Chandan is an MBA (HR) from Mumbai University and is currently handling important position & responsibilities in one of the most competitive organizations in the industry.
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