In this post, I will cover books for both SBI Junior Associate (Clerk) Exam Phase I and Phase II.

In this post, I have used the term “Junior Associate” to also include Junior Agricultural Associate. Because there is no difference in Phase I and Phase II exams for these posts. The only difference is in terms of educational qualifications required to apply, and maybe the interview – if it is held! 

I hope you have already gone through the exam notification and SBI Junior Associate Job Profile. 

SBI Junior Associate Exam Pattern

The written exam will be conducted in two phases, followed by an interview. Phase I is only for screening purpose (any marks that you score here will not be considered while preparing the final merit list). Your marks in Phase II along with the interview will decide your place in the final merit list. Also, there is cut-off for every section and at every stage. 

The complete paper pattern has already been covered in detail over here – SBI Junior Associate Exam Pattern.

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam

Before we begin, let me clarify a few points, in case you have not thought about them.

1. You are NOT preparing to clear ONLY Phase 1 exam. You want to clear all the phases, and the interview and find your name in the final merit list. So there can be no place for a half-hearted approach.
2. This is why you should have the big picture in the mind. If some part of your syllabus overlaps between Phase 1 and Phase2, you might as well do it in one sitting, than waste twice the time.
3. Same goes with the books. If you know that you will be buying a book for Phase 2, but it can also come handy during Phase 1, better buy it now. You are anyway going to spend that money.
4. Don’t buy made for exam guides. More often than not, they are a waste of the paper they are printed on. Publishers simply copy paste stuff from their existing books, change the cover and sell it for different exams. The only ‘exam-specific’ books you should buy are practice papers or solved papers.
5. And I will not even get into collecting ‘free online study material’. You can read here why you shouldn’t be doing that.

With this clarity in our mind, let us help you find some books and start your preparations on the right note.

Between the SBI Junior Associate Phase I and Phase II exams, there are a total of five sections where you need to concentrate.

1. English Language
2. Numerical Ability
3. Reasoning Ability
4. General Awareness and Financial Awareness
5. Computer Aptitude

Phase I only has the first three sections, while Phase II will ask questions from all of them.

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam – English Language

The Junior Associate post is simply the new version of what was earlier known as SBI Clerk. So the level of questions is expected to be the same.

Just because you can talk in English or watch English movies does not necessarily mean that you will score well in this section. You still need to sit down, revise topics, and practice questions.

Depending on how confident you are about your English prowess, you may or may not need a book. In case you do, I would suggest S P Bakshi. In any case (whether you buy this book or not) you still need previous year’s papers to practice.

Compared to SP Bakshi, RS Aggarwal has more exam-oriented practice questions and less theory, in case that is what you want!

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam – Numerical Ability & Quantitative Aptitude

Numerical ability in Phase I and Quantitative Aptitude in Phase II are basically the same. I am guessing the only change might be the level of questions.

Again, It is not entirely necessary to buy a book. If you want you can also study using NCERT books or similar. If this is the path you want to take, read my previous posts – here and here. If you are confident about your quantitative aptitude skills, then simply revise through NCERT books and solve previous year’s questions for practice.

If you are not so sure, don’t worry. The level of maths asked in the exam is only up to 10th standard (syllabus wise). If you know the basics, you can solve most of the questions and if you practiced before the exam, you can solve it fast. This is what we want – speed and accuracy.

R S Agarwal is the classic book for this section with some theory and lots of practice questions. M Tyra from BSC publications takes a more conceptual route. It spends more time at teaching you the basics but lacks in the practice questions department, so you will have to supplement it with practice questions. People like it because of the shortcuts in the book.

Fast Track Objective Arithmetic sort of falls between Agarwal and Tyra. Quite exhaustive and covers shortcuts as well but does not go as deep as Tyra. 

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam – Reasoning Ability

Reasoning ability is not something which you learn as a subject. Perhaps this is why some new-comers are troubled by this section, surprised by something new and confused about their own capabilities.

But the question pattern in the exam is very repetitive. Your chances of doing well increase highly if you have practiced different types of questions. So practice as many different types of questions as you can, and you will certainly do well in the exam.

Coming to the books, Pandey is more like Tyra – more explanations, a little low on explanations. However, I would recommend you go with Agarwal – it has the much-needed practice questions.

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam – General Awareness & Financial Awareness

General awareness in the SBI Junior Associate Exam is very different from other exams (especially SSC CGL). Here you have to focus more on current affairs, there are hardly any questions from what is called ‘static topics’ (science and social sciences).

Most of the questions are easy if you keep a tab on the daily happenings. Questions will normally test you on your awareness of important people, important places, and important events – basically their names. Within current affairs, pay special attention to recent events in the banking and finance sector.

The best thing to do would be to get hold of a yearbook and/or competition magazines which cover the last one year period and read (plus revise many times) only the current affairs portion. 

Something like Manorama Yearbook is definitely helpful, but please note that it will only cover updates until November (November 2015 if you are buying the latest version). Because the book gets published in December.

But even then it is a good option, especially if you are/have been preparing for other exams. And it can be supplemented with current affairs material which is available on a ton of websites.

For the financial awareness part, you can refer to any of books available for ‘banking awareness’. Honestly, I don’t know why they don’t simply call it banking awareness – because, the majority of the questions are related to the banking industry. 

Books For SBI Junior Associate Exam – Computer Aptitude

There will not be a separate section on computer aptitude. As per the notification, it will be combined with the reasoning ability section. But these two topics are like chalk and cheese.

Quick English practice question – What is the meaning of the phrase “like chalk and cheese”

The questions asked in “computers aptitude” are very basic for anyone who has been using one for some time, or even has an exposure to them.

If you have been using a windows based computer and have some experience on working with Word/Excel/Powerpoint, I don’t think you would need any books. You can simply use the material available at the following links.

• This link has a lot of stuff, but you only need basic computing skills PDF files 
• Download Computer and Office Applications material from this link
• Some more night time reading material over here
• Want more? Here is the final consignment

However, if you would prefer buying a book, many options are available on these links — Amazon and Flipkart. Use any one of them.

Solved & Practice Papers For SBI Junior Associate Exam

I had told you earlier, and I’ll tell you again – Don’t buy all-in-one books. Most of the times than not they are garbage and will take you nowhere. In order to sell more books, publishers tend to create a special “only for XYZ exam” book. But these books only contain copy paste stuff and are useless for any other exam.

It’s better to buy books section-wise and supplement them with previous year’s solved papers. This way you can also use the subject books for other exams, or pass them on to your juniors/friends.

Following is a selection of solved papers and practice papers available for SBI Junior Associate exam. You should definitely use one of these, and practice them as many times as you can.

Final Words

I hope the books for SBI Junior Associates covered in this post will be useful to you. In case you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Best of luck with your exam!