How to Prepare for Assistant Professor Exam?

In my opinion, employment is not the ultimate goal of education but it is an essential part of human life. Employment or say money enables us to pursue our hobbies, enjoy life and take care of one’s family. Any person having interest in academics wants to either pursue research or get employed as an Assistant Professor. Both paths are noble and help spread knowledge. Presently, the salary in most private sector jobs is lower than government sector. Therefore, competition for a job as an assistant professor in government sector is very high. Usually, the government recruitment takes years to conclude marred by question paper leaks and court cases. So, the aspirants know that if they miss a chance, they will have to wait for many years to appear again in the exam. Hence, everybody wants to be well prepared but one query always comes to mind of an aspirant i.e. how to prepare for assistant professor exam?

Pattern of Assistant Professor Exam

Before discussing the preparation strategy, let us discuss the pattern of exam for selection. The State Public Services Commission (SPSC) conducts exams for recruiting assistant professors of various subjects in government colleges. Some aided colleges conduct direct interview without exam like in Haryana but in Uttar Pradesh, PSC conducts their exam and interview. Generally, most PSCs used to select candidates based on an Objective (MCQs) exam followed by interviews. Nowadays, the PSCs are shifting to exam pattern as follows

1. Screening Test or Qualifying Objective (MCQs) exam: The marks of this paper are qualifying in nature and do not add up for preparing merit list.
2. Subjective written exam: It includes UPSC mains type questions. Candidate will need to answer each question in about 300 words. A candidate need to write important points with diagrams, sketches and flow charts for securing good marks. Most commissions, like HPSC, will be keeping a minimum marks criteria for qualifying this exam. Additionally, only qualifying candidates with marks above cutoff will be called for interview.
3. Interview: The weightage of interview has been reduced by HPSC to 12.5 marks. Other states’ commissions may follow the suit. 
4. Other criterions: Since the selection process of assistant professor keeps changing, one must be ready with other qualifications too. For instance, some commissions may include the marks of Ph.D, research paper publication, experience etc. in future.

Preparation Strategy for Assistant Professor Exam

The candidates should keep the following points in mind while preparing for assistant professor exam.

1. Read Good Books

The candidates should read the best books available for their subjects. For instance, the geography candidates should read Meteorology Today for climatology, The Principles of Geomorphology by W.D. Thornbury for geomorphology etc. Reading good books enable you to have conceptual clarity in objective examination. Don’t rely on local books because they contain errors. Reading good books enables you to reach the mindset of a question paper setter.

2. DO NOT ASSUME

Our brain is hardwired to simplify things for us. Therefore, making assumptions is one of its habits. Sometimes while reading a difficult or complex topic, we are not clear about the actual process or event. Habitually, we try to fill that gap in understanding by assuming certain events and processes based on previous understanding. Sometimes, our understanding is correct but mostly it is incorrect. Assumptions are very detrimental in any kind of MCQ examination of high level, be it UGC-NET, UPSC, SPSC, CAT, CLAT, CSAT etc.

How to get rid of assumption: You must get rid of assumptions for accuracy. What should you do? There are three things one can do.

• Firstly, the aspirant need to find few trustworthy and authoritative websites such as Investopedia, NASA, Britannica, few YouTube channels etc. for checking their understanding on difficult concepts.
• Secondly, read from different sources to absorb whatever is left of the concept.
• Finally, attempt some objective MCQs relative to the difficult concept to assess accuracy of your understanding.

3. Timing of Practicing Mock Tests or Previous Question Papers

The candidates must attempt mock tests or previous years questions for assessment of their accuracy. Keep following points in mind while practicing.

• When should we start practicing? The timing of practice is important. After reading one unit of syllabus, the aspirant should practice MCQs.
• Why so? Practicing early enables you to find flaws in your reading style or way of understanding. It helps the candidate to focus on key information while reading the text.
• It also enables us to think like question paper setter. Therefore, we can predict the type of questions in examination.
• Try attempting 10-20 mock tests and plot the marks on a line graph. If your performance is high and consistent, you don’t need to fear for you future. If the marks are low, you need to correct the mistakes.

4. Focus on Language of Questions

The students know 90 percent of the questions in an objective exam but still fail to qualify such exam. It happens, mostly, due to understanding of the use of language and words.

• The examiners use very specific language in questions. There are some key words which the examiners use to limit or expand the meaning of questions or the options e.g. never, always, sometimes, mostly, few, all, none, everywhere, evenly etc.
• The candidates must understand the meaning and usage of such words. Based on context of question, these words help us eliminate choices. Bear in mind, reading good content along with understanding of language in questions is fundamental to clearing objective exam stage.

5. Practice Subjective alongside Objective

The preparation of objective exams also prepares the candidates for subjective exams. The knowledge you gain from reading books can be used for both objective and subjective exams. However, the output of knowledge is different. You don’t need to worry about being right or wrong. Most candidates write right answers in subjective paper but they encounter few problems.

• Firstly, they don’t read questions well and write a general answer. Sometimes, the examiner is asking the question in certain context. There are parts and subparts of the question in many cases. The candidate need to read the question well and answer accordingly.
• Secondly, the candidates must practice previous year question papers. They need to attempt the whole question paper within time limit to understand their capability and speed of writing.
• Thirdly, some scholarly candidates try to intellectually address a question and forget to write the practical part of answer. Therefore, one needs to write multi-faceted answers.
• Finally, the candidates must practice making maps, drawing diagrams and charts. It gives objectivity to a subjective answer.
• The answer sheet checkers are usually university professors. Therefore, you must read university level books to prepare for subjective paper. Your answer must reflect your intellectual depth along with factual knowledge.

6. Stay Away from Negativity

While preparing for exams, a lot of candidates spread rumors that the question paper has been leaked, only bribing candidates will get selected etc. Stay away from negative people and discussions. Just keep preparing for your dream. There is a saying that hard work never goes waste. When you prepare well, you gain confidence and knowledge and nothing can stop a confident knowledgeable person from achieving success. Make a circle of good aspirants who can clarify your doubts or consult your teachers.

7. Exercise

The candidates must do any physical activity of their choice. The exercise helps you drain out negative hormones and helps circulation in your body. You will get good sleep and feel mentally relaxed after exercise.

Conclusion

I speak from my own experience that we are capable of doing more than what we think we can. We must know ourselves either weaknesses or strengths. Focus on your strength while managing weakness. There is no intelligent and fool. Everybody is a intelligent and fool. So, focus on yourself. Find likeminded people. Work towards your dreams. The above discussion is not the only truth. You can take some help from these points and discover your own strategy.