The Insurance sector is coming up with a plethora of recruitment opportunities for the freshers as well as experienced people in the recent years. With the insurance penetration of the country growing exponentially, there will be huge requirement for recruitments in this sector. Hence, it is very important that you start with preparation for insurance recruitment exercises coming up in the next few years. Most of the insurance companies are conducting open competitive examinations to recruit for various posts such as Assistants, Assistant Administrative Officer, Administrative Officer, Assistant Manager etc. Even the regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) is coming up with recruitment opportunities these days. In this article, we are going to discuss regarding the important topics for insurance recruitment examinations.
Insurance Recruitment Examinations: The Exam Pattern and Difficulty Level
Insurance Examinations are generally conducted in two phases – Prelims and Mains followed by Personal Interview. However, some of the organizations (such as IRDAI Assistant Manager) include descriptive insurance topics as well. Nowadays, these days there is a descriptive English test in almost all the Officer level exams in the insurance companies.
In almost any insurance examination, you will face the following sections:
- English Language
- Reasoning Ability
- General Awareness including special reference to banking industry
- Quantitative Aptitude
- Computer Knowledge
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English Language: This is common in prelims and mains exams both. This section consists of the following chapters:
- Reading Comprehension (Focus on passages related to Economics and Finance)
- Paragraph Formation Questions
- Cloze Tests
- Error Spotting Questions
- Synonyms and Antonyms (Includes Homonyms as well)
- Fill in the Blanks with 2 or 3 blanks also
- Sentence Improvement
The descriptive test in English in the mains examination consists of the following topics:
- Essay Writing (Word Limit is 250 words)
- Letter Writing (Word Limit is 150 words)
- Précis Writing (Word Limit is normally one-third of the given passage)
Reasoning Ability: This section is also there in both the prelims and the mains examination. This is basically the most time consuming section in the examination along with being the trickiest section. You need to be smart in choosing questions in this section in the exam. The following topics are asked in this section:
- Puzzles and Seating Arrangement
- Syllogism
- Coding and Decoding
- Logical Reasoning questions such as Statement and Argument, Statement and Assumptions, Statement and Course of Action etc.
- Inequality questions
- Ranking and Direction, Blood Relations, number and letter series etc.
Quantitative Aptitude: Another common section in the Prelims and the Mains examinations of any insurance sector recruitment exercises. This is also time consuming and at times difficult as well. You need to be very well prepared for various topics in this section otherwise you may face difficulty in the examination. Various topics under Quantitative Aptitude are:
- Arithmetic chapters such as Profit and Loss, average and ages, mixture and Alligation, Simple and Compound Interest etc.
- Linear Algebra such as quadratic equations, polynomial functions, inequality etc.
- Data Interpretation such as bar chart, line graph, pie chart, and paragraph questions etc.
General Awareness: This section is based on Current Affairs, Static GK and banking and insurance awareness. However, you need to revise all the topics diligently and meticulously so that the retention is good. You should go through the following topics in this section:
- Current affairs of national and international importance of the last 6 months
- Banking Awareness such as history of banking, structure of banking in India, important financial organizations in India, Money Market and Financial Market in India etc.
- Insurance Awareness such as history of insurance, structure of insurance companies in India and the names of the companies in both the life and non-life sector, insurance terms, basic principles of insurance, facts of insurance sector in India etc.
- Static GK such as countries and capitals, countries and currencies, thermal power stations, rivers and dams, temples, important days, international organizations etc.
Computer Awareness: This section is there in the mains examination of any insurance recruitment exercise. It consists of the following chapters:
- History of Computers
- Facts of computers
- Various generations of computers
- Operating system
- Application and System Software
- Computer Terminology
- Database Management System
- Programming
- MS Office Package
Apart from the above, in the IRDAI Assistant Manager Examination, there will be descriptive papers on the following topics:
- Economic and Social Issues impacting Insurance
- Insurance and Management
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Economic and Social Issues Impacting Insurance: This section will be descriptive in nature. It has the following chapters:
- Economic Structure in India, Reinsurance, Financial Markets in India
- Economic Reforms in India including opening of insurance sector in India, functions of IRDAI, role of an actuary, de-tariffing of insurance business in India, motor business in India
- Social Structure in India, Insurance schemes for the under-privileged section of the society in India
Insurance and Management: This will also be descriptive in nature and will be there in the mains examination of IRDAI Assistant Manager. The syllabus of the examination consists of the following:
- History of Indian Insurance, Pooling in Insurance, Risk Transfer Mechanism such as reinsurance
- Legal framework of insurance business such as insurance laws and regulations in the country
- Various lines of business in the insurance sector – motor, health, group health policy, personal accident, liability and professional indemnity etc.
- Various insurance organizations in India including IRDAI, Institute of Actuaries, Insurance Institute of India, National Insurance Academy and Public Sector Companies along with GIC Re.
Though the syllabus of the insurance recruitment examinations are similar in nature, you need to have thorough knowledge of insurance sector and the technical aspects of the sector in order to secure a job in this sector. However given the growth in the sector and the requirement of the job once you join this sector, this professional knowledge will be of very much help to you. It is time that you start preparation for insurance exams because of the higher pay scale as compared to other sectors (IRDAI Assistant Manager Salary is Rs 81000 per month excluding perks) and also better work-life balance in these jobs. Just go ahead and give it your best shot so that you can get the best in your life i.e. a job in the flourishing insurance sector in India.
All the Best!!