CAT Preparation for a working professional who is doing a full 9 to 5 job and preparing for a tough competitive exam can be hectic. But there are working aspirants with good success rate and the number of working aspirants is high every year. Abhilasha Balakrishnan a working professional had cracked CAT 2020 with 99+ percentile. Read Her Success Story & Preparation Tips

Most of the CAT Toppers do not leave their jobs and try to manage the time & create a balance between CAT Preparation & Job. Also, around 5-8 marks weightage is given to Work Experience while calculating the final score to offer admission in the colleges like IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, etc therefore a good work experience can increase the chances of getting admission in top IIMs. Read More

Read the article to know more about how to manage time, section-wise preparation tips, and much more. 

CAT Preparation Tips 2021 for Working Professionals

Follow a Time Table

• Make a test schedule initially and follow it to examine if it works for you with the ongoing job or not.
• Dedicate good 2-3 hours daily and at least 5 hours on weekends. Try to increase the study hours gradually.
• A total of 500 hours need to be given for preparation.
• The schedule should not be hectic, easy going with the job but should be followed positively.

Start With Basics

• If there are any particular areas that you are not comfortable with, you must concentrate your time and energy on those sections in the starting of your CAT preparation.
• You must begin with clearing your basics in the first stage of your preparation. You will not have the sufficient time or energy to do this at a later date.
• While this is valid for all parts of the CAT syllabus, it is especially relevant for Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability.
• A candidate will have to understand all the concepts, formulas, novels and books. They should read and concentrates on it carefully. They must watch all the CAT Preparation videos.
• While there are some guidelines and concepts that are included in subjects such as Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension – they are principally reliant on practice.

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Make Preparation Strategy

• Syllabus should be divided into small parts and then covered up- VARC, DILR and Quants section should be divided into sub topics.
• The division should be done according to weightage of topics, conceptual clarity and analysis of previous year question paper.
• A weekly time table should be drawn instead of a monthly or long term one.
• Allot short term targets for you and complete them.

Time Management

• A major obstacle in CAT preparation for working professionals is managing time.
• The work can be burdensome but daily study time and practice paper solving sessions should be a routine.
• Make a habit to sit and study and work out on problems, it will bring confidence to prepare while being in job.
• Over a period of time, it will be possible to strike a balance between work and preparation be consistent
• Perseverance is the key to crack CAT, no matter if you are a working professional or a regular aspirant.
• People who work need to be consistent on giving mock test and analyse their preparation level.
• One full length mock test or sectional mock test every week need to be given.

Appear for Mock Test

• One of the best feedback for working aspirants comes from the mock test they give, it will give an idea if you lack in basics or conceptual clarity.
• Just attempting mock test and practice papers will not help, analysing it and working on mistakes will be fruitful. Go through CAT Practice Papers
• Attempt the mocks in different ways to devise a best suited strategy.
• There is a school of imagined that trusts that all you have to do well in CAT is mocks, mocks, and more mocks. We do concur with that kind of reasoning however it is presumably valid for just a little arrangement of candidates.
• If you have taken CAT previously and scored a 95+ and you are attempting again this year to enhance your score – presumably writing 50 mocks or writing 100 mocks is an excellent idea for you.
• Candidates must note that writing an excessive number of mocks will serve no purpose. The objective of a mock is to find out your week and strong areas, fine-tune the time dispersion amid the exam and set practical desires for marks.
• The candidate has books for that. Anywhere from 10 to 15 mocks is enough for most CAT candidates. Candidates must use the last two months of their preparation taking around 1 mock in a week. They should analyze that mock and use the rest of the week to enhance their test-taking skills

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Utilise Spare Time

• Working aspirants can make use of the time they get while commuting to work-in cab or metro. This will help cover up the syllabus and make up for the lost time.
• Weekends should be utilised in an organised way, sparing most of the time to study and making up for the time you lost during the rest of the week.

CAT 2021 Study Plan for Working Professionals

You have approximately 6 months for CAT and that is all that could possibly be needed to plan your CAT Preparation Strategy. CAT requires generally around 300 to 500 hours of genuine preparation time. You can find that time effectively on the off chance that you do the accompanying. If you are thinking, how to actually plan your preparation for CAT – There is a simple standard for you. Follow CAT Exam Pattern

If you are completed with 50% of the syllabus, these three sections should be designated towards giving mocks as well as analyzing those mocks. There can't be a superior method to discover the issues in your preparation plan than these mocks.

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Is Quitting Job Necessary for CAT?

Since in the final admission process candidates can take the benefit of extras 5-8 marks based on their work experience it is advised not to quit the job. A good work experience can increase the chances of getting admission to IIMs. 

CAT Topper’s with Work Experience

As per teachers and experts disciplined effort to balance preparation and job can lead to success in CAT exam. Every year there are top percentile scorers who have working experience.

• Rickshesh Manchanda is CAT 2018 100 percentile scorer. He is an IIT Delhi graduate working in a bank. He opted for self-study and emphasized on mock tests to ace the exam.
• Swapnil Suman is CAT 2018 100 percentile scorer. A mechanical engineer graduate, Swapnil worked for a petrochemical industry before cracking CAT. He too dint opted for coaching rather relied on Mock Test to prepare.

CAT Subject wise Preparation for working professionals

Verbal ability and reading comprehension

• Keep the study material handy, in phone or laptop.
• Prefer reading news and articles on phone
• download soft copies of books and study material and read on Laptop or phone
• verbal ability that does not require conceptual study should be practiced during break and spare time.
• Use phone apps and sites like word dynamo to update vocabulary and practice english.

Quick Links:

• CAT RC Tips: Types of Passage, Pattern and Tips
• How to Prepare for CAT Para Completion?

Quantitative aptitude

• If quants is a strong point, attempt test and practice papers in good number.
• If quants need to be worked upon, take a break, work on concepts, gain confidence and then practice.
• Focus on tricks to solve questions.

Quick Links:

• How to Prepare for CAT Arithmetic?
• How to Prepare for CAT Geometry?

Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning

• Considered one of the toughest section in CAT exam.
• Practice is the only key to master DI.
• Go through basic concepts and calculations.
• Focus on previous year question papers.

Quick Links:

• How to Prepare for CAT Seating Arrangement?
• How to Prepare for CAT Logical Reasoning?

CAT Preparation through coaching for Working Professionals

Once a working professional decides to sit for CAT exam the first question that comes across them is mode of preparation strategy. Some of the commonly asked questions for working professionals are:

Is coaching necessary?

• It depends on the preparation level of applicants. Coaching along with a job is not feasible but weekend coaching classes are available in offline mode specially designed for working professionals. Coaching guidance is necessary if preparation is to be done from scratch.
• The coaching institutes will provide a designed strategy and time table along with study material and applicants just have to follow that religiously to score a good percentile. But most of the working applicants go either for self study or online classes.

Will there be time to attend coaching alongside job?

• A hectic full time job will not provide sufficient time to attend coaching classes.
• Weekend classes are an alternative in this case or online coaching classes. This also depends on the applicants work profile and job environment.
• In case working candidates cannot find time there are options of online coaching websites, night coaching classes and weekend classes.

Will online coaching be beneficial?

• Online classes are beneficial for working professionals as they can be taken at any time of the day, are cost effective and flexible as per the applicant's demands and schedule.
• Is coaching necessary? Will there be sufficient time to attend coaching? the answer to these questions lies in Online Coaching Websites. Some popular online coaching websites are:  MBAguru, TIMES online coaching, Oliveboard, BYJU’s online coaching, Unacademy PLus.

Read More CAT Online Coaching

Advantages of Working Professional in CAT Admission Process

• Work experience adds to the profile of the candidate as a highlighted point.
• It also proves to be an essential backup, in case CAT results do not work in your favour.
• Aspirants who have work experience draw certain advantage when it come to WAT/GD/PI sessions.
• The maturity they gain while working in a formal workspace setting helps them to speak and write well.
• Questions in CAT PI are asked on job profile, kind of work done, experience gained, and future prospects.
• For instance questions thrown to candidates with work experience be like- How well have you done in your professional course? Tell us anything special you did apart from your work?