u/Natural-Hour-6739

Help!!🙏🙏

Looking for genuine advice on SEBI Grade A IT preparation at 28

I’m planning to seriously start preparing for SEBI Grade A (IT), but I’m honestly quite confused and would really appreciate advice from people who have already cleared it or are preparing for it.

I’ve completed 28, so the age limit is a major concern for me and I don’t have many attempts left. That’s also making me question whether I’m starting too late and whether it’s realistically possible to crack the exam from scratch while working a full-time job.

I have a technical background, but I haven’t prepared specifically for SEBI before. I’d like to know:

\- Is it realistically possible to crack SEBI Grade A IT with limited attempts?

\- What should my preparation strategy look like, especially if I can manage around 3–4 hours on weekdays and more on weekends?

\- Which subjects/topics should I prioritise first?

\- What are the best resources for Phase 1 and Phase 2 IT?

\- Are there any good courses, classes, test series or mentorship programs that are actually worth paying for?

\- If you have cleared the exam, what resources did you personally use?

\- How important are previous-year questions and mocks?

\- How should I balance preparation with a demanding full-time job without burning out?

\- And honestly, how do you deal with the anxiety, self-doubt and emotional low phases that come with preparing for a competitive exam while also working?

I’m not looking for generic “just work hard” advice. I’d really appreciate practical guidance from people who have actually gone through this journey, especially working professionals who started preparation relatively late.

If you know of any good SEBI IT courses, teachers, study plans, mentorship groups or resources, please share them. Even a small piece of advice about what you wish you had known when you started would be really helpful.

I’m willing to put in the effort; I just want to make sure I’m putting it in the right direction. Thanks in advance.🙏🙏🙏

Help!!🙏🙏

Looking for genuine advice on SEBI Grade A IT preparation at 28

I’m planning to seriously start preparing for SEBI Grade A (IT), but I’m honestly quite confused and would really appreciate advice from people who have already cleared it or are preparing for it.

I’ve completed 28, so the age limit is a major concern for me and I don’t have many attempts left. That’s also making me question whether I’m starting too late and whether it’s realistically possible to crack the exam from scratch while working a full-time job.

I have a technical background, but I haven’t prepared specifically for SEBI before. I’d like to know:

\- Is it realistically possible to crack SEBI Grade A IT with limited attempts?

\- What should my preparation strategy look like, especially if I can manage around 3–4 hours on weekdays and more on weekends?

\- Which subjects/topics should I prioritise first?

\- What are the best resources for Phase 1 and Phase 2 IT?

\- Are there any good courses, classes, test series or mentorship programs that are actually worth paying for?

\- If you have cleared the exam, what resources did you personally use?

\- How important are previous-year questions and mocks?

\- How should I balance preparation with a demanding full-time job without burning out?

\- And honestly, how do you deal with the anxiety, self-doubt and emotional low phases that come with preparing for a competitive exam while also working?

I’m not looking for generic “just work hard” advice. I’d really appreciate practical guidance from people who have actually gone through this journey, especially working professionals who started preparation relatively late.

If you know of any good SEBI IT courses, teachers, study plans, mentorship groups or resources, please share them. Even a small piece of advice about what you wish you had known when you started would be really helpful.

I’m willing to put in the effort; I just want to make sure I’m putting it in the right direction. Thanks in advance.🙏🙏🙏

Help!!🙏🙏

Looking for genuine advice on SEBI Grade A IT preparation at 28

I’m planning to seriously start preparing for SEBI Grade A (IT), but I’m honestly quite confused and would really appreciate advice from people who have already cleared it or are preparing for it.

I’ve completed 28, so the age limit is a major concern for me and I don’t have many attempts left. That’s also making me question whether I’m starting too late and whether it’s realistically possible to crack the exam from scratch while working a full-time job.

I have a technical background, but I haven’t prepared specifically for SEBI before. I’d like to know:

- Is it realistically possible to crack SEBI Grade A IT with limited attempts?

- What should my preparation strategy look like, especially if I can manage around 3–4 hours on weekdays and more on weekends?

- Which subjects/topics should I prioritise first?

- What are the best resources for Phase 1 and Phase 2 IT?

- Are there any good courses, classes, test series or mentorship programs that are actually worth paying for?

- If you have cleared the exam, what resources did you personally use?

- How important are previous-year questions and mocks?

- How should I balance preparation with a demanding full-time job without burning out?

- And honestly, how do you deal with the anxiety, self-doubt and emotional low phases that come with preparing for a competitive exam while also working?

I’m not looking for generic “just work hard” advice. I’d really appreciate practical guidance from people who have actually gone through this journey, especially working professionals who started preparation relatively late.

If you know of any good SEBI IT courses, teachers, study plans, mentorship groups or resources, please share them. Even a small piece of advice about what you wish you had known when you started would be really helpful.

I’m willing to put in the effort; I just want to make sure I’m putting it in the right direction. Thanks in advance.🙏🙏🙏

I’m dealing with a situation where my manager seems to show clear favouritism toward certain people on the team. Some employees get more visibility, support, and opportunities, while others are expected to handle their work quietly without much recognition.

What makes it frustrating is that I’m actually putting in extra effort, taking ownership, fixing broken processes, and trying to make things better, but it sometimes feels like being hardworking isn’t enough when your manager already has favourites.

For those who have dealt with favouritism at work, how did you handle it without getting involved in office politics?

Did you:

- Keep your head down and just focus on your work?

- Start documenting your contributions?

- Try to build a better relationship with the manager?

- Directly address the favouritism?

- Or simply stop expecting recognition and focus on your career?

Would really appreciate advice from people who have been through this, especially on how to protect your career without becoming part of the politics.

I genuinely want to understand how managers view this and if you could give any advice to a employee who feels overlooked in favour of others, what would it be?

Would especially love honest answers even if it’s something employee might not want to hear.

My manager wants me to create detailed documentation for a feature/workflow, including basically everything in the code and database schema, so that even someone new to the team can understand it and start working on it.

The issue is that some of the people who will benefit from this documentation are from another module, and when I worked with them earlier, they treated me pretty badly and eventually get me out of module. I spent a lot of time learning the system through experience, debugging, and figuring out broken processes, and now I’m basically being asked to spoon-feed all of that knowledge.

I understand that good documentation is valuable for the team, but I’m worried about making myself too replaceable while others get everything handed to them.

How would you handle this? Should I document everything exactly as requested, or set some boundaries around how detailed it should be?

Please Help🙏🙏

I work as a software engineer, and recently I created some good documentation for the work I was doing. My manager liked it, so now he wants me to create detailed documentation of our workflow/process so that other team members can refer to it whenever they need help.

I don't mind documenting my work, and I understand that good documentation is valuable. But I'm wondering if I'm unintentionally making myself less valuable or replaceable by documenting everything I know.

If the workflow is clearly documented, someone else can potentially understand and do the work without depending on me. On the other hand, documentation is also an important skill and could show that I understand the process well and can help the team.

So, is creating this kind of documentation actually "doing harm to yourself" from a career perspective? Or is this generally considered a good thing that can improve your visibility and reputation within the team?

Would love to hear from people who have been in similar situations, especially experienced engineers/managers.

For context, there is this coworker who used to withhold information from me, criticize me publicly instead of guiding me privately, exaggerate the help he gave me, and sometimes make it look like I wasn't progressing properly. He made things very difficult for me and also tried to ruin my image and eventually get me removed from the module. He also has a very good relationship with our manager.

I'm now in a different module where I worked very hard and I've built my credibility and gain good knowledge, but this person is being moved into my module. So I'll probably have to help onboard him and I'm concerned that some of the same behaviour might start again and I’ll be honest, a part of me also doesn’t want him to “win” this time or end up taking over me, especially after everything that happened before.. I mainly want to make sure that I protect my work, maintain my credibility, and not let the same situation happen again.

For people who have dealt with this kind of coworker, are there any subtle signs or patterns I should watch for from the beginning? Things that might seem harmless initially but could indicate that someone is trying to undermine you, take credit, create a negative perception, withhold information, or manipulate situations behind the scenes?

I'm also interested in how to read the manager's behaviour in situations like this. How can you tell if a manager is starting to believe someone else's narrative, favour a particular employee, or gradually losing trust in you? Are there subtle signs in the way they communicate, assign work, respond to feedback, or treat disagreements that I should pay attention to?

I'm honestly not very good at office politics and I'm not naturally someone who thinks in terms of manipulation or hidden agendas. Sometimes I don't even realise something is happening until it has already gone too far. That's probably something I need to improve.

So if you've dealt with these kinds of situations before:

What signs should I look for in the coworker's behaviour?

What signs should I look for from the manager?

How can I distinguish genuine disagreement or normal workplace behaviour from actual undermining?

What are some ways to protect myself without becoming paranoid or treating everyone like they're out to get me?

And how do you stay calm and professional without giving someone emotional reactions or personal information they can use against you?

I'd really appreciate practical advice from people who have experienced this firsthand. What do you wish you'd noticed earlier, and what would you do differently from Day 1?

used ai to write this post because I was struggling to explain everything properly. The situation is serious.

Looking for advice on how to navigate a tricky and frustrating workplace situation.

​The Background:

When I joined my current company, I was assigned to a module alongside a guy who had joined about 3 months before me. From day one, he made things difficult for me:

​Knowledge Hiding & Sabotage: He actively hid important project details and information from me.

​Public Criticism over Private Guidance: Even when he knew I was heading down the wrong path, he wouldn't tell me. Instead, he’d save his negative feedback for public PR reviews or Scrum meetings to make me look bad.

​Exaggerating His Help: If he gave me even a 10-second pointer on where to look for something, he’d announce in the daily standup that he spent significant time "connecting with me and explaining everything."

​Delaying My Progress: He intentionally stalled my tickets so my status stayed "In Progress" for longer than necessary, making me look slow.

​Manager Manipulation: He spent a lot of time with our manager, maintaining a great reputation while subtly throwing me under the bus.

​Where Things Stand Now:

Eventually, I was moved to a different module. Since the move, I’ve done really well. I’ve gained solid domain knowledge, built my credibility, and established myself as a reliable owner of this module.

​However, I just found out that this same person is being moved into my current module.

​My Core Concerns:

Since I now hold the core knowledge here, he will need to get up to speed through me. But knowing his manipulative nature, I am deeply concerned that:

​Manager Bias: I strongly feel our manager trusts him far more than me because of how well he plays office politics. I'm worried the manager will take his side or take his feedback at face value if he complains or tries to frame me.

​Undermining My Ownership: He will try to bypass me or minimize my domain expertise to reduce my visibility and take control.

​Credit Stealing & Sabotage: He’ll take credit for my domain knowledge while continuing to give bad feedback or delay things behind the scenes.

​I want to protect my position, safeguard my reputation, and handle his onboarding without looking defensive, petty, or unprofessional.

​Questions:

​How do I handle his onboarding when I feel the manager already favors him?

​What concrete steps or boundaries should I set from Day 1 to create an undeniable paper trail and protect my work?

​How can I build stronger, direct trust with my manager so this colleague can't manipulate perceptions?

How do I stop letting my "nice behavior" make me a target, and instead set strong, firm boundaries without becoming toxic?

I used ai to write this post but the situation is serious.

Hoping for your guidance and advice.

Looking for advice on how to navigate a tricky and frustrating workplace situation.

​The Background:

When I joined my current company, I was assigned to a module alongside a guy who had joined about 3 months before me. From day one, he made things difficult for me:

​Knowledge Hiding & Sabotage: He actively hid important project details and information from me.

​Public Criticism over Private Guidance: Even when he knew I was heading down the wrong path, he wouldn't tell me. Instead, he’d save his negative feedback for public PR reviews or Scrum meetings to make me look bad.

​Exaggerating His Help: If he gave me even a 10-second pointer on where to look for something, he’d announce in the daily standup that he spent significant time "connecting with me and explaining everything."

​Delaying My Progress: He intentionally stalled my tickets so my status stayed "In Progress" for longer than necessary, making me look slow.

​Manager Manipulation: He spent a lot of time with our manager, maintaining a great reputation while subtly throwing me under the bus.

​Where Things Stand Now:

Eventually, I was moved to a different module. Since the move, I’ve done really well. I’ve gained solid domain knowledge, built my credibility, and established myself as a reliable owner of this module.

​However, I just found out that this same person is being moved into my current module.

​My Core Concerns:

Since I now hold the core knowledge here, he will need to get up to speed through me. But knowing his manipulative nature, I am deeply concerned that:

​Manager Bias: I strongly feel our manager trusts him far more than me because of how well he plays office politics. I'm worried the manager will take his side or take his feedback at face value if he complains or tries to frame me.

​Undermining My Ownership: He will try to bypass me or minimize my domain expertise to reduce my visibility and take control.

​Credit Stealing & Sabotage: He’ll take credit for my domain knowledge while continuing to give bad feedback or delay things behind the scenes.

​I want to protect my position, safeguard my reputation, and handle his onboarding without looking defensive, petty, or unprofessional.

​Questions:

​How do I handle his onboarding when I feel the manager already favors him?

​What concrete steps or boundaries should I set from Day 1 to create an undeniable paper trail and protect my work?

​How can I build stronger, direct trust with my manager so this colleague can't manipulate perceptions?

How do I stop letting my "nice behavior" make me a target, and instead set strong, firm boundaries without becoming toxic?

I used ai to write this post but the situation is serious.

Hoping for your guidance and advice.

20 days left for my exam. Working full-time. Need advice on how to use these last days wisely.

I've got around 20 days left before my competitive exam. This is a very serious attempt for me because of the age limit, so I really don't want to waste these final days.

I've prepared reasonably well so far, but now I want to study smarter instead of just studying harder. The problem is that I'm working full-time, so I only get a few hours each day and I'm already feeling mentally exhausted after work.

I'm especially looking for advice from people who were good academically or have cracked competitive exams while managing a job.

What would you focus on in the last 20 days?

Revision or learning new topics?

Mock tests every day or alternate days?

How did you analyze mocks effectively?

Any techniques that gave you the biggest improvement in the final weeks?

I'd really appreciate any practical tips or strategies that helped you perform well under time pressure. Thank you!

I've been going through a difficult phase in my life and career with constant obstacles, delays, and job-related stress. Jyotishi suggested getting a Rahu Jaap performed by qualified Brahmin pandits on my behalf, even if I'm not physically present during the ritual.

I'm curious to know if anyone here has actually done this. Did it make any noticeable difference in your career, job, or overall life? Did you feel it helped reduce obstacles or improve things over time?

I'm not looking for debates on astrology vs. science. I'm only interested in hearing genuine personal experiences, whether positive, negative, or if you felt it made no difference at all.

Would really appreciate honest opinions. Thanks.

I gave SBI PO this year and I honestly don't know how to feel.

I attempted 18 in English, 8 in Quant and 7 in Reasoning. Looking back, I think almost everything I attempted in Quant and Reasoning was wrong. I completely messed up under pressure.

The worst part is that next year will be my last eligible attempt because of the age limit.

I'm working full-time, and balancing work with preparation has been much harder than I imagined. Right now I just feel like maybe I'm not made for these exams.

At the same time, I don't want to regret giving up if there's still a realistic chance of cracking it in one year.

Has anyone here gone from performing this badly to actually clearing SBI PO or any similar banking exam in their final attempt? What changed for you? Did you completely change your strategy, or was it just consistent practice?

I'm not looking for false hope. I just want honest advice. Should I keep fighting for one last year, or is it time to accept that this isn't for me?

Has anyone turned things around in their last SBI PO attempt?

Ps - working full time with a very low salary

I don't know if anyone else is in the same situation, but I have just 1 month left for IBPS SO Prelims and I haven't started studying yet.

I work full-time, and somehow the days just disappeared. Every week I kept thinking "I'll start from Monday," but it never happened.

At this point I'm not aiming for perfection. I just want to clear prelims.

Is it still realistically possible if I study consistently from today? If anyone has done it or knows someone who has, I'd really appreciate knowing what worked.

Please don't sugarcoat it. If it's possible, tell me what I should focus on in this one month.

I'm genuinely struggling.

After work I'm mentally exhausted. Even if I sit to study, I feel tired, can't focus, and my anxiety just keeps getting worse. Some days I don't even have the energy to open my notes. Then I feel guilty for wasting another day.

Discipline is another thing I'm failing at. I make plans, follow them for 2-3 days, then everything falls apart and I'm back to square one.

The hardest part is that I only have 2 attempts left for this exam because of the age limit. That thought is always in the back of my mind, and instead of motivating me, it just makes me panic more.

Right now I honestly feel like I'm starting from zero. There are people who study 8-10 hours a day, and I'm struggling to get even 2 good hours after work.

If you've been in a similar situation and still managed to crack a competitive exam while working full time, what actually helped? Not motivational quotes, but real things that made a difference.

I could really use some advice.🙏🙏

I'm genuinely struggling.

After work i m mentally exhausted. Even if i sit to study, I feel tired, can't focus and my anxiety just keeps getting worse. Some days I don't even have the energy to open my notes. Then I feel guilty for wasting another day.

Discipline is another thing I'm failing at. I make plans, follow them for 2-3 days, then everything falls apart and I'm back to square one.

The hardest part is that I only have 2 attempts left for this exam because of the age limit. That thought is always in the back of my mind and instead of motivating me, it just makes me panic more.

Right now I honestly feel like I'm starting from zero. There are people who study 10-12 hours a day, and I'm struggling to get even 2 good hours after work.

If you've been in a similar situation and still managed to crack a competitive exam while working full time, what actually helped and real things that made a difference.

I could really use some advice.

🙏🙏🙏

Deleted post

**PLEASE HELP**

Hey everyone,

I am currently filling out my IBPS SO IT Officer application form and am completely stuck on the bank preference section. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how to rank these 11 banks properly, and I really don't want to make a mistake that affects my future posting or selection chances.

My home town is Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

When suggesting an order or giving advice, please keep these specific points in mind for me:

1. **Selection Chance First**: Since I want to maximize my chances of getting selected, how should I handle banks with high vacancies vs. those marked as "Not Reported" (NR) or "Zero"?

2. **Indore/MP Proximity:** Which of these banks have a strong network and regional/zonal offices in Madhya Pradesh so that moving closer to home down the line is realistic?

**3. IT Cell Locations:** Since this is for the IT stream, I know we usually get posted to Data Centers or Head Offices rather than regular branches. Which banks have their IT hubs in cities easily accessible from Indore (like Mumbai or Pune)?

**Work Culture & Growth:** Which banks currently offer the best work-life balance and career progression for technical roles?

Here are the 11 banks I need to rank:

Bank of Baroda,

Bank of India,

Bank of Maharashtra,

Canara Bank,

Central Bank of India,

Indian Bank,

Indian Overseas Bank,

Punjab National Bank,

Punjab & Sind Bank,

UCO Bank,

Union Bank of India.

Any guidance on the ideal top-to-bottom order for me would be a lifesaver.

**Thanks in advance!🙏🙏**

**AI use kiya hai post ke liye but the situation is serious.**

**PLEASE HELP**

Hey everyone,

I am currently filling out my IBPS SO IT Officer application form and am completely stuck on the bank preference section. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how to rank these 11 banks properly, and I really don't want to make a mistake that affects my future posting or selection chances.

My home town is Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

When suggesting an order or giving advice, please keep these specific points in mind for me:

1. **Selection Chance First**: Since I want to maximize my chances of getting selected, how should I handle banks with high vacancies vs. those marked as "Not Reported" (NR) or "Zero"?

2. **Indore/MP Proximity:** Which of these banks have a strong network and regional/zonal offices in Madhya Pradesh so that moving closer to home down the line is realistic?

**3. IT Cell Locations:** Since this is for the IT stream, I know we usually get posted to Data Centers or Head Offices rather than regular branches. Which banks have their IT hubs in cities easily accessible from Indore (like Mumbai or Pune)?

**Work Culture & Growth:** Which banks currently offer the best work-life balance and career progression for technical roles?

Here are the 11 banks I need to rank:

Bank of Baroda,

Bank of India,

Bank of Maharashtra,

Canara Bank,

Central Bank of India,

Indian Bank,

Indian Overseas Bank,

Punjab National Bank,

Punjab & Sind Bank,

UCO Bank,

Union Bank of India.

Any guidance on the ideal top-to-bottom order for me would be a lifesaver.

**Thanks in advance!🙏🙏**

**AI use kiya hai post ke liye but the situation is serious.**

PLEASE HELP

Hey everyone,

I am currently filling out my IBPS SO IT Officer application form and am completely stuck on the bank preference section. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how to rank these 11 banks properly, and I really don't want to make a mistake that affects my future posting or selection chances.

My home town is Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

When suggesting an order or giving advice, please keep these specific points in mind for me:

1. Selection Chance First: Since I want to maximize my chances of getting selected, how should I handle banks with high vacancies vs. those marked as "Not Reported" (NR) or "Zero"?

2. Indore/MP Proximity: Which of these banks have a strong network and regional/zonal offices in Madhya Pradesh so that moving closer to home down the line is realistic?

3. IT Cell Locations: Since this is for the IT stream, I know we usually get posted to Data Centers or Head Offices rather than regular branches. Which banks have their IT hubs in cities easily accessible from Indore (like Mumbai or Pune)?

Work Culture & Growth: Which banks currently offer the best work-life balance and career progression for technical roles?

Here are the 11 banks I need to rank:

Bank of Baroda,

Bank of India,

Bank of Maharashtra,

Canara Bank,

Central Bank of India,

Indian Bank,

Indian Overseas Bank,

Punjab National Bank,

Punjab & Sind Bank,

UCO Bank,

Union Bank of India.

Any guidance on the ideal top-to-bottom order for me would be a lifesaver.

Thanks in advance!🙏🙏

AI use kiya hai post ke liye but the situation is serious.