Every individual, at one stage or the other, has had to appear for some competitive examinations. These competitive examinations rather act as an elimination procedure to select the best candidates for a particular position (in case of examination to fill in some specific vacancies) or a particular seat (in case of some academic program). The candidates, thus, are tested on various parameters such as their logical reasoning, their critical analysis, their thought process, and most obviously on their writing abilities. The writing abilities and the structuring of their thought process are tested mainly with the use of Essays. Candidates, therefore, might require some essay writing tips for competitive examinations.
Exam Essay Topics
Competitive examinations are directed towards achieving some particular objective, mostly in terms of selecting a candidate for a particular position or selecting students for a particular study program. Therefore essay topics for selecting the right candidate need to fulfill the basic criteria of such examination. An example of this would be in case the position requires testing the candidate on good judgmental capabilities or analytical capabilities, the relevant exam essay topic would certainly be an open ended question which needs to be justified, clarified, and analyzed according to their understanding and depth of knowledge. Mostly, the candidates are given relevant current affairs based topic which has relevance in the current context and the candidate would most likely be aware of such a topic.
English Essays for Competitive Exams
Competitive examinations are held in order to test different attitudes and aptitudes of the candidate. Thus on one hand they are being tested for analytical abilities and on the other they are being tested on their understanding of the current affairs. However, among all the questions, essay based questions serve two purposes. On one hand such question tests the awareness and understanding of a particular issue (mostly related to current affairs or related to their subject area) and on the other hand the fluency in English as a subject of communication too is being tested through these essays. The candidate appearing for such English essays in competitive examination thus need to focus on their writing styles, grammar, and flow of content while presenting their depth of knowledge.
Read – [Some English Gk Questions and Answers]
Certification Questions
A competitive examination tests the candidate on almost all parameters. While the essay questions test their English language capabilities, the certification questions test their subject knowledge and certify their aptitude and understanding of the subject.
Read – [Important Certifications Questions and Answers]
15 essay writing tips for competitive exams
Focusing more on the essay questions given in competitive examinations, the candidates surely need some handy essay writing tips for appearing and becoming successful in competitive exams. Essays require a good amount of information which needs to be logically and factually presented in the structured format within the stipulated time period, that too without the help of any secondary sources, especially the internet. Therefore, the following list of tips would surely be handy for the candidates:
Before the Examination:
- The candidate should identify the recent affairs happening within the global space, at least the most important one.
- The candidate should gather as much information about these events and affairs as possible which should include key definitions, brief description of the issue, brief sequence of events, comparing and contrasting any views available on such events, among others.
- The candidate should memorize such information to the best of their abilities.
- The candidate should practice writing essays on such events and topics incorporating as much information as possible.
- The candidate can even take short notes of such key information and revise the same whenever possible so that important points are not left out.
During the Examination:
- The candidate should read the question carefully.
- The candidate needs to understand the question and the context in which such a question has been designed.
- In case the candidate gets the topic or similar topic which he or she has been practicing, then create a “memory dump” and write down all the memorized information in short notes style.
- Then elaborate on the points mentioned in such memory dump one at a time while concentrating on the flow of text and idea in such a case.
- While writing such an informed essay start by formulating a thesis which would answer the entire question asked. The candidate can take help of the wording from the question to formulate the thesis. This should be done in the very first paragraph of the essay.
- Along with the thesis statement, a brief introduction to the topic of the question and at least a brief hint of the argument which would be supported in the essay should also be provided in the first paragraph of the essay.
- The candidate should try to provide as many supporting arguments and evidences as possible. This would make the essay strong and convincing.
- The candidate should try to make a persuasive argument (mostly the question of the essay does not have close ended answers of right or wrong) in order to sound convincing to the evaluator.
- In case the candidate gets a topic which he/she has not practiced, it is best not to panic. At best, the candidate needs to think with an open mind and try to logically remember any hint of such a subject or at least derive some logic from the question in order to write something on the topic in a logical manner such that at least the evaluator is impressed by the writing style.
- Leaving out the essay is not a good option since it not only carries a good weightage of number but also is important in evaluating your writing skills. While logic does not support, it is best to at least have a convincing write up which can portray one’s writing and communicating powers.
While good preparation is the key to success for any competitive examination, such essay writing tips for competitive exams would certainly come in handy at the precious moments of preparation and attending the competitive examination.