Importance of GK for IIFT Exam

The first reason why IIFT GK question is important is that there is a cut-off for this section.  If you fail to clear the cut-off, you will not be shortlisted for the GDPI process regardless of how good your scores are in the other three sections. I have seen students with 99.5 percentile overall not getting calls from IIFT Delhi.

The second reason is that IIFT GK can be a scoring area. Students who are good in GK can push their overall scores by doing well in this section. If your preparation in the other sections has not been up to the mark, you can push your overall scores by solving more questions in the IIFT GK section.

IIFT GK syllabus and Question Pattern

The GK section of IIFT has 24-28 questions, with each question carrying 0.50 marks. There is negative marking for the wrong answer. Though the negative marking varies, it is usually one-fourth of the marks carried by that question.

I have gone through the past year IIFT papers. I have observed that there are questions from the following areas:

• International Organizations (UN, UNESCO, WTO, IMF, World Bank and the like)
• Latest major sports events (Olympics, FIFA, EURO, Tennis Grand Slams and the like)
• Latest major domestic sports events (IPL, IHL, Davis Cup, etc.)
• Different countries and their stock exchange
• Different countries, their capitals, their leaders, and their currencies
• Books and Authors (The focus is usually on modern authors)
• Awards and Honours (Nobel Prize, Magsaysay Award, Bharat Ratna, National Awards, Oscars etc.)
• Different companies, their headquarters, their industry type, their logos, their slogans, and their place of origin
• Geography and Polity of India (states, their borders, their HDI, their rivers, mountain ranges etc.)
• Trade Blocks, Geo-political groups, and unions (SAARC, G8, G5, BRICS etc)

These ten topics are the most important topics that every aspirant preparing for IIFT must go through. Every year at least five to eight questions come from these areas. You can watch my video on analysis of GK for IIFT here:

What is the usual cut-off for the IIFT GK section?

Though the GK section of IIFT has a cut-off, that cut-off is so low that it should not be difficult for anyone to clear that cut-off. The IIFT GK cut-off is usually in the range of 1.5-2 marks, and at times when the paper has been tough, the cut off has been less than 1 mark. Still every year I come across students who fail to clear the cut-off.

Why do aspirants fail to clear IIFT GK cut-off?

The first reason why they fail to clear the IIFT GK cut-off is that they took GK very lightly.  Many students think that GK is not their cup of tea. They, however, must remember that the GK that comes in IIFT is not at all difficult. In the next section, I will discuss the different question types that we often see in IIFT GK.

It is very important that students preparing for this exam go through the past year IIFT papers and have a look at the kind of questions that have come in the past. If you think that you are weak in this section, then you can lay out a plan to at least clear the bare minimum cut-off.

You must not forget that no matter how difficult the GK section of IIFT is, there are always 4 to 5 questions that are so easy that you can answer them even if you are not at all prepared for the section.

The second reason why students fail to clear cut-off is that they do plenty of guesswork. You should avoid random guessing, particularly when you know that four to five correct questions would be good enough for you to clear the cut-off.

How should I prepare for IIFT GK?

1. Go through the past five years’ papers of IIFT.
2. Take as many current affairs test as possible. Simply reading won’t be of much help. You must take tests to check how good is your memory
3. If you are short on time, join some good online course, and try to finish it.
4. Avoid going through too many irrelevant things. Please remember that you are preparing for IIFT GK, not for UPSC.  You must use time judiciously, focussing on the other areas as well

How much time is enough to prepare for IIFT GK?

This is a difficult question to answer because the amount of time you would need is likely to vary from aspirant to aspirant. If you are a student who keeps himself abreast of the latest current affairs, then there is no need for you to prepare. You can take a few tests just to check how reliable your memory is.

On the other hand, if you have not been much into reading and are someone having poor GK, then you should become serious about it right from now. You will take at least three weeks to cover the ten areas that I have listed above.

GK and Current Affairs Practice Tests 2018