SBI JA Success Story of Lavanya SL From 16+ Prelims Failures to Final Selection

Many banking aspirants face a phase where they clear prelims multiple times but struggle to convert it into final selection. It can feel frustrating when you know you are close, yet the last step still seems out of reach. Lavanya SL’s journey perfectly reflects this reality.

She started her preparation in 2018 without much knowledge about banking exams and learned everything step by step. Over the years, she cleared more than 16 prelims, but mains remained a challenge for a long time. Despite failures, doubts, and even criticism from people around her, she continued working on her preparation with patience and consistency.

Eventually, her hard work paid off and she achieved her dream of working in the State Bank of India as an SBI Junior Associate. Her story is a great reminder that persistence and small daily improvements can lead to big success.

Please Share Your Preparation Journey

Hello everyone, I’m S L Lavanya, I started my preparation in 2018, When I started, I knew nothing about banking,like everyone, I started watching YouTube videos for preparation strategies, some helped, some just wasted my time, because of which it took me a bit long to crack. I started cracking prelims since 2019, but lack of mains preparation put me to failures again and again.

Which Exams Did You Appear In?

I appeared many exams since 2018, all the banking exams which were held, and cleared more than 16 prelims since 2019. When it comes to mains, I knew that I was lacking, and only consistency can help me to crack mains.

Your English Preparation Strategy?

English section is my strongest section, but still I prepared for it every day. Since I cannot lose marks on something that I know I can score the most. For this section, I suggest aspirants to RELIGIOUSLY FOLLOW practicemock’s Minimock section(3-4) a day. In the beginning, you will feel boring and not Continuing it, but I ASSURE You that this is only what you need to do, to ACE this section. I regularly attempted minimocks and attempted full questions in Both the exams that I cleared. And this was the game changer for me to crack 2 exams. Since all the other sections are more or less same for everyone I believe.

Your Quant Preparation Strategy?

Quants was my weakest section, and I cannot say much about it. I felt lazy while attempting arithmetic questions, and eventually used to leave it. For prelims, it’s always about simplifications, QE, DI and number series, but for mains, I only did data interpretation questions from practice Mock’s mains mocks, and this was sufficient for me since the majority of questions in this section are DIs only. So if you’re also weak in quants, you can rely on DI, but you have to be very strong in this approach, and you must know how to crack any DI that comes before you in the exam.

Your Reasoning Preparation Strategy

For reasoning, I religiously followed Mr Dhruva Dhanker Sir ( virtuous YouTube channel) regularly. He cleared the advanced reasoning skills that I used to solve incorrectly earlier. Many people usually leave the reasoning section since they THINK they are strong in this section, but in reality, they are doing it wrong. So you can blindly follow him, and for the practice questions, I again followed practicemock’s mains mock + Affairscloud’s reasoning quizzes. Also, I would suggest that, while doing the reasoning section in the mains, be very calm, so that you solve every question correctly in one go.

Your General Awareness Strategy

For the general awareness section, I followed affairscloud weekly pdf I could not do general awareness on a daily basis, so I did it on a weekly basis. But followed it regularly and consistently.

Study Routine

I did not follow any routine or time tables, instead I used to make daily targets. I used to make 5 to 6 targets and try to complete them before going to bed. It usually included small targets like “English minimocks-3 no. “Quants 2 mains DI” Like this only, which seemed easier for me to complete before the day ends.

Challenges Faced During Preparation

Yes!! Since it took me a bit too long to crack, many of my friends used to think that I was wasting my time and would eventually end up doing nothing. They used to taunt me whenever I talked to them, which usually never bothered me, since I knew I could do it. Apart from this, failing 16+ prelims made me think that maybe I’m knocking on the wrong door, maybe this is not for me and many such things. I used to dream about having this job and had MANY sleepless nights. But I ALWAYS HAD the feeling that I would definitely achieve it. And finally, I’m working in my dream organisation, state bank of India 😉

Did Mock Tests Help You

Yes! I only followed Practicemock and Oliveboard during my preparation, and insisted that everyone follow this mock only. Since there are a few mock tests that lack quality, they are erroneous as well. You should trust only quality mocks for your preparation.

Your Message to Aspirants

The message which I want to share to my fellow aspirants is that, please be very dedicated to the preparation, And don’t underestimate this, please be consistent in your efforts, do small things consistently, don’t worry if you studied for only 4 hrs, but make sure you learnt and practiced “something” That day, which would eventually make a big difference. Take small targets and try to compete within the day. When you take too many difficult targets, it makes you lazy to start and eventually you will end up doing nothing. Always remember, “the man who moves mountains starts by carrying small stones”. All the best, everyone. Sab bankers banna, bad me decide kar lena kuch aur banna hai toh, par pehle banking ke liye mehnat kar lo 🙂

Conclusion

Lavanya’s journey highlights an important truth about competitive exams: success rarely comes overnight. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts, repeated failures, and constant self-improvement before things finally fall into place. What makes her story inspiring is not just the final selection but the mindset she maintained throughout the journey. Clearing prelims more than 16 times and still continuing to improve for mains requires patience, resilience, and belief in one’s preparation.

Her approach of focusing on small daily targets, practising quality mock tests, and staying consistent shows that progress often comes from simple habits done regularly. If you are currently preparing for banking exams and feeling discouraged after a few setbacks, remember that persistence can make all the difference. Keep working on your preparation, stay consistent, and trust that your efforts will eventually lead you to your goal.

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