How to prepare for TISSNET 2014.

TISSNET is the entrance exam to enter Tata Institute of Social Sciences. It is one of the oldest management programme and has been there since 1967 it was formerly known as PM&IR;(Personnel Management & Industrial Relation). Today, it is known as HRM&LR;(Human Resource Management & Labour Relations). This year the test is completely a computer based test and would be conducted across 35 centres in the country. A mock paper will be uploaded on the admissions website on November 10. There will be a section of Quant questions and Local questions along with a section on Verbal Ability and lastly a section on GK. This year the scores in the written exam will have a weightage of 50 % and the other 50 % would be divided between a PIT (Pre-interview Test – 20% ) which would be an essay exam and then a personal interview.

One of the unique things about TISSNET till last year was that there was no negative marking in the paper therefore one could attempt all the questions, this information is generally given on the instructions of the paper therefore one needs to read that carefully.

Generally, the level of the questions on quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning in the paper are not as tough as CAT or XAT level it can be at best said to be of moderate to easy level but do prepare adequately since this is one of the scoring sections of TISSNET. The Verbal Aptitude section last year consisted of fill in the blanks questions, some vocabulary question, again not of the GRE level but of moderate difficulty and a comprehension passage. Most of the questions in the passage were direct and could be found out from the passage itself. Therefore if one has practiced adequately for CAT and XAT Verbal ability section one can sail through this section.

Now for the GK section which is generally what most aspirants are a little apprehensive about. To clear some doubts about this section one needs to understand that TISS is a Social Science institute and apart from the course on HRM it runs 44 other courses which deals with social work, environment sustainability and disaster management. As the paper is the same paper for all of these courses therefore it is expected that the aspirants should have rudimentary knowledge of these fields namely a little about the cultural and social conditions in India – caste system as well as the prevalent reservation system.

The questions also come from the various welfare schemes instituted by the government for alleviating poverty namely (MGNREGA, Food Bill etc). Apart from these some questions are asked about authors and the books they have written again the books may be on the subjects of social and cultural revolutions along with celebrities who may have taken some social stands and have made a statement through their personal choices etc.