I was preparing for Judicial Services and was working with a law firm in New Delhi in March 2020, just before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. I had barely settled in the place, when I got a call from my parents about the rising Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Before I knew it, I was back home.
Also, in March 2020, SEBI had released its notification for recruiting Assistant Managers in various streams in Grade A, including Legal stream. With no other competitive exams in sight and nothing better to do, I decided to go for the SEBI Grade A exam. It was a government job, it paid well and most importantly, the posting would be in the state capitals. So, basically, the SEBI Grade A Legal exam met all the requirements.
Furthermore, I had taken the Commerce stream in Class 12, so, I did have a basic idea about the Securities and Exchange Board of India. However, once I started preparing for the SEBI Grade A Law Officer exam, I truly understood the role and importance of SEBI as an organization on a much deeper level. With this newfound knowledge and motivation, I nose-dived into my preparation. All the hard work and late nights paid off as I cleared both SEBI Grade A Legal Prelims & Mains with ease. It was now time to prepare for the most challenging step i.e the SEBI Grade A Law Officer Interview.
So, in today’s article, I will share my SEBI Grade A Legal exam and Interview experience and some tips to make your SEBI Grade A preparation easy. If you are planning to appear for the upcoming SEBI Grade A 2023 exam, I would sincerely urge you to go through the entire article carefully.
SEBI Grade A Legal Preparation
SEBI follows a standard three stage exam pattern i.e Phase 1 (Prelims), Phase 2 (Mains) & Phase 3 (Interview). Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 consist of two papers of 100 marks each. You need to secure a minimum cut-off in both the phases to qualify to the next stage. Phase 3 is the last and final step of the SEBI recruitment process.
Since I was appearing for the SEBI Legal exam for the first time, I was a little lost with respect to the preparation aspect. So, I wasted no time looking for some quality online resources for the same. One such reliable resource that I came across was ixamBee’s SEBI Grade A Legal Officer Online Course. This course enabled me to understand the requirements of the exam, which helped me in streamlining my exam preparation immensely.
Furthermore, as compared to Judicial Services, I found the SEBI Grade A Law officer exam comparatively easy. This is because both Phase 1 and Phase 2 consist of multiple choice questions. Moreover, SEBI has a fixed syllabus for all streams including the Legal stream, which makes the process of preparation a lot smoother as you know exactly what you need to study. Most importantly, the majority of the questions in the paper are based on the Bare Act. Therefore, for the SEBI Grade A Legal exam, Bare Acts will be your best friend. So, any law graduate who is seeking a career in the government sector, the SEBI Grade A Law Officer exam is a great opportunity.
SEBI Grade A Legal Interview Preparation
The SEBI Legal Interview was my first ever interview with a government organization, which was quite exciting and nerve wracking to say the least. So, first things first, I looked for Mock Interview courses for SEBI Grade A Law Officer Interview. This is because it is very easy to get overwhelmed and go off track in your interview preparation if you are not following a structured approach.
For my interview preparation as well I had taken the SEBI Grade A Legal Interview Course. It is an all rounded course where you get an opportunity to learn from field experts like Sanjeev Sharma Sir (ex CGM RBI) and Sarat Malik Sir (ex CGM SEBI). I also had a one-on-one mock interview and the panel consisted of CP Mohan Sir, Sarat Malik Sir and Vidhika Ma’am. This mock interview was quite beneficial as they gave me a comprehensive performance analysis. They also pointed out the areas that I could improve on and gave me some important tips for the same.
Official SEBI Grade A Legal Interview 2020-21
My SEBI Grade A Law Officer Interview was scheduled to take place on June 08, 2021. I had chosen SEBI’s New Delhi Regional Office for the Interview. The Interview panel consisted of four members and they were all very cordial. Furthermore, my Interview lasted for around ten minutes. To give you an insight into the minds of the Interviewers, I will also share the questions that they asked me during the interview.
M1
The first Member of the panel set the tone for the Interview. The following questions were asked-
- Introduction
- Gap after education
- What is debarment?
- What is the nature of orders passed by SEBI?
- Who passed the order in the Franklin Templeton case? (this was in the news on the day of the Interview)
- What is the Appeal procedure?
M2
- Asked me just one question about the place from where I did my graduation i.e. What is the most famous place in that city?
M3
Here, I was asked questions about my Internship experiences.
- Difference between the review and revisional jurisdiction of the High Court.
- What are leading questions and when can they be asked?
- What is the procedure if the witness contradicts himself in the examination-in-chief and cross examination?
M4
- Is anticipatory bail defined in the Code Criminal Procedure, 1973?
Important Points to Remember
In this section, I would like to highlight some important points that you must keep in mind while preparing for the SEBI Grade A Legal Interview-
- Prepare your answers properly, especially the introduction question.
- Be thorough with technical and subject related questions (SEBI Act, SC(R) Act Depositories Act and key highlights of Companies Act)
- Know the history of SEBI.
- Have a basic understanding of concepts related to securities and capital markets.
- Follow the latest news with respect to SEBI and RBI.
- Know the key highlights of the Union Budget and Economic Survey.
- Practice as much as you can.
- If you are a working professional, go through your resume properly and prepare a list of probable questions.
- Try to lead the conversation in a direction you want.
- Most importantly, read the newspaper on the day of your Interview.
Conclusion
This was my SEBI Grade A Legal Interview experience in a nutshell. I hope this gives you some insight into the Interview process and helps you in your SEBI Grade A Law Officer Interview preparation in the future.
From- Anonymous
All the Best!
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