LIC's Assistant Administrative Officer (AAO) exam gives a direct entry to the officer cadre. Anyone recruited as a direct AAO can hope to reach the highest level, provided his/her performance in the profession is very good. For the recruitment of the Assistant Administrative Officers in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), a national level Civil Services examination is held once a year. It may be noted here that Assistant Administrative Officers are recruited either through this Civil Services examination or through promotion from Class II and Class III levels.

Nature of Job:

The tasks of the AAOs concern Administration and Development of Accounts.

• Administration
  • Registry of claims within permissible financial limit
  • Policy making
  • Filing official returns and statements to higher regional offices
• Development
  • Marketing and procurement of business
  • Business promotion
  • Fund management and disbursal.

Eligibility :

Age: 21 – 28 years in the year of examination.

Educational Qualification: graduate or a post graduate with a minimum of 50 % marks.

Examination Pattern:

The examination comprises of the following two stages:

Stage I: Written Examination
Stage II: Interview

Written Test consists of Paper I which is objective in nature and Paper II which is descriptive in nature.

PAPER I is set on the following topics:

1. Reasoning Ability (Bilingual)
2. General Knowledge and Current Affairs (Bilingual)
3. Numerical Ability (Bilingual)
4. English Language with special emphasis on grammar and vocabulary.

PAPER II (Descriptive) is a test on Essay which can be written in English or Hindi. Descriptive type test also contains a test on précis and comprehension in English.

Syllabus :

Test of Reasoning Ability:
This test has been designed to judge the candidate’s thinking power, and it contains questions of various kinds. The test will be partly verbal, i.e., based on or related to words and partly non-verbal, i.e., based on or related to figures and drawings.

Test of Numerical Ability:The purpose of this test is to ascertain how quick you are in working at numerical calculations.

General Knowledge and Current Affairs: The purpose of this test is to ascertain a candidate's general awareness of environment around him and its application to society. The questions will be designed to test the candidate's knowledge of the current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience as may be expected of an educated person, including topics on Life Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, etc.

There may also be questions on Geography of India, History of India, cultural heritage, freedom struggle and salient features of the Constitution of India, Indian economy and Society.

English Language:
The purpose of this test is to gauge your knowledge of English. Your ability will also be tested through your choice of words, expressions and similar skills.

Application Procedure

The blank application form and other details are published in the Employment News, generally in the second week of April, and the last date for submission of application is usually the second week of May every year.

Tentative Date :

Notification: April
Conduct of Exams: June.

Examination Centre :

The number of examination centres keeps on changing, usually increasing, with the number of aspiring candidates. At present LIC conducts the Entrance Examinations at the following centres:

How to Prepare:

The candidates must undergo prolonged preparation to take the examination. One needs to practice regularly to improve knowledge and speed. For subjects like GK and current affairs, one needs to start practicing early and regularly. A good book on the basics of General Knowledge, supported by reading a good national newspaper and Competitive magazine can greatly assist a candidate to do well in this part. For mastering the reasoning, numerical ability and English language, special efforts are required. For the Reasoning and Numerical Ability tests, practice pays. It not only enables a candidate to solve the problems correctly by indicating the methods to be used but also by achieving the required speed. Regular practice also generates a lot of confidence in the mind of the candidate to attempt the paper. In-depth knowledge and correct expression are two important ingredients of essay writing. Style of writing also determines the marks to be obtained by the candidates. Similarly, précis writing is an art unto itself and needs to be mastered. It is not just summary but an attempt towards precision in own language, without losing sight of the content and its meaning. A good understanding, rich vocabulary and regular practice usually help a candidate to do well in Essay and Précis.

An aspiring candidate has to do well both in the written examination as well as the personal interview. Normally, the personal interview determines the selection of a candidate. A candidate, therefore, must be well versed in General Knowledge and current affairs and should be able to discuss and analyse topics of current importance and general interest. In addition to reading good newspapers, magazines and other books, the candidate should also have a good understanding, absorption ability and expression. Any knowledge is useless if the candidate is unable to express himself / herself while replying to any question. The candidate should also identify his/her strong and weak points and should be able to direct the course of the interview towards his /her area of strength.