RTV Entrance Exam: Standard Operating Procedure

Rahul Sharma (RTV, 2005-06) currently works as an Assistant Editor with The Content Bureau, an internal and external communication content and design service, at Genesis Burson-Marsteller since 2011. His field of operation include, developing communication strategy, stakeholder engagement, thought leadership, research and public affairs. He also specializes in media training. A graduate of New Delhi based Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Rahul comes from a journalism background. During his stint in mainstream media, he has worked with various brands in television, print and online space and specialized in political and business reporting. He has covered, among other things, Union Budget 2007 and 2008, the 2009 general elections, the India-US nuclear deal, and written extensively on media, brands, marketing and advertising sector. He has also produced a documentary on noted architect Laurie Baker. He began his career with Zee Business and then joined India’s first 24-hour parliament channel, Lok Sabha TV as an Anchor-Reporter. Rahul then made a switch to newspaper industry and worked for Mint and Financial Express. He has also worked with the largest marketing communication website, Afaqs! for a brief while. Rahul holds a graduate degree in Economics from Delhi University and has completed online business reporting courses from Donald W Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, ASU. 

Almost all machines and technical instruments come with a standard set of instructions of how to operate them. The funny thing is that the standard operating procedure applies to entrance exams as well. For exams, where there is no negative marking, the standard operating procedure is to attempt all questions! While this may sound easy, it is not. Let me explain.

So the best case scenario is that you know the answer to every question in the paper. On top of it, you have a flair for writing. You are excited and want to churn out perfect answers. But in your efforts to do so, you realize you have spent more than half the time allotted to answering just one or two questions! And then you are either rushing through others, or end up leaving some. In either case, chances are that despite knowing everything, you could not make it.

When you walk into the examination hall and receive the paper, make sure that you do not cross ‘x’ amount of time per question. You can arrive at this ‘x’ figure by doing simple math. This will help you distill your thoughts and focus on the key messages you want to deliver. And that is the essence of communication. Through this approach, you even out the risks of subjective assessment by increasing the response rate.

Now comes the second part. Ideally, if you have read newspapers all year around and when I say reading newspaper, it means from cover to cover and not just Delhi Times, it will be sufficient. You will know key developments and issues across politics, business, technology, city, sports, etc. What you need to focus on additionally is to understand the medium, its importance and its impact.

Remember, when you apply for a journalism programme you are not going to be evaluated solely on the basis of your general knowledge. Journalism is about putting perspective to developments and decoding the meaning. It is also about understand your own profession and industry. How a story is treated by media organizations? Was it ethical? What are your views on it and what are they based on? So spend time understanding media organizations, their business, treatment of news and how one medium affects the other. Pick up magazines and go online to sites which cover the media. Identify trends and big issues. It will help you develop the understanding required and expected out of you.


Good luck and all the best!