CAT 2023 Slot 3 · VARC · Question 20
CAT 2023 Slot 3 previous year question on Odd One Out, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.
Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
1. Although hard skills have traditionally ruled the roost, some companies are moving away from choosing prospective hires based on technical abilities alone.
2. Companies are shaking off the old definition of an ideal candidate and ditching the idea of looking for the singularly perfect candidate altogether.
3. Now, some job descriptions are frequently asking for candidates to demonstrate soft skills, such as leadership or teamwork.
4. That's not to say that practical know-how is no longer required - some jobs still call for highly specific expertise
5. The move towards prioritising soft skills "is a natural response to three years of the pandemic" says a senior recruiter at Cenlar FSB.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2
The paragraph is about the shift from hard skills to soft skills in hiring.
Sentence 1 opens: companies are moving away from hiring on technical abilities alone.
Sentence 3 follows with 'Now': job descriptions ask for soft skills like leadership and teamwork.
Sentence 4 qualifies: practical know-how is still needed in some jobs.
Sentence 5 explains the trend: prioritising soft skills is a response to the pandemic. The sequence 1-3-4-5 stays on hard versus soft skills.
Sentence 2 is about abandoning the search for a 'singularly perfect candidate' altogether – a different change, not the shift between kinds of skills.
Shortcut: identify the precise contrast the paragraph is built on (hard versus soft skills). A sentence about a related but different change is the outlier.
Hence, the answer is 2.
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