IRDAI Assistant Manager Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Phase I, On-line Preliminary Examination

• A candidate has to clear each of the four tests separately and the aggregate, at cut-offs decided by IRDAI, which may differ between the specialised streams and Generalist.
• One quarter of a mark is deducted for each wrong answer.
• Phase I marks do not count for interview or final selection. It shortlists about 20 times the vacancies, and that is all it does.
• Tests are in English and Hindi, except the Test of English Language, which is English only.

Ninety minutes for 160 questions is 34 seconds a question, with no sectional timing but four sectional cut-offs to clear.

Phase II, Descriptive Examination

All three papers must be attempted. You read the question off a monitor and write the answer by hand, which is neither a conventional written paper nor an online one, and each paper runs as its own shift.

Phase III, Interview

The shortlist for interview is drawn on the Phase II aggregate alone, at cut-offs IRDAI fixes for each stream, which may be the same or different. Final merit comes from Phase II and the interview in the ratio 85:15.

Phase I scores are corrected for the quarter-mark penalty, then equated across sessions to even out differences in difficulty, and reported to two decimal places.

IRDAI's Annexure 2 is headed Syllabus for Phase II Descriptive Examination and covers the three descriptive papers. Nothing comparable exists for Phase I, which is described only by its four test names. The annexure closes with The above syllabus is only indicative and not exhaustive.

Paper I: English

• Essay
• Precis writing
• Comprehension and Business or Office Correspondence

One hundred marks in sixty minutes, written by hand. Precis and office correspondence are tested almost nowhere else at this level.

Paper II: Economic and Social Issues impacting Insurance

Not a general economics paper. Every clause bends toward insurance.

Paper III: Insurance and Management

Part 1, Insurance

• History of Indian Insurance, principles of Insurance
• Risk and uncertainty, pooling and diversification of risk, Indemnity and Insurable interest
• Legal foundations of Insurance, basics in Group and Health Insurance and Pensions; Intermediation: role in mobilising savings, evolution of various types and Bancassurance in India
• Functions performed by Insurers: Product design, pricing, distribution, underwriting, claims, Investment and Reinsurance
• Insurance lines and products: Property-Liability, Life Insurance and Annuities and Health Insurance; Liability risks and Insurance, valuation and Solvency requirements, Specialist Insurance lines in India, Agricultural and Export Credit Guarantee; Reinsurance, GIC of India, obligatory cessions and retention of risk within the Country

Part 2, Management

Phase I

Four objective tests of 40 marks each: Reasoning, English Language, General Awareness and Quantitative Aptitude. IRDAI names them and publishes no syllabus. In a regulator's exam, weight the General Awareness reading toward insurance and the financial sector.

Age

Not below 21 and not above 30 as on the closing date. For the 2024 cycle that was 20.09.2024, giving a birth window of 21.09.1994 to 20.09.2003, both days inclusive.

Cumulative age relaxation shall not be available under these categories or in combination with any other. A PwBD candidate of the OBC category takes 13 years, not 10 plus 3.

Educational qualifications, stream by stream

The common thread is 60 per cent, relaxed only for SC and ST.

Relaxations and conversions

• SC and ST candidates get a relaxation of 5 per cent in educational standards at Bachelor's Degree.
• Where a university defines its own CGPA conversion, that is accepted. Otherwise IRDAI applies its own 10-point table: 6.75 equals First Class and 60 per cent, 6.25 equals 55 per cent, 5.75 equals 50 per cent. A CGPA on another scale is normalised to 10 first.
• Aggregate marks mean the aggregate over the entire duration of the course, not the final year.
• Knowledge of computer operations is required of everyone, and eligibility is reckoned as on the last date for applications.

Applying for more than one stream

At most two specialisations plus Generalist, one application and one fee each. Go over that and only the latest applications shall be considered valid and the other applications shall be rejected and fee or intimation charges against them will be forfeited.

Reservation

• OBC candidates in the creamy layer apply as General. The non-creamy-layer certificate must be issued on or after 1 April of the recruitment year, be valid on the date of interview, and the caste name must tally letter by letter with the Central Government list.
• EWS needs an Income and Assets Certificate for the current financial year in the prescribed format, issued on or after 1 April and before document verification. IRDAI will not extend that date.
• PwBD means not less than forty per cent of a specified disability under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, certified in the prescribed format and dated on or before the last date of registration.
• Where reserved vacancies cannot be filled on the general standard, candidates of those communities will be taken by relaxed standard to make up the deficiency, subject to fitness.
• Reservation rules applicable as at the date of finalization of results would be applied to the selection process.

After selection

A Certificate of Medical Fitness before joining, and a bond: the officer undertakes to complete minimum three years of service from the date of joining the Authority, failing which the officer has to make payment of Rs. 6 lakh. IRDAI will not take over a bond owed to a previous employer.

The application also asks three questions on criminal antecedents: any conviction in India for an offence involving moral turpitude, any proceedings pending before a criminal court, and any warrant, summons or order prohibiting departure from India.

1. Phase I, On-line Preliminary Examination (Objective Type). This is a qualifying examination to be eligible for Phase II Descriptive Examination. Candidates of every stream are shortlisted approximately 20 times the number of vacancies subject to availability, and the marks go no further: Marks secured in the Phase I On-line Preliminary Examination will not count for interview or final selection.
2. Phase II, Descriptive Examination, three papers of 100 marks and one hour each.
3. Phase III, Interview, for candidates shortlisted on the Phase II aggregate alone.

Final merit comes from Phase II and the interview at 85:15. IRDAI fixes the qualifying marks at both stages itself, by stream, and publishes them only afterwards.

An empty stream does not lapse

If there are no candidates under any of the streams or if no candidate gets eligibility under any of the streams, such vacancies will be considered as vacancies for the remaining stream, i.e. Generalist Stream.

Common seniority

Candidates selected for all streams will be placed in the Common Seniority and the seniority among these Officers will be fixed according to the ranking obtained by selected candidates. An Actuarial recruit and a Generalist recruit of the same year sit in one list, ordered by merit.

Pre-examination training

Open to SC, ST, OBC and PwBD candidates for both phases. It is requested separately, by post, to the CGM (HR), IRDAI, Hyderabad, after the online application. Training runs at Hyderabad, Mumbai or New Delhi, or online, depending on numbers, at the candidate's own cost, and undergoing the training will not confer on me any right to be called for the Examination, Interview or for recruitment in IRDAI's service.

Documents at interview

Originals and self-attested photocopies, and non-submission of requisite documents by the candidate at the time of Interview will debar his or her candidature from further participation in the recruitment process:

• Printout of the interview call letter and of the online application form
• Proof of date of birth: a birth certificate from the competent municipal authority, or the SSLC or Standard X certificate
• Photo identity proof, original and photocopy
• Caste certificate for SC, ST and OBC in the prescribed format, with the non-creamy-layer clause valid on the date of interview; Income and Asset Certificate for EWS; latest disability certificate for PwBD
• A No Objection Certificate from the present employer for candidates serving in Government, quasi-Government offices or Public Sector Undertakings including nationalised banks, insurance companies and financial institutions. In the absence of which their candidature will not be considered and travelling expenses, if any, otherwise admissible, will not be paid.

Misconduct

IRDAI lists seven forms of it, from unfair means and impersonation to carrying a mobile phone into the hall, and four consequences that can apply together: disqualification from the examination or interview, permanent debarment from any examination or selection conducted by IRDAI in future, termination of service, if he or she has already joined IRDAI, and an FIR. Detected late, all of it applies with retrospective effect.

Answer sheets are screened too: The responses (answers) of individual candidates would be analyzed to detect patterns of similarity with those of other candidates. Where IRDAI concludes answers were shared, the candidature is cancelled and the result withheld.

Two provisions close the process. A call letter is strictly provisional and does not mean candidature has been cleared, and IRDAI reserves the right to cancel the above recruitment, partly or fully, at any stage of the process without assigning any reason thereof.

Selected candidates will draw a starting basic pay of Rs. 44,500/- per month in the scale of Rs. 44500-2500(4)-54500-2850(7)-74450-EB-2850(4)-85850-3300(1)-89150 (17 years).

Sixteen increments over 17 years. The EB midway is an efficiency bar, so progression past 74,450 is not automatic.

IRDAI gives the gross itself: At present, initial monthly gross emoluments for Assistant Manager is approximately Rs. 1,46,000/- (excluding qualification allowance, wherever applicable). The allowances named are Dearness, House, Qualification, City Compensatory and Grade, plus other perquisites approved from time to time. Because Qualification Allowance sits outside the 1,46,000 figure, an Actuarial or Finance recruit holding the professional credential draws more than the published gross.

Pension, probation and the bond

• Pension is the defined contribution New Pension Scheme. There is no defined benefit for a new entrant.
• Probation is one year, extendable to a maximum of two years from joining.
• The officer bonds to complete minimum three years of service from the date of joining the Authority, failing which the officer has to make payment of Rs. 6 lakh. IRDAI will not take over a bond owed to a present employer, and terminal benefits from that job are not transferable.

Posting and travel

The posting of the selected candidates can be in any of the Offices of IRDAI and they are liable to be transferred from one Department or Office to another. Those offices are Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, so the transfer risk runs between three cities rather than across the country. Promotion gets one line in the notification: There are reasonable prospects for promotion to higher grades.

Phase I is sat at the candidate's own expense. Candidates called for Phase II and the interview are reimbursed to and fro actual single II AC railway fare, by the shortest route from the place of residence or work.

Applications shall be submitted only On-line mode through IRDAI website www.irdai.gov.in. No other mode for submission of applications is available or accepted. The link appears under the Careers tab, on the Notifications/Vacancies page, when a recruitment is open. No agency stands between candidate and regulator.

The fee covers both phases and is paid once. Bank charges are the candidate's. Applications without the prescribed fee or intimation charges shall be summarily rejected, and the fee is never refunded or carried over to another examination.

One application per stream

A candidate eligible for more than one stream applies and pays separately for each, up to two specialisations plus Generalist. Beyond that, only the latest applications shall be considered valid and the other applications shall be rejected and fee or intimation charges against them will be forfeited.

The Phase I centre choice is final

Candidates have an option to choose the Centre for Phase I On-line Preliminary Examination; however, choice of Centre once exercised by the candidate will be final. No request for change of Centre for Examination shall be entertained. One centre only, named in the application. IRDAI may still allot a different one if a centre is over- or under-subscribed, and may cancel or add centres.

Photograph, help and training

• Use the same photograph from registration through to the end of the process, and affix a recent recognisable one to each call letter.
• There is a helpline for form and payment problems, but IRDAI shall not entertain requests from the candidates seeking advice about their eligibility to apply. You decide your own eligibility and carry the consequence.
• Pre-examination training for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD candidates is requested by post, in IRDAI's format, to the CGM (HR), IRDAI, Survey No. 115/1, Financial District, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad 500032, enclosing the caste or PwBD certificate and the fee e-receipt.

Corrigenda are published only on IRDAI's website; the 2024 cycle had one, changing the shift of the Phase II examination. Any dispute goes to the courts at Hyderabad, which have sole and exclusive jurisdiction.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India recruits Assistant Managers for its own service. Applications, call letters, results and cut-offs all go through IRDAI's website; there is no consortium, pooled list or recruiting agency.

Three offices

An officer can be posted to any of them and transferred between departments, so the geography is three cities, not a hundred divisions.

Departments an Assistant Manager can be posted to

Set that list beside the Phase II syllabus and the design shows: Paper II on systemic risk, risk-based capital and reinsurance, Paper III on solvency, obligatory cessions and intermediation, are the daily subject matter of the Investment, Actuarial, Reinsurance and Inspection departments.

IRDAI's other routes

Neither of these is this examination. The Internship runs two to three months at Hyderabad for students carrying out project or get training in the area of insurance only from regulatory perspective. The Young Professional Program is a selective program which requires individuals to demonstrate proven academic credentials, professional achievement and leadership qualities. Members, Whole-Time Members, a Chairperson and contractual posts are advertised on the same page, and none is an entry-level route.

After appointment, service is governed by the IRDAI Staff (Officers and other Employees) Regulations, 2016, not by the notification, which governs only the selection.

Phase I runs in 35 states and union territories. Phase II, the paper that decides the result, runs at four centres.

Phase I, On-line Preliminary Examination centres

Phase II, Descriptive Examination centres

The Phase II Descriptive Examination shall be held at the following Centres only: Hyderabad; Kolkata; Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane or MMR region; Delhi or NCR. IRDAI adds that more centres may be considered subject to requirements at phase II. As published, a candidate from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab or the north east travels to one of four cities for three hours of handwriting. The fare is reimbursed at II AC; Phase I is not.

Phase I is chosen by the candidate and the choice is final. Phase II is allotted, and the two can differ. Separate Call Letters will be issued for each phase.

On the day

• No calculators in the examination premises, and no mobile phones, smart watches, pagers or any other electronic communication devices inside them either. Infringement can mean a ban from future examinations. Nothing is kept safe for you, so bring nothing valuable.
• CANDIDATES REPORTING LATE, i.e. after the reporting time specified in the Call Letter for Examination will not be permitted to take the examination. Reporting time is well before the paper starts.
• If a session is disrupted, conduct of a re-examination is at the absolute discretion of test conducting body and nobody has a claim to a re-test. Refusing to move or to take part in a delayed session makes a candidate ineligible to continue.
• Where more than one session runs, scores across sessions are equated for slight differences in difficulty. Candidates attend at his or her own cost and risk.

The 2024 cycle

Two intervals matter. The exam dates were announced on 03.10.2024 for a paper on 06.11.2024, about five weeks' notice. And there were six weeks between Phase I and Phase II, part of it spent waiting for the Phase I result. That is the whole run-up to the papers that decide the outcome, so the insurance and economics reading has to start long before the shortlist.

The previous cycle

Seventeen months apart, same sequence. IRDAI recruits Assistant Managers irregularly rather than annually, so the notification itself is the thing to watch for, on the Notifications/Vacancies page under the Careers tab.

Candidates will have to visit IRDAI website for downloading Call Letters for on-line tests from a date to be announced on the website www.irdai.gov.in. An email intimation goes out as well. Log in with the Registration or Roll Number and the Password or Date of Birth. Separate Call Letters will be issued for each phase, so there are three, and the interview venue, address, date and time are notified later on the website.

Affix a recent recognizable photograph to the downloaded call letter, preferably the one used at registration.

What to carry

Accepted ID: PAN card, passport, permanent driving licence, voter's card, bank passbook with photograph, a photo identity proof on official letterhead from a Gazetted Officer or a People's Representative, a current college or university identity card, Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar with a photograph, employee ID, or a Bar Council identity card with photograph. Ration Card and Learner's Driving Licence are not valid Id proof.

The name on the call letter must match the photo ID and the certificates and mark sheets. A mismatch means not sitting the paper. Candidates whose name changed after marriage are allowed in only on producing a Gazette Notification, marriage certificate or affidavit in original with a photocopy.

Ask for a scribe or compensatory time in the application form; a later request is not entertained and the extra time is set by the system. It runs to 20 minutes for every hour. The candidate arranges and pays the scribe, whose qualification must be one step below the candidate's; a scribe may serve one candidate only, and if the scribe is found answering independently both candidatures go. Visually impaired candidates may instead take a magnified font. Candidates with less than 40 per cent disability who have difficulty writing can also get a scribe or extra time on a certificate from a Government healthcare institution.

IRDAI publishes each stage on its Notifications/Vacancies page. In the 2024 cycle: Phase I results in November 2024, Phase II results on 31.01.2025, the list of selected candidates on 21.02.2025 carrying 49 roll numbers against 49 advertised posts, the cut-off notice on 21.03.2025, and a display of Phase II and Phase III marks on 24.04.2025.

IRDAI does not furnish the mark-sheet to candidates. Phase I marks appear on the website in interactive mode for a limited period after the Phase II shortlist; Phase II and interview marks only after the final result, again for a limited period. Miss the window and there is no other route to your own marks.

The combined final score is arrived at by applying the weightage to Phase II (Descriptive Examination) and Phase III (Interview) in the ratio of 85:15. Phase I adds nothing to it.

A published result can still be undone. IRDAI reserves the right to cross-check documents, and if information is found false or the eligibility criteria are not met, his or her candidature will be cancelled and he or she can be removed from service even if he or she has already joined IRDAI. On everything from eligibility to qualifying standards and the communication of results, IRDAI's decision is final and no correspondence or personal enquiries shall be entertained.

IRDAI publishes a signed cut-off notice after each cycle, giving the Phase II marks of the last candidate shortlisted and the combined final score of the last candidate selected. The 2024 notice is Ref. IRDAI/HR/AM/DR/02/2024 dated 21.03.2025, and its figures are for all streams including General.

2024: Phase II out of 300, and the combined final score out of 100

The PwBD (A) column, Blindness and Low Vision, had one vacancy and cut off above the unreserved bar at both stages. With a single vacancy the threshold is simply where that one candidate sat. Category cut-offs are outcomes of who applied, not entitlements to a lower bar.

2023, for comparison

Ref. IRDAI/HR/AM/Rectt./02/2023/Vol.4 dated 17.10.2023, with a single PwBD column.

Across both years the unreserved Phase II bar sat near 60 per cent, 61 then 59.33, so 180 of 300 is the honest target. The last unreserved candidate selected finished about ten points above that qualifying bar in each cycle. No Phase I cut-off has ever been published, because those marks do not count.

Prepare for the papers that count

A plan built like a bank PO plan, weighted toward reasoning and quantitative aptitude, is aimed at the part that gets discarded. Phase I only has to be cleared, section by section. The 300 marks that decide the result are handwritten, and the interview is 15 per cent.

Start the descriptive papers early

In 2024, Phase I was on 06.11.2024 and Phase II on 21.12.2024. Six weeks, and the result ate part of them. Waiting for the shortlist leaves about a month to learn the insurance material and then write about it by hand at sixty marks an hour. Aim at 180 out of 300, which is where the unreserved bar has sat in both published cycles, and plan to clear it rather than scrape it.

Treat Papers II and III as one subject read twice

The two syllabuses overlap on purpose. Read the insurance material once, properly, then ask of each topic: what is the economic and social effect of this (Paper II), and how does an insurer actually do it and how is it governed (Paper III)? The narrow, named items are where marks are easiest to win, because they can be answered precisely. Keep a page of notes on each.

Write by hand, against a clock

The format is specific: Questions will appear on screen and answers have to be written on answer sheets. Put the question on a laptop, write on paper, and run the clock for 60 minutes. Most candidates find writing speed binds before knowledge does. Practise the precis, which is mechanical once learned, and practise office correspondence, which almost nobody does.

Read IRDAI itself

The Authority publishes its regulations, annual report, handbook of statistics and consultation papers. For a paper that names the functions of IRDAI and changing insurance laws as syllabus items, that is the right source, and it shows in an answer.

Things that cost candidatures

• The Phase I centre choice is final.
• Phase II runs at four centres only. Plan the travel; the II AC fare is reimbursed.
• Carry two or three photocopies of your photo ID to Phase II, one per shift.
• Register for a scribe or compensatory time in the application form. A later request is refused.
• The name on the call letter must match the ID, the certificates and the mark sheets.
• No calculator, no mobile phone, no smart watch anywhere in the premises, and reporting late means not sitting.

Decide your streams before paying: two specialisations plus Generalist is the limit, and an excess application is rejected with the fee forfeited.

No previous year question papers or answer keys are available for this exam. IRDAI has never released one. The pattern and the Annexure 2 syllabus are in the notification, and Information Handouts come with the Phase I call letter, both on the Notifications/Vacancies page during a cycle.

IRDAI's own pages

• Notifications and Vacancies, where every recruitment document appears, current and past. This is the page to watch.
• Career at IRDAI, on the departments and the service rules.
• Opportunities, covering the Internship and the Young Professional Program.
• Results, where results and candidates' marks are put up.
• irdai.gov.in, from which applications are made.

The recruitment documents

• Assistant Manager Recruitment 2024 notification (PDF), Ref. HR/Recruitment/Aug/2024 dated 21.08.2024, 38 pages, carrying the vacancies, eligibility, the three-phase pattern, the pay scale, the centres, the fee and the Annexure 2 syllabus.
• Phase II and Phase III cut-off marks, 2024 (PDF), Ref. IRDAI/HR/AM/DR/02/2024 dated 21.03.2025.

The 2023 cut-off notice, the list of selected candidates and the IRDAI Staff (Officers and other Employees) Regulations, 2016 are on the same site. During a live cycle the Vacancies page carries each stage separately: the date notification, the call letter notices and Information Handouts, the Phase I and Phase II results, any corrigendum, the selected list, the cut-offs and the display of marks. Corrigendum, if any, issued on the above advertisement, will be published only on IRDAI's website.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Survey No. 115/1, Financial District, Nanakramguda, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, telephone 91-040-2020 4000. Pre-examination training requests go to the CGM (HR) at that address. Any dispute lies in the courts at Hyderabad only.

Do my Phase I marks count toward selection?

No. Marks secured in the Phase I On-line Preliminary Examination will not count for interview or final selection. Phase I shortlists about 20 times the number of vacancies and is then set aside. The result comes from the Phase II descriptive papers and the interview at 85:15.

What is the exam pattern?

Three phases. Phase I is an online objective paper of four tests, Reasoning, English Language, General Awareness and Quantitative Aptitude, 40 questions and 40 marks each, 160 in all, in a composite 90 minutes, with a quarter mark off for each wrong answer. Phase II is three descriptive papers of 100 marks and 60 minutes each: English, Economic and Social Issues impacting Insurance, and Insurance and Management, with the questions on screen and the answers written on answer sheets. Phase III is the interview.

Who can apply, and what is the age limit?

An Indian citizen aged 21 to 30 on the closing date with a qualifying degree at 60 per cent. Age relaxation is 5 years for SC and ST, 3 for OBC, 10 to 15 for PwBD by category and 5 for ex-servicemen with five years' service, and it is never cumulative. SC and ST candidates also get 5 per cent relaxation in educational standards at Bachelor's Degree.

What are the streams?

Six. In 2024: Actuarial, Finance, Law, IT and Research at five posts each and Generalist at 24, totalling 49, with the specialist posts earmarked under horizontal reservation. Actuarial needs graduation at 60 per cent and seven IAI papers under the 2019 curriculum; Finance needs ACA, AICWA, ACMA, ACS or CFA; Law a 60 per cent LLB; IT an engineering degree in a named branch, an MCA or a two-year postgraduate computing qualification; Research a Master's or two-year PG Diploma in an economics or statistics subject.

Can I apply for more than one stream?

Up to two specialisations plus Generalist, with a separate application and fee for each. Beyond that, only the latest applications stand and the rest are rejected with the fee forfeited.

Where do I apply, and what does it cost?

On IRDAI's website only. 750 rupees, or 100 rupees for SC, ST and PwBD, covering both phases, and not refundable.

Where is the exam held?

Phase I runs in 35 states and union territories, Kavaratti and Leh included, with seven north-eastern states sharing Guwahati. Phase II is held at four centres only: Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai or MMR region, and Delhi or NCR. You choose the Phase I centre and cannot change it; the Phase II centre is allotted. Phase I is at your own expense, Phase II and the interview carry II AC fare.

What were the cut-offs?

In 2024 the Phase II cut-off out of 300 was 178 (59.33%) for UR, 169 EWS, 170 OBC, 155 SC, 162 ST and 185 (61.66%) for PwBD category A, and the last selected UR candidate's combined score was 69.16. In 2023 it was 183 (61%) for UR with a combined score of 74.12. No Phase I cut-off is ever published.

Why was one reserved cut-off higher than the unreserved one?

Because PwBD category A had a single vacancy in 2024, so the threshold is wherever that one candidate sat. Category cut-offs record who applied; they are not entitlements to a lower bar.

What does the post pay?

A starting basic of 44,500 rupees a month on the scale 44500-2500(4)-54500-2850(7)-74450-EB-2850(4)-85850-3300(1)-89150 over 17 years, grossing about 1,46,000 rupees before qualification allowance. Allowances are Dearness, House, Qualification, City Compensatory and Grade. Pension is the New Pension Scheme.

Is there a bond or a probation period?

Both. Probation is one year, extendable to two. The bond runs to minimum three years of service from the date of joining the Authority, failing which the officer has to make payment of Rs. 6 lakh. IRDAI will not take over a bond owed to a previous employer.

Where will I be posted?

Hyderabad, Mumbai or New Delhi, with liability to transfer between departments and offices. All six streams go into a Common Seniority ordered by ranking, so a specialist recruit and a Generalist recruit of the same year sit in one list.