• The Banking Sector in India
• Major Recruiters in Banking Industry
• Career as a Bank PO
• Career as a Bank Clerk
• Bank Exams - Cadre
• Types of Bank Exams
• About IBPS Common Written Examination
• Eligibility for Bank Recruitment Exams
• Pattern of Bank Recruitment Exams
• How to apply

Banking sector in India has always been one of the most preferred destinations for employment. In this decade, this sector has emerged as a sunrise sector in the Indian economy. The Banking Industry is recruiting in a big way. In the next five years , banks will have to recruit almost 7.5 lakh people

Now, banks have diversified their activities and getting into new products and services that include opportunities in credit cards, consumer finance, wealth management, life and general insurance, investment banking, mutual funds, pension fund regulation, stock broking services, custodian services and private equity etc. Further, most of the leading Indian banks are going global, setting up offices in foreign countries themselves or through their subsidiaries.

Major Recruiters in Banking Industry:

Public Sector Banks form the major recruiter group for candidates aspiring for bank jobs. They are:

1. State Bank of India Group (Total:6 Banks) namely State Bank of India, State Banks of Bikaner & Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mysore, Patiala and Travancore. 

2. Nationalised Banks (Total: 19 Banks) which include Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, Uco Bank, United Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank. 

3. Other Public Sector Bank (Total: 1 Bank) i.e. IDBI Bank Limited. 

4. Private Sector Banks: These banksonduct their own exams.The major recruiters in private sector include the ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Indusind Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Karur Vysya Bank, Karnataka Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, South Indian Bank, Bharat Overseas Bank, etc. 

5. Co-operative Banks: All major National and State Co-operative Banks and Scheduled Urban Co-operative Banks conduct their own exams to recruit Officers.

Career as a Bank Probationary Officer (PO):

A Probationary Officer’s post is the entry to the coveted managerial positions in the banking industry. A P.O. starts as a trainee officer in the Junior Management Grade Service (JMGS) of the bank and can rise to the highest grades of the bank in his career becoming a General Manager, a Director or even the Chairman of the Bank.

Needless to say, a Bank PO’s position is seen with tremendous respect in the society as it secures a life long opportunity to grow, prosper and serve the society in a senior and responsible position in the Banking industry. And, therefore, every Bank P.O. Exam attracts lakhs of talented graduates, post-graduates and professionals to compete for a few hundred or thousand of vacancies notified by the banks.

Career as a Bank Clerk :

A young person joining a bank as a clerk-cum-cashier in the clerical cadre of the bank has the opportunity to start as early as at the age of 18 years and just after passing standard Xth. A bank clerk enjoys job security, challenging work environment, opportunity to strengthen customer relation skills, using best available technology and working to learn under worthy senior officers. He is trained on the job and at the Bank’s Staff Training Colleges and given opportunity through departmental exams of the bank or otherwise to rise to the higher levels of management in the bank. He gets the opportunity of life-long learning in Banking, Finance, Management and other areas of his choice through various national level institutions set up for Bankers’ education. One need not be surprised to find many senior staffs in most of the branches of various banks as well as at the Regional, Zonal and Head Offices of the banks who had joined the bank in the clerical cadre.

Banking Exams - Cadre:

The banks conduct exams for the following cadres:

1. Bank Probationary Officers (PO)
2. Bank Clerks or Probationary Clerks

Specialist Officer’s Cadre: Banks also conduct recruitment exams for Specialist Officers cadre to man their finance, legal, human resources, marketing, systems and other departments which are open to candidates having requisite professional qualifications in engineering, chartered accountancy, law or a degree of MBA, MCA, etc.

Types of Bank Exams

Generally, the bank examinations are of the following types 

1. Exam conducted by SBI and SBI Associate Banks for recruitment to the posts of clerks and officers 

2. Common Written Examination conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection as a prerequisite for selection of personnel for Probationary Officer / Management Trainee / Clerical Cadre posts in 19 Public Sector Banks 

3. Exams conducted by private sector banks for recruitment to the posts of clerks and officers 

4. Exams conducted by Co-operative banks for recruitment to the posts of clerks and officers

About IBPS Common Written Examination(CWE)

There is more good news for lakhs of aspirants seeking a career in banking sector – the time taken by a bank to complete the recruitment process, which is now 6-8 months , will come down to 2-3 months with the introduction of the first of its kind "Common Written Examination (CWE)". The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection(IBPS) will conduct the CWE. This examination is the per-requisite for selection of personnel for the posts of Probationary Officer/Management Trainee/Clerks in the Public Sector Banks. 

The first ever Common Written Examination for the posts of Probationary Officer / Management Trainee in 19 public sector banks was conducted on 18th September 2011 and the first such examination for recruitment of clerks in 19 public sector banks is scheduled to be held on 27th November 2011

Participating Banks: Except for SBI, almost all the major Public Sector Banks are participating in the CWE. The 19 banks which are participating in the CWE are Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank,Bank of Baroda,Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India,Corporation Bank,Dena Bank,Indian Bank,Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, United Bank of India, UCO Bank, Vijaya Bank.

Score Card: Score card will be issued to candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks and above in each test of the examination.

Each participating Public Sector Bank will independently issue a separate recruitment notification, specifying their vacancies and stipulating the eligibility criteria in terms of age, educational qualification, experience (if any), proficiency in official language of the State/UT for which vacancies he wishes to apply, minimum required level of IBPS score in each component test plus Total Weighted Score (if any) etc.Each bank will then individually shortlist candidates and carry out their own selection processes such as Group Discussions and/ or Interviews etc. for final selection Since Clerical Cadre recruitment would be on state-wise basis,candidates can apply for vacancies in one State/UT only. It will therefore be necessary that candidate appear for examination in one of the centres of a particular State/UT where they would like to apply for employment i.e. they have to appear for the examination from a centre for that State/UT as mentioned. 

Validity of the Score card: Score Card issued by IBPS will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the score card Candidates can appear in subsequent examination/s to enhance their scores.The successful candidates can apply to any of the participating banks as and when the banks announce the vacancies.

Eligibility for Bank Recruitment Exams                                                                                          Top

Bank PO Exams:

1. IBPS CWE: Age: 20 to 30 years; Education Qualification: A degree in any discipline from a recognized University or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government 
2. SBI and SBI Associate Banks: Age: 21 to 30 years; Education Qualification: Graduation in any discipline from a recognized college/ University 

Bank Clerical Exams: 

1. IBPS CWE: Age: 18 to 28 years; Education Qualification: A pass with 60% marks in the aggregate in SSC/ Matriculation

Patterns of the Banking Recruitment Exams:

Both P.O. and clerical recruitments comprise at least two stages of exams, viz. a written test, and an interview. The written test normally comprises an objective type test and a descriptive test(only for PO). The interview is normally a personal interview or sometimes, a combination of group discussion and personal interview.

Bank PO Exams: The test areas in the objective type test of P.O. exam include tests from amongst Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness, English language, Marketing Aptitude and Computer Knowledge. The Descriptive Writing Test is to check the proficiency of the student in English Language. It would consist of a test on English Composition comprising letter writing, essay writing, precis writing etc

Pattern of the IBPS Bank PO CWE : The written test consists of Objective Paper and Descriptive Paper

Objective Paper: 250 Questions to be answered in 150 Minutes; Maximum Marks: 225
Descriptive Paper (Essay, Precis, Letter Writing etc): Duration - 60 Minutes; Maximum Marks: 25
Negative Marking: There will be penalty for wrong answers marked in the Objective Test.

The following table gives the test area break up of the Objective paper.

Pattern of SBI/SBI AssociatebBanks PO Exam : The SBI and Associate Banks of SBI conduct separate written test for the selection process and will not consider the CWE score.

The details of the written test are as follows 
The written test consists of Objective Paper and Descriptive Paper

The following is the break up of the test areas that are asked in SBI / Associate Banks of SBI PO examination
1. Reasoning Ability – 50 Questions
2. Data Analysis and Interpretation – 50 Questions
3.General English – 50 Questions
4.General Awareness/Marketing/Computers – 50 Questions

How to apply:

Filling in the Online Application: Candidates should carefully fill in the details in the On-Line Application at the appropriate places very carefully and click on the “SUBMIT” button at the end of each page. Before pressing the “SUBMIT” button, candidates are advised to verify every particular filled in the application. The name of the candidate or his /her father/husband etc. should be spelt correctly in the application as it appears in the certificates/mark sheets. Any change/alteration found may disqualify the candidature. 

After applying on-line, the candidate should immediately take a printout of the system generated on-line application form, ensure the particulars filled in are accurate and retain it for future reference. Please note that all the particulars mentioned in the online application including Name of the Candidate, Category, Date of birth, Address, Email ID, Centre of Examination etc. will be considered as final and no modifications will be allowed after the last date specified for Editing/ Updating the same. Candidates are hence requested to fill in the online application form with utmost care as no correspondence regarding change of details will be entertained.