ABOUT THE EXAM
The Institute of Banking Personnel (IBPS) conducts the IBPS SO Examination every year for the recruitment of Specialist Officers (SO) to various public sector banks across the country. The examination is conducted online.
Official IBPS SO notification is out for the year 2018-19 and the time for submitting the online applications have started. The exam is going to take place in 3 steps-
- The Preliminary exam(29th and 30th December 2018),
- The Mains exam(27th January 2019) and finally
- The interview
The eligible candidates are to be selected to various posts like-
- Agriculture Field Officer
- Marketing Officer (Scale 1)
- HR/ Personnel Officer
- IT Officer (Scale 1)
- Law Officer
- Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale 1)
IMPORTANT DATES
VACANCY
The official notification of IBPS SO has declared 1590+ vacancies this year. The post wise total number of vacancies are-
ELIGIBILITY
Three parameters that the candidates need to fulfill to be eligible for IBPS SO 2018 exam are- citizenship, age limit and educational qualification.
Citizenship Criteria
- A resident of India or
- A subject of Nepal (eligibility certificate should be issued by the Government of India) or
- A subject of Bhutan (eligibility certificate should be issued by the Government of India) or
- A Tibetan Refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India(eligibility certificate should be issued by the Government of India) or
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Sri Lanka, Burma, Pakistan, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India (eligibility certificate should be issued by the Government of India).
Educational qualification and Age limit
Age relaxation
EXAM PATTERN
Important things to note about the exam pattern published by IBPS this year is that-
- The exam is being conducted in three stages and,
- The introduction of sectional timing for Prelims
Prelims Exam Pattern
Law Officer & Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I)
IT Officer (Scale I), Agricultural Field Officer, HR/ Personnel Officer & Marketing Officer (Scale I)
Mains Exam Pattern
Rajbhasha Adhikari
For the Rajbhasha Adhikari post, the professional Knowledge paper is divided into two sections and the Maximum Marks for this paper is 60.
SYLLABUS
The IBPS conducts the recruitment to the Specialist Officer post in three steps. The first two steps are written exams conducted online and the final step is an Interview conducted by the IBPS along with all participating bodies on the basis of the marks obtained for the written exams.
The IBPS SO syllabus is different for both preliminary and mains examinations. Exam pattern for the Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari post is different from that set for all the other Specialist Officer posts.
A candidate needs to have proficient knowledge in his/her area of expertise. Apart from this professional knowledge, major sections that are vital in clearing this exam are
- English language
- Reasoning Ability
- Quantitative Aptitude/ General Awareness
Prelims Syllabus with Weightage
Mains Syllabus (Professional Knowledge)
REFERENCE BOOKS
Reasoning Ability books
Modern Approach to Verbal and Non – Verbal Reasoning by R S Aggarwal [Publisher: S. Chand]
Analytical Reasoning [BSC Publication] by M K Pandey
Quantitative Aptitude books
Fast track by Rajesh Verma [Arihant Publications]
Quantitative Aptitude by R S Aggarwal [Publisher: S. Chand]
Accredited Guide to Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency by Ananta Ashisha [Arihant Publications]
English Language books
Objective General English by S P Bakshi [Arihant Publications]
Mirror of Common Error by Ashok Kumar Singh [Student Friends]
Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewi [Goyal Publication]
Professional knowledge books
Objective Computer Awareness for General Competitive Exams
1st Edition by R Pillai [Arihant Publications]
IBPS Specialist Officers I.T. Officers CWE SPL for IT Officer (Scale-1) & IT Officer (Scale-2) Professional Knowledge Practice Work Book by Pratiyogita Kiran [Kiran Publication]
CWE – IBPS Bank – IT Specialist Officer Exam by Chandresh Aggrawal [Priyanka Publication]
CWE-IBPS Bank – IT Specialist Officer Exam RPH by Editorial Board [Ramesh Publication House]
MODEL EXAMS
Attempting as many model test papers as possible is a sure bet towards clearing the strenuous 3 tier exams and finally becoming a Specialist Officer.
The new test pattern and changes brought in by the IBPS this year can be realised in the mock tests prepared by our experts at Entri.
The Entri educational app can be easily downloaded in your phones and the following model exams can be practised –
- 20 Preliminary Model Exams
- Professional Knowledge Study Pack
Download the Entri App to start practising right away.
CUT-OFF MARK
2017 cut-offs for IBPS SO
SALARY
Basic salary is Rs.23700 and you will get around 33000-35000 in hand after all the additions and deductions. Gross salary would be around 38–39K excluding allowances.
ONLINE APPLICATION
The online application link for the IBPS SO has been open since November 6. It will remain open until November 26.
Go directly to the site for applying for IBPS SO 2018
SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process involves qualifying the three-tier exams starting with the Online Preliminary Exam.
On qualifying the Preliminary Exam by clearing the cut-off mark set by IBPS, the candidate gets selected to attend the Online Mains Examination. The Preliminary exam is out of a total of 125 marks and Mains is out of 60.
The marks of the Preliminary exam are of qualifying nature and are not counted for the final merit list. Those candidates selected through Preliminary exam attend the Main Examination.
The final merit list is prepared by clubbing the marks of the Main Examination and the Interview in the ratio of 80:20.
The interview is of 100 marks and the minimum qualifying mark is 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates).
About Entri
Entri is an award-winning online platform which helps students to prepare for various competitive examinations and keeps them updated on various exam schedules.Practice question papers and mock tests for Kerala PSC, SSC CHSL, SSC CGL, IIT JEE Mains, NEET, KEAM, and Comedk are available for students to know where they stand and prepare accordingly.Doubt forums are also made available to students to provide a platform for them to interact with experts and clear all their doubts and queries.A suitable app to help you stand out in various competitions.
Entri wishes all the candidates the very best for the upcoming examination!
