Probationary officer is one of the most exciting careers in the banking sector,is a post that is regularly advertised for recruitment in both government as well as private banks.Graduation in any course with 60% marks is the qualification required and there is a relaxation of 5% marks for candidates falling under exempt categories.Every year, lacs of candidates appear for the examination for getting a job as probationary officer in a bank. Banks who have a major participation in the process are:
- State bank of India
- Allahabad Bank
- Bank of Baroda
- Punjab National Bank
- ICICI Bank
- Oriental Bank of Commerce
- Cooperative Bank
- Corporation Bank
- HDFC Bank
- Syndicate Bank
Among these, SBI PO and IBPS PO are the main exams.The huge amount of vacancies which mainly focus on recruiting young talents are definitely a big door for bank job aspirants.Both the exams have their own examination pattern and selection criteria.
When it comes to IBPS,a common written examination is conducted by which the hiring process of probationary officers in different public sectors are done.On the other hand State bank of India conducts a separate examination for their recruitment process.
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How to become Probationary Officer in a Bank ?
Recruitment Process
The recruitment process for bank PO is conducted in three stages:
Stage 1: Preliminary exam
Stage 2: Mains exam
Stage 3: Group discussion and interview
Preliminary examination
Time allowed: 2 hours
Type of exam:objective
Total Marks:200
Syllabus
- English language(grammar,vocabulary and comprehension).
- General awareness,computer and marketing.
- Data analysis and interpretation.
- Reasoning(high level)
Mains examination
Time allowed:1 hour
Type of exam: descriptive
This exam comprises of 4 sections namely
- Comprehension
- Short précis
- Letter writing
- Easy writing
Group discussion and interview
Those who qualified the preliminary and mains exam are eligible for attending the group discussion and interview.The maximum marks of group discussion and interview are 20 and 30 respectively.
The final merit list is prepared based on all the scores obtained in these three faces and is converted into 75 point scale.
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The challenge you will have to face during the PO examination is probably not the hard nature of the questions but your way of approach towards them because you are supposed to attend a huge number of questions within a given time frame.So time management matters.Go through previous year question papers as many as you can and have a deep understanding on the pattern of question paper.Enhance your logical reasoning abilities.Make use of practice books and do as many exercises as you can.English newspaper reading will surely help you to improve your language skills and IQ.You can also read the magazine ‘Business compass’ to make yourself good at both general awareness and business (marketing).