Role and Salary of Bank Probationary Officer in Government Bank

According to one recent industrial study the Indian Banking Industry has the potential to become one of the largest banking of the world in coming decades. Since economic liberalization in early 90s this industry has been seeing unprecedented growth. From simple social banking it has been transferred in to “anywhere and anytime” banking… due to advancement of ATMs, Internet Banking and Mobile Banking. So the role of a banker naturally becomes very demanding. The management wants the Probationary Officers or Scale-I officers to be multitasking, competitive and tech savvy.

Before preparing for a banking interview one should definitely have an idea of the work culture of a bank and the duties and responsibilities assigned to a Probationary Officer. Probationary Officers are the bridge between the Manager and the Clerk or sub-staff in terms of work and responsibility. They are the future managers, and the one who successfully completes the probation period is promoted as Assistant Manager.

Basic idea of Job Profile of a PO:

In probation period of 2 years they are deployed to various branches and departments. Most of the retail branches have the following departments.

• Accounts
• Cash
• Loan and Advances
• Deposits
• Investment
• Marketing
• Mortgage and Finance
• Billing

Depending on the current requirement the branch in-charge gives the assignment to the officer. In initial days the officer might start with the primary job like scanning the signature cards, updating KYC documents, updating pass-book, keeping record of new accounts etc. But one shouldn’t get disheartened, because these are all part of training. Unless and until somebody is aware of the grass root level work one can’t identify if some fraud or error happens.

Another crucial job for officers are handling customer complaints, monitoring timely authorization of NEFT/RTGS transactions, demand draft issuance, supervision of day to day cash operation, assisting the branch in charge for lead generation, providing updated report to the internal auditor.

Depending on the capability and approach towards work POs are sometimes given greater responsibilities like foreign trade, credit, corporate finance, planning, and budgeting.

Last but not the least banking sector is one of those few sectors which gives ample opportunities to new joiners to showcase their talent and to implement new ideas. Integrity and sincerity are the two important key factors for a banker on based of which he can scale a new height.

Typical Salary Structure of a Bank PO – (SCALE-I)