Various Types of Banking Exams Conducted in India
• A series of Common Written Examinations (CWEs) conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) as a prerequisite for the selection of personnel for Probationary Officer / Management Trainee / Clerk / Specialist Officer posts in 20 Public Sector banks (IDBI is new entrant) and for Officers and Office Assistants in Regional Rural Banks.
• Exam conducted by SBI and SBI Associate banks for recruitment to the posts of clerks and officers.
• Exam conducted by Private Sector banks for recruitment to the posts of Clerks and Officers (Some of the old Private Banks like KVB, TMB, KB have started to consider the IBPS CWE score for the recruitment of Clerks and Probationary Officers. Even new private banks like Federal Bank are also recruiting on the basis of IBPS CWE scores).
Selection Procedure
For Clerical Exam :
The selection procedure of Clerical Exam includes written test and personal interview in almost all the Public Sector banks. Some banks also conduct a round of Group Discussion before Personal Interview.
For PO Exam :
A Bank PO Exam is usually a two – stage process. The first stage is the written test, normally conducted in two parts – an objective type test followed by a descriptive test. Candidates shortlisted in the written test are required to appear for Group Discussion and Personal Interview. Usually the number of shortlisted candidates after the written test is about 5 – 7 times that of the number of vacancies.
Written Exam Pattern
For Clerical Exam
• General Awareness
• General English
• Quantitative Aptitude
• Reasoning Ability
• Marketing Aptitude / Computer Awareness
For Bank PO Exam
It consists of two parts, i.e. Objective Test and Descriptive Test.
Objective Test
• English Language (Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension, etc.)
• General Awareness / Marketing Aptitude / Computer Awareness
• Data Analysis and Interpretation / Quantitative Aptitude
• Test of Reasoning
Except for the English Language part, the test is bilingual, i.e. in English and Hindi. The test paper has about 200 – 225 questions having 5 options with maximum marks ranging from 200 – 250. Duration of Objective type test varies between 2 hours and 2 hours 15 minutes. It has negative marking for incorrect answers. One fourth of marks assigned to that question are deducted in negative marking. Candidates have to pass in each of the objective tests.
Test of Reasoning
• Visual or Non Verbal Reasoning
• Venn Diagrams
• Cubes
• Letter and Number Series
• Analogies
• Coding and Decoding
• Strong & Weak Statements
• Syllogisms, etc.
Data Analysis and Interpretation / Quantitative Aptitude
• Arithmetic
• Algebra & Geometry
• Graph and Tables Reading
• Percentage Analysis
• Quantitative Analysis
English Language
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Synonyms
• Fill in the Blanks, etc.
General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)
This section tests understanding of current environmental and social issues, people and events, etc. It also comprises questions related to Banking Industry, Marketing and Computer Awareness.
Descriptive Test
The descriptive tests for Bank PO and other specialist officers are different. For Bank PO, there are essays on current issues and for specialist officers the essays are on respective domain subjects. The duration of descriptive test is normally 1 hour. It usually includes 4-5 questions in areas including Current Affairs, Comprehension, Summary Writing, Letter Writing and Essays.
Descriptive test papers of only those candidates are evaluated who score qualifying marks in the objective test.
Tips For Clearing Written Exam :
Following are the tips for clearing Objective Type written exam:
• The Objective type exam has 225 questions with 2 hours 15 minutes or 135 minutes time in total. This means it comes out to be 36 seconds per question. Divide your time for each question accordingly. If it looks tough to complete all the questions in stipulated time, even if you attempt 200 questions with accuracy you are good at it.
• Start with the General Awareness / Marketing Aptitude section as it is comparatively easy and takes less time. Attempt as many questions as you can in this section if you are sure of the answers. You should be able to complete this section in 20-25 minutes.
• The next section to be attempted is English. In English, attempt the basic English questions first and then the Comprehension questions, as they take a little longer time. This section should also be completed in 20-25 minutes.
• You can next attempt Reasoning or Quantitative Aptitude. But always keep in mind to attempt easier questions first. Any question that requires tough calculations in Quantitative Aptitude or serious thinking in Reasoning should be first left and later attempted if the time permits. The DI part in quant is a very important part and easy too. So work well on DI in Quant.
• In Quant, 50 questions should be solved in 40 minutes. This leaves 45-55 minutes to complete 75 questions of Reasoning. NonVerbal part in Reasoning is important, as there will be 15 questions from it.
Tips For Successful Group Discussion :
Group Discussion is not common process for all banks, but most Private Sector banks and some Public Sector banks have GD as an important parameter. So it is important to know what and how to speak in Group Discussion. GD is mainly conducted to study the candidate’s communication, listening, team management and analytical skills. A team is formed with 4- 8 candidates by the panellists and a general topic is given for a discussion.
Here are some tips to follow and clear GD section successfully:
• Try to start the discussion. Usually, the person who starts the discussion has better chances of selection. The person who starts has more points to say and has the option of directing the discussion to other area. A good introduction can help fetch more marks even if much is not spoken later on. But if you do not know anything on the topic, stay away from introduction.
• Use simple, easy to understand words without any grammatical mistakes. Speak softly and slowly, since speaking fast can make you commit mistakes. Apart from topic’s knowledge, the way you speak is also important.
• The topic of GD is not known before. But one should be prepared with knowledge about current affairs. The news read or prepared can be used as example in the given topic, if it is related. Read various magazines, articles in newspapers and GK books for knowledge of current affairs.
• Apart from speaking, listening is also important in GD. Most of the people fail to listen to others and end up repeating same points. This can be avoided by listening carefully to others. It will give you more points to speak and you can also give your opinion on their points. This also shows that you are active, attentive and a team player.
Tips for Clearing Interview :
Following are the Tips for qualifying an interview:
• Wish the interview panel ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Afternoon’ after entering the room. Sit down calmly when you are offered a seat.
• Sit straight with your back against the chair and arms on the armrest. Leaning on the table and pushing yourself forward are not good signs.
• Wait until the interviewer goes through your profile. Do not start talking before you are asked anything. This shows your nervousness.
• Answer the questions in clear and bold manner when asked questions.
• While answering questions, look at the interviewer. Do not look around. Looking at interviewer shows your confidence and interest in the conversation.
• If you do not know an answer, tell the interviewer. Do not give wrong or irrelevant answers. In such a situation, do not look at ceiling, bite your nails, scratch your head or close your eyes.
• Do not repeat same answers again as this shows your lack of preparation and understanding of the subject. ,
• Answer the question after the question is complete. Do not rush to give answers, even if you know the answers.
Changing Trends In Recruitment Process
In past few years some changes have taken place in the Bank Recruitment process. They are:
• IBPS Clerical CWE 2012 Goes Online – Like many other exams, the bank exams are now slowly converting to the online format. IBPS announced the first-ever CWE in September 2011. The IBPS Clerical Exam conducted in November 2012 was online. This was the first-ever online Clerical CWE. The IBPS Specialist Officer Exam conducted in 2012, 2013 and 2014 were also online exams.
• Cut-offs to be higher, calculated at two stages – There is one major change in the process of arriving at the overall cut-off score, when compared to the process that was followed for arriving at the overall cut-off scores for the Sept. 2011 CWE for PO. Earlier, the overall cut-off was equal to the sum total of the cut-offs of the individual tests (sections). But this time, the cut-offs were applied in two stages:
(i) on Standard Scores in individual tests
(ii) on Total Weighted Standard Score
As a result of the above, the overall cut-off for all the categories is now higher than the sum total of the cutoffs of individual sections for the respective category. This would mean that if a candidate scores the minimum cut-offs in each of the individual tests but does not clear the minimum over all cut-off, he/she is not qualified. This process of applying the cut-offs at two stages was first done when the result of the CWE for Specialist Officer was announced.
• Common Interviews for Bank Jobs – To put a check on multiple selections, IBPS has introduced a system of
Common Interview. According to this, each of the qualified candidates will definitely get one interview call. IBPS coordinates this Common Interview process. Going further, participating banks do not have any role in conducting interviews for the qualified students. The candidates who have qualified IBPS CWE PO II (June 2012 exam) were the first lot who participated in the Common Interview. The process of Common Interview is as follows:
• Candidates who qualify in IBPS CWE (PO & Clerical) will be called for a Common Interview to be coordinated by IBPS.
• Candidates, successful in qualifying both the CWE and Common Interview will be listed in order of merit.
• After the declaration of result of both CWE and Common Interview, a notification will be issued by IBPS giving the State/ UT wise and category wise vacancies for each participating bank.
• Order of preference for banks will then be obtained from the successful candidates.
• Based on the total marks (CWE + Common Interview) and the indication of order of preference of banks and available vacancies, candidates will receive through a computerised system an offer from one of the participating Public Sector banks.
• Vacancies, remaining unfilled on account of candidates declining offer, will be filled from among the remaining candidates, through subsequent iterations.
Score Card :
Score Card will be issued to candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks in each of the test area (sectional cutoffs) and also clear the overall cut-off as fixed by IBPS.
• 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.