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| Saint Alphonsa birth centenary commemorative coin released by the Reserve Bank of India (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Banking is one of the most important career choices among students because it is well paid, secure and high status career. Though it may appear that these jobs are meant for commerce/economics students but the fact is that majority of bank officers are from different streams of education like Arts, Science and others. The all round demands for professionals has made banks: Public Sector, Foreign and Multinational to recruit more and more MBA graduates, CAs and CFAs to enhance efficiency. Nevertheless bright graduates from any subject can get entry in the Public sector Banks through an All India Examination conducted themselves by banks. Emergence of technology-driven new private banks and entry of Financial Institutions into short-term lending business has created the requirement of more professionals. Now banks are in the mutual funds, securitization business, and credit cards, consumer loans, housing loans besides trading in gold and fore activities.
Candidates get recruited at 2 levels in the banks - clerical level and officer level. The procedure of selection varies with nationalized and international banks.
Selection procedure for RBI- The Reserve Bank of India is the topmost financial institution in India which makes all the policies and regulations for the other banks. It conducts tests for three types of entry level positions:
- Clerical grade
- Grade A officers
The entry point for clerical staff is in the cash department as examiners of coins and notes. They are promoted to the next grade when they successfully clear the relevant examinations after 5-10 years of service.
There is an All India Exam conducted for class I posts. Graduates, Post Graduates, CA's, MBA's in the 21-26 years of age group are eligible. The candidates are tested in logical reasoning, mental ability, numerical aptitude and general English.
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| Govt of India Mint, Behind the RBI HQ. Mumbai (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
- Paper I is a written test comprising of General Mental Ability (Objective type).
- Paper II is a subjective one which has English Essays/Comprehension/Precise writing etc.
- Paper III is on Economics and Social problems.
Selected candidates are shortlisted for an interview which forms the basis for the final selection.
Selection procedure for other nationalized banks- Anyone in the age group of 18-26 years having a degree is eligible for appearing in the written test. The format of the test is similar to the RBI examination. Test is followed by an interview. Clerical staff gets recruited through regional boards. The eligibility and test format are the same as for PO examination.
Selection procedure for nationalized commercial banks Commercial banks regularly advertise through their Banking Service Recruitment Board (BSRB) to recruit Probationary Officers ('PO'). Each region has its own BSRB which carries out the recruitment. Eligibility is a graduate in any discipline with an upper age limit of 28 years.
Information about the examination
The office cadre examination has 2 parts - objective and subjective.
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| The General Post Office and Reserve Bank of India building from across Lal Dighi in B.B.D.Bagh, Calcutta (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Written Test - The test of reasoning judges the analytical and problem solving skills of the candidate. The English language test focuses on the grammar, synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary etc. General awareness tests the understanding of environmental and social issues, people and events etc.
The quantitative aptitude test measures the numerical ability and accuracy in mathematical calculations. The questions range from purely numeric calculations to problems of arithmetic reasoning, graph and table reading, percentage analysis, categorization and quantitative analysis.
The subjective part of the paper typically involves imagining oneself in a situation such as observer in a public meeting. One has to then comprehend the situation, provide unique observations and analysis.
Interviews - Selection in the interview is based on the knowledge of the subject of study, personality and awareness. Candidate's communication skills and leadership qualities are judged during the interview. Typically 30% of the candidates get selected after the interview.
