Bharat SainiLast Updated on May 13, 2017 by Bharat Saini
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is involved in the process of assessment and selection of personnel of all the Public Sector Banks besides various other organizations. IBPS develops, constructs and uses Multiple Choice Objective Tests and tools for mass level testing programmes and conducts exams simultaneously for lakhs of candidates. IBPS also conducts ‘Assessment Centers & Group Dynamics Related Personality Assessments’ for selection of personnel at higher levels.
Assessment Centre is the methodology to assess various competencies / skills etc. of the participants. It can be used for recruitments or for Promotions or Placements and / or to identify gaps in the skill levels (between desired level & observed levels), decide upon placement of employees by matching the employee profile with the job profile and identify their training needs.
Probationary Officers (PO) / Management Trainees (MT) and Specialist Officers (SO)
IBPS periodically invites applications on its website from aspirants for the posts of Probationary Officers (PO) / Management Trainees (MT) and Specialist Officers (SO) in 27 Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and conducts Common Written Examination (CWE). It also conducts CWE for Clerks in these Banks. IBPS also offers human resource services to LIC, insurance companies, NABARD, IDBI, public sector undertakings and government departments.
For Probationary Officers, in age group of, from Minimum 20 to Maximum 30 Years, minimum eligibility is graduation in any stream. There are some age relaxations based on the applicant’s category.
The eligibilities for posts of Specialist Officers vary as under:
- Information Technology (IT) Officer: 4 Years BE / B. Tech or Similar Qualification
- Agriculture Field Officer: 4 Years Degree in Agriculture
- Rajbhasha Adhikari: Hindi
- Law Officer; Degree in Law & Registered as Advocate with Bar Council
- Technical officer: as specified
- Human Resources (HR) / Personnel Officer: PG in Personnel Management
- Marketing Officer : 2 Years MBA / MMS with Marketing Specialization
- Financial Analyst: CFA
- Chartered Accountants: CA
CWE syllabus covers topics such as:
- Reasoning
- General Awareness
- English Language
- Quantitative Aptitude
- Computer Knowledge and
- Professional Knowledge
CWE is one among the most competitive examinations with two-tier system, Preliminary & Mains. All the candidates who successfully register themselves under CWE are called for Preliminary Examination. Based on the performance in the preliminary examination, certain numbers of candidates are shortlisted and called for the Main examination. Preliminary, is an easier exam where a larger number of candidates are expected to pass, and Mains, has higher level of difficulty. The Main examination for Specialist Officers consists of questions only from Professional Knowledge. The marks obtained in the Preliminary examination are not considered for preparing final merit list and marks obtained in the Main Examination only are considered for shortlisting for interviews. Candidates who clear the Main Examination are called for Interview, the Personality test. Interviewees may be asked questions about Family, Education, Strength and Weakness, Current Affairs and questions relating to knowledge about Banking. CWE has weightage of 80 and performance at Interviews is given weightage of 20 for the final selection decision.
IBPS prepares a Merit List of Candidates on the basis of their performance in CWE and Interview to fill existing and upcoming vacancies in the participating banks for a period of one year from the date of announcement of the final results. Candidates are allotted different Banks on their merit cum option basis. IBPS also maintains a Reserve List of 10% of vacancies.
The IBPS Clerk CWE is to induct fresh graduates into various clerical posts.
CWE for Clerks comprises:
- Reasoning
- English
- Numerical Ability
- General Awareness and
- Computer Knowledge.
Applicants first appear for a preliminary exam covering English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning. Only those candidates satisfying the cut off point for each section are eligible to appear for the final CWE. Interviews were part of the selection process but from 2016 this part has been dispensed with for selection of clerks.
Salaries of PSB Officers are quite attractive as per the bipartite wage settlement implemented since November 2011 and next settlement is already due since November 2016. Salaries are as under:
- Basic Pay (BP) : Scale I 23700-(980/7)-30560-(1145/2)-32850-(1310/7)-42020 Scale VII 76250-(2120/4)-85000
- Dearness Allowance (DA): payable for every rise or fall of four points over 4440 points in the quarterly average of All India Average working class Consumer Price Index (General) Base 1960=100 at 0.10% of Pay and revised every quarter in February, May, August & November.
- Special Allowance (SA): Scale I-III @ 7.75 of Basic Pay (BP) + DA.
- House Rent Allowance (HRA) @ 9%, 8% or 7% of Pay in Major “A” Class Cities, Area I or Other Places.
- City Compensatory Allowance (CCA): @ 4% or 3% of BP with maximum of Rs. 870/- or Rs. 600/- p.m.
Monthly Salary of a newly recruited PO for February to April 2017 is: BP: Rs. 23700.00 + DA Rs.11115.30 +SA Rs.2698.18 + HRA Rs. 2133.00+ CCA Rs. 870.00 = Total Rs. 40516.48.
Monthly Salary during the period November 2016 to January 2017 was: BP: Rs. 23700.00 + DA Rs.11328.60 +SA Rs.2714.72 + HRA Rs. 2133.00+ CCA Rs. 870.00 = Total Rs. 40746.32.
Other benefits include Professional Qualification Pay, Pension, Medical Aid, Hospitalization Expenses, Furniture Facility, Conveyance (Petrol Expenses), Entertainment, Newspaper and Leave Travel Concession etc. Officers are also entitled to Furnished/Semi-furnished accommodation in lieu of HRA.
As career progresses, a Bank PO can go up to scale VII, i.e., General Manager and even become Executive Director or Managing Director & CEO of different Banks.
Tentative IBPS Calendar of Online CWE for RRBs & PSBs is as under:
- CWE RRB-VI Officer Scale I
Preliminary Exam: 09.09.2017, 10.09.2017, 16.09.2017, 17.09.2017, 23.09.2017 & 24.09.2017
Main Examination: 05.11.2017
CWE RRB-VI Office Assistants
Preliminary Exam: 09.09.2017, 10.09.2017, 16.09.2017, 17.09.2017, 23.09.2017 & 24.09.2017
Main Examination: 12.11.2017
CWE RRB-VI Officers Scale II & III
Single Examination: 05.11.2017
- PSBs – CWE PO/MT-VII
Preliminary Examination: 07.10.2017, 08.10.2017, 14.10.2017 & 15.10.2017
Main Examination: 26.11.2017
PSBs – CWE CLERK-VII
Preliminary Examination: 02.12.2017, 03.12.2017, 09.12.2017 & 10.12.2017
Main Examination: 21.01.2018
- PSBs – CWE SPL-VII
Preliminary Examination: 30.12.2017 & 31.12.2017
Main Examination: 28.01.2018
