Banking – PO Exam Coaching

The full form of Bank PO Exam is the ‘Bank Probationary Officer Exam’. Bank PO is a Scale 1 officer position offered in various banks of the country. Scale 1 officer is a manager level personnel who is entitled to perform managerial tasks. The exam is conducted by various bodies like IBPS, SBI, IPPB etc. to select manager level employees for Banks. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection or IBPS organizes the PO exam to select candidates for this post in 20 Public Sector Banks in India. Other Public and Private banks like SBI and IPPB also hold this exam for the recruitment of Probationary Officers in their respective banks.

Although the eligibility criteria for a Bank PO exam may differ from bank to bank, yet, the general criteria that are being considered by all the banks is listed in the table below.

*The nationality or citizenship of the applicant who appears for the IBPS CWE or Bank PO examination can be one of the following:

• Indian
• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan
• Person of Indian Origin (PIO) who has migrated from Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, or one of the listed East African countries.

**The given age bracket is for General category applicants only. Age relaxation of 3 years is applicable for applicants belonging to the OBC category. On the other hand, applicants belonging to SC or ST category will get an age relaxation of 5 years.

The job description or job profile of a Probationary Officer (PO) in a bank consists of a number of duties. Some of these duties can be listed as follows:

• The Bank PO will be responsible for handling public relations, customer’s complaints, and most other issues in regard to customer satisfaction.
• He or she will be responsible for managerial work such as supervising the clerical staff of the branch office.
• A Bank PO will also have to manage the cash flow, loans, finances, and mortgages.
• He or she will be responsible for taking care of the documents related to loans as well (if required).

The important dates in relation to the Bank PO Exam dates can be listed as follows:

A candidate can apply for the Bank PO exam through online mode only. Candidates must follow below given steps to successfully apply for the Bank PO exam.

• You can register through the official website of IBPS or the respective bank and click on the ‘Home Page’.
• You can pay the Application fees through multiple options like: Debit Card/Credit Card/Internet Banking/Cash Cards/Wallets, etc.
• A valid and active email id should be used.
• A scanned photograph and Signature must be ready with the candidate to upload in the form.
• Submit the Application Form.
• Candidates can print the Application form for future references.

Above mentioned steps will result in the successful submission of the Application form.

The Bank PO exam pattern varies across banks and is subject to change as it is set by their own conducting bodies. The most common examination pattern adopted by a majority of Banks for their PO recruitment comprises of the following steps:

• Preliminary Examination
• Mains Examination
• Interview
• Group Discussion (only for SBI PO examination)

• The Bank PO examination is tough to crack as it has a vast syllabus and thus requires a thorough preparation in a planned manner. Here are effective tips which you can make use of while preparing for the exam:
• Create a strategically planned out study plan which has been designed in a systematic phase-wise manner. It is critical one has the complete knowledge about the exam to ensure that all relevant topics are covered.
• Practise mock tests in a periodic manner and do cover previous year papers and sample practise papers so as to familiarize and gain a better understanding of the type of questions asked in the exam.
• Time Management is key in preparing for the exam. Since it is a timed examination, the technique to solve the paper in the given amount of time needs to be imbibed.

No, it is not necessary to have 60% marks in one’s graduation. However, these rules vary across banks as each of them might have a different criterion. We request you to kindly check the detailed eligibility criteria for each of the banks.

No, IBPS PO is not a government job type. Even if the banks are public sector banking entities and are under control of the Government of India, employees of these banks continue to be under the respective PSBs and not the government.

As mentioned above, the Banking Sector (IBPS PO) is not a part of the public sector jobs. Grade-wise classification is applicable for government sector jobs but banking jobs are classified into scales. For your reference, a Bank PO Fresher would be considered as a Scale 1 officer.