GREAT CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN BANKS IN INDIA

Banks in India offers great and challenging career opportunities for aspiring educated youth of India. Since India is an emerging economy in the world, there is great scope for economic growth prosperity in the country. Economic growth means better agricultural development, greater industrial growth accelerating growth and development of service sectors, financial institutions, especially banks are the growth providing financial help and support to the development of the economy. So banks are going to play a greater and more significant role in the accelerating growth of our economy.

                         Indian banks are very ambitions. They have long term goals and vision. All are planning to growth in vigorous and vital manners. All of them are for an expansion spree, opening more and more branches inside the country and overseas.

                          Banks need a lot of capable, smart and efficient employee to the expectation and aspiration of various banks.  Broadly speaking the opportunities can be classified into two.

      1.Operational Staff

                         The largest numbers of vacancies belong to Operational Staff. They include clerks,Cashiers,  accountants , marketing staff etc.

Qualification: Generally graduation is the basic qualification for operational staff. Certain banks insist mark resistration.SBI and its associate banks prescribe +2 as the basic qualification for clerk post. Age 18-26 (generally).

      2.Supervisory staff  

                         Supervisors are offices level jobs in a bank. They are probationary   officers , junior managers, accounts officers, agricultural officers , legal officers etc.

Qualification: Graduation certain banks insist mark restrictions specialized  qualification are needed for agriculture officers( Bsc Agriculture/Forestry/Social Forestry etc),Legal officers(LLB).Age 22-30(generally).

 

Mode of selection

Recruitment for bank jobs are based on written exam followed by interview .Some banks insist group discussion before interview.

                         20 Nationalized Banks in India have themselves formed a forum for common recruitment of Bank Clerks and Bank POs and other Specialized Officers.

                                  For Bank Clerk, every year there will be four examinations. The candidates who qualify the written examination will be put in a live Rank List for one & half years. And whenever vacancies are noticed in any one of these 20 banks the successful candidate in the Rank List can attend the interview and win the job. As the candidates in the Rank List get selected, the new successful candidate from the next exam will be placed in the Rank List. So that whenever there is a vacancy in any one of the 20 banks, they can easily fill it from the live Rank List

                         For the selection of Bank P.O, two examinations will be held in every year.

                         The common all India examination will be announces for both Bank Clerk and bank PO. in the beginning of 2011.

                         SBI and SBI Associates banks are not part of these 20 banks. As such their recruitment process will continue as usual. i.e., one Bank Clerk and Bank PO exam each for SBI & SBI Associate Banks.

                         Apart from these,  Scheduled Banks such as Federal Bank, South Indian Banks etc   will continue will their separate exams.

                         Apart from all these RBI and NABARD will be conducting separate exams for recruitment in their organizations.

                         The ambitious candidates have plenty of opportunity to get their dream jobs in banks as Bank Clerk and Bank offices. The only thing is that they must develop their skill and speed through intensive training program.   

 

BANKING AS CAREER

Banking as a career provides a great challenge, it helps to develop analytical skills useful in a company's strategies. It is one of the fastest rising sector which every individual wants to opt. It is not only meant for commerce or economics students but for all graduates with any educational background.

Probationary Officer:

• The POs have a one or two years probation period during which they are given exposure to various important functions of the bank such as Loans & Advances, Foreign exchange, Credit Rating, Treasury, Risk Management, IT, Marketing etc.
• The PO will report to their senior officer who will closely supervise and evaluate the performance for the certain time period.
• It is extremely important to be in good performance during probation period as banks have right to terminate the employee if they feel one doesn't fit for the position.

Assistant Managers

• Multinational banks recruit fresh management graduates as Management Trainees and appoint them as Assistant Managers on confirmation.
• The area of work may depend on the area of specialisation in MBA and can be corporate banking, merchant banking, forex management and retail banking etc.
• Generally fresh Management graduates from leading B-Schools are considered for this position.

Clerks

• The job of a clerk, in banking sector, is to deal with public, maintain the records of accounts for customers and banks, foreign exchange, in house/ intra branch transfer accounts etc.
• With the introduction of Information Technology, the traditional working patterns have been replaced by IT networking and these clerks are required to be skilled in computer.
• For this position, the candidate must have passed Xth with 60 per cent; 10+2 with 50 per cent and Graduates of any discipline in the age group of 18-26 years are eligible to appear in the Competitive Written Examination, followed by an Interview.

Career in public sector banks

Banks are considered the backbone of Indian economy. Since India is in the threshold of developed nation banking sector has a crucial role to play for the growth of the country. Indian Banking system is very strong. In the global financial turmoil that happened sometime ago, our country was least affected because of soundness of Indian Banking and Financial system. In fact many countries of the world are trying to learn lessons from our disciplined system of Banking.

Banks in India are not only strong but are also growing fast. According to studies. Banking sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. This growth has brought many opportunities.Tecnological innovation has infact revolutionized banking sector.Bank now seek more talent.Aggrassive expantion demand more and more personnels. Now IBPS makes recruitment exam for both clerk and PO for 19 Nationalised banks.SBI directly make recruitment for clerk and PO for SBI & 5 Associated Banks of SBI. All schedule banks  like Federal Bank,Karnataka Bank,CSB,SIB etc make separate recruitments

Indian Banking Scenario
Regulation of Banking system in India started with Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Banks in India used to be in private hands. In 1969, 14 big private banks were nationalised bringing them under the ownership of government. After 11 years, in 1980, six more banks were nationalised. Of these 20 banks, one New Bank of India got merged in Punjab National Bank. Now in all there are 27 public sector banks in the country consisting of 19 nationalised banks and 8 banks from State Bank group (State Bank of India and its associates).
In the last two decades Public Sector Banks in India have witnessed a transition from traditional banking to modern technology driven banking. Exposure to competition has made these banks re-engineer and re-structure their processes, systems and product line. After economic liberalization these banks have been given enough freedom to do so. However, for various matters these are required to follow guidelines issued by Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks Association.
Post nationalisation, the Banks were asked to open more branches in rural areas. Large number of people were recruited to man these newly opened branches. Expanded network gave a new identity to these banks and millions of new customers came to the fold of Banking. The business of Banking moved from class banking to mass banking.

Manpower requirements
Public sector banks in India employ more than 7 lakh people at present. Of these a large number of people will be retiring in next 5-6 years. To fill this gap and to take up the growing business the Banks are on a recruiting spree as can be seen in media and from vacancy announcements. Only this year about 40,000 vacancies have been created in public sector banks due to retirements, resignations and expansion of business.

Earlier recruitments in public sector banks were made through Banking Service Recruitment Boards. Each board was taking care of manpower requirements of 3-5 banks in a certain geographical area. Now the boards have been abolished and each public sector bank may announce it’s own recruitment process for the number of people required from time to time. Thus more such advertisements are seen these days. Another change is seen in lateral hiring by these banks. Earlier officers were recruited only in Junior Management Grade. Now public sector banks are offering direct  employment in middle and senior management cadres as well. Thus for both freshers and experienced people career opportunities are available in public sector banks. To meet their manpower requirements these banks are presently recruiting in large numbers both in clerical and officer cadre.

Clerical Positions

A clerk is mostly a front staff in a bank. Depending on the requirement clerks are placed at different counters of the banks e.g. savings, deposit, current deposit, term deposit, retail loans, cash credit, agricultural loans, credit cards, government business, cash receipt or payment etc. Maximum customer interface in banks occurs at these counters managed by clerical staff.

Eligibility for Clerks

The minimum age for applying for the position of a clerk in nationalised or private sector banks is 18 years. The maximum age limit is 28 years. There is no uniformity with regard to educational qualification for eligibility. This becomes clear from the recently advertised positions of clerks in different banks. In one bank graduates with minimum 40% marks are considered eligible while another banks is accepting candidates with 60% marks in aggregate in 12th standard. Those having an university degree (in any class) could also apply. This bank has put another condition of having secured minimum 60% marks in mathematics at SSC/10th standard. As most of the recruitments in clerical cadre in public sector banks are made state-wise, the candidate applying for the post in a particular State is expected to be proficient in the language of the State. Proficiency means knowing to read, write, speak and understand the language.

Examination pattern for clerks
Eligible candidates are asked to appear in a written examination. This written examination is objective in nature consisting of four papers viz

1. Test of reasoning ability and numerical aptitude

2. Test of clerical aptitude

3. Test of English language

The structure of written examination may differ from bank to bank. To qualify in the written test the candidate should pass in each of the objective test separately with required minimum qualifying marks. It is also necessary that the candidate obtains a certain percentage of marks to be eligible for moving to next stage of selection.

From those who get the qualifying marks as above, the bank calls a fixed number of people to appear in the interview process. The number of people called for interview is in a certain proportion of available vacancies. This interview is a simple process in which question about candidates’   academic and cultural background, career goals etc. are asked. Effort is also made to know about his aptitude for the job and customer orientation etc. Most of the people applying for a clerks position in the bank are fresh from college. They should be ready to answer questions about their choice of subjects, streams etc. From people who are employed or have work experience, questions may be asked about the job or assignments they have been handling. In case of interview also minimum qualifying marks are prescribed.

The final merit list is drawn by adding up marks obtained by the candidate in the written test and interview.

Career Prospects
Finally selected candidates can look forward to a fruitful career in the bank, they join. All public sector banks provide training to new employees for equipping them to take up their assignments. Induction training which happens immediately or soon after joining is the first training programme they attend. Subsequently they are offered training in various banking disciplines.

Public sector banks are few organisation which offer promotion from one cadre to another. Thus those who join as clerks may be promoted as officers, as per banks norms. For bright candidates, in some banks, this promotion from a clerk to officer is possible in a period as short as one year.

Recruitment in Officers cadre
Vacancies in officers cadre in public sector banks are filled from within the organisation after promotion of clerks and also by direct recruitment. To meet the shortage of manpower in officers cadre, now a days the public sector banks are required to recruit large number of officers. Most of the vacancies for which recruitments are made are in Junior Management Graduate Scale I, which is the entry level position for joining a public sector bank as an officer. This entry level position is known as that of probationary officer or management trainee. Bank probationary officers can come from any discipline or field of study, although there is a misconception that only people from commerce or finance background are eligible. A finance or commerce background may help the candidate adjust to the banking environments faster than others but banks recruit talents from diverse backgrounds of science, literature etc.

The minimum age to apply for entry level officers position is 21 years while maximum age may be 26 years or above as decided by individual banks. As regards qualification, the candidate should at least be a graduate from a UGC recognised university. In some banks only first class graduates are considered eligible. For some other banks the minimum percentage of marks required is 55 percent. Those with post graduate qualification may get some relaxation in qualifying percentage of marks, in few cases. There have also been instances of banks preferring to recruit people with post graduate degree or diploma in management. Particular recruitment advertisement should be carefully studied to know the eligibility criteria.

      The test for probationary officers consists of the following objective papers:

1. General Awareness

2. Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning

3. Verbal Reasoning

4. English

Some banks prefer to include a descriptive paper also in the test process. In this paper the candidate is required to write essay and attempt composition. Minimum qualifying marks are prescribed for both objective and subjective papers. Candidates are called for interview on the basis of marks obtained in written examination.

Interview for officers position is expected to be more comprehensive. Here along with general questions, the interview panel may try to judge the candidates understanding of nation's economy, issues before the economy etc. One should always be ready to answer questions like ‘why you want to choose banking as a career?’, ‘what are your expectation from the job’ etc. Also questions relating to earlier job experiences may be asked. For getting selected a candidate should do    well both in written examination and interview.

 

RECRUITMENT IN HIGHER SCALES

With some experience one can expect to join a public sector bank in a higher scale. Most of the vacancies in higher scales exist in Middle Management Grade II or III. Of course the candidate should fulfill the eligibility criteria as regards to age and qualification. The experience required for higher scales keeps changing from bank to bank, it may be one year or more. Professionally qualified people (with qualifications like MBA, CA etc) stand better chance in this regard.

CAMPUS RECRUITMENT

Since last 3-4 years public sector banks have started recruiting from campuses. This campus recruitment covers only a small part of their manpower needs but it has opened a new window of opportunity to students wanting to make a career in banks. From campuses banks are taking MBAs from different disciplines, agriculture graduates, chartered accountants etc.

CAREER PROGRESSION

There is a well defined career progression path in each public sector bank. Performance and potential are key elements which determine this career progression. Most senior officials in public sector banks started their career as clerk or scale I officer only. In tune with the time banks have reviewed their promotion policy and now for bright, hardworking and knowledgeable employees it takes less time to move to higher scales. In many banks a person who joined as an officer may reach to the position of Genera Manager in 14 years. After that one can aspire for the position of executive director or chairman of a bank. These are very high positions, nomination to which is decided by the Government and not by the individual banks.

Many public sector banks have a network of foreign branches. Thus joining a public sector bank gives you the opportunity of working abroad also. Transferability in a bank job provides you the chance of seeing different parts of the country.

TO CONCLUDE

Public sector banks may not offer fancy financial packages which multinational and few other companies offer. But the compensation in these banks with the recent wage revision and including perquisites is quite good. And there is an element of job security too. The housing and medical facilities are also considered attractive.

The expansion mode in which public sector banks in India are, is creating large number of opportunities for young people to choose banking as their career.

CAREER PROGRESSION OF OFFICERS

Junior Management Grade – Scale I: Officer

Middle Management Grade – Scale II: Manager

Middle Management Grade – Scale III: Senior Manager

Senior Management Grade – Scale IV: Chief Manager

Senior Management Grade Scale V: Assistant General Manager

Top Management Grade Scale VI: Deputy General Manager

Top Management Grade Scale VII: General Manager

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS IN INDIA

Punjab National Bank

Bank of Baroda

Bank of India

Canara Bank

Allahabad Bank

Andhra Bank

Bank of Maharashtra

Central Bank of India

Corporation Bank

Dena Bank

Indian Bank

Indian Overseas Bank

Oriental Bank of Commerce

Punjab and Sind Bank

Syndicate Bank

UCO Bank

United Bank of India

Union Bank of India

Vijaya Bank

State Bank of India

State Bank of Indore

State Bank of Hyderabad

State Bank of Patiala

State Bank of Mysore

State Bank of Saurashtra

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur

State Bank of Travancore

Bank PO & Bank Clerk
Interview is the final hurdle in the selection for Bank Jobs. Though interview process varies from bank to bank, there is a generally accepted format and procedure for interviews for both Bank PO and Bank Clerk.
The aim and Purpose of Bank Interview
Generally those who qualify the written examination are called for the interview. By the time the candidate comes for interview, the Board clearly knows that the candidate possess not only the right qualification but also the right level of knowledge. The fact that he has cleared the written examination shows that he possesses the satisfactory level of knowledge in Quantitative Aptitude, Test of Reasoning, General English, Computer and other subjects that figures in the written examination. So the purpose of interview is not to test the knowledge of candidate in the subject included in the written examination.
Then What?
A job demands certain qualities, abilities, talents, resources, for its effective fulfillment. Moreover, each organization has its own aspirations and vision and the organizations aims to fulfill its aspirations and vision through the team of employees they possess.So the purpose of interview is to check the general level of skill of the candidate, his capability and willingness to perform various tasks assigned to him, his aptitude for the job, personality traits he posses, his level of ambition and his capacity to contribute to the fulfillment of the aspirations and vision of the organization. In short, the aim of the interview is to assess whether the candidate is employable, and whether he deserves the job. Interview is the process by which an organization selects the most suitable candidate to run their establishment. It is also a process by which they reject those candidates who does not meet their expectations

RIGHT ATTITUDE & APPROACH FOR SUCCESS

Banking is thebacinterviewkbone of the economy. It is banking which fuels the economy for further growth and development. All the banksin India are on the path of aggressive growth and development. All want to grow and expand geographically and vertically. They aim better customer satisfaction, better sales figures and better result and profit. No rival must supersede them. All these are possible only if the bank possess the right team. Nothing happens automatically. Every achievement is the result of planning and hard work. So only if the right type of employee joins the team can they be productive. No organization can sustain and grow with worthless and inefficient weaklings. That is why banks, as organizations, accord high priority for right recruitment and interview is the first and the final encounter directly with the candidate to assess their employability. If you can master the methods, approach and procedure involved in the interview and understand the right and wrong approaches in the interview, you can crack the challenge.

Think before you leap
Getting a job means building a career. Once you enter into banking world as probationary officer, you slowly identify yourself with the job, get absorbed into the system and slowly climb the ladder of banking into the post of Manager, GM, DGM, so on and so forth into a powerful career and life.

So before going for the process of interview, please consider the question whether you seriously want the job; whether it is PO or Clerk. If your answer is NO, first quit the process and follow your real ambitions in life. But if your answer is strong affirmative one – “Yes, I must get this job. It is my ambition. I have a powerful and strong urge for the job.” Don’t think twice. Open your eyes, focus fully on the job, and consciously change all factors favorably for you to succeed the interview.

You are an invited guest
Your call letter for the interview is actually an invitation for success. You get into the interview chamberas aninvited guest. Don‘t think you are an outsider trespassing into their way, but an invited guest seeking a rightful place you deserve out of your qualification, merit and capability. When you get into the room, you can see thatall the board members are eagerly waiting for you. What they want to convey is that they are really interested in you, and they want to engage with you a friendly session of questions so that both can understand each other in a better manner and they can make a judgment based on the feedback they receive out of the encounter. If you are a candidate with serious intention of winning the job and if you have done adequate home work about the interview, you can definitely make the encounter the most memorable sweet encounter in your life which provides you with a wonderful career in yourlife.

Interview: a Talk Show

Simply speakbody languageing, interview is a session of questions and answers. The general duration is 15 minutes. Itcan be 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the situation. The candidate generally faces 10 to 15 questions. Since the Board Members areexperienced persons with insight and vision, they can assess the candidate with any type of questions. Some board members only seek personal details from the candidates and that is what they only need to make an assessment about. They know that the candidate is rightly qualified. Moreover, they have won the written examination and already proved their knowledge power. What is left is only to check whether the candidate is employable, so the Board members, one after the other, go through a series of questions. The responses of the candidates are carefully evaluated by each member and after the matter of 10 to 20 minutes, they pronounce the judgment on the candidate.

Whatever be the question, your answers must be right, complete, and effective. Avoid monosyllabic answers, broken sentences, half answers, and incomplete responses. A good answer is self explanatory. It explains everything. The listener will not have any doubt.

For example

Member : What is your qualification?
Candidate 1 : Sir, I am a graduate.
Comment : Answer incomplete. The member doesn’t understand the subject of the candidate.
Candidate 2: Sir, I am BTech graduate.
Comment : Still the subject is unclear.
Candidate 3 : Sir, I am a BTech graduate in Civil Engineering.
Comment : Self explanatory answers.
Candidate 4 : Sir, I have completed BSc Physics.
Comment : Answers is vague. It means the candidate has finished the course and its does not mention.
whether he has passed it or not. If the candidate has already passed the exam, he must say
“I am a graduate in Physics”.

You should understand that interview is a kind of demand and supply situation. The Board members ask a question with the precise intention of getting expected answers. If you are an intelligent candidate, you will provide what they expect. So if you want the job, don’t give your answer to the question, but his answers to the question! Because he may not be happy with your version of the answer. But he will certainly be happy with his version of the answer. So always provide what they anticipate and expect.

Your answer must be not only satisfactory but also influential. It must not only satisfy their curiosity but also influence them to make a decision in favor of you. So stuff your answer with elements which positively influence them to select you for the post. So in your answers, wherever possible, convey and imply the message that you are very serious about getting the job; you are the right person they are looking for, you have consciously and carefully nurtured yourself for the last 20 to 25 years with the intention of making yourself a successful person in life and your career rest with a bank.

A Perfect Promoter

If you have any legal issue in a court, you hire an advocate. He represents you in the court. HeargBank Interviewues for you and present things in your point of view to make you win. In the interview, you cannot hire the service of another person. Nobody can go for you. You yourself have to go. So actually your role in an interview is to argue for yourself and promote you to success. So don’t think that interview is a dull session of questions and answers. It is a serious opportunity given to you to prove your merit, exhibit your talent and resources, and argue your capabilities and make the board convinced of your suitability and eligibility for the job. So your answer must be studied, and the responses stuffed withpromotional and influential element. The intention and purpose of your presentation is to evoke and influence them to select you for the job    

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