Basic Introduction

The banking job of the Probationary Officer or the Bank PO is one of the most prestigious jobs in the country, providing long-term job-security and growth opportunities. The most sought-after PO examinations are the IBPS PO, conducted by the IBPS or the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection annually.

The job of a PO can entail anything from taking care of the cash, managing loans, dealing with credit cards issuance to being a teller or assistant jobs. A Bank PO is exposed to all facets of banking, making the candidate ready to deal with all situations.

The IBPS PO examination is conducted in the following four stages over a period of approximately nine months:

Preliminary Examination

Mains Examination

Interview

Provisional Allotment

Once a candidate clears all four of the above stages, the candidate is allotted the post of a Probationary Officer in one of the twenty participating Public Sector Banks.

IBPS PO Notification

The official notification of the IBPS PO Examination 2019 is expected soon! Watch this space for more.

The official notification for IBPS PO 2018 was released on 09th August, 2018 for 4,252 vacancies in various participating banks. The Bank and Category wise bifurcation is as follows:

Name of the Bank SC ST OBC Unreserved Total Allahabad Bank 118 59 212 395 784 Canara Bank 180 90 324 606 1200 Indian Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Syndicate Bank Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Andhra Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Central Bank of India NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Indian Overseas Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL UCO Bank 83 29 196 242 550 Bank of Baroda NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Corporation Bank 15 6 21 42 84 Oriental Bank of Commerce Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Union Bank of India 59 29 172 259 519 Bank of India 144 72 260 489 965 Dena Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Punjab National Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL United Bank of India NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Bank of Maharashtra Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported IDBI Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Punjab & Sind Bank 20 12 52 66 150 Vijaya Bank NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL Total 619 217 1237 2099 4252

Event Tentative Date Official Notification August, 2019 Online registration Process Mid-August to First week of September Online Payment of fees Mid-August to First week of September Download Admit Card for Preliminary Exam October 2019 Preliminary Examination 12th October, 2019 13th October, 2019 19th October, 2019 20th October, 2019 Preliminary Examination Result October, 2019 or November, 2019 Download Admit Card for Main Exam November, 2019 Main Examination 30th November, 2019 Main Examination Result December, 2019 Admit Card for Interview January, 2020 Interview January, 2020 or February, 2020 Provisional Allotment April 2020

Exam Pattern:

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION:

The Prelims is an Online Exam, with multiple-choice questions.

Subject Number of Questions Marks Duration (separate for each subject) in minutes English Language 30 30 20 Quantitative Aptitude 35 35 20 Reasoning Ability 35 35 20

Some Important points regarding the Preliminary Examination:

Each section has a specific time duration. The candidates should keep a tab on the clock while attempting each section.

Each correctly answered question fetches one mark and every incorrect answer reduces the overall by 0.25 each, i.e., there is a negative marking of 0.25 for every incorrect answer.

An additional 20 minutes as advised for every hour of the examination, would be provided to the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities.

MAIN EXAMINATION:

The Mains examination is both Online and Descriptive. Details of both have been provided below.

Online Examination, with Multiple Choice Questions.

Subject Number of Questions Marks Duration (separate for each subject) in minutes Reasoning &Computer Aptitude 45 60 60 General/Economy/Banking Awareness 40 40 35 English Language 35 40 40 Data Analysis & Interpretation 35 60 45 Total: 155 200 180 minutes

Some Important points regarding the online examination:

There are 155 questions in the paper that need to be solved in the allotted time span.

Each correctly answered question fetches one mark and every incorrect answer reduces the overall by 0.25 each, i.e., there is a negative marking of 0.25 for every incorrect answer.

An additional 20 minutes as advised for every hour of the examination, would be provided to the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities.

Descriptive Examination.

Subject Number of Questions Marks Duration (separate for each subject) in minutes English Language (Letter Writing and Essay) 2 25 30

PERSONAL INTERVIEW

Candidates shortlisted on the basis of cut-off (sectional as well as overall), will be called for a round of Interview conducted by the Participating Banks and coordinated by the Nodal Bank in each State or Union Territory with the help of IBPS.

The total marks for the Interview are 100. The candidates have to obtain a minimum of 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates) in the Interview to be eligible for Provisional Allotment. The relative weightage of the Online Main Examination and Interview would be 80:20. The final score of the candidate would be decided on the basis of marks obtained in the Online Main Examination and the Interview.

PROVISIONAL ALLOTMENT

After successful completion of the above three stages, the candidate would be provisionally allotted to one of the Participating Banks on the basis of merit-cum-preference and depending upon vacancies.

IBPS PO SELECTION PROCEDURE:

The IBPS PO Examination process begins with Online Registration. Once the candidate has successfully registered, s/he is eligible to appear for the Preliminary Examination. The candidate must obtain the required sectional cut-off in the Preliminary Examination, to be eligible for the Main Examination. The candidate must qualify in each of the sections of the Main Examination with a minimum score as decided by IBPS to be shortlisted for the Interview. On successful completion of the Interview, the candidate is provisionally allotted as a Probationary Officer in one of the participating banks on the basis of merit (decided on the basis of Mains Examination score and Interview in the ratio 80:20)-cum-preference.

IBPS PO Preliminary Exam Syllabus:

English Quantitative Aptitude Reasoning Ability Reading Comprehension Simplification and Approximation Syllogism Grammar Phrase Replacement

Error Spotting

Fill in the Blanks Sequence and Series(missing/wrong) Inequality Vocabulary Cloze test

Antonym/Synonym

Fill in the Blanks

Phrase Replacement Quadratic equations Puzzle on Seating arrangement (linear /circular/square/parallel row) Verbal Ability Para Jumble

Sentence Jumble

Central Theme Spotting

Column Matching Time and Work Day/Month/Time based puzzle Time and Distance Puzzle (building/employee/anniversary etc.) Ratio, Proportion and Percentage Puzzle based on Blood Relation SI and CI Puzzle on Distance and Direction Mixtures and Allegations Miscellaneous puzzle Profit and Loss Coding and Decoding Number System odd one out Mensuration Analogy Problem on Ages Analytical Reasoning PnC and Probability Data Sufficiency Data Interpretation

IBPS PO Preliminary Examination Detailed Analysis:

Analysis of the IBPS PO Prelims English Language Section Topic Average Number of Questions Asked Difficulty Level Phrase Replacement (Grammar) 5 to 7 Moderate to Difficult Fill in the Blanks (Grammar) 5 to 7 Easy to Difficult Grammar Error Spotting 5 to 7 Moderate to Difficult Reading Comprehension 7 to 10 Moderate to Difficult Fill in the Blanks 5 to 7 Easy to Difficult Phrase Replacement 5 to 7 Moderate to Difficult Cloze Test 5 to 7 Moderate to Difficult Antonym/ Synonym 3 to 5 Easy to Moderate Word Interchange 0 to 2 Easy to Moderate Word Usage 0 to 2 Easy to Moderate Central Theme Spotting 0 to 2 Moderate to Difficult Column Matching 3 to 5 Moderate to Difficult Sentence Jumble 3 to 5 Moderate to Difficult Para Jumble 5 to 7 Moderate to Difficult

Analysis of the IBPS PO Prelims Quantitative Aptitude Section Topic Average number of questions asked Difficulty Level Simplification and Approximation 4 to 5 Moderate Sequence and Series(missing/wrong) 4 to 5 Easy to Moderate Quadratic equations 5 Easy to Moderate Time and Work 1 Easy to Moderate Time and Distance 1 to 2 Easy to Moderate Ratio, Proportion and Percentage 1 to 2 Easy to Moderate SI and CI 0 to 1 Moderate to Difficult Mixtures and Allegations 0 to 1 Easy to Moderate Profit and Loss 1 to 2 Easy to Moderate Number System 0 to 1 Easy Surds and Indices 0 to 1 Easy Mensuration 1 to 2 Easy Problem on Ages 0 to 1 Easy to Moderate Algebra 0 to 1 Easy PnC and Probability 0 to 1 Easy to Moderate Data Interpretation 10 to 12 Moderate

Analysis of the IBPS PO Prelims Reasoning Ability Section Topic Average number of questions asked Difficulty Level Syllogism 3 to 5 Easy to Moderate Inequality 5 Easy to Moderate Puzzle on circular seating arrangement 0 to 5 Moderate to Difficult Puzzle on linear/Parallel row seating arrangement 5 Easy to Moderate Day/month/time based puzzle 0 to 5 Moderate to Difficult Puzzle (building/employee/anniversary etc.) 3 to 7 Easy to Moderate Puzzle based on Blood Relation 2 to 5 Easy to Moderate Puzzle on Distance and Direction 3 to 4 Easy to Moderate Miscellaneous puzzle 3 to 5 Moderate to Difficult Coding and Decoding 4 to 5 Easy to Moderate odd one out 0 to 1 Easy Analogy 0 to 1 Easy Analytical Reasoning 0 to 1 Easy to Moderate Data sufficiency 0 to 3 Easy

Once appointed as a Probationary Officer, a Bank PO can be asked to do any job in the bank, be it clerical or assistant. The job responsibilities include:

Front-Desk Management: Dealing with customers on a daily basis, getting their queries resolved and/ or acting as Relationship Manager.

Loan Management: Keeping a track of loans, mortgages etc. and their management as well as recovery.

Treasurer: Taking care of the treasury, maintaining logs.

Cashier/Teller: Handling the cash/cheque transactions of the customers.

Manager: Keeping a tab on the latest developments, suggest ideas and plans to improve business.

The Bank PO is a lucrative career and has an upward trajectory. With hard work, a PO can achieve great success. The career progression of a PO is as follows: