Jobs in the banking sector are becoming more appealing by the day. Banking jobs offer job security, sizable pension, competitive pay packages, financial stability, timely promotions, and tons of perks. What’s not to like about them?
In this article, we will list down some of the top bank exams that you shouldn’t miss. These opportunities are suitable for fresh graduates and for those of you looking to switch to a more lucrative job.
#1. IBPS PO
The Indian Banking Personnel Selection more commonly known as the IBPS is an independent recruiting body that conducts several recruitment processes to find qualified employees for the banks. The IBPS PO is undoubtedly the largest and most important recruitment process conducted by the IBPS each year. The IBPS PO exam is easily one of the most sought after bank exams with over 10 lakh aspirants applying for the exam every year.
The IBPS PO is held between August and December every year to fill the around 1000 to 4000 vacancies for the Probationary officer (Bank PO) role in 17 top banks such as the Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda (BOB), Andhra Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India (UBI) etc.
The Bank PO job is one of the most coveted jobs that the banking sector has to offer. It is a mid-level job that pays close to Rs.40,000 per month.
#2 SBI Clerk
Year on year, the SBI clerk recruitment is conducted by the State Bank of India (SBI) to recruit suitable candidates for junior associate posts across various SBI branches in the country. The number of vacancies for the SBI clerk is significantly higher than that of the SBI PO.
The competition is also justifiably very high for this exam and it increases every year. This is clearly evident from the SBI Clerk results over the past few years, over 20 lakhs aspirants apply for 8,000 – 10,000 SBI clerk vacancies. Any graduate can apply for this exam. The in-hand salary for this role is around Rs. 25,000.
If you are someone who gets anxious and nervous about interviews then this is probably the right exam for you since the selection is done only based on online tests.
#3 RBI Grade B
This selection process is held by India’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) each year to Grade B officers for the RBI offices across India. The RBI Grade B recruitment is one of the most difficult selection processes to crack. The job at stake is prestigious and high profile. The initial monthly compensation of an RBI Grade B officer is over Rs 77,000 per month and the annual pay package is around 9-10 lakh. Usually luxurious accommodation and a vehicle for official purposes is provided by the bank for the officers. An RBI Grade B officer is also entitled to numerous allowances and benefits such as subsidized loans (for vehicle, education, housing etc), allowance for furnishing the house, Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), Telephone Allowance, Medical Allowance, Conveyance Allowance etc. RBI Grade B officers could potentially become an Executive Director or even a Deputy Governor.
#4 IBPS Clerk
Every year, staff are recruited for the clerical cadre in several banks across the country through the IBPS clerk recruitment. Typically an IBPS clerk makes over 22,000 every month. IBPS clerks receive timely promotions and chances to move up the ladder either through the normal process or the merit based process where employees are expected to clear internal exams. The IBPS clerk exam is a relatively much easier exam compared to the SBI counterpart and the Bank PO exams.
Just like the SBI clerk, the IBPS clerk process is also free from interviews.
#5 IBPS RRB
The IBPS also organizes selection processes to find deserving candidates for the Regional Rural Banks (RRB). The IBPS RRB recruitment is a nationwide selection process conducted each year to fill Group A and Group B positions in Regional Rural Banks across the nation. Around 45 banks participate in the IBPS RRB process. Around 10,000 posts are usually available across posts/specializations such as Marketing officer, Agricultural officer, IT officer, Treasury officer etc. The salary of an IBPS RRB Assistant is ~ Rs. 23000 and that of a Scale I officer is ~Rs. 40,000.
With the lockdown restrictions being eased, we can expect the bank exams to resume. As the situation improves, more vacancies might also open up and application deadlines may be extended to benefit the aspirants. Capitalize on this opportunity to apply and gear up for the bank exams.