Institute of Banking Personnel Selection

Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)[1] is an autonomous agency in India, which started its operation in 1975 as Personnel Selection Services (PSS).[2] In 1984, IBPS became an independent entity at the behest of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Public Sector Banks. IBPS is envisioned as self-governed academic and research oriented Institute, with a mission of enhancing human-resource development through personnel assessment. In 2011, IBPS announced a Common Written Examination (CWE) for the selection Officers and Clerks in Indian banks. IBPS CWE is now mandatory for anyone who seeks an employment in 20 public sector and Regional Rural banks. IBPS periodically accepts the exam applications from the candidates at their website, and the exams are organized at various locations in the country in online mode. Aspirants have to go through interview process after clear the online test conduct by the IBPS. On the basis of interview candidates placed in Regional Rural Bank. Governing Board

The Governing Board consists of nominees from Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Finance Government of India, National Institute of Bank Management, representatives of Public Sector Banks, Insurance sector and academics. The matters related to policy and affairs of the Institute are vested in the Governing Board.[3]

Recruitment’s through IBPS

An IBPS Recruitment is done in two or three stages. While IBPS RRB & SO recruitment are two phase processes, IBPS PO & Clerk consists of three stages. The first phase is Common written examination, followed by Interview and the final placement.

• CWE PROBATIONARY OFFICER/MT: Recruitment of Probationary Officers or Management Trainees. It is a three staged recruitment process consisting of Preliminary & Main exam followed by Interview.[4]
• CWE Clerk: Recruitment of Clerical Assistants. It is also a 3 staged process as of Probationary officers. Now Clerical Exam will also be conducted in 2 phases. Phase -1 : Preliminary Examination and Phase – 2 : Main Examination [5]
• CWE Specialist Officer: Recruitment of IT, LAW, engineering, marketing and other professionals. It is a two staged recruitment process consisting of online written exam followed by Interview.
• CWE RRB Officers and Assistants: Recruitment of Officers & Office assistant to Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) governed by NABARD. It is also a 2 staged process as of Specialist officers. However interviews are conducted by participating banks separetely.[6]

Eligibility

As of 2014, the basic eligibility for appearing the IBPS recruitment is a university degree. There is an “age condition” which varies with the recruitment type and relaxation available to the candidates. Additionally, applicants to the Specialist cadre are required to have a professional qualification in Law, Accounting, Agriculture, IT or management sector. A certificate in computer operations or knowledge in computers has also been mandatory for posts other than specialist officers.

Common Written Examination (CWE)

IBPS CWE is one among the most competitive examinations in India with a selection ratio of 1 out of 1000.Around 20 lakhs candidates appeared in CWE-3.The CWE syllabus and general instructions on filling IBPS online application will be provided in the exam notification. Each candidate will be intimated with the date and venue of the exam via a call letter, that will be available for download a few days after they register at the IBPS website. IBPS CWE is an objective type exam with negative marking for false answers. IBPS has made a complete change in the recruitment process which will evident effective from the new session 2015-2016. CWE will now be held in two tier i.e. Tier-I and Tier-II. Tier I will be an easier exam and more number of candidates will be qualified in this stage. Difficulty level in tier II will be high. The candidates who will qualify these two stages of CWE will be called for the interview.[7]

IBPS from 2015 will conduct a two tier examination system for Probationary Officers and Clerks. These exams will be preliminary and main exams. Those who qualify from the prelims will only be eligible for the main exams. There is also a slight change syllabus, exam pattern and the marking system of the two exams with the prelims being of 100 marks as against the 200 marks exams for main examination. Post the main examination the process remains the same.[8]

Common Interview

In 2012, IBPS announced that the participating banks would no longer conduct separate interviews for successful candidates after the CWE. Instead, IBPS itself will arrange a common interview (CI) [9] for them at different locations and will prepare a final merit list which will be used to recruit them directly to the banking positions reported during the validity of their score card.

Final Selection

IBPS forms a rank list once the exam and interview phases end. The same will be used 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.

IBPS does not announce the final cut-off marks until the entire process of CWE and the interview is over. This often leaves candidates guessing the expected cut-off marks and not being able to know the exact cut-offs. The process of cut-offs is also then divided as per states. Which is based on fact that if a certain state has less number of vacancies, then the cut-off for that state is likely to go up and if a state has more number of vacancies, then the cut-off can be lower.

 About IBPS Common Written Examination(CWE)

The Banking Industry is recruiting in a big way. In the next few years, banks will have to recruit lakhs of candidates. IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) conducts series of CWEs in a year – once for each of PO (General Banking Officer – GBO), Clerical, Specialist Officers for recruitment into the Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks to cater to the need of the industry and also to the needs of job aspirants. This means that aspirants are clear about when they should apply, and can plan their preparation in an organised and effective manner.

The first ever CWE for PO/MT was held in September 2011, for Clerks it was held in November 2011,for Specialist Officers it was conducted in March 2011 and for RRBs in September 2012.

Participating Banks : Except for SBI, almost all the major Public Sector Banks are participating in the CWE. The 21 banks which are participating in the CWE are Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, BharatiyaMahila Bank, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, United Bank of India, UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank.Some of the old private banks have also decided to use the IBPS CWE scores to recruit candidates for officers and clerks posts in their banks. These banks will now start considering the IBPS CWE scores to fill the PO / Clerks vacancies in their banks. Apart from these private banks, financial institutes like ECGC are also recruiting on the basis of IBPS scores.

Cutoffs : Cutoffs are applied in two stages for the written test (I) on standard scores in individual tests (II) on Total Weighted Standard ScoreCommon Interviews for Bank jobs : To put a check on multiple selections, IBPS has introduced a system of common interview. Candidates who qualify in IBPS CWE(PO & Clerical) will be called for a common interview to be coordinated by IBPS. Candidates,successful in qualifying both the CWE and common interview will be listed in order of merit. Order of preference for banks is obtained from the candidates at the time of applying for the exam. Based on the total marks (CWE + Common Interview) and the indication of order of preference of banks and available vacancies, candidates will receive through a computerised system an offer from one of the participating public sector banks. Vacancies remaining unfilled on account of candidates declining offer ,will be filled from among the remaining candidates,through subsequent iterations.
Important Note regarding Common Interviews : There will not be any common interviews for recruitment to RRBs, Each of the RRBs will announce the vacancies separately and the candidates need to apply for banks for which they are eligible as per the criteria announced by the Bank.

Score Card : Score card will be issued to candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks in each of the test area (sectional cutoffs) and also clear the over all cutoff as fixed by IBPS.

Main Examination: Main Examination will consist of Objective Tests for 200 marks and Descriptive Test for 50 marks. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online. Candidates will have to answer Descriptive test by typing on the computer. Immediately after completion of Objective Test, Descriptive Test will be administered.
(i) Objective Test: 

The objective test is immediately followed by a descriptive test.

(ii) Descriptive Test: 

Test Duration & Pattern (SBI PO)

Preliminary Examination: Preliminary Examination consisting of Objective Tests for 100 marks will be conducted online. This test would be of 1 hour duration consisting of 3 Sections as follows:

Main Examination: Main Examination will consist of Objective Tests for 200 marks and Descriptive Test for 50 marks. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online. Candidates will have to answer Descriptive test by typing on the computer. Immediately after completion of Objective Test, Descriptive Test will be administered.

(i) Objective Test:

The objective test is immediately followed by a descriptive test.

(ii) Descriptive Test: 

Test Duration & Pattern (SBI PO)

Preliminary Examination: Preliminary Examination consisting of Objective Tests for 100 marks will be conducted online. This test would be of 1 hour duration consisting of 3 Sections as follows:

Main Examination: Main Examination will consist of Objective Tests for 200 marks and Descriptive Test for 50 marks. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online. Candidates will have to answer Descriptive test by typing on the computer. Immediately after completion of Objective Test, Descriptive Test will be administered.

(i) Objective Test: 

The objective test is immediately followed by a descriptive test.

(ii) Descriptive Test: 

Selection Process