Probationary officers

Career Prospects

Banking is a career with great opportunities. Aggressive marketing and innovative policies hold the key to the success of banking operations. Lot of changes has been introduced to the banking sector due to international trade and industrial liberalization and several branches of public sector banks as well as private and foreign banks are coming up at each and every corner of the country. All these factors have created an increase in job opportunities and the requirement for people with marketing and technological skills apart from financial background. The candidates can look for jobs in many establishments such as RBI, Regional reserve banks, the State Bank of India and its associate banks, nationalized banks and private banks. Nationalized banks recruit candidates through competitive examinations while private banks recruit candidates mainly MBAs and Chartered Accountants directly. Candidates with pleasing personality can find jobs as direct marketing executives, personal banking executives and home banking executives. Foreign banks usually go for experienced candidates for managerial posts.

Investment Banking, Corporate Finance Banking, Personal, Retail and Rural Banking, Treasury Management etc are some of the major banking activities.

. Investment Banking: Investment banking supports the corporate and government by raising money through issuing and selling securities in the capital market and also advice them on strategies and helps them in implementing their plans.

. Corporate Finance Banking: Corporate Finance banking deals with the financial management of an organization by raising the capital or fund for that organization. It is through this corporate banking, the organizations are doing their transactions, deposits, fund transferring etc. It is a part of Investment Banking.

. Personal, Retail and Rural Banking: Individual customers belong to personal banking and this sector provides a range of financial advice to the customers. Retail banking also deals with direct customers, their money transactions and transfers etc. The Rural banking is for promoting loans to farmers for agriculture.

. Treasury Management: This sector deals with managing foreign currency and its collection. The treasury managers should be aware of the fluctuations of different currencies. They should manage the portfolio to avoid downgrading of the currency value.

Selections and its process:

The Reserve Bank of India, the topmost financial institution in India conducts tests for three types of entry level positions, i,e. for clerical grade; for Grade I officers and for Grade II officers. The entry point for clerical staff is in the cash department as examiners of coins and notes, and they are promoted to the next grade when they successfully clear the relevant examinations after 5-10 years of service. RBI also conducts an All India Exam for graduates, postgraduates, professional graduates for the recruitment of Class I officers. The maximum age limit for this exam is 26 years and the candidates are tested in logical reasoning, mental ability, numerical aptitude and general English. Selected candidates are short listed for an interview for the final selection. The selection of probationary officer in the public sector commercial banks is done by Banking Service Recruitment Board (BSRB) on the basis of a written test, which consists of test of reasoning, quantitative aptitude, general awareness, English language and descriptive test. Each region has its own BSRB which carries out the recruitment. Graduates between the age group of 21-28 years are eligible for the test which is followed by an interview. Private banks recruit Officer Trainees from amongst first class graduates, Management Trainees from amongst MBAs, and also recruit experienced personnel from the banking sector for middle and higher management positions. The advertisements for the recruitment in various banks appear in newspapers as well as in the Employment News from time to time, according to their vacancies. All applicants are required to take the written test conducted by the respective Bank Recruitment Board. As the competition in the banking sector is very tough, only hard work, studies and practice can make one successful in the test. Number of book and magazines are available for the bank preparatory exam.