Bank PO examination is a competitive examination that is conducted to select the best candidates for lower and middle level management roles in banking sector (at various nationalized banks). The number of candidates turning up for such exams exceeds 10 lakhs. Bank PO exams are administered by two agencies - IBPS and SBI.

This career offers various lucrative benefits and opportunities to advance to higher levels of management. An entry level Bank PO officer may rise to the position of GM in just 15 years. This is a much faster rate as compared to other professions.

Bank Probationary officer (PO) is an entry level position in the officer cadre in banking sector. Every year the recruitment of Banks POs are done through a written exam, followed by an interview. Every bank has a different selection process for the Bank PO exam. Some banks only do by written exams and some other bank have a process of interview after clearing the written competitive exam. SBI follows a three stage selection process and conducts GD before scheduling an interview.

Bank Probationary officer (PO) is entry level position into banking sector, where candidates have to work on probation period for two years. The performance of the Bank POs during these two years decides his/her next apportionment. The Bank PO exam is conducted whenever the need for fresh recruits arises in banks.

Bank Probationary officer's starting salary is same as the other public and private sector banks. All newly recruited Bank Probationary officers are placed in the following scale at the 1st stage of the same. Although, some banks such as SBI, ICICI and other private sector banks have different pay scale for Bank probationary officers (POs).The revised salary for Bank PO as a date on 1st January 2016 will be as per Scale I that is mentioned below:

The starting basic pay is INR 2370 (with 4 additional increments) in the pay scale of

The official will also be eligible for the following special allowances such as:

Dearness Allowance (DA):

• DA in banks is revised on quarterly based on the CPI as declared by Government of India.
• The new revised current DA in the month of November 2015, December 2015 and January 2016 is 39.80 % of the Basic Pay.
• Dearness Allowance can go up with higher increases and also come down if the inflation rate is negative.

House Rent Allowance (HRA):

• The HRA depends on the place of posting and it can be 7.0%, 8.0% or 9.0% depending on the place of posting.

Capital Cost Allowance (CCA):

• CCA also depends on the place of posting of a person and it can be either 0%,3% (Highest INR.600/-) or  4% (Highest INR.870)

Special Allowance:

• This allowance has been added in 10th BPS (w.e.f 01/11/2012), which is 7.75% for scale I employees on which Dearness Allowance (DA) is also to be paid.
• All the information specifies that the total salary of a Bank PO on joining a metro city will be approximately INR 42000.

Selection procedure for SBI Bank Probationary Officer

The selection process for SBI Bank Probationary Officer exam consists of three stages, which are:

• Preliminary Test (100 marks)
• Main Examination (250 marks)
• Group Discussion (20 marks) and Interview (30 marks)

• Preliminary Test

The first stage of the selection process for SBI Bank PO is the online preliminary test, which comprises of 100 questions, carrying 1 mark each. The duration of the test is one hour. 

• Main Examination

The main examination will comprise of two parts:

• Main Examination (200 marks)
• Descriptive Test (50 marks)

  The main examination will comprise of 200 questions, carrying 1 mark each. The examination will be of two hours' duration. The questions will be from the subjects mentioned below,

Descriptive Test will be conducted to test candidate's knowledge of English language. The questions will cover letter writing, essay writing etc. The descriptive test paper of only those candidates shall be evaluated who clear the main examination.

• Group Discussion and Interview

Candidates clearing the main examination shall be called in for group discussion and interview, which is the final stage of the selection procedure.

Group discussion will carry 20 marks and Interview will carry 30 marks.

The marks obtained by the candidates in group discussion, interview and main examination shall be summed up to create the merit list.

Selection procedure for IBPS Bank Probationary Officer

The selection process for SBI Bank Probationary Officer exam consists of three stages, which are:

• Preliminary Test (100 marks)
• Main Examination (200 marks)
• Interview

• Preliminary Test

The first stage of the selection process for SBI Bank PO is the online preliminary test, which comprises of 100 questions, carrying 1 mark each. The duration of the test is one hour. 

• Main Examination 

The main examination will comprise of 200 questions, carrying 1 mark each. The examination will be of two hours' duration. 0.25 marks shall be deducted for every wrong answer. The questions will be from the subjects mentioned below,

The marks obtained by the candidates will be considered for short-listing them for the interview.

• Interview

The marks obtained in the interview and the main examination will be summed up to create a merit list. This will conclude the selection procedure for IBPS Bank PO recruitment. The weightage ratio between interview and the main examination is 80:20.

The interview will carry 100 marks and to qualify the interview the candidates must score 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD categories).

Probationary Officer's role in a bank is very significant as this is the period wherein the candidate is put into different sectors of banking industry to get acquainted and gain knowledge about these sectors.

The responsibilities of Probationary Officers in banks are not limited. Bank Probationary Officer's Job Profile includes Administrative Task, General Banking, and any other task given by the bank whenever needed. The Bank PO goes through rigorous training to understand fundamentals of banking. Bank PO has various training centers spread across the country. As a Probationary Officer in a Bank, your job role will be to:

• Provide customer services to the people, who need help in understanding the process of banking
• Dealing with various customers and explain them the profits of fixed deposits (FD), insurance policies etc.
• Perform clerical tasks like manning the cash counters, authorize transactions collecting cheques etc.
• Building professional and lasting relations with the customers