Bank PO 2022 - Job Profile & Exam Details

Bank PO or a Bank Probationary Officer is a post in the banking sector that is widely sought after by aspirants across the country. Various public sector banks conduct the bank PO exam for recruiting Probationary Officers.

In this article, we shall discuss in detail the educational qualifications, salary, exam pattern, eligibility, and other information for a Bank PO.

What is the full form of Bank PO?

The Bank PO full form is Bank Probationary Officer. It is one of the most reputed and highly acknowledged job profiles in the country.

For candidates who have started looking for a career in the banking sector must know every small detail about the Probationary Officer exam as it is one of the most sought after bank exams.

Candidates preparing for the upcoming Bank PO exam 2021 must keep a regular check on the latest notifications and important dates for the recruitment process for various Banks.

What is Bank PO?

For candidates who are at the stage of selecting a career prospect for themselves and are planning on opting for Bank PO, they must understand what is Bank PO exactly.

The Bank PO is a post under the Officer cadre of the Banking sector. PO or Probationary Officer is a post where candidates are directly recruited as Officers in major Banks of the country. Given below is a list of common bank PO exams conducted:

1. SBI PO
2. IBPS PO
3. IBPS RRB PO

Apart from those mentioned above three, Banks from different states of the country and RBI also conduct recruitment to appoint Officers or Bank PO.

Bank PO Recruitment

The post of a Probationary Officer is one which every aspirant looking for a job in the banking sector strives to achieve. It is one of the highest entry-level job profiles for which examination is conducted nation-wide.

Candidates who are looking forward to appearing for the upcoming Bank PO exam shall get all the required information related to the Probationary Officers post and the responsibilities and worth aspects of an employee appointed at this post.

Bank PO Exam Dates

The Bank PO exam for different banks in the country is conducted throughout the year. Candidates need to make a note of the important dates and notifications to stay updated with any new bank exam form.

Given below are the important and tentative dates for the major Bank PO exams 2021:

Bank PO Eligibility Criteria

An essential part of applying for any exam is to check if the aspirant is eligible to apply for the same or not. Specific eligibility criteria are also necessary to be fulfilled to apply for the Bank PO exam 2021.

Given below are the Bank PO eligibility criteria:

1. Nationality: Candidate must be a citizen of India
2. Age limit: The general age limit to apply for a bank PO exam is between 20 and 30 years. However, different banks avail for a different age limit eligibility. For selected categories, age limit relaxations are also provided in terms of bank PO eligibility.
3. Qualification for Bank PO: Educational qualifications is another crucial aspect of the bank PO eligibility. Candidate must at least have a Bachelor’s degree from a Government recognised University to fulfil the bank PO eligibility.

The conducting body sets the bank PO exam pattern for respective bank exams. The exam pattern is subject to change, and the conducting body reserves the right to change the Bank PO exam pattern as per its convenience.

The standard exam pattern that is followed by most banks for Bank PO recruitment involves the following steps:

1. Preliminary Examination
2. Mains Examination
3. Interview
4. Group Discussion (only SBI PO)

The preliminary exam in most Bank PO exams 2021 is only qualifying and the marks secured in the mains examination are counted to calculate the merit, along with the interview marks.

Given below is the brief Bank PO exam pattern for the IBPS, SBI & IBPS RRB PO exam:

Bank PO Syllabus

Aspirants must know that over the past few years the number of applicants for the bank PO exam have multiplied in number and so has the competition. So, candidates must make a note that before appearing for the Bank PO exam 2021, they must have a decent idea about the bank exam syllabus.

Candidates can get the detailed section-wise bank exam syllabus at the linked article.

The Bank PO syllabus is vast, and to make sure that every single topic has been covered and prepared well candidates must make a strategic study plan and prepare themselves well.

Probationary Officer Exam pattern given above clearly shows that the mains subjects that are a part of the bank PO syllabus are English language, Reasoning Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Computer and General & Banking Awareness.

Bank PO Job Profile

The post of a Probationary Officer in any Public Sector Bank comes along with a lot of responsibilities. Candidates must know the Bank PO job profile and responsibilities related to it, well in advance.

Given below is the Bank PO job profile:

1. A Bank PO has to work as a Public Relations Officer, handle customer complaints and address various customer related issues.
2. It also includes managerial work such as supervising the employees under the Clerical cadre.
3. Managing cash flow, loans, mortgages and finances.
4. Take care of loan-related documents as and when required.

These are few among the many duties for which a bank PO is responsible. Before applying for the post, candidates must ensure that they have a complete idea about the background of the job profile.

If a candidate gets appointed as a Bank PO, there is a scope of growth as well. Regular internal exams and promotions are done within a bank to promote its employees to higher posts.

Bank PO Career Growth

Once a candidate enters the banking sector at the post of a Probationary Officer, multiple opportunities come in the way, where the employee can opt for promotion either through the internal examinations conducted or by giving Interviews and qualifying them.

A Bank PO can easily get promoted to the post of Managers, Assistant Manager, Assistant General Manager, and so on. The Bank PO job is transferable and with every promotion, the employee is likely to get transferred from their current job location.

Bank PO Vacancy

The conducting body releases the Bank PO vacancy as per the requirements of the respective Bank. The Bank PO vacancy details are mentioned in the official notification issued by the bank.

The table below gives information about the total number of vacancies released for various Bank PO exams for 2020 as well and 2021 recruitments:

Bank PO Salary

The Bank PO salary is one of the most important aspects for lakhs of candidates applying for the Bank PO exams every year.

Given below is the Bank PO salary in brief for the reference of candidates:

Note: The above-mentioned Bank PO salary details are exclusive of the increments, perks and other benefits that are provided to a Bank PO employee.

Bank PO Preparation

The bank PO syllabus is vast, demand for candidates willing to join the banking sector is very high, and the level of exam is very tough. So the Bank PO preparation must be done in a refined and thorough manner.

Candidates willing to apply for the upcoming Bank PO exams 2021, can refer to the below-mentioned list of bank PO preparation tips:

1. Make a systematic and strategic study plan and prepare accordingly.
2. Make sure that you solve mock tests, previous year question papers, practise papers and samples regularly to stay updated with the type of questions asked in the Bank PO exam.
3. Bank PO preparation must be done, ensuring that time management is kept at preference. Time management plays a vital role in the Bank PO exams and no extra time is spent on any question while solving the paper.
4. Candidates must have a sound knowledge about the exam pattern & syllabus before starting the bank PO preparation. That will help them ensure that all the topics are covered during the preparation.

Aspirants can prepare themselves for the upcoming Bank PO exams by solving the Bank PO Previous Year Question Papers. Interested candidates can download the previous year Bank PO Question paper PDF at the linked article.

Frequently Asked Questions for Bank PO

Q. What is Bank PO?

Bank PO or Bank Probationary Officer is a post in Public Sector Banks. The bank PO exam is considered to be one of the most sought after and the toughest exam in the banking sector.

Q. What is the educational qualification to apply for a Bank PO exam?

Candidate must possess a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline to apply for the Bank PO exam. This is the basic educational qualification that is mandatory in almost all Bank PO exams.

Q. Which are the most recommended books to prepare for Bank PO exams?

The most recommended books to prepare for the Bank PO exam are as follows:

• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by R.S. Agarwal
• Modern Approach to Verbal Reasoning by R.S.Agarwal
• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
• Data Interpretation by Arun Sharma
• Descriptive General English by S.P.Bakshi & Richa Sharma
• Pratiyogita Darpan (Monthly Edition)

Apart from this, read the newspaper on a daily basis.

Q. How is the bank PO exam different from the Bank Clerk exam?

Both bank PO and Clerk exams are conducted to recruit candidates in the banking sector. The major difference is the post. PO exam is conducted to recruit Officers and Clerk to recruit candidates in the clerical cadre.

Q. Where can I check the Bank PO exam dates?

The exam dates for various Bank PO exams is released by the conducting body in the official notification for that respective exam.

Q. What is the full form of PO?

The PO full form is a Probationary Officer. It is one of the highest entry-level posts in the banking sector.