(Exam Info) Probationary Officer’s Examination
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Probationary Officer’s Examination
Eligibility Criteria:
Age: The candidate should be between 21 and 30 years
of age, as on 1st July of the year of examination.
Educational Qualification: A Degree from a recognized University or an
equivalent qualification recognized by the
Government of India. The candidate must possess the required educational
qualification as on the date of application.
Presently, Computer literacy is a desired qualification in most of the cases.
Examination Pattern:
There are two stages of the examination that an aspirant
needs to clear:-
Stage I: The Written Test consisting of Objective test and a Descriptive
test.
Stage II: Interview
• Test of General Awareness: To find out the candidate's awareness of people and events, past and present from different walks of life.
• Test of English Language: To assess proficiency in the English Language through questions on grammar, vocabulary, sentence completion, synonyms, antonyms, comprehension passages etc.
• Test of Quantitative Aptitude: To measure how fast and accurate a candidate can handle computation, reasoning and interpretation of tables and graphs etc.
• Test of Reasoning: To gauge the thinking and reasoning aptitudes of the candidates through questions of various kinds.
Negative Marking is done for this section for every wrong answer.
An approximate number of questions in each section and the suggested approximate time for solving each section are given below:
| Objective test | No. Of questions | Suggested Approx Time |
| Test of General Awareness | 50 | 25 minutes |
| Test of English Language | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Test of Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Test of Reasoning | 75 | 50 minutes |
| Total No. of Questions | 225 | 135 minutes |
The Descriptive Test is a 45-minute paper set either in English or Hindi to measure a candidate's cognitive abilities such as comprehension and analysis of situations, generation of unique ideas or situations as well as language ability. Out of the four questions, three have to be answered on a given situation with answers to be restricted to the space provided in the question-cum-answer sheet.
Interview: The candidates who have been successful in the written test are called for the Interview. Final selection is based on the aggregate marks obtained by the candidates in the written test and interview, and is according to merit.
Application Procedure:
Notifications for the Bank P.O examinations appear in all leading National newspapers and Employment News. Neatly typed or legibly handwritten applications should be submitted in the specified format to the Board as is mentioned in the notification.
Examination Centres:
| Test Centres for SBI Probationary Officers Examination | |
| Bangalore | Hyderabad |
| Chennai | Kolkata |
| Coimbatore | Mumbai |
| Delhi | Port Blair |
| Emakulam | Trichy |
| Guwahati | Vijaywada |
Pre-Examination Training:
There is an arrangement of pre-examination training for a limited number of candidates belonging to SC/St/Minority communities at all examination centres at the discretion of the bank. An eligible candidate who wishes to avail of the pre-examination training should fill in the relevant column in the application form.
Appointment & Training:
The candidate selected will be subject to such rules and condition as existing at the bank at the time of appointment.
Preparation Guidelines:
Every year, a multitude of candidates appear for the banking service examinations and naturally, there is an intense competition for the jobs that are a handful in number. Therefore, a thorough preparation is required in order to get through.
To be successful, regular practice in all the five tests viz. Test of Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness, Descriptive Test and English Language, is essential. Various competition magazines adequately cover all the sections. To supplement their efforts, candidates may refer to standard books on General Knowledge.
The basics can be done by using tenth standard books and then
start doing section tests, from Reasoning, Maths, English, etc. Try to get a
good score in each section. After that, do some full-length tests that contain
all the sections, within the stipulated time. For the descriptive paper, refer
to the model paragraphs and descriptive questions published in the Competition
Magazines. The candidate must have a good expression and the sentences must be
grammatically correct. Efforts must be made to improve your handwriting as well,
as this could be a major shortcoming in the written paper. Apart from this, the
candidate must be aware of current issues and recent incidents of importance.
There are a number of books and correspondence courses available for bank
preparatory examinations. There is, however, no substitute for self-study and
self-preparation. Regular studies, systematic preparations, self-confidence and
regular practice, is all that is required to pass this exam.
After the written examination, the short-listed candidates are called for an interview. General questions are asked to check the candidate's General Awareness and relevant issues related to Economics. The interview is also conducted to gauge the candidate’s personality and aptitude. Therefore, Candidates should prepare for the interview simultaneously and take care to develop their personality and confidence.