A job in the banking sector has been one of the most rewarding and prestigious jobs for quite some time now. Lakhs of job seekers are lining up to apply for the vacant positions in both the private and nationalized banks across the country. This is very understandable since a career in the banking sector is not just lucrative but also promises much better job security and work-life balance as compared to corporate jobs.
Year on year, the private and nationalized banks typically hire employees through certain recruitment processes and exams such as the IBPS PO, SBI PO, etc. The schedule of such exams is also very predictable. In this article, we will breakdown the bank exams calendar and tentative schedule of the upcoming exams to help you plan in advance and prepare yourselves.
The IBPS (Indian Banking Personnel Selection) and SBI (State Bank of India) conduct the largest recruitment processes for onboarding candidates for the role of a probationary officer (IBPS PO & SBI PO) or that of a clerk (IBPS Clerk & SBI Clerk). The recruiting bodies may be different but the compensation and syllabus are very much alike. For instance, the IBPS Clerk syllabus is very similar to that of the SBI clerk and the IBPS clerk salary is almost the same as that of the SBI Clerk.
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The IBPS conducts the following exams each year:
- IBPS PO (IBPS Probationary officer)
- IBPS Clerk
- IBPS SO (IBPS Specialist officer – 6 job profiles are available) – IT officer/Marketing officer/ Agricultural officer/ Law officer / Rajbhasa Adhikari/ HR or Personnel officer
- IBPS RRB (IBPS Regional Rural Bank)
The SBI (State bank of India) conducts the following exams each year:
- SBI PO
- SBI SO
- SBI Clerk
Here’s an overview of the most popular bank exams:
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| Name of the Exam | Stages involved in the Selection Process | Starting Salary offered | Tentative No: of Vacancies (based on the previous year notifications) | Tentative Notification Date (based on the previous year schedules) |
| IBPS PO | Prelims, Mains, and final interview | INR 23,700 | 1,400 – 4,500 | Mid August |
| IBPS Clerk | Prelims, Mains, and final interview | INR 11,765 | 1,500 – 10,000 | September |
| IBPS SO | Prelims & Mains | Scale I – INR 36,400 Scale II – INR 48,800 Scale III – 64,600 | 1,000 – 2,000 (across posts and job profiles) | November |
| IBPS RRB | For office assistant – Common Written Exam (CWE) followed by an interview For officer scale I – Prelims exam, mains exam and final interview For officer scale II – mains exam (single examination) and final interview | Office Assistant (Multi-purpose) – Rs 19,000 to Rs 22,000 Scale I officer (PO) – Rs 29,000 to Rs 33,000 Scale II officer – Rs 33,000 to Rs 39,000 Scale III officer – Rs 38,000 to Rs 44,000 | ~ 10,000 (across posts and job profiles) | June |
| SBI PO | Prelims, Mains, and final interview | INR 27,620 | 2,000 – 3,000 | June |
| SBI Clerk | Prelims, Mains, and final interview | INR 11,756 | 8,000 – 10,000 | January |
| SBI SO | Online objective test | INR 23,700 | 100 – 500 | September |
The tentative schedules for the aforementioned exams are as follows:
| Name of the Exam | Official Notification Released | Prelims Exam Date | Mains Exam Date |
| IBPS PO (1417 vacancies) | August – 04.08.2020 | October 2020 – 03.10.2020, 10.10.2020 and 11.10.2020 | November – 28.11.2020 |
| IBPS Clerk (2557 vacancies) | September – 01.09.2020 | December 2020 – 05.12.2020, 12.12.2020 & 13.12.2020 | January 2021 – 24.01.2021 |
| SBI PO | September – October 2020 | TBA | TBA |
| SBI Clerk | January – 02.01.2020 | February & March 2020 – 22.02.2020, 29.02.2020, 01.03.2020 and 08.03.2020 | TBA |
| IBPS SO (1500 vacancies across 6 job profiles) | November 2020 | December 2020 – 26.12.2020 & 27.12.2020 | January 2021 – 30.01.2021 |
| IBPS RRB | July 2020 | For officer scale I & Office Assistants September – 12.09.2020, 13.09.2020, 19.09.2020, 20.09.2020 and 26.09.2020 | Revised schedule For officer scale I – 18.10.2020 For Office Assistants – 31.10.2020 Single Exam for officers scale II and III – 18.10.2020 |
*Please keep in mind that the schedule may be subject to change. A lot of Government exams and associated timelines have been postponed due to the widespread outbreak of COVID 19
Some of the other bank exams that you might want to consider applying for as follows:
- RBI Grade A and B exam
- NABARD
- ICICI PO
- BOB PO
- IDBI recruitment
We hope you found this article informative. Mark your calendars, set your goals and start preparing!
All the best for the exams!
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