The growing demand of banking sector has made it the most preferred destinations for employment.
Banking jobs especially the Bank Probationary Officer (PO) has
emerged as the most sought after career option in recent times. Bank PO
exam is the gateway to the management cadre of the banking industry.
Individual banks conduct entrance exams for bank PO as and when
vacancies arise. After selection the candidate has to complete his/ her
probation period. A candidate can be asked to do anything during his/
her completion period. A bank PO aspirant should hence start preparing
for bank PO exams since his/ her college days to understand the
nitty-gritty of the exam. To simplify your preparation,
1. Syllabus and Exam Pattern: Know the syllabus of
the bank exam for which you are preparing and then look at the previous
year question paper to gain information on the exam pattern of that
particular exam. Usually the written tests for bank PO exam consist of 2
parts mainly objective test and descriptive test. While the written
test consists of four sections namely, English language test,
quantitative ability, Reasoning, and General Awareness/ Marketing
Aptitude; the descriptive test demands the candidate to write essay
length answers on current issues. Candidates selected in written test
are then called for Group Discussion and/ or interview.
2. Preparing for Exam: Candidates preparing for
bank PO exam are expected to have good knowledge of Mathematics up to
Class X. For this purpose, the candidate should focus on preparing from
NCERT books and focus on answering questions through mental calculations
to speed up the process. Reasoning section needs to be extensively
practiced to clear the sectional cut- off. The candidate should also
work upon the English section and strong vocabulary which comes in the
form of comprehension, fill-in-the-blanks, antonyms, synonyms etc.
General Awareness section can easily be prepared by cultivating a habit
of attentively reading a national newspaper daily.
3. Time Management: Clubbed with hard work and
determination, time management is the key to crack the entry - level
test for the Bank PO Exam. Besides being able to strategise time by focusing on the easier subjects first followed by the tough ones; one
should also know the skill to attempt 225 questions in 135 minutes time.
It means a candidate has to spill not more than 36 seconds per
question. For this purpose, a candidate should attempt the easier part
first like General Awareness, Marketing Aptitude first followed by
others. Try attempting 175- 185 questions with 90 percent accuracy to be
a step closer to your goal.
4. Leave Doubtful Questions: Try attempting
those answers first of which you are confident and should not attempt
any questions which are doubtful in your mind. The process of negative
marking in the entrance exams will cut down the percentage of right
answers with the wrong ones. A practical knowledge of this arena can be
gained through solving lots of sample papers.
5. Know Banking Regulations: A bank PO aspirant
is expected to have knowledge of general banking regulations and should
have at least some knowledge of SEBI and its regulations. Candidates
should ensure that they are aware of the key points of banking
regulations.