IBPS SO

IBPS stands for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is a recruitment body that was started with an aim to encourage the recruitment and placement of young graduates in public sector banks of India, other than State Bank of India. It provides standardized systems for assessment and result processing services to organizations. IBPS SO Exam is conducted all over India to recruit Specialist Officer for the post of HR/ Management Officer, IT Officer, Law Officer, etc.

IBPS currently functions as an autonomous body that is mainly engaged in conducting competitive exams for recruitment to clerical and officers’ posts in the banking sector. IBPS conducts over 450 examinations each year via multiple sessions. More than 1crore candidates apply for these examinations.

Every year Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) holds the IBPS SO cadre in multiple Public Sector banks. IBPS started Common Written Examination (CWE) in the year 2011 to recruit SO, officers and clerks in Public Sector Banks. It accepts online application through its official website for registration of the examination.

This examination is for Specialist Officer. Scale 1 SO provide grade management service at the junior level in areas like HR, IT, Marketing, Law etc. Scale 2 SO need specialization like an MBA, PG, PGDBM, CFA etc. Further, work experience is needed too.

Job Profile & Vacancies for IBPS – SO

There are a various departments of IBPS – SO according to which duties and responsibilities of an officer may vary. These departments can be listed as:

1. Agriculture Officer
2. Marketing Officer
3. IT Officer
4. Law Officer
5. HR/ Personnel Officer
6. Rajbhasha Adhikari

There are number of responsibilities for bank specialist officers. An introduction of their responsibilities according to their department is as follows.

1. IT Officer: The IT officer operates in the Information Technology department of the bank. They are mainly assigned the tasks related to banks’ software. IT Officers are responsible for functioning and maintenance of such software. They also develop software which is the prior need for any bank.
2. Agricultural Officer: AO is given the duty to promote loans in rural areas. They serve information about schemes in general and agricultural fields of the government and other financial institutions.
3. Rajbhasha Adhikari: They are responsible for promoting Hindi language in bank operations. They translate documents in Hindi and organize training programs for bank officials to strengthen them in the official language of the country. Being a PG, they are well versed in this language.
4. Law Officer: They represent the bank in legal and judicial matters. They also provide legal advice to the board of banks regarding functioning of the bank and other personnel laws. Conclusively, law officers act as bank representatives.
5. Personnel Officer: They are responsible to handle the human resource department and undertake important functions such as performance management and development. They coordinate the functioning of the bank as a team leader by taking care of bank personnel.
6. Marketing Officer: They are responsible for marketing and branding of the bank activities and services. They aim at increasing the brand value of the bank and ways to make the bank reach the masses.

IBPS has declared approx 1599 vacancies for SOs’ this year. A breakdown of these vacancies department – wise is presented below.

Eligibility Criteria for IBPS – SO Exam

There are a set of expected eligibility criteria that you should qualify to apply for IBPS – SO Exam Recruitment. This eligibility criteria is same for all departments.

1. Age Limit

• Minimum Age Limit : 20 years
• Maximum Age Limit : 30 years

Age Relaxation

• SC/ ST: 5 years
• OBC: 3 years
• Physically Disabled: 10 years
• Physically Disabled + OBC: 13 years
• Physically Disabled + SC/ ST: 15 years

B) Educational Qualification

• Educational Qualification: Candidates must be a Graduate/ Post – Graduate (Post Graduation is must for Rajbhasha Adhikari) in their corresponding disciplines from a recognized University.
• Computer Literacy: Candidates must be proficient with using computers and have a Certificate / Diploma / Degree in Computer Operations / Language or have studied Computer as one of the subjects in High School or College.
• Language Requirement: Candidates must be able to read, write and speak in the official language of the State / Union Territory they apply for.

IBPS SO Syllabus & Exam Pattern

IBPS SO Exam is conducted in 3 phases: Paper – 1, Paper – 2 and Interview. This exam is bilingual and can be conducted in both English & Hindi languages.

Paper – 1 is an Objective Based Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) type Online Exam. Paper – 1 has 3 sections, containing 125 questions of 150 marks to be completed in time duration of 120 minutes.

Paper – 2 is also an Objective as well as Descriptive Based Online Exam.

For Rajbhasha Adhikari, Paper – 2 has only 2 sections, which contains 47 questions of 60 marks and time – duration for this exam is 60 minutes. The 1^st section is Objective Based and 2^nd is Descriptive.

For Other SO department, , Paper – 2 has only 1 section, which contains 60 questions of 60 marks and time – duration for this exam is 45 minutes. For this post questions are only Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) type.

Final phase for selection in IBPS SO post is Interview.

IBPS SO Paper – 1/ Prelims

Paper – 1 is an Objective Based Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) type Online Exam. Paper – 1 is divided into 3 sections, General Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English Language. General Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude contain 50 questions each and are of 50 marks and English Language contains 25 questions for 50 marks. Each section has a time – duration of 40 minutes.

IBPS SO Paper – 2/ Mains

Paper – 2 is also an Objective as well as Descriptive Based Online Exam.

For Rajbhasha Adhikari, Paper – 2 has only 2 sections, which contains 47 questions of 60 marks and time – duration for this exam is 60 minutes. The 1^st section of Paper – 2 for this post is Objective Based and has 45 questions while 2^nd is Descriptive and has 2 questions. Each section has 30 minutes.

For Other SO department, , Paper – 2 has only 1 section, which contains 60 questions of 60 marks and time – duration for this exam is 45 minutes. For this post, questions are only Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) type.

IBPS SO Final Phase/ Interview

After qualifying both the phases of IBPS – SO, candidates have to go through a face – to – face Interview. This is the final phase of this exam.

IBPS SO Exam Date

 IBPS hasn’t announced the exam dates yet for the post of Specialist Officer. The tentative schedule will be announced soon.