This examination is held by Central Recruitment Board (State Bank Group) (Madhuli, 2nd Floor, H/2 Shiv Nagar Estate, Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai-400018) for recruitment of Probationary Officers in State Bank of India and its associates banks : State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Suarastra, State Bank of Travancore. The coveted job of a Bank Officer is for those who qualify in the Bank Probationary Officers Examination conducted by the respective Banks.

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.

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

The Objective Test consisting of the following sections is set in English and Hindi:

• 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/Probation/Training

The candidate selected will be subject to such rules and condition as existing at the bank at the time of appointment.


How to Prepare

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.