IBPS PO
BankingConducting Body
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Eligibility
Bachelor's degree from recognised university; age 20-30 years; Indian citizenship
Exam Pattern
IBPS PO is the main recruitment exam for Probationary Officer positions in public sector banks like PNB, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, and Union Bank of India. Over 15 to 20 lakh candidates apply each cycle for a few thousand vacancies, making it intensely competitive. The exam is conducted in three phases. Prelims has 100 questions on English, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning, to be completed in just 1 hour with sectional cutoffs. Mains is more demanding with 155 questions plus a descriptive English paper across 3 hours, covering Reasoning, English, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness, and Computer Aptitude. The final stage is a personal interview. Preparation revolves around practising puzzles and seating arrangements for Reasoning, data interpretation for Quant, and reading comprehension for English. Banking awareness and current affairs for the Mains GK section require consistent daily reading. RS Aggarwal, Oliveboard mock tests, and Adda247 are popular among aspirants. Clearing IBPS PO gets you a starting salary of around 50,000 to 55,000 per month, along with benefits like housing allowance, pension, and job security.
Syllabus
Reasoning (Puzzles, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Coding-Decoding), Quantitative Aptitude (Data Interpretation, Number Series, Arithmetic), English (Cloze Test, Reading Comprehension, Error Detection), General Awareness (Banking Awareness, Current Affairs), Computer Aptitude