If you are aspiring to be an officer in any one of 19 public sector banks, you will now have to take the first of its kind Common Written Examination (CWE) on September 18.

The Institute of Banking Personal Selection (IBPS) has notified the CWE on behalf of the participating banks on Wednesday.

Except State Bank of India (SBI), almost all other major banks have come together for conducting the exam.

SBI has its own set up for recruitment which is also being handled by IBPS.

A score in the IBPS exam is now mandatory for selection of probationary officers/management trainees, says the IBPS notification hosted on its portal.

When contacted, Mr M. Balachandran, Head of IBPS, told Business Line that the score of a candidate would be valid for one year from the date of examination to be considered for appointment.

The examination would be conducted once in six months to cater to the needs of job-aspirants.

It would consist of five papers (in reasoning, quantitative aptitude, and so on) for 250 marks, besides a descriptive test in English.

“We are expecting that over 10 lakh people will appear for the first exam in September,'' the IBPS Chief said.

From a candidate's perspective, CWE would be beneficial as they can apply for jobs in any participating bank without taking individual exams.

“Upon notification from a particular bank, one can directly apply and face interview/personality test directly,” Mr Balachandran said.

An IBPS study had shown that on an average a bank job-aspirant takes four to five tests in a year which can now be avoided.

The notification of vacancies by individual banks would be done separately by them and they could be benefited by the availability of a ready-pool of qualified, tested candidates to hire.

`”he recruitment time for a bank can now come down from 6-8 months to 2-3 months due to the new system,'' he added.

Those who wish to take CWE should register online before August 1.

IBPS would also start a similar process for clerical posts as well.

Related Topics