PO Role of Probationary officer

Probationary Officer is the first entry point for a job in bank, especially to fresh graduates & those without prior experience. The PO will report to their immediate senior officer, who will closely monitor & evaluate the performance of him/her for a certain period.

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While on job, Probationary officers will have to take up assignments given by their managers. Along with training, they will also be deployed across various departments of the bank to gain exposure in operations & working of bank. So, in short, the PO must be willing to take up any work during the probation period in order to understand the process effectively & to scale greater heights and reach higher positions.

Probation Period: Normally, the probation period for PO’s will be for 2 years. The probation period can also considered as the learning phase. Hence it is extremely important to be in good conduct during probation. Banks have the right to terminate the employee during the probation, if he/she does not fit the position.

Structure of Probationary Officer Exams :

WRITTEN EXAMINATION STRUCTURE
S.NO	Name of Tests (Objective)	No. of Questions Maximum	Marks	Duration
1	Reasoning	50	50	Composite Time of 150 minutes
2	English Language	50	25
3	Quantitative Aptitude	50	50
4	General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)	50	50
5	Computer Knowledge	50	50
	Descriptive Paper on English Composition (Essay, Précis, Letter Writing etc)		25	60 Minutes
Total		250	250

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Role of Clerks in Bank

To any public sector banks, clerks are the entry point of contact for enquires and guidance. The role of clerks includes:

Handling withdraw & deposits
Cash handling ( accepting payments, sanction withdrawals, verify cheques, issue demand drafts) Back office work like receipts collection, ledger maintenance, balance tally & other transactions. In addition, clerks may also have to take up marketing of financial products of bank loan, deposits and various schemes.

STRUCTURE OF WRITTEN EXAMINATION
S.NO	Name of Tests (Objective)	No. of Questions Maximum	Marks	Duration
1	Reasoning	50	50	Composite Time of 150 minutes
2	English Language	50	25
3	Quantitative Aptitude	50	50
4	General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)	50	50
5	Computer Knowledge	50	50
Total		250	250

PO / Clerk Syllabus

This article summarizes the general syllabus of Bank PO and Clerk (including IBPS CWE, SBI, and SBI Associates). Most of the Bank exams follow similar syllabus with minor differences.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms, Word Formation, Sentence Completion
Comprehension: Theme detection, Deriving Conclusion, Passage Completion
Error Detection and Rearrangement: Passage Correction, Sentence Correction, Spelling
Grammar: Active Passive Voice, Direct Indirect Speech
General Usage: Idioms and Phrases

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LOGICAL REASONING
Verbal Reasoning: Analogy, Coding Decoding, Blood Relation, Sitting Arrangement, Series Completion, Syllogism, Decision Making, Statement Reasoning

Non-verbal Reasoning: Series Completion, Analogy, Classification
NUMERICAL ABILITY

Arithmetic: Numbers, Simplification, Roots, Average, Surds & Indices, Percentage, Profit & Loss, Ratio & Proportion, Partnership, Chain Rule, Time & Work, Pipes & Cisterns, Time & Distance, Problems on Trains, Boats & Streams, Aliigation, Simple Interest, Compound Interest, Stocks & Shares, Clocks, Logarithms, Mensuration, Volume & Surface Area, Permutation & combination, Probability, Heights & Distances

Data Interpretation: Tabulation, Bar Graphs, Line Graphs, Pie Charts

GENERAL AWARENESS / MARKETING / BANKING AWARENESS
Questions in this component will be aimed at testing the candidate’s general awareness of the environments around him and its application to society. These questions will be such that they do not require a specific study of any discipline.

Knowledge of current events

Everyday observations and experience in the scientific aspect as may be expected of any educated person

India and its neighboring countries

Sports, History, Culture, Geography, Economy, General Polity, Indian Constitution, Scientific Research

Over 70% of the questions will be related to Economy, Banking and Finance

COMPUTER AWARENESS
General Knowledge on Computer usage and application (basic hardware and software)

CLERICAL APTITUDE
The questions in Clerical Aptitude will be set to test the candidate's perceptual accuracy and aptitude. This is the ability to notice similarities and difference between the pairs of names and numbers. Questions in Clerical Aptitude will also assess in addition to perceptual accuracy and aptitude, ability to handle office routine work like filing, abbreviating, indexing, etc.

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
It intends to measure your higher order cognitive abilities as comprehending the situations, etc., and also your language ability. It is a question paper-cum-answer sheet in Hindi and English and the Regional Language and you have to restrict your answers to the space provided on the answer-sheet. Use of supplements is not allowed. You have the option to answer 3 out of 4 questions either in Hindi or in English or in the Regional Language. It includes Essay, Précis, Letter writing.