IBPS SO examination is held every year by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). This exam is held for the selection of Specialist Officers (SO) for different Public Sector Banks. The IBPS holds the Common Written Examination (CWE). The institution hires officers and clerks through the CWE. The application form for the registration of the exam can be filled up through the official website.
The IBPS SO exam is scheduled to be held in the month of December. The preliminary exam is set to be held on the 26 and 27 December 2020. The Mains exam is scheduled to be held on 31 January 2021.
What are the roles for which the IBPS SO Exam is held?
The IBPS SO exam is held for the recruitment process of the following posts:
- Personnel Officer or HR
- IT Officer
- Agricultural Field Officer
- Law Officer
- Marketing Officer
- Rajbhasha Adhikari and so on.
IBPS Exam Calendar 2020-21
The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has already released the exam calendar for 2020-21. Candidates who are willing to register themselves for the examination can do the same by checking the exam calendar through the official website of IBPS at www.ibps.in.
The online registration process for the IBPS SO exam 2020 will start from the month of November 2020.
IBPS SO Vacancies
For the IBPS SO Exam 2020, the expected number of vacant seats is more than 1,500. On the basis of different available posts, the number of vacancies can be summed up as follows:
| Name of Post | No. of Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Agriculture Field Officer (Scale-I) | 700+ |
| Marketing Officer (Scale-I) | 400+ |
| IT Officer (Scale-I) | 150+ |
| Law Officer (Scale-I) | 100+ |
| HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I) | 70+ |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I) | 55+ |
| Total | 1500+ |
IBPS SO 2020 Exam Dates
The exam dates and other important dates in relation to the IBPS SO 2020 exam can be listed as follows:
| Activity | Tentative Dates |
|---|---|
| IBPS SO Notification 2020 | November 2020 |
| IBPS SO Online Registration Starts From | November 2020 |
| Last Date to Apply Online for IBPS SO | November 2020 |
| Download of call letters for Online examination – Preliminary | December 2020 |
| Commencement of IBPS SO Preliminary Exam | 26 & 27 December 2020 |
| Result of IBPS SO Online exam – Preliminary | January 2020 |
| Download of call letters for Online examination – Mains | January 2021 |
| Commencement of IBPS SO Mains Exam | 30 January 2021 |
| Conduct of Interview | February 2021 |
| IBPS SO 2020 Final Result | April 2021 |
IBPS SO Exam Selection Procedure
The selection procedure for IBPS SO exam comprises of 4 different stages. These stages are being listed below:
- Online Preliminary Exam: The preliminary examination is held through online medium. Candidates who qualify for the prelims are allowed to go ahead and take the mains exam in the next stage.
- Online Mains Examination: This is the second stage of the exam. Candidates who qualify for the prelims are allowed to appear for this section of the exam process. If a candidate qualifies for the mains exam, he or she will go ahead in the next stage of the exam, that is the interview round.
- Interview Round: The interview round is held after the declaration of the results of the mains exam. Candidates who qualify the mains exam will have to go this final round of the examination. Candidates are selected after the declaration of the final results following the interview round.
- Provisional Allotment: The provisional allotment list of the selected candidates is released on the official website of IBPS. The allotment is done on the basis of the preference which has been opted by the candidates at the time of registration. The process of informing the joining dates and other related procedure is communicated to the candidates by the respective banks where they are selected.
Salary of an IBPS SO
The salary of an IBPS SO on the basis of the latest revisions is pinned at Rs.21,990 as on 1 January 2016. A new joinee will be eligible for a basic pay of Rs.21,990 and an in-hand salary of Rs.19,590.
IBPS SO Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility criteria for IBPS SO exam can be summed up as follows:
- Educational Qualification on the basis of the concerned posts:
- Nationality of the candidate:
- A citizen of India.
- A subject of Nepal or Bhutan.
- Tibetan refugee who has moved to India before 1 January 1962 with the intention of permanently residing in India.
- Person of Indian Origin (PIO) who has migrated from Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam or East African countries of Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, or Malawi, with the intention of permanently residing in India.
- Age of the applicant:
| Name of Post | Educational Qualification |
|---|---|
| I.T. Officer (Scale I) | 1)Four years of engineering/Technology degree in Computer Science/IT/Computer Application/Electronics and Communication Engineering/Electronics and Telecommunication/ Electronics and Instrumentation OR 2) Post Graduate Degree in Computer Science/IT/Computer Application/Electronics and Communication Engineering/Electronics and Telecommunication/ Electronics and Instrumentation OR Graduates having passed DOEACC ‘B’ level exam |
| Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I) | 4 years graduation degree in agriculture/ Horticulture/ Animal Husbandry/ Veterinary Science/ dairy Science/ Agricultural engineering/ Fishery Science/ Pisciculture/ Agri Marketing and cooperation/ Co-Operation and Banking/ Agro-Forestry |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I) | Post Graduate in Hindi with English as a subject at the graduation or degree level OR Post-Graduate Degree in Sanskrit with English and Hindi as a subject at graduation level |
| Law Officer (Scale I) | A bachelor’s degree in Law and enrolled as an advocate with Bar Council |
| HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I) | Graduate and Full Time Post Graduate Degree or Full-time Diploma in Personnel Management/ Industrial Relation/ HR/ HRD/ Social Work/ Labour Law |
| Marketing Officer (Scale I) | Graduate and Full-Time MMS (Marketing)/ MBA (Marketing)/Full time PGDBA/ PGDBM with specialization in Marketing |
*Candidates are required to have valid mark-sheets supporting their educational qualification.
Candidates who want to appear for the IBPS SO exams will be required to meet the following conditions:
*The migrated candidates will be required to provide the certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India (GOI) as a proof of their migration.
The age of the applicant should not be more than 30 years and should not be less than 20 years as on 1 November 2020.
On the basis of this, the candidate should have been born not before 2 November 1989 and not after 1 November 1999. There are certain age relaxations as well which apply to different categories of candidates:
| Category | Age Relaxation |
|---|---|
| Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) | 5 years |
| Other Backward Classes (OBC Non-Creamy Layer) | 3 years |
| Persons with Disabilities (PWD) | 10 years |
| Ex-Servicemen (Army personnel) | 5 years |
| Persons with Domicile of Jammu &Kashmir during the period of 1-1-1980 to 31-12-1989 | 5 years |
| Persons affected by 1984 riots | 5 years |
IBPS SO Exam Pattern
The exam pattern for IBPS SO can be summed up as follows:
- IBPS SO Preliminary Exam Pattern:
- IBPS SO Mains Exam Pattern
The IBPS SO prelims exam is a 2-hour long exam which is conducted online. It comprises of 3 sections with a total of 150 questions and a total of 125 marks. 0.25 mark is deducted for every wrong answer.
For the Post of Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari Scale-I officer
| Section | No. of Questions | Total Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 min |
| English Language | 50 | 25 | 40 min |
| General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry | 50 | 50 | 40 min |
| Total | 150 | 125 | 120 min |
For the Post of Agriculture Field Officer, Marketing Officer (Scale I), HR/Personnel Officer, IT Officer Scale I
| Section | No. of Questions | Total Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 min |
| English Language | 50 | 25 | 40 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 40 min |
| Total | 150 | 125 | 120 min |
The exam pattern for the IBPS SO Mains exam can be summed up as follows:
For the Post of Law Officer, IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer
| Name of Test | Number of Questions | Maximum Marks | Medium of Exam | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Knowledge | 60 | 60 | English & Hindi | 45 min |
For the Post of Rajbhasha Adhikari
| Name of Test | Number of Questions | Maximum Marks | Medium of Exam | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Knowledge (Objective) | 45 | 60 | English & Hindi | 30 min |
| Professional Knowledge (Descriptive) | 2 | 60 | English & Hindi | 30 min |
IBPS SO Exam Syllabus
The detailed syllabus of the IBPS SO examination for the different posts can be listed as follows:
IBPS SO Exam Syllabus
The detailed syllabus of the IBPS SO examination for the different posts can be listed as follows:
| Marketing Officer (Scale-I) | Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I) | Law Officer (Scale-I) | HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I) | IT Officer (Scale-I) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basics of Marketing Management | Basics of Crop production | Banking Regulations | Human Resource Development | Operating System |
| Brand Management | Horticulture | Compliance and Legal Aspects | Business policy and strategic analysis | DBMS |
| Advertising | Seed Science | Relevant Law and Orders related to negotiable instruments, securities, foreign exchange | Transnational Analysis | Data communication and networking |
| PR | Agronomy and Irrigation | Prevention of Money-laundering, Limitation Act | Training and Development | Software engineering |
| Sales | Agricultural Economics | Consumer Protection Act | Recruitment and Selection | Computer Organization and Microprocessor |
| Retail | Agricultural Practices | Surfaces | Rewards and Recognition | Data Structure |
| Business Ethics | Soil resources | Banking Ombudsman Scheme | Industrial Relations | Object-Oriented Programming |
| Market Segmentation | Animal Husbandry | Laws and Actions with a direct link to Banking Sector | Business Policy and Strategic Analysis | |
| Market research and forecasting demand | Agroforestry | Bankers Book Evidence Act | Grievance and Conflict Management | |
| Product Life Cycle | Ecology | DRT Act | Performance Management and appraisal | |
| Corporate Social Responsibility | ||||
| Service Marketing |
IBPS SO Exam Application Fee
The fee structure for the registration for IBPS SO exam can be summed up as follows:
- For candidates belonging to SC, ST, and PWD category – Rs.100 (i.e. intimation charges only)
- For candidates belonging to General category and other categories – Rs.600 (application fee including intimation charges)
