What to expect in a bank interview?

The word ‘interview’ often fills an aspirant with undue apprehensions to an extent that one might literally feel butterflies crawling in one’s stomach. It being an important and the last stage, some perturbation can in fact be justified. However, we have to learn to rise above it and ensure that we put our best foot forward on the D day. Let us unravel the mysteries of this round of examination by shredding down the fear of the unknown.

As a previous Bank of Baroda and SBI probationary officer (P.O. - 2013), let me tell you what to expect in a banking interview.

Table of Contents

• Major aspects of a banking interview
• Technical Questions in Bank Interviews
• HR interview in Bank

Major aspects of a banking interview

The most important challenge in marketing is to decode the needs and likes of the targeted customer. Similarly, in any war the most important aspect on which a general builds up his strategy is the opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Same holds true for any interview.

If one may acquire a fair idea of the interview conditions, e.g. the expectations of the interviewers, probable questions etc, then one may indeed even impact the direction in which the interview moves. Knowing the needs and expectations of your target audience is half the battle won. So, let us try to peek into the interviewer’s mindset.

Interviews conducted by IBPS, SBI or by any other organization for that matter, try to judge two major aspects of an interviewee:

• Technical soundness, knowledge etc. (known as technical interview in common parlance).

• Personality traits, attitude etc. (known as HR interview in layman’s terms).

Technical Questions in Bank Interviews

In banking interviews, one may be quizzed with respect to his knowledge regarding the financial sector in general, and banking sector in particular.

Though the candidates with an economic educational background are grilled much more on economic issues than non-banking background candidates, and rightly so. However, fundamental economic concepts and general financial awareness is checked for all and sundry, e.g. what is NPA (Non-performing assets), questions on inflation, liquidity, and other macro-economic questions.

Non-economic background students may be grilled on the subjects/stream of their graduation. But then it depends if there is somebody in the interview panel having the same background.

Questions based on current affairs, GK etc. may be posed to anyone.

As mentioned earlier, in this article, our focus will be on getting a macro view of the expectations of the interviewer, that a banking aspirant must quench in order to get past the last hurdle with flying colours. So, let us push a bit further on our endeavour of deciphering the mind of the interviewer.

HR interview in Bank (Compatibility check)

It’s not necessary that a separate HR interview will be held. Rather most of the times the same panel that will ask you technical questions, will also try to probe your suitability and compatibility with Indian banking sector. The major things that you will be checked on, have been mentioned below.

Why do you want to join Banking sector?

The non-economic background students are more likely to face a volley of questions on their decision to join the banking sector. They should be ready with their own custom-made reasoning behind their decision to make a switch to the financial sector.

My Experience

I had engineering background (Information Technology), but I was not asked any technical question from IT in either IBPS interview or SBI interview. But they did ask me why I want to join a bank when I had already worked in Software company.

I told them that I always had an interest in finance and I even joined IIT-Mumbai MBA course for that purpose, but later dropped out as I wanted to appear in UPSC.

Keep in mind that this part of the interview will play the most important role in making or breaking your selection chances. Avoid copying some readymade answers as the examiners are not that naïve that they won’t be able to see through your intentions.

Try to convince someone from the family, a friend, give mock interviews etc. If you can convince them, then there are pretty bright chances that you will be able to do the same on the D-day.

However, the best parameter is one’s ability to convince oneself. If you are really interested in joining the banking sector, then this aspect of the interview won’t pose a challenge to you.

How long will you stay in bank job? (Attrition rate)

Banking sector in India is facing the problem of pretty high attrition rate. Hence, one of the most important things that an interviewer is interested in is judging your compatibility with the demands of the job.

Remember that banking job is no rocket science. Most of the candidates may be able to perform under proper guidance and after a bit of hands-on practice. The problem area often is the attitude of the new recruitees. Few candidates unable to synchronize themselves as per the demands of the job quit it within a year or so. It leads to the banks incurring huge losses in terms of the time, money and effort invested on training those resources.

My Experience

In my batch of Bank of Baroda (2013), around 50% of the POs left the job in the very first year (including me). I left because I got selected as SBI PO and LIC AAO.

The interviewers on the panel are themselves related to the banking sector in some form or the other. Few may have been bank managers and instructors in training institutes etc. So, they have a first-hand idea of the gravity of the situation. They are definitely looking for a candidate that is coming into the banking sector for a long haul.

Can you handle the job stress?

The third parameter on which they will like to judge you is whether you will be able to handle the demands and challenges of the job, both content wise and context wise. They will like to check whether you know something about the bank job conditions, especially the following aspects.

• Work Stress
• Financial Risk factor
• Frequent and Remote Transfers
• Shabby Infrastructure

Let’s have a look at the above factors in more detail. An examiner will like to know how much you know about the challenges of Indian banking job and whether you are ready for them.

1. Extra work at Year-end and the responsibility of End of the day (EOD)

Banking job may be a bit stressful sometimes, especially during the end of the financial year. I have seen people working even during New year eve and Holi holidays.

Even on a daily basis one may have to stay for long durations in the confinement of the bank dealing with all sorts of customers. In busy branches one may have to stay even till 8 PM or so, as the PO may not leave until the end of the day (EOD) formalities are not completed.

2. Accountability / Risk factor

Then there is the accountability aspect. Lots of financial transaction is done in a bank per day. All of that is verified by a PO. There is minimal scope of error being committed on his part.

3. Transfers

Banking job is not a bed of roses and one often does not get what he/she expects/demands. Transfers may be frequent, especially during the training period.

Not only are they on an all-India basis but one may also be posted in rural and semi-urban branches. For example, I was posted at a rural branch near Allahabad for one month during my training. I had to travel 30 kms to reach there and change buses/autos 4 times.

Though a few banks may be a bit lenient towards the girls in this aspect, however, even they are bound to serve in such remote branches in some part of their career. One of my female batchmate was posted at a rural branch near Lucknow (she was from Lucknow), but she got so frustrated within a year that she left the job. It was not that the job was tough or the atmosphere was unpleasant, but it was because she was not used to the rural settings.

It’s seen that one’s choice of posting is easier to fetch in smaller banks, than bigger banks like SBI and Bank of Baroda etc. Similarly, candidates having a bias towards urban postings may choose IDBI bank as most of its branches are in urban centres only.

So, an examiner will like to have a fair idea of your comfort level regarding the postings.

4. Infrastructure

You may also be probed regarding your views on the infrastructure of the office. Though many bigger banks like SBI are modernizing their offices, many smaller banks still have to bear the shabby conditions in their offices.

This question is more likely to be posed to the candidates who have already worked elsewhere, e.g. in private companies (like in the Information technology sector).

A serious aspirant who is really interested in making out a career for himself in the banking sector will not be put-off by these questions. He will look forward to the challenges posed by the job content, as they will provide opportunities for him to learn and showcase his skills and talent. Similarly, he will not be deterred by the context factors of the job. They are anyways temporary. Indian banks are bound to modernize in times to come if they have to attract good talent and remain competitive in the market.

Winding Up

Hence, as we have seen above, there may be multiple questions posed to you during your interview to check your suitability for the banking job. However not all dimensions carry the same significance. It you flounder on a couple of current affairs or GK questions it won’t make you flunk the entire interview stage. However, there are a few deal-makers/breakers that you must negotiate properly:

• Your own customized reason of joining the banking sector, i.e. why Bank PO or clerk?
• If you are already working in some other bank at the same position then you must be prepared with a convincing reason for the switch.
• Basic knowledge of the fundamentals of financial and banking sectors. It will show that you are indeed interested in the job.
• Your compatibility with the job. They may pose numerous questions to judge you on this parameter. In fact, one must be prepared for a rigorous grinding. The questions may be direct, e.g. are you aware of the challenges of the job? Or they may be posed masquerading in a different form altogether, e.g. where do you see yourself in 5 – 10 years?

A little fine tuning in our preparation strategy may ensure that interview phase proves not only to be the last but also the least potent of the hurdles we face, in realizing our dreams of working in the banking sector.

Enter the interview room with the right mindset and know the expectations of the interviewers, and half of the job is already done!