Career Talk

I’m keen on banking

I have appeared for my B.A. final year examination and my major subject was economics. I am keen on banking as a career, but I am baffled as to how to go about it. I shall pursue my master’s in economics shortly but what after that? Which is a better option — private sector banking or government banks for a good career?
Gloria D’Lima / Ahmedabad

Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university is the minimum eligibility. Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India and all Nationalized Commercial Banks conduct separate all India examinations and interviews for the selection of bank officials. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) (www.ibps.in) conducts Common Written Examination for the recruitment of Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee vacancies in Public Sector Banks.

These examinations are highly competitive and require intense preparation in order to get through. The questions are aimed at assessing candidates on areas like reasoning, English, numerical ability, general awareness and computer knowledge.

Most foreign and private banks prefer to take MBAs, MFCs, Chartered Financial Analysts and CAs with some experience. Often they recruit directly from reputed management institutes like Indian Institutes of Management through campus selections. Today, banking has become a business and banks are looking for more aggressive sales and marketing-oriented people, particularly people with well-developed customer service skills and good computer skills.