Interview Tips | Banks India 2013

Here are few other commonly asked questions in interview. All the candidates who has cleared IBPS CWE PO-II must be preparing hard for the interview. Also, Now IBPS CWE-II for Clerk Results has been announced and the candidates who cleared the exam have their interviews starting in the month of March 2013.

So, to help the aspirants prepare well for the interviews, we tried to answer some other few most commonly asked interview question which can help a candidate to create his impression on the interviewer. Note that this is just to help the candidates, don’t recite them.

1) What do you know about Banking?

bank is a financial intermediary that accepts deposits and channels those deposits into lending activities. Banks are a fundamental component of the financial system, and are also active players in financial markets. The essential role of a bank is to connect those who have capital (such as investors or depositors), with those who seek capital (such as individuals wanting a loan, or businesses wanting to grow).

2)  Being a B.Tech Graduate Why Bank Jobs?

interview questions

Nowadays, Banks are not restricted to just finance work. Tell them that you are not changing your stream but you are widening your area of expertise.  Good jobs are not easy to find and bank  job is a good one. Secondly all banking is applied ‘arithmetic’ and speculative number game and a B.Tech is thorough in both. Also,  mention about the uncertain future of software companies compared to the high growth witnessed in banking industry. You should manipulate your answer to prove that your engineering degree would be beneficial for you in interacting with people and creating more business relationships for them.

3) How to answer the Puzzles type Questions!

Although these are not so common, but may be asked to anyone in an Interview. Here the interviewer doesn’t really want to hear exact answer from you rather they want to see if you are able to analyze the correct problem or are you just trying to hurry up without taking the time to analyze and putting some effort. They just want to see your practical approach that will be useful during you job period.

So If asked any puzzle type question, you should not Hurry up in telling the answer even if you know it. Even if you do not know the answer (and even can not find the answer), do not hurry up in saying NO. Rather you should draw the picture of problem on a paper(even if you know the answer) and take some time to analyze it (ask them if you do not understand it correctly). It will make them feel that you believe in analyzing the client requirement before reaching to any conclusion, which is a must.

common interview questions

So you should answer these questions by taking time, drawing it and asking them for clarifications. This will surely fill the interviewer’s purpose.

4) Explain Role of PO & Clerk in a Bank:.

Role of PO:

A Probationary Officer (PO) in the bank is the starting level appointment for bank officers. The PO’s have a one or two years probation period during which they are given exposure to various important functions of the bank such as Loans & Advances, Foreign exchange, Credit Rating, Treasury, Risk Management, IT, Marketing etc. They have to report to their immediate senior officer,who is responsible for the closely monitor & evaluate the performance of him/her for a certain period of time.

  • Actually a Bank PO can be asked to do anything related to banking till the completion of its probation period. During training or probation period they are trained for accounting, marketing, finance, investment as well as billing.
  • After the Completion of Probation period, the Bank PO becomes Assistant Bank Manager and may be posted in any branch across the country to handle daily customer transaction like passing a cheque, cash management, draft issuance etc

For More details, Go through the post “Role of PO in banks

Role of Clerk:

In any public sector banks clerks are the first person to contact for any queries & guidance.
The person inside the withdrawal & deposit counters are mostly of clerical grade. This is the why some banks mention clerk as single window operators (SWO)

As a Bank Clerk, you could be separated into one of the following:

  • Interest Clerk: recording interest owed to saving accounts customers and interest owed to the bank from loans and other investments.
  • Loan Clerk: recording and organizing loan information.
  •  Statement Clerk: preparing the monthly balance sheets and checking account of customers as and when needed.
  • Exchange Clerks: working on international accounts, translating foreign currency into home currency and vice versa.
  •  Security Clerk: recording, filing and looking after stocks, bonds and other investment documents.
  • Bookkeeping Clerk: taking care of records for each customer’s account.

They are also responsible for accepting payments, sanction withdrawals, verify cheques, issue demand drafts & other banking related services to customers.

5) Your Salary Expectations?

Salary negotiation is a tough and delicate matter. Preferably speaking, you should avoid going into this topic until the later stage of the recruitment when you are being offered the job. If you request a salary higher than the range for the job, the interviewer will tell you you’re high, and you’ve just lost money. If you request a salary lower than the range, the interviewer will say nothing, and you’ve just lost money.

Hence, research on the salary range in your field to have a rough estimate of how much you should be earning. Give a large range rather than a specific amount if you have to answer it. An alternative is to pose the question back at the interviewer by asking what kind of salary does the position warrants. At other times, interviewers might just be testing you to see if money is the only thing that matters. So, do emphasize that your priority lies with the nature of the job and not the salary.

Interview question

6) Do you have any questions for us?

This is normally the last question posed to you, so it’s your chance to finish the interview elegantly. Don’t reply that you have got nothing to ask. Doing otherwise might leave the impression to the interviewer that you are not exactly keen to get the job. The contrary side to all of this is that this question is actually a huge opportunity for you.  If you ask the *right* questions, you can not only get as much information as possible to find out if the position is a good fit for you personally, but you can show the interviewers that you are a critical thinker and a problem solver.

Also, Go through another post relating to the same purpose- “Top 5 Interview Questions-Answered

Let us know that you found this article useful through comments below.

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As IBPS has already been announced CWE results for PO-II & results for CWE for Clerks-II will be announced shortly. Candidates must be concerned about the preparation of Interviews. Interview is the final step which completes the recruitment process and leads to appointment in the bank.

To help the aspirants prepare well for the interviews, we tried to answer some of the most commonly asked interview question which can help a candidate to create his impression on the interviewer. Note that this is just to help the candidates, don’t recite them.

1) Tell me something about Yourself?

Well to be very frank there is no predetermined answer for this question. But in simple, you are expected to tell something new and which is not there in the resume already. YOU should be the BEST person to talk about yourself. Since there is no right or wrong answer for this question hence it is important to appear confident.

The answer to this question should do 3 things:

  • Showcase your communication skills- One should take the opportunity to show his/her communication skills by speaking clearly and concisely in an organized manner. This question is more like an ice breaker letting you speak for a minute or so, displays that.
  • Showcase your individual talents and uniqueness- This is the time for the interviewer to scan through  your resume. Most of you write reading and listening as hobbies. It’s so common in all resume. Say something that grabs attention.
  • Let you control the interview- Most interviewers get bored with all the same questions and answers. They are more than happy to take a new road if provided.

Note that you should not exceed this answer beyond 3 minutes. Avoid details.

why should we hire you

2) Which is your favorite subject?

This is the area from which questions are invariably asked to all students. In terms of preparation this is the easiest – all you need to do is study. Prepare a couple of subjects from your final year and brush up the fundamentals of the key subjects. You should also revise your summer internship report, term papers or any project that you may have done as part of your academic program.  Also, Be sure to relate your favorite subject with the profession/industry you are interviewing for. For your least favorite subject try to choose something that has no bearing on the job you are interviewing for. If you are already working somewhere then you should  have good knowledge of your work as well as Knowledge of your company, competitors and industry.

Sample Answer: “As a commerce graduate I really enjoyed accounting classes . My least favorite subject was Italian. I really had to work hard to carry an A-minus grade.”

3)  What are you long term goals or where you see yourself after 5 years or so?

This is a very common question. They are trying to see how focused you are. It is a question where virtually any answer can get you into trouble, since you don’t know your interviewer. If you aim too high, you might come off as too ambitious and either won’t be around long enough to cover the cost of training or you’ll threaten their own position. If you aim too low, you lack initiative and won’t contribute enough to cover the cost of your salary.

Reassure your interviewer that you’re looking to make a long-term commitment that this position entails exactly what you’re looking to do and what you do extremely well. As for your future, you believe that if you perform each job at hand with excellence, future opportunities will take care of themselves.

Sample answer: I don’t have a specific plan! I would like to advance. However, I am flexible. I will do my current job to the best of my ability and keep my eyes open for opportunities within the organization to advance even if it means changing roles. I am prepared to learn new things and contribute to the overall success of the organization in a number of ways. The only specific within that “plan of willingness” is that the opportunity be within my ability to learn, interesting enough for me to dig in and do a good job, and the compensation increase a reasonable amount in relation to the demands of the position.

five-years-from-now

4) Why should we hire you?

The interviewer asks this question just to find out how your skills, experience and knowledge can add value to the job. Well to answer this question you need to learn what they are looking for and then tie them with your strengths. This ensures that you are a viable fit for the position. Present yourself, your abilities, skills and interests; above all, you should underline that your abilities match the company’s requirements.

Also, it will not be enough to just maintain you have particular skills but also have to prove / furnish evidence, which means you should think beforehand about which of the abilities and skills you have already applied in practice. Also keep in mind, Do not mention any other candidates to make a comparison.

The Interviewers are very Experienced and they will realize if you are saying truth or just trying to Outsmart them. Avoid using phrases like “This is the Best Company” or “I want to work in this field“. Instead, try to mention good things about you that are related to that job and this will surely prove your usefulness.

Remember that at the end of the day you have to make the interviewer feel that you are the right person for this job.

5) What are your Strengths and Weaknesses?

This is again a very commonly asked question. The Interviewer here wants to analyze how much you know of yourself.

Strength & weakness

Strengths:- You should mention your strengths that are beneficial for them. For example, It should not be like “I am a very good cricket Player“, Rather you should focus on strengths that are related to that job. For example, “I have good communication skills” Or “I Like Interacting with people” Or “I am good at a analyzing Problems and working in a team to find out appropriate solutions”.

Weaknesses :- You should not say that you do not have any Weakness. It shows that either you are Overconfident or have not assessed yourself and don’t want to talk about it. Similarly, do not say phrases like “I am short tempered” Or “I get angry very soon and can do anything in anger“. Rather you should genuinely mention the areas that are related to your professional life and you are trying to get better at them.

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As we all know, IBPS released the TWS scores of all the candidates who appeared for IBPS PO 2012 CWE Exam held on 17th June 2012. Now, its time for Common InterviewsIBPS will hold the common interview on the behalf of 19 public sector banks banks and State Bank of India and its associates will not be part of this. This time all the candidates who have cleared IBPS PO-2 i.e, 61,339 candidates will be called for the interview. Interview will be the deciding factor if you have to crack the recruitment process successfully. While your knowledge was judged in the written exam, the employer will judge your communication, attitude, and problem solving skills in interview.

Advantages of Common Interview:

A single system of interview will optimise time and economise on costs and save energy of all. Further, this unique system would bring in more efficiency in conducting exams & declaration of results on a faster scale and also eliminate repeat/multiple selections.

Disadvantage of Common Interview:

Failure to score passing marks in common interviews will lead to disqualification from the entire process making the candidate to wait till next year if he/she wishes to apply for bank jobs again.

IBPS PO Interview Process

  • There will be sometime Group Discussion round before the interview, so be prepared for that as well. Here are some expected GD Topics. Apart from this be aware about all Current events/topics happening around within the country.
  • There will be some general questions from the subject or the studies which you took up and other formal questions which you covered in the test preparation. Here are some Sample Questions.
  • Candidates successful in both CWE-PO II and Common interview will be listed in the order of merit.
  • The successful candidates will be asked about the order of preference of banks in which they want to apply for through a registration process which will be available on the IBPS website.
  • Depending on the vacancies in each bank of his/her preference, a successful candidate will receive through a computerized system an offer from ONE of the participating Public sector banks.
  • Vacancies remaining unfilled on account of candidates declining offer, will be filled from among the remaining candidates through the same procedure as mentioned above.

Current Affairs Section:

Go through following current affairs posts which our team prepares at the end of every month. Also, we advise you to have a knowledge about the following events in detail.

Click to read Current Affairs for the month of:

Tip: Read English newspapers as most interviewers prefer answers in English
language. This will remove your fear of English language & boost your self confidence as well.

How to Crack Personal Interview?

  • In order to crack the interview, one has to be good in soft skills like- Personality, Attitude, Presence of mind, Speaking English & Politeness.
  • Just follow the common etiquette’s (rules) which are needed to attend the interview then for sure you will clear it easily. Here are some tips on “How to behave inside an interview hall.
  • One of the most important deciding factor for selection process is your dress up. It is important that every candidate is perfectly groomed and has a professional interview outfit. Both men and women should wear business suit, that are clean and wrinkle free.
  • Ask a friend to help you prepare for basic interview questions. Interviewers would ask about you, your family background, strengths, weaknesses, the reason they should hire you etc. Give a copy of your resume to a friend and allow him/her to  question you about your education and work experience.
  • Also be prepared with the general case study based questions relating to various decision making situations which a manager faces in its day to day working environment. You will be asked about the solution to these problems.
  • Once you feel you are well prepared with the interview questions, sit or stand in front of the mirror and practice looking yourself. Pay attention to the nervousness, the way you speak, its pace and clarity of words.

Banks-India team wishes good luck to all the candidates for interview. Prepare well.

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Leave a comment if you have any doubts/queries/questions.

Most of the times we all read or hear about the recruitment drive for probationary officer in both public and private sector banks but most of us don’t know the exact role of Probationary officer, Strange but True. In bank interviews this is a common question asked to the candidates but candidates are not able to answer it correctly as they themselves are confused about PO role in Banks.
Here, we tried to explain Role of PO in banks which can help candidates appearing in interviews.

Who is a Probationary Officer?

Probationary Officer (PO) in the bank is the starting level appointment for bank officers. The PO’s have a one or two years probation period during which they are given exposure to various important functions of the bank such as Loans & Advances, Foreign exchange, Credit Rating, Treasury, Risk Management, IT, Marketing etc.
They have to report to their immediate senior officer,who is responsible for the closely monitor & evaluate the performance of him/her for a certain period of time.

Responsibilities / Role / Functions of PO:

Following are the Duties/Role/Responsibilities/Funtions which a PO must perform as indicated by their immediate senior manager-

  • Good communication skills and an ability to resolve conflicts calmly are normal expectations from everyone.
  • Actually a Bank PO can be asked to do anything related to banking till the completion of its probation period. During training or probation period they are trained for accounting, marketing, finance, investment as well as billing.
  • After the Completion of Probation period, the Bank PO becomes Assistant Bank Manager and may be posted in any branch across the country to handle daily customer transaction like passing a cheque, cash management, draft issuance etc.

After certain experience and depending upon skill/aptitude, the person would be given an opportunity to work in other areas like

  • Handling the loan department, the mortgage and finance divisions of the bank.
  • Handling customer complaints and related issues.
  • Assigned the task of selling bank’s products and thus to generate high returns
  • Also, in Investment management, Budgeting, Planning areas.

Career growth prospects both in terms of salary package as well as post is high. Promotional prospects are quite higher for those who perform better.

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As many of the Bank’s has completed first phase of recruitment and are in second phase of selecting the right candidate. Most bank’s are going through the GD/PI of the shortlisted candidates. Here they check the confidence level, their presentation & communication skills, bank’s also check the way in which the candidate express his views to others. This is done in the second round of recruitment i.e. Group Disussion.

Group Discussion (GD) is and activity, wherein 8-12 people form a group, and are given a topic to discuss/situation to analyze and reason. Normal duration of a GD ranges between 15-20 minutes. Usually, the participants are given a preparation time of 2-5 minutes but there are also instances when one will be required to speak without preparation.

Their are certain things which the candidates should keep in mind while attending the GD round. As, Group Discussions are typically used for Personality Assessment Stage, which is an important stage for selection in Bank jobs. Some of these we tried to state below:

Do’s of Group Discussions:

  • Utilize the time effectively to understand the overall meaning of the topic- Have an open mind. This will help you to bring in those points that are not likely to be raised by others.
  • Organize and structure your thoughts before speaking- i.e. Opening the GD or while summarizing it.
  • Maintain eye contact with the group in general and with the individual when he/she is speaking
  • Address the group in general; avoid over-communicating with or referring to specific individuals.
  • Use short sentences to convey the essence of your points- i.e. – speak with depth.
  • Manage the way you look, speak and conduct- Etiquette’s.
  • Control your weaknesses- e.g. difficult vocabulary, speaking about points that you cannot substantiate or defend.
  • Use the right (rare) moments when the more vocal members pause to bring in your point.
  • Use ‘we’ or ‘the group’ or ‘most of us/all of us/some of us’ – remember it’s a group discussion and you are part of the group.

Don’ts of Group Discussions:

  • Do not just think from one angle of thought and bring only obvious facts or ideas to the discussion.
  • Do not speak your thoughts in disjoint phrases. Avoid stutters and stammers.
  • Do not look at your notes while speaking or when others are speaking. Stay involved even when you are not speaking.
  • Avoid having dialogues or conversation with specific individuals within the group.
  • Do not use long-winding sentences to convey your points.
  • Do not be aggressive or use negative tone of speech.
  • Do not lose control or become nervous.
  • Do not moderate/ cut others in between unnecessarily.
  • Avoid using ‘I’ or ‘he/she’, ‘they’
  • Avoid citing examples of points raised by others or repeat your own points- remember time is limited- quantity does not fetch extra points.
  • Do not bring in new points in the summary or conclusion.
  • Avoid aggressive body language- make sure you do not occupy the space of other participants and also while making hand movements avoid having pen or pencil in the hand that point to others.

Read well about below stated topics before attending IBPS GD round and prepare well as these can also be asked in PI round.

List of important Group discussion (GD) topics which may be a part of your IBPS GD’s:  

1)      Women’s reservation bill.
2)      India economic development is not reaching to the people who need it most.
3)      Food inflation is the result of Indian Government mismanagement and apathy.
4)      Removing CBSE X exams is a bad move. Discuss
5)      India will become superpower in near future
6)      Foreign direct investment will revitalize the education system.
7)      Is disinvestment in profit making PSU’s advisable?
8)      IPL is good for business but bad for cricket?
9)      Is the Consumer really the King in India?
10)   Should the public sector especially Delhi Jal Board be privatized?
11)   Privatization will lead to Less Corruption
12)   Media has become a tool of propaganda for the rich and the powerful
13)   Education and medicine are no longer noble professions, they have become commercial.
14)   Voting should be made compulsory.
15)   Recession is the mother of innovation.
16)   Breaking down larger Indian states into smaller will lead to better governance and development.
17)   How to deal with high oil prices?
18)   Lokpal Bill should be implemented or not?
19)   Does moral policing preserve the culture?
20)   Caste based reservation- A boon or a bane?
21)   We should conserve and preserve our rich monuments.

Also, go through our post preparing for interviews.

Leave a comment below, if you have any query regarding IBPS GD/PI.

In the banking examination, the interviews are going on for 19 nationalized banks and candidates are preparing for the interview questions. It just not only depends upon the type of questions you have been asked by the interviewer but also the way you are behaving inside the interview hall. This question wanders inside the mind of many candidates who are expecting their interview calls. Let’s share some of the points to be remembered how to behave inside the interview hall-:

  • You have to be very careful about the knowledge and presentation at the time of attending your interview. Just be sure of your intellectual skills firstly and have enough confidence so that no one can see that you are getting nervous.
  • Interview is the ending part of the process of selection so that counts several features like your confidence, knowledge, your behavior, attitude etc.
  • As you enter the interview hall and come across the interview panel members, just wish them good morning / noon as per the timings. There should be sweetness dissolved in your voice with softness. And sit confidently after they offered you.
  • While having your seat, avoid making noise of the chair and sit straight with your arms on the armrest. Do not lean or stoop forward as it looks awkward.
  • Now, its turn for the interviewer to proceed further. Never try to start yourself. Wait until he/she goes through your resume and then start answering their questions confidently.
  • Be clear and bold in your way of answering to them. Do not give long or too short answers. Speak just as it is required. If you don’t know the answer, tell them without giving wrong or incorrect information.
  • Just be honest and try to answer confidently. While answering, avoid looking here and there or around the room. Just have eye contact with the interviewer .this shows your self confidence and your positive attitude.
  • While giving the answers, don’t try to show that you are fully aware and making haste in answering it. Just be patient and calm and answer it correctly. Don’t try to be fake and vague.
  • At the last, when interviewer ends the interview, just wish them and leave the hall silently.

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There are thousands of books floating around for preparation of bank interviews which are going to be conducted by various banks for the selected candidates of IBPS-Common Written Exam (CWE). We thought of forming a list of some of the most relevant books for people preparing for these interviews, to help you to achieve success.

Some books which can help you to face interview of different banks are as follows:

1) Books In English

2) Books In Hindi

Please leave a comment below if you have some questions/queries/doubts.

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IBPS has declared the results of the Bank CWE Clerk Exam and about 5.3 Lakh candidates have cleared the exam. So, it is now time to gear up for the interviews which will soon follow and competition won’t be easy because of the sheer number. It is utmost important to prepare well for the interviews as many of you will get interview calls only from few banks and it is important that you get selected in atleast one bank. Read our post on what to expect after clearing the ibps bank clerk exam?

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Usually for bank interviews, there will be 2 to 3 persons in the interview panel. Before the final interview, HR will check all the necessary documents needed and he can also ask few bank specific questions like CASA, Basel norms and profit of the bank, difference between various banking products etc. We are categorising the questions in 2 forms – HR Questions and Technical Questions -

The HR questions you can expect in your interview are

  1. Tell me about yourself
  2. Tell me about your family
  3. Incase, if you are the only daughter/son in your family, will your parents allow you to work anywhere across India?
  4. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  5. Don’t you think you are over qualified for this position?
  6. Why not software after engineering?
  7. Why did you leave your previous company?
  8. Why do you want to work here?
  9. Have you applied for any other banks?
  10. What do you know about your bank?
  11. Have you applied to other areas apart from banking?
  12. Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
  13. If you are female – Being a girl, if you are posted in unsafe place like Assam, will you continue to work with us?
  14. Did you prepare for the interview? What did you prepare? (questions will be asked from what you prepared)
  15. Have you attended any bank interviews before?
  16. Do you have any questions for us?

The Technical Questions which can be asked in a bank interview are -

  1. What do you know BASEL norms
  2. What is CAR? (Capital Adequacy Ratio)
  3. What is the current CRR and SLR?
  4. What is microfinance?
  5. Repo Rate and Reverse Repo rate?
  6. What is SEBI?
  7. What is inflation and deflation?
  8. What is mutual fund?
  9. What is IMF?
  10. What is ULIP?
  11. Do you have account in bank? Which bank? Why?
  12. Differences you see in a private and public bank.
  13. What is forex?
  14. What is Bank rate?
  15. Have you heard about KYC? what is KYC?

You may also consider referring to books available for bank interviews preparations –



We have created a forum at http://banks-india.com/forum/ibps-cwe-bank-exams/ibps-interview-questions/ to discuss and provide sample answers to these questions.

IBPS has already announced the result for ibps bank po examination and 1.1 lakh candidates have cleared. Beginning january, PSU banks will start announcing their job vacancies for the passed candidates. Most banks will have a GD and PI rounds to select the candidates for their bank PO / MT positions.

We are trying here to suggest some of the topics which might be important for the GD preparation. Read about these topics to know well about them as these will be important not only for Group Discussion but also for personal interviews. List of GD Topics for IBPS –

1) FDI in Retail in India
2) Growth Vs Inflation (RBI stand on the policy rates)
3) European Union Debt Crisis (PIGS Countries)
4) Rupee Depreciation (Impact on various industries)
5) Rising NPAs of the Indian Banks
6) Technology Creates Income Disparities
7) Skilled Manpower Shortage in India
8) Use of Force by Banks to Recover Loans
9) Should India break Diplomatic Ties with Pakistan?
10) Is Swadeshi Relevant for India Today?
11) Privatization will lead to Less Corruption
12) Advertising is a Waste of Resources
13) Stock Market Crash – Sub Prime Crisis in US
14) Consumer is God in Today’s Market
15) India will be a Superpower in 21?st Century with 40 Crore Hungry People
16) Public Sector is more a Hindrance than Help to Promote Socialism
17) Should PSUs be divested through Strategic Sale or Public Offer?

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Discuss these topics through comments for the benefit of all. Suggest More Topics, we will include them in the list above.

Also, read our post on preparing for interviews.