Hello People, this thread is dedicated to all the UPSC, SSC, Banking, RRB aspirants who are looking out for information on Job Profiles, Service experiences, Pay scale, Promotions, Remuneration, etc. Request all serving candidates to share their bit of information about their job.
4 users only, logon ko job nai chahiye ka ??
8 things you need to know before you choose Bank PO over IT industry
Hello Readers,
PaGaLGuY welcomes you to the third article in the series on ‘Experiences of a Bank Probationary Officer’. If you are an engineer and thinking about migrating from coding to accounting, then here is what you need to know about a Bank Probationary Officer’s job profile in comparison to an IT professional.
Name: Anshul Dwivedi
Position: MBA aspirant turned IT professional turned Bank PO
Background:
General Category candidate with 78.6% and 75.8% scores in 10th and 12th respectively.
- Graduated from RGPV, Bhopal, in 2010 with 71.75% (Engineering)
- CAT attempts: 2009 (69.09%ile), 2010 (77%ile), 2011 (96.57%ile) and 2012 (93%ile)
- Cleared IBPS PO in 2014 and joined Union Bank of India as a PO
What made you move from an IT job to PO?Firstly, I wanted to do an MBA from a premier B-School but my future seemed to be very bleak with the scores that I secured in my CAT exams. Also, after the interview experiences with IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IMT Ghaziabad (2012-2014 batch), it became very clear to me that my chances of getting selected in those institutions were grim. Secondly, my job at Tech Mahendra was not promising enough. Hence, I started looking at Bank PO.
How does a job as a Bank PO compare to working in an IT company?
1. Time: As a PO, you are the first to reach the branch and often have to leave last. I am sure that could also be the case with most IT professionals but I had fixed working hours from 2 pm to 9:15 pm. You have no lunch hour in a bank (in Gujarat at least) and the day can end any time between 6 pm to 9 pm.
2. Work Environment: In an IT company, you usually have a good ambience with air conditioned cabins and a peaceful work environment. You work in front of your PC with earphones plugged into your smartphone, with the playlist on. In a bank, you won't be listening to anything other than noise. In an IT firm, you will have a cafeteria and a fixed time for lunch but in the case of PO stationed in a branch (not in a big city), there is no ‘lunch-time’ or provision for food. So, things are bad.
3. Salary: My CTC at Tech Mahendra was 3.85 LPA and after all deductions, I got an in-hand salary of Rs. 29500 every month. CTC in the bank was 5.56 LPA but my in-hand salary was Rs. 25000-Rs. 26500 every month. With the monthly compensations, the salary would usually round off to Rs. 34,000. In IT, you can radically increase your salary by switching but such is not the case with banks.
4. Risk Factor: In IT, you deal with software and if something goes wrong today, it can be fixed tomorrow. In banks, nothing can be left for tomorrow. Everything needs to be completed the same day with little scope for errors. Any discrepancy and you have to pay for it from your wallet. The amount can be as small as Rs.10 and can be as big as Rs.10,00,000, it will be taken from you. People have lost their jobs in banks, quit in the middle of their career because of such policies.
5. Leaves: Being a ‘Sarkari Naukri’, banks should win hands down in this department, right? Wrong, IT wins this round too. You have 5 working days in IT; in banks, its 6 days. In banks, leaves are usually credited to your account on January 1 of every year. Although it may sound good but the catch is for those of you joining in April-May, you won't have a single leave in your account till next year January 1.
6. Status: In IT, no matter how bad a person is, he/she must behave. Conversations are in a decent tone and in a dignified way. In banks, customers will thrash you with indecent language. People will treat you like absolute garbage because nationalised banks have gone down the ‘Customer is God’ lane, which will make you feel like an absolute scum out there. Any complaint lodged will not be closed till the customer gives in writing that he was satisfied by the action taken.
7 .Transfers: Transfers in banks will be random and if you join a nationalised bank, then transfers can be anywhere in the country. Female employees generally get a preference in choosing a branch.
8. Job Security vs Satisfaction: Jobs in IT firms are relatively unstable. But banks give you job security and yes, there is no one that can take away this job from you. But in the end, I tend to ask myself one simple question ‘Is this how I wanted my life to be?’ And I get a big NO as the answer.
For more banking experiences articles, click here
For Banking related current affairs, click here
How to get promotion from Clerk to Officer in PSU Bank?
Blog Post
Name: Kaustubh Khandagale @khakk99
Hello PaGalGuy readers,
I joined as a Clerk after clearing the IBPS CWE Clerk II exam and got posted in one of the leading Public Sector Banks (Indian Bank) in June 2013. After my training period, I was posted in a Zonal office. For a period of about 3-months I was working for the non-technical department of the bank.
Later my zonal manager posted me in the technical department, where I was posted in electronic data processing for server network implementation CTS 2010 implantation bio-metric implementation etc. For these tasks, I visited nearly 30 branches in our zone looking after the IT issues.
Looking at the feedback by my seniors and sub-ordinates. My manager suggested pursue JAIIB, Caiib diploma as I could stand better chances to get promoted as an officer.
But I was dreaming to be officer in topmost bank so never given JAIIB in my 19-months tenure at the Indian Bank. I was also shortlisted for the PO III interviews but could not make it to the final selection. But at the same time my colleagues who joined as a clerk in the Indian Bank with me, concentrated on JAIIB & CAIIB and cleared it. This helped them to get a promotion within 15 months from joining.
Benefits:
1. They became a confirmed employees of the Bank from the first day of promotion itself (No need to serve Probation period of 2 years as PO)
2. Got 4 increments (1 for JAIIB 2 for CAiib and one for yearly increment ) Got all officer cadre benefits from first Day of promotion.
3. Almost all retain in home state for posting. Note: Only thing is that you have to prepare for promotion test as well. In most of the PSU there's is fast track channel to became officer after clearing CAIIB or JAIIB.
Work culture wise and salary wise the job of an officer in any organisation is better.
Now I have joined as an RBI assistant.
So do not loose hope who coundn't makem it in PO.
All the best to everyone!!!
Job experiece of an Assistant Station Master (RRB NTPC)
- Job Profile
An ASM deals with numerous staff members, as well as passenger and freight trains daily. This may seem like routine work to many, but it takes ceaseless effort on the part of the railways to make the journey fast, comfortable and safe. “The job profile of an ASM is that of a Generalist. Our job is to ensure the safe running of trains, the safety of passengers, and of our staff. For this, an ASM must co-ordinate with anywhere between 5 to 13 departments of their respective railway station,” said an ASM, posted with the western railways in Mumbai.
Health issues can occur anytime and anywhere, but it’s not feasible for the railways to provide a medical team in every train. Fortunately, it provides free medical aid to the ailing passenger through the nearest railway station. It is, of course, the medical officer who treats the patient, however, it is an ASM’s responsibility to keep a check on such emergencies.“Apart from the above-mentioned duties, an ASM also has to coordinate with the Station Manager and issue a caution order to every train that halts at the station. A caution order is a mandatory guideline about how the train should run and at which speed at a given section,” added the ASM.
- Training and Posting
“I joined the Indian Railways as an ASM in 2012. I underwent a 5-month training course at Bhusawal, Maharashtra, after which I was posted with the Central Railways in Mumbai. Training and posting depend upon the Regional Railway Board you are recruited with. The training comprises of general and specialised course modules for the post. We were also given a brief introduction to the duties performed by other departments of the railways during the training. The general posting of an ASM is of 4 years,” said an ASM, from Mumbai.
- Promotions:
An ASM can be promoted to the post of Station Master after a minimum service of 3 years. However, promotions are wholly based on vacancies, which makes it very untimely. “It takes anywhere around 3 to 7 years for an ASM to get promoted. I have also seen my seniors getting promoted only once in 18 years. However, if an employee is not promoted for more than 10 years, the Railways advances the grade pay of that employee with arrears up to the current date,” added the ASM.
- Assistant Station Master
- Station Master
- Station Superintendent
- Assistant Operations Manager
- Divisional Operations Manager
- Remuneration
Pay Scale - 5200-20200Grade Pay – 2800Initial Pay – 8560The 7th Pay Commission has recommended higher grade pay for ASMs after the upgradation of the post as Station Master. The new grade pay will be in the band of Rs 4200.
Other Allowances:
- House Rent Allowance or a Railway Quarter
- Dearness Allowance
- Transport Allowance
- Cash Medical Benefit
- Group Mediclaim
- Provident Fund
To know about life in RRB NTPC: Job profiles, Promotions, Remunerations, click here
UPSC EPFO: What does a Provident Fund Assistant Commissioner’s job involve
An Individual changes a job from one organisation to another, and usually transfers the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) balance to the new employer. What happens to the funds in the Employees’ Pension Scheme continues to remain a mystery for many, but not for an Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). However, the job that an APFC performs is not very well known, so here is what you need to know about an ACFCs career.Around 50% of the APFCs are directly recruited by a common written examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), while the remaining vacancies are filled through promotions.
Training and Job Profile
The PF Commissioners are the backbone of the EPFO and are responsible for the enforcement and administration of the organisation. “I joined the EPFO as an Assistant Commissioner (APFC) in 2013. Initially, I underwent a 45-day On Job Training (OJT) programme, which involved different training modules. The OJT also comprised of field visits to government establishments and courts. After successful completion of the OJT, I underwent a 5-month Foundation course at the National Academy for Training & Research in Social Security (NATRSS), New Delhi, and at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT), Nagpur.” Said an APFC from Mumbai.
APFCs have been notified as Recovery Officers by the Central Government for recovering the PF dues from employers, by using the powers akin to that of a civil court. That includes the power to arrest a defaulter, to seal a bank account, and to also auction a defaulter’s property.
Here is the interesting part, an APFC also coordinates with fund managers and monitors investments in equities through ETF. “APFCs also have to keep a tight watch on timely investments and returns, for which we have to coordinate with various banks and fund managers. In fact, the whole corpus of the fund is mostly invested in the Central Government, State Governments, PSUs, and other sectors which contribute hugely to the development of the country,” added an APFC.
Promotions and Postings
APFCs are also deputed to foreign countries to carry out social security agreements-related work with other nations. That’s not all; even after retirement, an APFC can serve in international organisations like United Nations Development Program UNDP, World Bank, or the Social Security Division in the corporate world.
“I will not say that the promotion scales are untimely, rather they are grounded on a combination of merit cum seniority basis. Posting are generally for a period of 4 years. However, APFCs can also be deputed to various other departments during their tenure on a particular location.
APFCs can also be deputed to Vigilance and Audit divisions as Deputy Directors and Directors,” said an APFC from Mumbai.
Promotions in EPFO are as follows
- From Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner (APFC) to Regional Provident Fund Commissioner – II (RPFC-II) on completion of minimum 4 years of service as APFC.
- From Regional Provident Fund Commissioner – I (RPFC-I) to Additional Central PF Commissioner –II (ACC-II) on completion of minimum 5 years as RPFC-I
- From Additional Central PF Commissioner –I (ACC-I) to Addl. Central PF Commissioner – HQ (ACC-HQ) on completion of 4 years as ACC-I, to Central PF Commissioner on completion of 5 years as ACC.
iski exam date kya he..??
Work Experiences of Assistant Station Master through RRB
Over 23 million people travel by the Indian Railways every day. On any given day, dangerously crowded bogies leave with passengers living life at the very edge, quite literally! Not only does it aid the largest number of commuters, it also is one of the largest employer in the world. The Indian Railways is often given credit to connecting the nation. There are around 1.4 million employees in or out of the public view to keep the wagons moving. The Assistant Station Master (ASM) is one such position in the Indian railways which acts as a lynchpin at many railway stations.
Recruited by the Railways Recruitment Board (RRB) through the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) exam, the ASM is one highly sought after post amongst the many others. Here is an account of the nature of the job that an ASM performs.
- Job Profile
An ASM deals with numerous staff members, as well as passenger and freight trains daily. This may seem like routine work to many, but it takes ceaseless effort on the part of the railways to make the journey fast, comfortable and safe. “The job profile of an ASM is that of a Generalist. Our job is to ensure the safe running of trains, the safety of passengers, and of our staff. For this, an ASM must co-ordinate with anywhere between 5 to 13 departments of their respective railway station,” said an ASM, posted with the western railways in Mumbai.
Health issues can occur anytime and anywhere, but it’s not feasible for the railways to provide a medical team in every train. Fortunately, it provides free medical aid to the ailing passenger through the nearest railway station. It is, of course, the medical officer who treats the patient, however, it is an ASM’s responsibility to keep a check on such emergencies.
“Apart from the above-mentioned duties, an ASM also has to coordinate with the Station Manager and issue a caution order to every train that halts at the station. A caution order is a mandatory guideline about how the train should run and at which speed at a given section,” added the ASM.
- Training and Posting
“I joined the Indian Railways as an ASM in 2012. I underwent a 5-month training course at Bhusawal, Maharashtra, after which I was posted with the Central Railways in Mumbai. Training and posting depend upon the Regional Railway Board you are recruited with. The training comprises of general and specialised course modules for the post. We were also given a brief introduction to the duties performed by other departments of the railways during the training. The general posting of an ASM is of 4 years,” said an ASM, from Mumbai.
- Promotions:
An ASM can be promoted to the post of Station Master after a minimum service of 3 years. However, promotions are wholly based on vacancies, which makes it very untimely. “It takes anywhere around 3 to 7 years for an ASM to get promoted. I have also seen my seniors getting promoted only once in 18 years. However, if an employee is not promoted for more than 10 years, the Railways advances the grade pay of that employee with arrears up to the current date,” added the ASM.
- Assistant Station Master
- Station Master
- Station Superintendent
- Assistant Operations Manager
- Divisional Operations Manager
- Remuneration
Pay Scale - 5200-20200
Grade Pay – 2800
Initial Pay – 8560
The 7th Pay Commission has recommended higher grade pay for ASMs after the upgradation of the post as Station Master. The new grade pay will be in the band of Rs 4200.
Other Allowances:
- House Rent Allowance or a Railway Quarter
- Dearness Allowance
- Transport Allowance
- Cash Medical Benefit
- Group Mediclaim
- Provident Fund
To know about life in RRB NTPC: Job profiles, Promotions, Remunerations, click here
Compilations of Questions asked in IBPS PO interview 2017
General Knowledge:
1. What makes Aadhar card unique?
2. Total numbe of members in Lok Sabha?
3. International Monetory Fund (IMF) headquarters?
4. What is RDBMS?
5. What is Cloud computing?
6. What is blockchain technology?
7. How does teh RBI controls monetary policy?
8. What is LAF?
9. What is the difference between Repo rate and MSF?
10. What are latitudes and longitudes ?
11. Can you list one special latitude that passes through India?
12. From which longitute does the IST passes?
13. What is 0 degree longitude known as?
14. What is 180 degree longitude called as?
15. What is the difference between FII and FPI?
16. Total Foreign Exchange Reserves of our Country?
17. What is Break Even Analysis?
18. What is KYC and what are the documents required for opening a bank account?
19. What is UPI and IMPS, and what is the difference between them?
20. Differentiate between PSU and PVT sector bank apart from the Govt ownership point? 21. What are Low cost deposits?
22. What is difference between marketing and sales?
23. What is Contigent liability?
24. What is Priority Sector Lending?
25. How does a Bank earns profit? (Asked to a Commerce graduate)
26. Questions on Union Budget
27. The inflow of FDI is in which currency?
Situation Based Questions
1. So Mr. X, Suppose you are a PO and you had sactioned a loan to a farmer who is now not able to repay the loan. What course of action will you follow in such a situation?
2. You must be knowing about PSL. Can you tell me if a bank is unable to complete its PSL targets, then what kind of action is taken against the bank? Also who takes the action?
3. Suppose u are the Branch manager of XYZ bank. You realise that your bank is not making any profits. What parameters will you check to prevent the loss in the future?
4. Can you list out one reason which will make us beleive that the Banking sector is going in the safe hands of this generation?
Personal
Tell me two qualities as to why we should hire u?
Why did you resign your earlier job?
Why did u leave your previous bank?
Puys, the list can be inexhaustable if you can contribute too. Also would like you all to answer the situation based questions.
UPSC Mains 2017: Kaustubh Jog (AIR 396 CSE 2015) shares his UPSC Mains strategy
Q 1. What was your study strategy for the Mains exam?
- Join a good test series either online or offline. Devote only 30% for reading and revising. Remaining efforts should be geared towards writing practice.
- Have a basic structure ready about broad themes in general studies. Going through the syllabus is imperative.
- Reading of the India Year Book and Economic Survey is a must.
- Nothing is fixed. Since I was preparing for this full time, everything was oriented towards studying. I recommend that every candidate should be familiar with his / her own capacity. I cannot sit to study for more than 75-90 minutes. Once that's done, I would take short breaks. So, a routine can be devised only by observing one’s own likes/dislikes and other habits. Be flexible about this and do what suits you the best.
Q 2. How to attempt Paper IV (Ethics)?
For Paper IV (Ethics), Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) report on Ethics in Governance is a good resource. This can be applied to case studies also. Approach this paper through the questions and not through books.
Q 3. What about other three GS papers?
I read standard books for other papers. Tip is to read limited material but it should be of good quality and one's command over it should be strong. I also revised periodically.
Q 4. How to develop answer writing?
- Practice the previous year’s papers. Even though dated, it helps a lot. I did a close study of the question papers from previous years.
- Apart from this, get hold of questions from various institutes. Attempt writing answers and get them evaluated.
- Tackle every question on its merit and aim to complete the papers.
- The game is really in the preceding three months. The actual days of the Mains are very challenging. Not much to innovate. It is just a test of endurance. So one should remember to enjoy writing the exam.
- Finally, write and write and write – that's the crux of the exam. Get as much answer writing practice as is possible. Three hours a day is optimum. Ultimately, it is about how positive and optimistic one can be. Work on that through various relaxation techniques.
- Everyone reads the same things. How one views oneself and one's place in the larger scheme of things is what determines everything.
Q 5. Any other suggestion you would like to share with candidates?
Take good care of health as I have myself experienced illness and fatigue and other candidates seem to suffer from this as well. Those few days before the exam, one should just aim to be alert, calm and fresh. One’s performance in the Mains is a function of one’s prior preparation. So, one should just focus on that.
Good Luck!
UPSC Interview success stories with questions for UPSC Civil Services Interview 2017
Name: Bhavesh Mishra, IAS
Rank : 58
Attempt No : 1st
Board: Professor H.C. Gupta
Date: 9 June 2015
Time: 4:30 pm
Academic Background: B. Tech, Electrical IIT Delhi (2013)
Job Experience: RBI & Samsung (both intern), Estee Advisors (current)
Hobbies: Learning language, chess, teaching.
-------------- (Chairperson) ---------
CP: So are you working ?
Me: Yes sir.
CP : Where and what are you doing?
Me: Sir, I am working as a technical analyst at Estee Advisors Private Limited, Gurgaon
CP: What's your role.
Me: Sir, I write softwares for High Frequency Trading platform.
CP: In which stock exchanges does your company trade?
Me: NSE, BSE, MCX, CME, SGCX, DGCX
CP: Recently the govt has launched a scheme related to gold. Do you know about it?
Me: Yes sir. It is called Gold Monetisation Scheme .... details followed.
CP: I think it's a completely useless scheme. People are emotionally attached to their jewellery and therefore they would never put their jewellery in bank.
Me: Sir we can offer higher interest rate and moreover all our gold is not in the form of jewellery.
CP: (not convinced by my answer). It's the bureaucrat like you that give such nonsense suggestions. Tell me some measures to improve the scheme.
Me: (.. gave some measures).
CP: (again not convinced). The steps suggested by you have been tried earlier in many different forms. If they did not work in past then how will it work in future?
Me: Sir, it's better to have hope than be pessimistic.
CP: Do you think having hope will run the country ?
CP suggested to other members to ask questions.
(Member - 1)
M1: So Bhavesh, tell me what's a blue water navy?
Me: I told him the definition etc.
M1: What is India doing in this regard ?
Me: Told him about our PMs visit, navy rescue efforts, joint exercise, upgradation etc.
M1: He asked me about some warfare ships imported from Russia.
Me: Sorry sir, I don't recall the name
M1: Your hobby is language learning. What languages do you know?
Me: Sir, I like learning scripts and I can read and write in all major Indian languages.
M1: Can you write your name in Tamil .
Me: I wrote my name in Tamil.
M1: So your name is Bhavesh and not Bhaavesh.
Me: Yes sir !
Lady Member (from Bengal): Write your name in Bengali
Me: I wrote my name in Bengali
Lady Member: Great, this guy can be posted to any corner of the country.
M1: Why are you learning these languages.
Me: Told him about my project to digitise all Indian texts from ancient to medieval era in a searchable format.
(M2 : Lady Member)
M2: So you have worked in RBI?
Me: Yes ma'am.
M2: Do you think RBI role is as important today as it was 20 years.
Me: Gave some standard text book answers.
M2: Why 21st century is called Asian Century.
Me: A standard reply follows ...
M2: Give some reasons why Bollywood will supercede Hollywood in 21st century.
Me: Large diaspora, diversity, music, huge population etc ...
M2: Which was the last book you studied?
Me: Surely You're Joking Feynman - Richard Feynman
M2: What's it about?
Me: Told her about the life of great physicist etc....
(Member - 3)
M3: Why our agricultural policy is flawed?
Me: Gave a very long reply - compromising on long term gains vs short term benefits etc. ....
M3: Did India liberalise too early?
Me: Again a long answer followed. I gave ample data both in favour and in against ...
(Member - 4)
M4: Tell me something about John Nash. Which disease was he suffering from?
Me: Narrated his life history in detail .............
M4: Who gave the concept of Game Theory first?
Me: Sorry sir, I don't recall the name.
M4: How many Nobel prizes have been awarded in the field of game theory.
Me: I told him 6 but 11 was the answer.
M4: Why IITians don't join DRDO?
Me: Gave a long reply .....
M4: I will have to talk to DRDO !!
Chairperson: Thank you Bhavesh, your interview is over.
My Assessment:
I really had a fun time in the interview. Contrary to what others tell, the board members are extremely cordial and friendly. Prof H.C. Gupta is a genius. He did his PhD at the age of 20 / 22 years !!
Although he seems intimidating at first but he actually tries to put you through stress test.
I finished BCA degree from Madras University Distance education ( Direct 2nd year) after finishing 3years diploma (regular) after 10th Standard . My education pattern is 10+3+2 . Can I eligible for IBPS PO /Clerk Exams .