KOLKATA: It may become a lot easier to get a job at nationalised banks.
Banks are planning to have a common interview that could open up
opportunities in one go in many banks for candidates, who now have to
give multiple interviews for jobs in various banks.
Public sector banks,
which recruit about 30,000-40,000 people a year on an average, expect
to save time and cost once this common interview becomes a reality. As
many as 20 banks are expected to give the mandate toInstitute of Banking Personnel Selection, or IBPS, to conduct the common interview on their behalf. IBPS also conducts common written test for these banks.
Senior bank executives said the governing body of IBPS had come up with
the suggestion and the member banks gave their in-principle consent to
the proposal at a meeting held on September 14. Banks are now required
to get the respective board clearance before they give IBPS the final
mandate. This looks a certainty as the selection body is run by senior
bank executives with Bank of BarodaBSE 0.97 % chief MD Mallya being the chairman, while Punjab National BankBSE 1.84 % chairman KR Kamath, Canara Bank's S Raman and IDBI Bank's RM Malla are some of the members.
The new system may be introduced as early as this year itself and
candidates who took the common written exam on June 17 may be the first
to attend the common interview. Over 7.5 lakh candidates took the exam
for probationary officers and the result is expected in the first week
of October.
"Standardisation of the selection process will reduce the workload for
banks," said a governing body member of IBPS. "The present system is not
time and cost-effective." IBPS director AS Bhattacharya declined to
comment.
In the present system, a few top candidates appear for multiple
interviews of different banks and they tend to get offer letters from
most banks. The next lot gets the opportunity only when the first lot is
absorbed, making the hiring process lengthy.
Sources said that IBPS is planning to waive the fee for appearing in the
common interview. At present, candidates need to shell out Rs 150-250
per interview, which banks recover from candidates as the cost for
conducting interviews.
State Bank of India will not be part of this common selection test,
although its chairman Pratip Chaudhuri is a member of IBPS governing
body. Reserve Bank of India executive director R Gandhi and financial servicesjoint secretary Umesh Kumar are also members.
Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
