Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) organize Common Written Examination (CWE) to employ Specialist Officers in various banks and Financial Institutes. Candidates are appointed to bear various responsibilities viz. Information and Technology (IT), Rashtrabhasha Adhikari , Agriculture, Legal, HR and Marketing etc in Publicized Banks.
The different employers have their different ways, methods or strategies to select the candidates for their specific purposes so IBPS does. There is very specific pattern of examination determined by IBPS to select the candidates as Specialist Officers.
There are two stages of IBPS Specialist Officer Examination, the written Examination and then the interview or personality Test. Candidates have been provided in detail as how the written examination and the personality test are conducted by IBPS.
IBPS SO Written Examination
- There will be one question paper hereunder the written Examination to select candidates for the post of Law Officer (scale-I) and Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I).
- There will be a separate question paper for ‘IT Officer’ (Scale-IHR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I), Agriculture Field Officer (Scale-I) and Marketing Officer (Scale-I).
- The question paper will be of Objective nature will be printed bilingually in Hindi and English. The questions of the English section will not be in the bilingual format.
- Candidates will be given 2 hours to solve the question paper having 120 questions of 200 marks for each category of the examination.
Below in the table detailed subjects and the structure of Specialist Officer Examination (SOE) have been provided for the post of Law Officer (Scale-I) & Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I).
| S.NO. | Name of the Subjects | Maximum Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 |
2 Hours |
| 2 | English Language | 25 | |
| 3 | General Awareness with special reference to Banking Industry | 50 | |
| 4 | Professional Knowledge | 75 | |
| Total- | 200 Marks |
Detailed subjects and the structure of Specialist Officer Examination (SOE) have been provided for the post of ‘IT Officer’ (Scale-I), ‘Agriculture Field Officer’ (Scale-I), ‘HR/Personnel Officer’ (Scale-I) and ‘Marketing Officer’ (Scale-I)
| S.NO. | Name of the Subjects/Test | Maximum Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 |
2 Hours |
| 2 | English Language | 25 | |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | |
| 4 | Professional Knowledge | 75 | |
| Total- | 200 Marks |
Provision of Negative Marking
- There will be penalty for wrong answers marked in the Objective Tests.
- For each question for which an incorrect answer has been given by the candidate one fourth or 0.25 of the marks allocated to that question will be subtracted as penalty.
- If a question is left unsolved, i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate; there will be no penalty for that question.
Details about Cutoff
- Each candidate will necessarily have to secure at least the minimum qualifying score in each test and also on total to be shortlisted for the interview.
- Before the completion of the interview process, scores attained in the online examination will not be disclosed with the candidates who have been shortlisted for interview.
Interview / Personality Test
- All the candidates who have attained the minimum qualifying marks in the written examination will be called for the interview
- Interviews will be conducted at the different centres decide by IBPS where a board will assess the suitability of the candidates for the job profile they have applied for.
- Maximum marks for the interview/personality test are 100 and the minimum qualifying marks for the candidates in interview should not be less than 40%. The qualifying marks for the candidates belonging to SC, ST, OBC and candidates having disabilities are 35%.
- The overall ratio of the total marks of written examination and interview will be 80:20.
After the interview, all the shortlisted candidates will be the part of participating banks and the financial institutions. Candidates will be provided the responsibilities after they get maturity in their work and responsibilities, till then they will be appointed on their provided posts but on a provisional basis.