Complete Details about IBPS Clerk

(Last Updated On: May 16, 2020)

In this article I am giving you complete details about IBPS Clerk. After reading the article you will be able to understand following points: –

What is IBPS Clerk?

IBPS Clerk is simply a Bank Clerk in public sector banks or government banks. It is popularly called as IBPS Clerk because the recruitment of Clerk or Assistants in public sector banks is done by IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel).

Bank Clerk is a very popular job in India. Lacs of students appear in the exam conducted by IBPS for recruitment of clerks in public sector banks. This recruitment exercise is also known as Common Recruitment Process of CRP because through this exam recruitment is common for all public sector banks of India.

Bank Clerk is also known as Assistant and Associates. Therefore, Bank Clerk, Assistant, Associate all are same posts in a bank.

However, recruitment for Assistants or Clerk in State Bank of India is not done by IBPS as State Bank of India conducts separate exam for recruitment of Clerks.

So, for anyone interested in working in public sector or government banks there are two important exams which are IBPS Common Recruitment Process for Recruitment of Clerks and State Bank of India Recruitment of Clerks or Associates.

Both these exams are conducted by IBPS and SBI almost every year. In this article I will tell you exclusively about this job. To know more about SBI Clerk you have to go through my other article.

IBPS Clerk Recruitment Notification

IBPS conducts Clerk recruitment every year. It’s a long process as it is a very big exam and huge number of students participates in this exam. Every year more than 10 lacs students appear in this exam.

It is important for you to download IBPS Calendar which is published by IBPS every year well in advance. This calendar provides all important tentative dates of the entire recruitment process of IBPS Clerk.

From this calendar you will know when the recruitment notification will be declared and when preliminary and main exams will be conducted.

IBPS Clerk Eligibility Criteria

As I told you that I will provide complete details about IBPS Clerk let us now discuss about eligibility criteria.

Minimum educational qualification required is graduate from a recognized university. As per the official Notification: –

“A Degree (Graduation) in any discipline from a University recognized by the Government of India or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government”.

Candidate age must be minimum 20 years and maximum 28 years as per the cut-off date given in the recruitment notification. Age relaxation of 3 years is given to candidates belonging OBC category and 5 years SC and ST. The ex-servicemen and the candidates holding Jammu and Kashmir quota are also given an age relaxation of 5 years.

Proficiency in the Official Language of the State or UT for which vacancies a candidate wishes to apply is preferable. By proficiency it means that candidates should know how to read, write and speak the Official Language of the State or UT.

Details about IBPS Clerk

Exam Pattern of IBPS Clerk

IBPS Clerk exam is a two-stage exam. First Preliminary exam is conducted and those who qualify appear in Main Exam.

In preliminary exam there are 3 sections. The 3 sections are English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability. In English Language there will be 30 questions of 30 marks. In Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability, the number of questions will be 35 each of 35 marks each. The total number of questions will be 100 of 100 marks. The sectional timing for each section will be 20 minutes each.

In Main Exam there are 4 sections. The 4 sections are General / Financial Awareness, General English, Reasoning Ability & Computer and Quantitative Aptitude.

General / Financial Awareness section, there will be 50 questions of 50 marks and sectional timing will be 35 minutes.

General English section, there will be 40 questions of 40 marks and sectional timing will be 35 minutes.

Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude section, there will be 50 questions of 60 marks and sectional timing will be 45 minutes.

Quantitative Aptitude section, there will be 50 questions of 50 marks and sectional timing will be 45 minutes.

The total number of questions will be 190 of 200 marks. The total time of the exam will be 160 minutes.

There is no interview in IBPS Clerk recruitment process.

IBPS Clerk Number of vacancies

Since it is a common recruitment for all banks hence number of vacancies remains high. Just to give you an idea I am providing you number of vacancies over the years.

2016 -19243 vacancies

2017 – 7883 vacancies

2018 – 7275 vacancies

2019 – 12075 vacancies

So, you can see that ample number of vacancies are there. Although these vacancies are state wise.

IBPS Clerk difficulty level of Questions

As I told you that in preliminary exam there are 3 sections which are English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability and in Main Exam there are 4 sections. The 4 sections are General / Financial Awareness, General English, Reasoning Ability & Computer and Quantitative Aptitude.

The difficulty level of questions remains easy. Most of the questions are easy and straight forward. Overall, around 85% questions remain easy and rest are bit tricky or of moderate difficulty level. However, when I am saying easy, it means easy for those who have done a decent preparation. Most of the questions are of 8^th and 10^th level in English and Quantitative Aptitude. Questions of other sections also remain simple.

However, key to success in this exam is speed and accuracy which I will discuss later in this article.

Cut Off for IBPS Clerk

Cut Off for IBPS Clerk remains state wise. There is sectional as well as overall cut off both for preliminary as well as for main exam.

State wise cut off depends on number of vacancies, level of competition and number of students appearing in the exam.

How to Prepare for IBPS Clerk?

If you are serious about qualifying this exam you should start your preparation in a methodical manner. At first instance it appears very difficult to qualify this exam as lacs of students appear in the exam. However, with planned preparation this exam can be easily qualified.

Your objective should be to master each section of preliminary and main exam with speed and accuracy. Once you clear the preliminary exam the competition becomes very limited as number of candidates remain less now. Further, there is no interview in this exam which is a great advantage. If you give your best shot in the mains exam you will qualify not only main exam but will also get the job.

5-6 months preparation is enough for IBPS Clerk. However, it’s a continuous process till you get the final selection. But if you are a decent student and can study 6-7 hours regularly you can very well prepare in 6 months. It also depends on the individual capacity of the student. Your objective should be do the holistic preparation which means that you should prepare for both preliminary and mains exam simultaneously.

Remember this is an exam of speed and accuracy therefore always focus on that. Regularity is the key for preparation of this exam even if you left preparation for 15 days you will find it difficult to get your rhythm back. Therefore, prepare regularly to master each section and practice as much as you can after understanding the concept. Further do not get disappointed if you don’t get selection even after good preparation. It’s a continuous process and you will improve with every exam. Even if you do not get selection the best strategy is to keep on working hard and continue your preparation and finally you will surely get selection.

Important Books for IBPS Clerk

Here I am providing you a list of some of the best books for preparation of IBPS Clerk: –

High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin
English is Easy by Chetananand Singh
Objective General English by R.S Agarwal
Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S Agarwal
Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Agarwal
Quicker Maths by M Tyra
Manorama Yearbook
Banking Awareness by Arihant Publications
Objective Computer Knowledge of Arihant Publication

These are the base books and will help you to clear your concepts.

Apart from reading these books, candidates should also regularly read one newspaper such as The Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express etc. The reading should be focused on developments in India and the World regarding the banking and finance sector. While reading also note down difficult words and build your vocabulary.

Also go through NCERT books of 10^th and 12^th standard on all these subjects and go through the relevant syllabus.

Roles and Responsibilities of Clerk

IBPS Clerk or Bank Clerk is a mainly a front office job. In a branch A Bank Clerk has to perform tasks such as payment and receipt of cash, issuance of DD, issuance of FDR, receipts of challans, sitting at enquiry counter etc. There are varieties of jobs in a Bank Branch which can be related to cash, accounts, credit, Forex etc. Depending upon the requirement a Clerk can be posted in any department.

Bank job is a job which require lots of sincerity and focus as you deal in financial transactions all the time. Any lapse may result in financial loss and then you may be in trouble.

A good thing about this job is that there is regulated time for the clerks and after that you can go to your home. There is no late sitting or working on holidays in case of clerks. However, it is very much in practice in case of officers.

Bank Clerk Career

A Bank Clerk is also having a very good career track. If a clerk is sincere and a good performer, he or she can become officer in just 3-4 years of time. After becoming officer, the track can be very much similar to that of a Bank Probationary Officer.

Bank Clerk Salary and Perks

Salary of Bank Clerk in all public sector banks is almost similar however in SBI the salary and perks are more. Basic salary of a Bank Clerk is Rs. 11765.00. Apart from basic pay officers are also eligible for Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), CCA, special allowance and various other perks. Total salary and emoluments are about Rs. 25000 in public sector banks. You can check full details about the salary in my detailed article.

Conclusion

So, these were details about IBPS Clerk. If you have any further query do ask me in comment box.

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