The State Bank of India (SBI) conducts various examinations for different vacancies and posts all over India. The bank conducts SBI PO exam and it is one of the prestigious careers for graduate candidates. The selection for Probationary Officers is done in a three tiered processes. The three processes are explained below.
Phase-I: It refers to the Preliminary Examination which consists of Objective Test for 100 marks will be conducted
online. The test will have of 3 Sections (with separate timings for each section) as — English Language , Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning Ability.
Selection criteria for Main Examination: Category wise merit list will be drawn on the basis of the aggregate marks scored in the Preliminary Exam. There will be no sectional cut-off. Candidates numbering 10 times the numbers of vacancies (approx.) in each category will be short listed for Main Examination from the top of above merit list.
Phase-II: Main Examination: Main Examination will consist of Objective Tests for 200 marks and Descriptive Test for
50 marks. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online. Candidates will have to answer the Descriptive Test by typing on the computer. The Descriptive Test will be administered immediately after completion of the Objective Test.
(i) Objective Test: The objective test of 3 hours duration consists of 4 Sections for total 200 marks. The objective test will have separate timing for every section.
Name of the test includes Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General/ Economy/ Banking Awarenes, English Language.
(ii) Descriptive Test: The Descriptive Test of 30 minutes duration with two questions for 50 marks will be a Test of English Language (Letter Writing & Essay).
Phase-III: Group Exercises (20 marks) & Interview (30 marks) Candidates qualifying for GE & Interview under ‘OBC’ category would be required to submit OBC certificate containing the ‘Non Creamy layer’ clause. Candidates who have registered themselves as OBC but do not submit OBC ‘Non Creamy layer’ certificate and request to be interviewed under General category will not be entertained.
Final Selection: The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination (Phase-I) will not be added for preparing the final merit list for selection. Only the marks obtained in Main Examination (Phase-II), both in the Objective Test and the Descriptive Test, will be added to the marks obtained in GE & Interview (Phase-III) for preparing the final merit list. The candidates will have to qualify both in Phase-II and Phase-III separately.
Marks secured by the candidates in the Main Examination (out of 250 marks) are converted to out of 75 marks and Group Exercises & Interview scores of candidate (out of 50 marks) are converted to out of 25 marks. The final merit list is arrived at after aggregating (out of 100) converted marks of Main Examination and Group Exercises & Interview. Selection will be made from the top merit ranked candidates in each category.
So in order prepare for the exam, candidates need to read a number of books as they need to maintain speed and accuracy on the day of the examination. Some of the books collected for the aspiring candidates are:
1. Comprehensive Guide to SBI Bank PO Preliminary & Main Exam by Disha Experts
2. Topic-Wise Solved Papers for IBPS/SBI Bank PO/Clerk Prelim & Main Exam (2010-19) Reasoning/Quantitative Aptitude/English/General Knowledge by Disha Experts
3. SBI PO Phase 1 Preliminary Exam Guide 2019 by Arihant Experts
4. SBI PO PHASE 2 Main Exam Guide 2019 by Arihant Experts
5. SBI (State Bank of India) 2019 – Probationary Officers’ Phase I & II – Guide by GKP
6. Fast Track Objective Arithmetic Rajesh Varma/ Arihant Publishers
7. Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by R.S Aggarwal/ S.Chand Publisher
8. Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey.
9. A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S.Agarwal.
10. A New Approach to Reasoning Verbal & Non-Verbal by BS Sijwali.
11. Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation Topic-wise Solved Papers for IBPS/ SBI Bank PO/ Clerk Prelim & Main Exam (2010-19) 3rd Edition by Disha Experts
12. 101 Speed Tests for IBPS & SBI Bank PO New Pattern Exam by Disha Experts