The Banking sector in India has always been one of the most preferred avenues of employment. In the current decade, this has emerged as a resurgent sector in the Indian economy. As per the McKinsey report ‘India Banking 2010’, the banking sector index has grown at a compounded annual rate of over 51 per cent since the year 2001, as compared to a 27 per cent growth in the market index during the same period. It is projected that the sector has the potential to account for over 7.7 per cent of GDP with over Rs.7,500 billion in market cap, and to provide over 1.5 million jobs.

Today, banks have diversified their activities and are getting into new products and services that include opportunities in credit cards, consumer finance, wealth management, life and general insurance, investment banking, mutual funds, pension fund regulation, stock broking services, custodian services, private equity, etc. Further, most of the leading Indian banks are going global, setting up offices in foreign countries, by themselves or through their subsidiaries. Employment Scenario in the Banking Sector

As reported in the Economic Times, the country’s leading public sector bank, State Bank of India has plans to recruit 25,000 employees in the year 2009. Besides, its life insurance venture, SBI Life, has plans to hire 13,000 agents and 200 sales managers. Also, Punjab National Bank, the country’s second largest public sector lender, and Union Bank of India have plans of hiring 5,000 people each. The financial year 2008-09 has already shown the banking sector to be among the largest job providers in the country with over 50,000 vacancies being notified and filled up in the public sector banks alone. Top

Major Recruiters of Banking Industry Public Sector Banks are the major recruiters of candidates aspiring for bank jobs. These banks are:

1. The State Bank of India Group (Total:8 Banks) namely SBI (State Bank of India), State Bank of Indore, SBBJ (..Bikaner & Jaipur), SBH (..Hyderabad), SBM (..Mysore), SBP (..Patiala), SBS (..Saurashtra), and SBT (..Travancore).

2. Nationalised Banks (Total: 19 Banks) namely Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank, United Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.

3. Other Public Sector Bank i.e. IDBI Bank Limited.

4. Private Sector Banks (Total: 27 Banks). The major recruiters in the private sector include the ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Indusind Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Karur Vysya Bank, KarnVysya Bank, Karnataka Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, South Indian Bank, Bharat Overseas Bank, etc. These banks conduct their own exams, but normally follow patterns similar to those of the exams of the public sector banks.

5. Co-operative Banks: All major National and State Co-operative Banks and Scheduled Urban Co-operative Banks conduct their own exams to recruit staff. Their recruitment exams, too, are generally similar to the exams of the public sector banks. Top

Career as a Bank Probationary Officer (PO) A Probationary Officer’s post is the point of entry to the coveted managerial positions in the banking industry. A P O starts as a trainee officer in the Junior Management Grade Scale (JMGS) of the bank and can rise to the highest levels, becoming a General Manager, an Executive Director or even the Chairman of the Bank.

Needless to say, a Bank P O’s position is regarded with tremendous respect in society as it offers a life long opportunity to grow, prosper and serve society in a senior and responsible position in the Banking industry. Therefore, every Bank P.O. exam attracts lakhs of talented graduates, post-graduates and professionals, who compete for the few hundred or thousand of vacancies notified by various banks. Career as a Bank Clerk

A young person joining a bank as a clerk-cum-cashier has the opportunity to start as early as at the age of 18 years after passing the 12th standard exams. A bank clerk enjoys job security, a challenging work environment and the opportunity to strengthen customer relation skills, using the best available technology and learning from proficient senior officers.

He is trained on the job and at the Bank’s Staff Training Colleges and given the opportunity, through departmental exams of the bank or otherwise, to rise to the higher levels of management in the bank. He gets the opportunity of life-long learning in Banking, Finance, Management and other areas of his choice through various national level institutions set up for Bankers’ education. It is not surprising to find many senior executives in branches of various banks, as well as at the Regional, Zonal and Head Offices, to be from among those who had joined the bank in the clerical cadre.