IBPS SO ( Specialist Officer)

• The IBPS SO exam is conducted to recruit specialist officers in various public sector banks under IBPS. IBPS SO exam is conducted for the following posts:

• IT Officer

• Agricultural Officer

• Rajbhasha Adhikari

• Law Officer

• HR/ Personnel Officer

• Marketing Officer

EXAM CALENDAR:

• IBPS SO will be started on 18th December,2021. To get more details regarding the date sheet, go through the following table:

EXAM	IBPS SO EXAM DATE 2021 (tentative)
IBPS SO Notification 2021	October 1st week
Apply online starts	October last week
IBPS SO admit card	November 2021
IBPS SO preliminary examination	December 18th, 2021 December 26th, 2021
IBPS SO prelims result date	December
IBPS SO mains admit card	January 2022
IBPS SO main exam	January 30, 2022
IBPS SO main exam result	February
IBPS SO final result	April 2022

HOW TO APPLY ONLINE FOR IBPS SO?

Step 1: IBPS SO Registration

• Visit the official website, https://ibps.in/

• Click on CRP for specialist officer IX, then click on yellow tab “Click Here For New Registration”

• Now enter your Name, Mobile Number, Email ID and Security pin in the registration form.

• A registration number and password will be sent to you as SMS and email.

Step 2: Upload scanned documents

• Login using registration number and password.

• Upload scanned images of your passport size photograph, signature, thumb impression and handwritten declaration in prescribed specifications.

Documents	Size	Dimension	Pixels	Format
Photograph	20-50 KBs	4.5 * 3.5 cm	200 * 230	.jpg  .jpeg
Signature	10-20 KBs	4.5 * 3.5 cm	140 * 60	.jpg  .jpeg
Thumb Impression	20-50 KBs	3 * 3 cm	240 * 240	.jpg  .jpeg
Handwritten Declaration	50-100 KBs	10 * 5 cm	800 * 400	.jpg  .jpeg

• The text for the handwritten declaration is as follows - “I, ______ ( name of the candidate ), hereby declare that all the information submitted by me in the application form is correct, true,and valid. I will present the supporting documents as and when required.

Step 3: Fill IBPS SO application form

• Enter your personal, educational and contact details.

• Indicate the post and organisation you want to apply for and mention your preferred IBPS SO exam centre.

• Preview the form once before submitting it as any correction is not possible after final submission.

Step 4. Pay IBPS SO application fees

• The application fees can be paid in online mode via Debit cards( RuPay/ Visa/ Master Card/ Maestro ), Credit cards, Internet Banking, IMPS, Cash Cards/ Mobile Wallets. The registration fees can vary depending on the category of candidate.

Category	Application Fees
SC/ ST/PWD	Rs. 175
General/ OBC/ EWS and Others	Rs. 850

ELIGIBILITY AND OTHER  QUALIFICATIONS:

Candidates must ensure that they fulfil the eligibility requirements before applying for the recruitment exam. The various criteria are as stated below:

1. Eligibility Criteria (Age):

2. The age of the candidate must range from anywhere between 20 to 30 years as on November 26, 2020.

3. Age relaxation will be applicable as per category and is given in the table below:

Category	Age Relaxation
SC/ST	5
OBC	3
PWD	10
Ex- servicemen	5
An individual domiciled in J&K during the period January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1989	5
Person affected by 1984 riots	5

2. Eligibility Criteria ( Nationality):

The eligibility as per the nationality and citizenship in terms of IBPS SO exam is given below:

• Candidate must be a citizen of India

• A resident of Bhutan or Nepal

• A refugee from Tibet, who has migrated and intends to stay in India permanently.

• People of Indian origin who have migrated from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar and East African countries with the intention of settling in India permanently.

• Eligibility Criteria (Education):

Academic qualification for various posts is as given below:

1. IT Officer (Scale I):

   Candidates should have an engineering or technology Degree in Computer Science/ Applications, IT, Electronics, Electronics & Telecommunications, Electronics & Communication or Electronics & Instrumentation; Or

   Aspirants having a PG degree in the following fields are also eligible; Or

   A graduate who has passed DOEACC ‘B’ level can also apply for IBPS SO 2020.

2. Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I):

   Aspirants should have a 4-year degree (graduation) in Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Technology, Agricultural Engineering or any other related field to apply for this post.

3. Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I):

   Individuals having a PG degree in Hindi with English as a subject at the graduation level or a PG degree in Sanskrit with English and Hindi as subjects at the graduation level are Eligible for IBPS SO 2020.

4. Law Officer (Scale I):

   Applicants must possess a Bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) and should be enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council.

5. HR/ Personnel Officer (Scale I):

   A graduate with 2-years full-time PG degree or diploma in Personnel Management, Industrial Relations, HR, HRD, Social Work or Labor Law can apply for this post.

6. Marketing Officer (Scale I):

   Aspirants should have a 2-year full-time degree in MMS (Marketing), MBA (Marketing), PGDBA, PGDBM, PGPM or PGDM with specialization in Marketing.

What is the EWS category ?

EWS (economically weaker sections) are those applicants who are not covered under the existing reservations to SC, ST and OBC and whose family gross annual income is less than 8 lakhs. They get the benefit of 10% reservation in the vacancies reported by IBPS.

Few important points to remember:

• The income from all the sources such as salary, agriculture, profession, business etc will be included in revenue and it will be included in the revenue. The income will be the income from the financial year preceding the  year of application.

• The person whose family has following assets will not be considered as EWSs irrespective of their family income:

Serial no.	Assets
1.	5 acres of agricultural land and above
2.	Residential flat of 1000 sq. ft. and above
3.	Residential plot of 100 sq. yards and above in notified municipalities
4.	Residential plot of 200 sq. yards and above in areas other than the notified municipalities

• The property owned by a “Family” in different locations would be clubbed while applying the property holding test to determine EWS status.

• The term “Family” will include the person who seeks the benefit of reservation, his/her parents and siblings below the age of 18 years, and also his/her spouse and children below the age of 18 years.

• An Income and Asset Certificate issued by a Competent Authority in the prescribed format will have to be produced to avail the benefit of EWS reservation at the time of document verification and interview round of IBPS PO Selection Process.

• What is the PwD category?

• Under section 34 of “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”, persons with benchmark disabilities are eligible for Reservation as per the government of India norms. The following categories of disabilities can avail reservation under this Act:

Serial no.	Categories
1.	Blindness and low vision
2.	Deaf and hard of hearing
3.	Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy
4.	Autism, intellectual disability, mental illness, and specific learning disability
5.	Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness in the posts identified for each disability

• Vacancies reserved for the persons with benchmark disabilities will be allocated as prescribed in the “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016” and as per vacancies reported to IBPS by Participating banks.

• Guidelines for Pwd using a scribe :

• Candidates with minimum benchmark disability whose writing speed are adversely affected permanently for any reason can use their scribe at their cost during IBPS SO 2021 exam. Following rules will be applied to use a scribe:

Serial no.	Regulations
1.	Arrange scribe at your own cost. It can be from any educational background.Candidates using a scribe will be eligible for compensatory time of 20 minutes or otherwise advised for every hour of the examination.The candidate, as well as the scribe, will have to submit a suitable undertaking confirming that the scribe fulfils all the stipulated eligibility criteria for a scribe. If at any stage of the exam, it is found out that the scribe did not fulfil any laid down eligibility criteria or suppressed material facts then the candidature of the applicant will be cancelled, irrespective of the result of the CRP.
2.	The scribe arranged by the candidate should not be a candidate for the online examination under any other exam. If a violation of the above is detected at any stage of the process, the candidature for CRP of both the candidate and the scribe will be cancelled.
3.	Candidates eligible for and who wish to use the services of a scribe in the examination have to apply for the same in the IBPS SO Application Form.Any subsequent request will not be entertained.
4.	Only candidates registered for compensatory time will be allowed such concessions since compensatory time given to candidates shall be system based, if they are not registered for the same, no such concessions will be entertained further.

• Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy Candidates:

• Candidates with a minimum of 40% Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function will be permitted a compensatory time of twenty minutes per hour or otherwise advised.

• Guidelines for Visually Impaired Candidates:

• Candidates who are Visually Impaired suffering from not less than 40% of disability may opt to view the contents of the test (question paper) in magnified font and all such candidates will be eligible for compensatory time of 20 minutes for every hour or otherwise advised of examination. The facility of viewing the contents of the test in magnifying font will only be available to Visually Impaired candidates who will not use the services of a Scribe for the examination.

• Guidelines for Intellectually Disabled Candidates

• Candidates with more than 40% Intellectual Disability, Autism, Specific Learning Disability, and Mental Illness will be provided a compensatory time of twenty minutes per hour of examination, irrespective of availing the services of a scribe.

SCHEME AND PATTERN:

It will be a three tier exam comprising Preliminary, Mains and Interview round. The preliminary exam will be an objective test. It will be held on 2 consecutive days. The key features of exam:

• IBPS SO 2021 Prelim exam will have 150 objective type questions. The test paper will be available in English and Hindi.

• The paper will consist of 3 sections- English Language, Reasoning and Quantitative/ General Awareness. The 3rd section will depend on the post the applicant has applied for.

• Candidates who qualify Prelims will be eligible to appear for the Mains exam. This exam will have a combination of descriptive and objective type questions based on the post.

• Those who will clear the Mains will be called for the interview round.

• Prelims exam is only of qualifying nature while Main and Interview will be considered for determining final merit.

• It is wise to solve IBPS SO Practice Papers to cover all the topics as per the syllabus and practice model questions from each topic.

Few details about prelims:

Topic	Description
Mode of exam	Online
Number of questions	150
Sections in paper	3 (English Language, Reasoning and Quantitative/ General Awareness)
Maximum Marks	125
Duration of exam	2 hours
Medium of language	English & Hindi

• IBPS SO 2021 Main Exam Pattern for IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, Law Officer, HR/ Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer:

Topic	Description
Mode of exam	Online
Number of questions	60
Sections in paper	1
Maximum Marks	60
Duration of exam	45 minutes
Medium of language	English & Hindi

• IBPS SO 2021 Main Exam Pattern for Rajbhasha Adhikari:

Topic	Description
Mode of exam	Online
Number of questions	45 (objective) + 2 (descriptive)
Sections in paper	2
Maximum Marks	60
Duration of exam	60 minutes (30 minutes for each section)
Medium of language	English & Hindi

• Candidates must qualify in this common written exam (preliminary + mains) with the minimum cut off for appearing in the next stage ( interview round) of IBPS Specialist Officer recruitment.

IBPS SO Personal Interview Round:

• In the second phase, candidates who get qualified in Specialist Officer Common Written Examination can directly enter the next stage of IBPS SO Selection Procedure 2020 i.e. Personal Interview.

• A candidate will get a call letter, after getting selected for an Interview. This IBPS SO Interview Call Letter can be downloaded from the official website of IBPS.

• Participated Banks and IBPS will be responsible for conducting Interviews.

• Total Marks allotted for the Interview is 100.

• Candidates must get qualifying marks in interview to get selected for the Provisional Allotment.

• The minimum qualification marks should not be less than 40% for General category and 35% for SC/ST/OBC & PWD (These are the estimated percentages).

Documents Required for IBPS SO Interview Selection Process:

• Print out of valid Interview Call Letter.

• Print out of valid IBPS SO Application Form.

• Date of Birth Proof (Birth Certificate or SSLC/ Standard X Certificate with Date of Birth).

• Identity Proof.

• All Important certificates related to your educational qualification.

• Caste Certificate issued by competent authority, in case of SC/ST/OBC categories.

• In the case of Persons with Disability (PwD) category, you need to carry a Disability Certificate issued by the District Medical Board.

• Candidates who are currently serving in Government Departments are required to produce a “No Objection Certificate” from their employer at the time of interview.

• Persons who are eligible for age relaxation, must bring a certificate regarding the same in the interview.

• An Ex-serviceman candidate must submit a relief certificate.

• Apart from these, keep your Computer Literacy Certificate, Two Passport-Size Photos & PAN Card handy.

• Candidates will not be allowed to appear in the interview, if they do not produce all the above-mentioned documents during the document verification round of IBPS SO Selection Process 2020.

• There is a Document Verification counter at your venue of IBPS SO Interview. Every candidate has to go through a strict Document Verification Process for IBPS Specialist Officer Job.

• You must visit the official website of IBPS to get more information regarding the interview details.

Provisional Allotment

• Once the process of Interview is completed, candidates will be shortlisted for the IBPS SO Provisional Allotment.
• The allotment will be done based on merit list and preference order of the candidates.
• Candidates who scored the same marks will be listed in the merit list as per their Date of Birth. Candidate who is older than the other one will be chosen by the organisation as per the prevailing practice.
• As per the IBPS SO Selection Procedure, provisional allotments will be done based on the available vacancies and keeping in view the spirit of Government guidelines on reservation policy.
• Provisionally allotted candidates can be posted anywhere in India as per the direction of IBPS Participating Organisations.
• No request for change shall be accepted after making provisional allotment to participating organisations.
• A reserve list will be carried out for the candidates in case of an extend in number of vacancies and recruiting agencies have the right to cancel and re allot organisation, depending on exigencies.

Final Allotment

• Allotted banks to the candidates will send a Joining or Appointment letter. The Appointment letter will be sent to the correspondence address or through Email.

• The information in letter includes the following:

• Date for Reporting

• Date for Training

• Document Verification

• Medical Test Details

• Identity of candidates are verified during the Final Allotment and at the time of Interview through bio metric verification process.

• After completing all these stages, finally candidates get joining in their allotted banks.

• The Selection process of IBPS SO is smooth, transparent & fair. The organisation & selection committee try their level best to choose the deserving candidates & help them during the IBPS Specialist Officer Selection Process. In case, you miss any document at the time of interview, you are given another opportunity to present your valid documents.

SYLLABUS AND KEY TOPICS:

• The major topics which a candidate should go through for the preliminary examination of IBPS SO are as follows:

Quantitative Aptitude	Reasoning Ability	English Language	General Awareness
Simplification	Verbal Reasoning	Reading Comprehension	History
Average	Syllogisms	Error Spotting	Geography
Percentage & Ratio Proportion	Seating Arrangement	Phrase Replacement	Polity
Data Interpretation	Scheduling	Fill in The Blanks	Sports
Quadratic Equations	Input Output	Sentence Completion	Culture
Interest	Data Sufficiency	Cloze Test	Defence
Linear Equations	Blood Relations	Para Jumbles	Railway & Union budget
Profit & Loss	Direction & Distance		Government Policies
Number Series	Order & Ranking		Economic Surveys
Speed, Time & Distance	Coded Inequalities		Awards, Books & Authors, Science & Technology
Mensuration & Geometry	Order & Ranking		Important National and International events
Time & Work	Analytical Decision Making		Banking Terminologies & Abbreviations
Number Systems			RBI Guidelines
Data Sufficiency			Countries Currencies/ Capitals
Permutation & Combination			Current Affairs
Probability

• The syllabus for IBPS SO 2021 Main will be of graduation level. The professional knowledge of candidates in their respective field will be tested depending on the post they have applied for. The syllabus for various posts is given below one by one:

• IT Officer ( Scale-1)

Post	Syllabus
IT Officer (Scale- 1)	Database Management System, Data Communication and Networking, Operating System, Computer Organisation and Microprocessor,  Software Engineering,  Data Structure,  Object-Oriented Programming

2. Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-1)

Syllabus	Post
Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-1)	Basics of Crop production,  Horticulture, Seed Science, Soil resources,  Agronomy and Irrigation,  Agricultural Economics,  Agricultural Practices, Animal Husbandry, Agroforestry,  Ecology,  Government Schemes

3. Marketing Officer (Scale-1)

Post	Syllabus
Marketing Officer (Scale-1)	Basics of Marketing Management, PR, Sales,  Retail,  Business Ethics,  Brand Management, Advertising,  Market Segmentation, Market research and forecasting demand, Product Life Cycle, Corporate Social Responsibility, Service Marketing, Marketing Strategies

4. Law Officer (Scale-1)

Post	Syllabus
Law Officer (Scale-1)	Banking Regulations, Compliance and Legal Aspects, Relevant Law and Orders related to negotiable instruments securities foreign exchange, SARFAES, Prevention of Money laundering, Limitation Act, Consumer Protection Act, Banking Ombudsman Scheme, Laws and Actions with a direct link to Banking Sector, Bankers Book Evidence Act, DRT Act

5. HR/ Personnel Officer (Scale-1)

Post	Syllabus
HR/ Personnel Officer (Scale-1)	Human Resource Development, Business policy and strategic analysis, Rewards and Recognition, Transnational Analysis, Training and Development, Recruitment and Selection, Industrial Relations, Business Policy and Strategic Analysis, Grievance and Conflict Management, Performance Management and Appraisal

6. Rajbhasha Adhikari

Post	Syllabus
Rajbhasha Adhikari	Passages, Fill in the blanks, Translation (English to Hindi & Hindi to English), Cloze Test, Antonyms Synonyms, Hindi Grammar

SALARY, PERKS, ALLOWANCES OF IBPS SO:

• IBPS SO salary varies according to the posts and grades.

• It will also be revised once the 11th Bipartite Settlement is completely implemented. Employees can expect an increment of 40% in the basic pay of IBPS SO Salary.

• Salary structure of IBPS SO is given below:

Grade	IBPS SO Salary
Officer scale 1	Monthly Salary- Rs. 36,400/-
Pay Scale- Rs. 23700-980/7-30560-1145/2-32850-1310/7-42020
Officer scale 2	Monthly Salary- Rs.48,800/-
Pay Scale- Rs. 31705-1145/1-32850-1310/10-45950
Officer scale 3	Monthly Salary- Rs.64,600/-
Pay Scale-Rs. 42020-1310/5-48570-1460/2-51490

• Allowances:

Allowances	Calculations
House rent Allowance	7% - 9% (Location Dependent)
Dearness Allowance	Rs. 8605.88
Special	7.75% (Scale-1)
City Compensatory	0-4% (Location Dependent)

• Perks:

• Transport Allowance

• Newspaper reimbursement

• Hospitalisation reimbursement

• Pension

• Petrol

• Deputation Allowance

• PF Allowance

Promotion policy:

• Specialist Officers (SO) are given ample opportunities to get promoted to higher-level based upon their performances. Find below the hierarchy followed at the time of promotion:

Junior Management Grade Scale 1 – Officer/ Assistant Manager

↓

Middle Management Grade Scale 2 – Manager

↓

Middle Management Grade Scale 3 – Senior Manager

↓

Senior Management Grade Scale 4 – Chief Manager

↓

Senior Management Grade Scale 5 – Assistant General Manager

↓

Top Management Grade Scale 6 – Deputy General Manager

↓

Top Management Grade Scale 7 – General Manager