Bank Clerk (IBPS-CWE)

A bank clerk-cum-cashier has the opportunity to start his/ her career early after passing the 12th standard exams. A bank clerk has enough opportunity through departmental exams to rise to the higher levels of management.

Any individual who aspires to join any of the above Public Sector Banks as a Clerk or in a post in that cadre, will necessarily be required to take the CWE. Prospective candidates who wish to appear for the CWE will have to apply to IBPS and should carefully read the advertisement regarding eligibility criteria, online registration process, pattern of examination, issuance of call letters and score cards.

Candidates who appear for the CWE will be able to check their status after the examination. Scorecards will be issued to candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks and above in each test of the examination.

It should, however, be noted that successful candidates in the CWE who have been issued scorecards and who meet the stipulated eligibility criteria are then required to apply to any of the participating banks they wish to as and when individual banks call for applications, quoting their personal details and their CWE scores. Each bank will then individually shortlist candidates and carry out their own selection processes such as Interviews etc. for final selection.

Each participating Public Sector Bank will independently issue a separate recruitment notification, specifying their vacancies and stipulating the eligibility criteria in terms of age, educational qualification, proficiency in Official Language of the State/UT for which vacancies he wishes to apply, experience (if any), minimum required level of IBPS score in each test and on Total Score (if any) etc

Since clerical cadre recruitment would be on State-wise basis, candidates can apply for vacancies in one State/ UT only. It will therefore be necessary that candidates appear for examination in one of the centres of a particular State/UT where they would like to apply for emaployment i.e. they have to appear for the examination from a centre for that particular State/UT as mentioned in Annexure I. The candidate may also be required to possess proficiency in the Official Language of the State/UT for which vacancies he wishes to apply to be eligible as per the notifications of the Participating Banks.

Eligibility criteria (As on 1st August in the year of examination)

Please note that the eligibility criteria specified is the basic criteria for applying to various Public Sector Banks. However, merely applying for CWE or appearing for the examination does not imply that a candidate will necessarily be eligible for employment in all or any of the 19 Public Sector Banks as each Bank will stipulate its own eligibility/qualifying criteria.

Nationality

A candidate must be either:

• A Citizen of India, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• A subject of Bhutan, or
• A Tibetan Refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India, provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) & (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

Age: Minimum 20 Years; Maximum 28 Years (As on 01.10.2012)
The maximum age limit specified is applicable to General Category candidates.

Relaxation of upper age limit

• Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe: 5 years
• Other Backward Classes (Non-Creamy Layer): 3 years
• Persons With Disabilities: 10 years
• Ex-Servicemen / Disabled Ex-Servicemen: actual period of service rendered in the defence forces + 3 years (8 years for Disabled Ex-Servicemen belonging to SC/ST)
• Widows, Divorced women and women legally separated from their husbands who have not remarried: 9 years.
• Persons ordinarily domiciled in the Kashmir Division of the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989: 5 years
• Persons affected by 1984 riots: 5 years
• Regular employees of the Union Carbide Factory, Bhopal retrenched from service (Applicable to Madhya Pradesh state only): 5 years.

NOTE: In case of a candidate who is eligible for relaxation under more than one of the above categories the age relaxation will be available on a cumulative basis with any one of the remaining categories for which age relaxation is permitted as mentioned above.

Educational qualification

• Degree in any discipline from a recognized University or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government.
• Computer literacy: Operating and working knowledge in computer systems is mandatory i.e. candidates should have Certificate/Diploma/Degree in computer.
• operations/Language/ should have studied Computer / Information Technology as one of the subjects in the High School/College/Institute.
• Proficiency in the Official Language of the State/UT (candidates should know how to read/ write and speak the Official Language of the State/UT) for which vacancies a candidate wishes to apply is preferable.
• Ex-Servicemen who do not possess the above civil examination qualifications should be matriculate Ex-Servicemen who have obtained the Army Special Certificate of Education or corresponding certificate in the Navy or Air Force after having completed not less than 15 years of service in the Armed Forces of the Union.

Vacancy

Since clerical cadre recruitment would be on State-wise basis, candidates can apply for vacancies in one State/UT only. It will therefore be necessary that candidates appear for examination in one of the centres of a particular State/UT where they would like to apply for emaployment i.e. they have to appear for the examination from a centre for that particular State/UT as mentioned in Annexure I. The candidate may also be required to possess proficiency in the Official Language of the State/UT for which vacancies he wishes to apply to be eligible as per the notifications of the Participating Banks.

Examination Pattern

Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts Common Written Examination (CWE) in a year for Clerical Cadre posts. The Common Written Examination is of objective type, total no. of questions is 200 and total marks is 200 and total time duration of 2 hours. There will be Negative Marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer in the objective type exam.

Written Examination Structure:- (The examination will be conducted online.)

1. Reasoning: 40 questions of 40 marks
2. English Language: 40 questions of 40 marks
3. Numerical Ability: 40 questions of 40 marks
4. General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry): 40 questions of 40 marks
5. Computer Knowledge: 40 questions of 40 marks.

Total questions: 200, Total marks: 200, Duration: 2 hours

Note :

• The Test paper will be objective, multiple-type questions.
• All tests other than the Test of English Language and Descriptive Paper on English Composition are printed in both English and Hindi.
• The Descriptive Papers of only those candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks in each of the objective tests are evaluated.
• There is a penalty for wrong answers in multiple choice questions. One-fourth marks of a question are deducted in case of a wrong answer. Marking more than one answer is considered a wrong answer. There is no penalty for not answering a question.
• In case of a candidate who is eligible for relaxation under more than one of the above categories the age relaxation will be available on a cumulative basis with any one of the remaining categories for which age relaxation is permitted as mentioned above.
• Candidates seeking age relaxation will be required to submit copies of necessary certificate(s) at the time of Interview conducted by a particular Bank, if called by the Bank
• Ex-Servicemen candidates who have already secured employment under the Central Government in Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ will be permitted the benefit of age relaxation as prescribed for Ex-Servicemen for securing another employment in a higher grade or cadre in Group ‘C’/ ‘D’ under the Central Government. However, such candidates will not be eligible for the benefit of reservation for Ex-Servicemen in Central Government jobs.