IBPS is the “Institute of Banking Personnel Selection”. IBPS conducts a common Specialist Officer (SO) Exam to fill SO vacancies in various banks that participate in this exam. Once you qualify for the IBPS SO exam, you will be hired as a Specialist Officer in one of the participating banks as per your preference, and merit. The different branches for which the SO exam is being held are IT, HR, Agricultural Field, Rajbhasha, Marketing, and Law. In this article, we shall see all important information related to IBPS SO exam such as Exam Date, Eligibility criteria, Syllabus, Application Fee, Apply Online, Exam Pattern, Vacancy, Salary, Job profile, etc.
IBPS SO 2021 Highlights
| Organization Name | Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) |
| Post | Specialist Officer (SO) |
| Exam Level | National Level |
| Vacancies | To be notified |
| Application Mode | Online |
| Online Registration Begins | October 2021 |
| Last Date to Apply | November 2021 |
| Exam Mode | Online |
| Salary | Rs 38000 – Rs 39000 |
| Selection Process | Prelims, Mains & Interview |
| Education Qualification | Graduation or Post Graduation in specific stream depending on the post |
| Age Limit | 20 years – 30 years |
| Official Website | www.ibps.in |
IBPS SO 2021 Participating Banks
11 banks are participating in the IBPS SO 2021 Exam. They are:
- Bank of Baroda
- Bank of India
- Bank of Maharashtra
- Canara Bank
- Central Bank of India
- Indian Bank
- Indian Overseas Bank
- Punjab National Bank
- Punjab & Sind Bank
- UCO Bank
- Union Bank of India
IBPS SO 2021 Important Dates
As per the IBPS Calendar 2021, the IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2021 has been scheduled for 18th and 26th December 2021, and Mains Exam 2021 has been scheduled for 30th January 2022.
|
IBPS SO 2021 Exam Events |
Tentative Dates |
| Notification Release Date | October 2021 |
| Online Registration Starts | October 2021 |
| Last Date to Apply | November 2021 |
| Prelims Admit Card Release Date | December 2021 |
| IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2021 Date |
|
| Declaration of Prelims Result | January 2022 |
| Mains Admit Card Release Date | January 2022 |
| IBPS SO Mains Exam 2021 | 30th January 2022 |
| Declaration of Mains Result | February 2022 |
| Interviews | February/March 2022 |
| Final Result Declaration | April 2022 |
IBPS SO Eligibility Criteria 2021
There are 2 criteria that a candidate needs to satisfy in order to be eligible to sit for the IBPS SO exam. They are Age Limit and Education Qualifications. We shall see them in detail.
Age Limit
- Minimum Age – 20 years
- Maximum Age – 30 years
You need to fall under this upper & lower age limit to apply for IBPS SO. Normal Age Relaxation rules apply.
Education Qualification
| Post | Qualifications |
| IT Officer (Scale I) | 4-year Engineering/Technology Degree in Computer Science/Computer Applications/Information Technology/ Electronics/Electronics & Telecommunications/Electronics & Communication/Electronics & Instrumentation
OR Post Graduate Degree in Electronics/Electronics & Telecommunication/Electronics & Communication/Electronics & Instrumentation/Computer Science/Information Technology/Computer Applications OR Graduate having passed DOEACC ‘B’ level |
| Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I) | 4 year Degree (graduation) in Agriculture/Horticulture/Animal Husbandry/Veterinary Science/Dairy Science/Fishery Science/ Pisciculture/Agri.Marketing & Cooperation/Co-operation & Banking/Agro-Forestry/Forestry/Agricultural Biotechnology/Food Science/Agriculture Business Management/Food Technology/Dairy Technology/Agricultural Engineering. |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I) | Postgraduate Degree in Hindi with English as a subject at the degree (graduation) level
OR Postgraduate degree in Sanskrit with English and Hindi as subjects at the degree (graduation) level. |
| Law Officer (Scale I) | A Bachelor Degree in Law (LLB) and enrolled as an advocate with Bar Council. |
| HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I) | Graduate and Two Years Full-time Post Graduate degree or Two Years Full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management/Industrial Relations/HR/HRD/Social Work/Labour Law. |
| Marketing Officer (Scale I) | Graduate and Two Years Full-time MMS (Marketing) / Two Years Full-time MBA (Marketing)/ Two Years Full-time PGDBA / PGDBM/ PGPM/PGDM with specialization in Marketing. |
IBPS SO Vacancies 2021
The Vacancy details will be known in the IBPS SO detailed notification. Below are the Vacancy details for the previous year for your reference. The detailed vacancies for various posts are as follows:
| Name of Post | No. of Vacancies |
| Agriculture Officer (Scale-I) | 485 |
| Marketing Officer (Scale-I) | 60 |
| IT Officer (Scale-I) | 20 |
| Law Officer (Scale-I) | 50 |
| HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I) | 07 |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I) | 25 |
| Total | 647 |
IBPS SO Selection Process
The IBPS Specialist Officer selection takes place in 3 stages – 1) Prelims, 2) Mains & 3) Interview.
The Preliminary exam is just a qualifying exam and the marks that you score in the Prelims are not counted towards final merit list preparation. Candidates who qualify in the Prelims exam are eligible to appear for the Mains exam. Candidates who clear the Mains exam are called for an Interview. Final selection as an IBPS SO depends upon your score in the Mains Exam & Interview.
IBPS SO Exam Pattern
Prelims Exam Pattern
For Law Officer & Rajbhasha Adhikari Scale I
| Name of Test | No. of Qs | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| English Language | 50 | 25 | 40 mins |
| General Awareness (With Special Reference to Banking) | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| Total | 150 | 125 | 2 Hours |
For IT Officer Scale I, Agricultural Field Officer, HR/ Personnel Officer & Marketing Officer Scale I
| Name of Test | No.s of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| English Language | 50 | 25 | 40 mins |
| Quant Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| Total | 150 | 125 | 2 Hours |
Mains Exam Pattern
For the Law Officer, IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer
| Subject | No. of Qs | Max Marks | Duration |
| Professional Knowledge | 60 | 60 | 45 Mins |
For the Rajbhasha Adhikari
| Subject | No. of Qs | Max Marks | Duration |
| Professional Knowledge (Objective) | 45 | 60 | 30 mins |
| Professional Knowledge (Descriptive) | 2 | 30 mins |
There is a NEGATIVE marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer.
Interview
The IBPS SO Interview is for 100 marks. The minimum qualifying marks in an interview should not be less than 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates).
Final Selection
The final merit list is prepared on the basis of the combined score obtained in the Mains exam and Interview. The weightage of the Mains Exam score and Interview will be in the ratio of 80:20.
IBPS SO Salary
The Basic pay of an IBPS Specialist officer is Rs.23,700/-, in the payscale of 23700-980(7)-30560-1145(2)-32850-1310(7)-42020. Further, IBPS SOs are entitled to other benefits and allowances such as Dearness Allowance, House rent allowance, city compensation allowance, Special allowance, Lease Allowance, Conveyance allowance, Newspaper allowance, House & Furniture Allowance, Medical Allowance, Entertainment Allowance, etc.
The gross salary comes to around Rs. 38000-39000/-. After deductions, the final in hand salary of an IBPS SO is around Rs 33,000- 35,000.
IBPS Specialist Officer Cut Off marks
| Post | Category | |||||||
| SC | ST | OBC | UR | HI | OC | VI | ID | |
| I.T Officer (Scale I ) | 41.00 | 32.27 | 46.73 | 50.93 | 47.00 | 38.67 | NA | 31.33 |
| 18/04/94 | 14/05/93 | 16/11/94 | 02/12/94 | 29/08/86 | 8/12/94 | 25/09/92 | ||
| Agricultural Field Officer | 41.40 | 38.53 | 46.07 | 46.87 | 29.00 | 44.00 | 37.33 | 25.33 |
| 21/04/89 | 11/11/91 | 03/03/88 | 21/05/94 | 12/05/88 | 23/10/92 | 22/04/92 | 04/04/94 | |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari | 38.67 | NA | 43.07 | 45.53 | NA | NA | 43.73 | NA |
| 15/09/84 | 06/12/87 | 04/12/87 | 12/09/89 | |||||
| Law Officer | 47.67 | 46.00 | 52.93 | 59.00 | NA | 53.93 | NA | 45.67 |
| 03/05/89 | 24/0387 | 18/12/91 | 28/05/88 | 29/03/90 | 13/08/91 | |||
| HR/Personnel Officer | 50.00 | 47.67 | 59.33 | 63.07 | NA | 48.40 | NA | NA |
| 28/05/90 | 14/10/93 | 09/12/92 | 17/02/89 | 13/10/91 | ||||
| Marketing Officer | 63.33 | 55.67 | 67.00 | 70.53 | NA | 60.33 | NA | NA |
| 30/10/84 | 23/10/92 | 27/01/88 | 26/04/90 | 15/11/93 | ||||
IBPS SO Career Growth
Below is the IBPS Specialist officer career hierarchy is as below:
- Junior Management – Scale 1 (Officer / Assistant Manager)
- Junior Management – Scale 2 (Manager)
- Middle Management – Scale 3 (Senior Manager)
- Senior Management – Scale 4 (Chief Manager)
- Senior Management – Scale 5 (Assistant General Manager)
- Top Management – Scale 6 (Deputy General Manager)
- Top Management – Scale 7 (General Manager)