Hello raman and all followers of bankexamtoday. My name is not John Walpole, but, romey(I am not an expert technocrat like Raman , so I can’t start a blog or anything. But I am willing to help each and everyone without anything in return, up to my maximum potential. In this regard I have been inspired by raman. ) this is the full text of my interview.
After initial scrutiny and checking of certificates, we were told to go to waiting room.I met many people we chatted on different topics. A noticeable number were still struggling with the fact that they had not passed the exam before due date as mentioned in the IBPS advt.. Such candidates were not allowed to appear in the interview. When I was called to the room, I prepared to enter. As I had a terrible accident few months ago , I was walking with crutches.
I forgot to ask for permission to enter the room as I was too busy managing my crutches and my resume file. Just when I was about to wish them good morning, they told me to sit down. I sat down on the chair and looked around me.
(there were 4 interviewers and I was shocked that there was no woman in the panel as I had thought that a woman is necessary in the panel)
………………………………………………………..
I1= so, you are graduate.
Me= yes sir, I am a simple graduate.
I1= simple graduate!! What is a complex graduate?
Me= sir , I meant , I am bachelor of arts and not a science grad
I1= beta what happened to your leg?
Me= nothing much sir, its just a fracture and I am very hopeful that I will be walking , without crutches very soon.
*if I had told them that I had multiple fractures in my leg then, I think they would have not considered me seriously
I2= why do you want to join banking?
Me=sir , banking has changed a lot in recent years, as banking is a fast growing sector in India due to factors like financial inclusion , micro-finance and increasing number of branches, there are ample opportunities for growth. One can get promotion if one shows the results. He does not have to wait for 10-15 years for a promotion like in state govt. Departments. One does not has to pay bribe , but show performance.
*i was going on and on but he stopped me. Please do note that things like bank job is my dream job ….. I always wanted to be a banker… don’t work
I1=you mentioned micro-finance & financial inclusion. Can you explain these?
Me=as both these terms overlap in Indian economic context. People have mobile phones but they don’t have a bank account as they don’t know the value of it. So the practice of bringing them into the banking fold , by way of opening no-frills accounts, is called financial inclusion.
It is also these people who also need micro-finance for their small needs, banks should encourage such people to take loans from banks as these people mostly pay back their loans. And these people rarely falter on payments.
I1=how will you encourage people to open account with the bank? Will you go door to door?
Me= no sir, why will i go door to door. I will instead meet sarpanch of the village or other influential person. I will also resort to muniyaadi as it is still a popular thing with villagers. I will tell them the importance of having a bank account. How to help in getting benefits from government like scholarships and gas subsidy
He interrupted me asking what if someone does not want subsidy
Me= i said it is up to him i cant beg someone. But this is India sir. People will take subsidies if we make them understand that having a bank account means that they will be getting the benefits themselves and no politician or officer can steal the money coming into bank accounts.
I2=you said they don’t falter on payments. But other big borrowers who falter on payments, what should the bank do with them?
Me= I explained the whole concept of NPAs and also some things about Sarfaesi act as i had read it in a jaiib book.
I2=does a bank has to issue notice before selling someone’s property under Sarfaesi act?
Me=obviously sir, that way we are giving an opportunity to te borrower to pay back the amount. And it is also legally tenable as without proper notice, even a defaulter will be able to get a stay from the court. This will in turn cause loss to the bank.
I2= do you think that you can do justice to this job of bank officer in this condition? (referring to my fractured leg)
Me = respected sir, do you know who is the longest serving american president?
*i knew they would ask me this question, so i had prepared the answer after giving it a long thought.
He replied that all us presidents have the same tenure if they serve two terms which is maximum they can serve.
I explained further, no sir, F D Roosevelt is the longest serving us president and he served four terms. He was paralyzed below waist. If he can lead his nation in world war 2 ,why can’t i serve as a bank officer with this temporary condition.
I1= so , you are saying that bank officer’s job is easy?
Me= no sir i am just saying that a person can overcome any adversity if he wants to.
I2= you are just a graduate , don’t you think that , it is essential to have a professional degree like MBA, MCA?
Me= sir, if this were the case, IBPS would have mentioned it in advt. If a graduate is deemed fit to become an IAS officer, he can surely become a PO.
I1= what do you know about NABARD?
Me= i just went blank in my head and murmured national bank, but then i remembered raman’s advice about not giving wrong answers and i instantly said i don’t know.
Ii1=don’t you know anything about it?
Me= sir i just know that it formulates policies for rural and agriculture sector.
*at this point they tried to confuse me and i3 also joined them.
I3= how does it implement its policies? Does it give financial assistance also?
Me=sir , they only formulate policies . Implementation is up to the banks and governments.
Ii3=then how does the money reach the people?
Me=through rrbs and other rural programmes.
Ii2=does it give money directly to rrbs?
Me=no sir , rrbs are financed by various banks. Like punjab grameen by pnb , sutlej grameen by psb, malwa grameen by sbop. While nabard is mainly concerned with allocation of financial resources, co-ordination between state and central governments for implementation of its programmes.
Ii3= so you are saying that nabard has no role to play in rrbs?
Me=i hesitated and ….. Then i said, respected sir, i don’t know the answer but as rrbs are also banks so they must be functioning under the purview of rbi too.
I1= so state government don’t play any role in rrbs?
Me=sir…………………………
*at this point they had a hearty laugh and i2 said to i3 hawa ch soti chala reha, bass lagg jaave, to this i3 replied in hindi aa gaya uth pahaad ke neeche
after this i became fully alert and decided to answer only the questions i was sure of. Nabard question was the worst part of my interview.
I2= you mentioned nabard, rbi, central and state govts…. They all formulate policies …… do you think we need so many regulators?
Me=sir, united states has a laissez faire capitalistic economy with minimum regulations & very less governmental control and see what happened to their economy.
Ii2= their economy collapsed while ours remained stable
Me= sir, do we want that same fate for our economy? So i think having multiple regulators is a good idea but it should not hamper our economic progress.
*i read it in a P.Chidambaram interview , and said the same things to interviewers. I guess Chidambaram’s Harvard education paid off for me lol! Anyhow they were visibly impressed with my answer.
I2= what will you do if you are posted outside Punjab. Me=so what? Sir, i will go anywhere the bank sends me. Naukri mein kasia nakhra
4th interviewer was sitting on the left side , may be he was observing my body language. This time he also entered the questioning.
I4=can you name 5 pms from past?
Me= Nehru , Shastri, * i realized i am not talking among friends and i am in an interview, so i started taking names with some respect
J.L.nehru, Lal bahadur shastri , Indira Gandhi, Moraji desai, Charn singh , Rajiv Gandhi, Chandrashekhar, V P Singh, Narsimha Rao.
* they stopped me again started laughing and said political science da student hai…. One of them said , beta aap Guljari Lal nanda ka naam lena bhul gaye
I replied that he was only an acting pm before and after Shastri and not a regular pm. You only asked me the names of PMs
I4=can you tell us the name of 3 female cms?
Me= Mamta banerjee, Vasundhra Raje, Jayalalitha Jayaram
*he asked me why I said Jairam. I explained that Jairam is a patronymic and therefore her name J. Jayalalitha actually means Jayalalitha Jairam. As she is not married, she still uses her father’s name.
ii2= beta you seem to have a lot of interest in politics?
Me= absolutely not sir. As a student of sociology, i always analyse the sociological aspect of news, be it political or economic news.
* never show any interest in politics during an interview. Because such candidates are believed to be an easy catch for bank unions and higher ranking bank officials never like union members. Once you are in the bank you can actively participate in any union activity.
*they did not seem to have any more questions and asked me if i would have tea /biscuits . One of them even lifted a plate of my favourite onion garlic lays chips and offered it to me. But i politely declined by saying < sir i am still not at a stage where i can have snacks with you. May be after 10 years when i become a scale 3 officer, i will be truly deserving of sharing snack with you>
*i was advised to do so by my wife as she was not selected in any bank where they offered toffees to candidates as the candidates , who took toffees were not selected. I don’t know the logic behind it, but better safe than be sorry.
Then they said okay beta, you are intelligent and you can still study, to this i replied,”i need a job to study” how can i study without any regular earning. This was an awkward thing to say. Instead i should have just thanked them. Anyhow i thanked them and came out of the room.
……………………………………………………………………………………
Candidates wearing extravagant clothing items were only given 3 -4 minutes in interview. Now , when i asked them about their selection, most of them were failed in interview. I don’t think spiky cut hair and ankle length shoes go down well with the interviewers. My request and advice to all is to dress as simply as possible. Once we get the job, we can dress according to our own will.
*i have nothing against women fashion. But one should know that having neatly tied hair are far better than untied hair. Please give one day break to nail art. Wear minimum gold jewelry.
*those who have a habit of chewing gum, should completely refrain from it. It gives an impression to interviewers that one is not serious about the interview.
* whether male or female, if possible wear no rings to your interview.
*just try to package yourself as a lower middle class guy/girl who needs a job.
*never ever tell the interviewer that you are from affluent family. I mean if you are from a business family, just say shopkeeper if they ask about your father’s profession.
*from my point of view, it goes against woman candidates to say their husbands are already doing a job. To say he is a job seeker is very very safe.the interviewers will think that a husband won’t let her go to another city for job. As it will also mean transferring his job to another city also.
*never ever go to the interview with colored streaks in hair. Those seem particular deal breaker.
*it is considered auspicious to have a tilak on forehead but its better if we go without it.
This is based on my experience only and one can follow his heart if you don’t like my suggestions.
After initial scrutiny and checking of certificates, we were told to go to waiting room.I met many people we chatted on different topics. A noticeable number were still struggling with the fact that they had not passed the exam before due date as mentioned in the IBPS advt.. Such candidates were not allowed to appear in the interview. When I was called to the room, I prepared to enter. As I had a terrible accident few months ago , I was walking with crutches.
I forgot to ask for permission to enter the room as I was too busy managing my crutches and my resume file. Just when I was about to wish them good morning, they told me to sit down. I sat down on the chair and looked around me.
(there were 4 interviewers and I was shocked that there was no woman in the panel as I had thought that a woman is necessary in the panel)
………………………………………………………..
I1= so, you are graduate.
Me= yes sir, I am a simple graduate.
I1= simple graduate!! What is a complex graduate?
Me= sir , I meant , I am bachelor of arts and not a science grad
I1= beta what happened to your leg?
Me= nothing much sir, its just a fracture and I am very hopeful that I will be walking , without crutches very soon.
*if I had told them that I had multiple fractures in my leg then, I think they would have not considered me seriously
I2= why do you want to join banking?
Me=sir , banking has changed a lot in recent years, as banking is a fast growing sector in India due to factors like financial inclusion , micro-finance and increasing number of branches, there are ample opportunities for growth. One can get promotion if one shows the results. He does not have to wait for 10-15 years for a promotion like in state govt. Departments. One does not has to pay bribe , but show performance.
*i was going on and on but he stopped me. Please do note that things like bank job is my dream job ….. I always wanted to be a banker… don’t work
I1=you mentioned micro-finance & financial inclusion. Can you explain these?
Me=as both these terms overlap in Indian economic context. People have mobile phones but they don’t have a bank account as they don’t know the value of it. So the practice of bringing them into the banking fold , by way of opening no-frills accounts, is called financial inclusion.
It is also these people who also need micro-finance for their small needs, banks should encourage such people to take loans from banks as these people mostly pay back their loans. And these people rarely falter on payments.
I1=how will you encourage people to open account with the bank? Will you go door to door?
Me= no sir, why will i go door to door. I will instead meet sarpanch of the village or other influential person. I will also resort to muniyaadi as it is still a popular thing with villagers. I will tell them the importance of having a bank account. How to help in getting benefits from government like scholarships and gas subsidy
He interrupted me asking what if someone does not want subsidy
Me= i said it is up to him i cant beg someone. But this is India sir. People will take subsidies if we make them understand that having a bank account means that they will be getting the benefits themselves and no politician or officer can steal the money coming into bank accounts.
I2=you said they don’t falter on payments. But other big borrowers who falter on payments, what should the bank do with them?
Me= I explained the whole concept of NPAs and also some things about Sarfaesi act as i had read it in a jaiib book.
I2=does a bank has to issue notice before selling someone’s property under Sarfaesi act?
Me=obviously sir, that way we are giving an opportunity to te borrower to pay back the amount. And it is also legally tenable as without proper notice, even a defaulter will be able to get a stay from the court. This will in turn cause loss to the bank.
I2= do you think that you can do justice to this job of bank officer in this condition? (referring to my fractured leg)
Me = respected sir, do you know who is the longest serving american president?
*i knew they would ask me this question, so i had prepared the answer after giving it a long thought.
He replied that all us presidents have the same tenure if they serve two terms which is maximum they can serve.
I explained further, no sir, F D Roosevelt is the longest serving us president and he served four terms. He was paralyzed below waist. If he can lead his nation in world war 2 ,why can’t i serve as a bank officer with this temporary condition.
I1= so , you are saying that bank officer’s job is easy?
Me= no sir i am just saying that a person can overcome any adversity if he wants to.
I2= you are just a graduate , don’t you think that , it is essential to have a professional degree like MBA, MCA?
Me= sir, if this were the case, IBPS would have mentioned it in advt. If a graduate is deemed fit to become an IAS officer, he can surely become a PO.
I1= what do you know about NABARD?
Me= i just went blank in my head and murmured national bank, but then i remembered raman’s advice about not giving wrong answers and i instantly said i don’t know.
Ii1=don’t you know anything about it?
Me= sir i just know that it formulates policies for rural and agriculture sector.
*at this point they tried to confuse me and i3 also joined them.
I3= how does it implement its policies? Does it give financial assistance also?
Me=sir , they only formulate policies . Implementation is up to the banks and governments.
Ii3=then how does the money reach the people?
Me=through rrbs and other rural programmes.
Ii2=does it give money directly to rrbs?
Me=no sir , rrbs are financed by various banks. Like punjab grameen by pnb , sutlej grameen by psb, malwa grameen by sbop. While nabard is mainly concerned with allocation of financial resources, co-ordination between state and central governments for implementation of its programmes.
Ii3= so you are saying that nabard has no role to play in rrbs?
Me=i hesitated and ….. Then i said, respected sir, i don’t know the answer but as rrbs are also banks so they must be functioning under the purview of rbi too.
I1= so state government don’t play any role in rrbs?
Me=sir…………………………
*at this point they had a hearty laugh and i2 said to i3 hawa ch soti chala reha, bass lagg jaave, to this i3 replied in hindi aa gaya uth pahaad ke neeche
after this i became fully alert and decided to answer only the questions i was sure of. Nabard question was the worst part of my interview.
I2= you mentioned nabard, rbi, central and state govts…. They all formulate policies …… do you think we need so many regulators?
Me=sir, united states has a laissez faire capitalistic economy with minimum regulations & very less governmental control and see what happened to their economy.
Ii2= their economy collapsed while ours remained stable
Me= sir, do we want that same fate for our economy? So i think having multiple regulators is a good idea but it should not hamper our economic progress.
*i read it in a P.Chidambaram interview , and said the same things to interviewers. I guess Chidambaram’s Harvard education paid off for me lol! Anyhow they were visibly impressed with my answer.
I2= what will you do if you are posted outside Punjab. Me=so what? Sir, i will go anywhere the bank sends me. Naukri mein kasia nakhra
4th interviewer was sitting on the left side , may be he was observing my body language. This time he also entered the questioning.
I4=can you name 5 pms from past?
Me= Nehru , Shastri, * i realized i am not talking among friends and i am in an interview, so i started taking names with some respect
J.L.nehru, Lal bahadur shastri , Indira Gandhi, Moraji desai, Charn singh , Rajiv Gandhi, Chandrashekhar, V P Singh, Narsimha Rao.
* they stopped me again started laughing and said political science da student hai…. One of them said , beta aap Guljari Lal nanda ka naam lena bhul gaye
I replied that he was only an acting pm before and after Shastri and not a regular pm. You only asked me the names of PMs
I4=can you tell us the name of 3 female cms?
Me= Mamta banerjee, Vasundhra Raje, Jayalalitha Jayaram
*he asked me why I said Jairam. I explained that Jairam is a patronymic and therefore her name J. Jayalalitha actually means Jayalalitha Jairam. As she is not married, she still uses her father’s name.
ii2= beta you seem to have a lot of interest in politics?
Me= absolutely not sir. As a student of sociology, i always analyse the sociological aspect of news, be it political or economic news.
* never show any interest in politics during an interview. Because such candidates are believed to be an easy catch for bank unions and higher ranking bank officials never like union members. Once you are in the bank you can actively participate in any union activity.
*they did not seem to have any more questions and asked me if i would have tea /biscuits . One of them even lifted a plate of my favourite onion garlic lays chips and offered it to me. But i politely declined by saying < sir i am still not at a stage where i can have snacks with you. May be after 10 years when i become a scale 3 officer, i will be truly deserving of sharing snack with you>
*i was advised to do so by my wife as she was not selected in any bank where they offered toffees to candidates as the candidates , who took toffees were not selected. I don’t know the logic behind it, but better safe than be sorry.
Then they said okay beta, you are intelligent and you can still study, to this i replied,”i need a job to study” how can i study without any regular earning. This was an awkward thing to say. Instead i should have just thanked them. Anyhow i thanked them and came out of the room.
……………………………………………………………………………………
Now I want to discuss the fate of other candidates
I stayed there as i wanted to see how much time is being given to given to other candidates and what will be the impact on results. We had exchanged our fb ids and i can say these thing convincingly.Candidates wearing extravagant clothing items were only given 3 -4 minutes in interview. Now , when i asked them about their selection, most of them were failed in interview. I don’t think spiky cut hair and ankle length shoes go down well with the interviewers. My request and advice to all is to dress as simply as possible. Once we get the job, we can dress according to our own will.
*i have nothing against women fashion. But one should know that having neatly tied hair are far better than untied hair. Please give one day break to nail art. Wear minimum gold jewelry.
*those who have a habit of chewing gum, should completely refrain from it. It gives an impression to interviewers that one is not serious about the interview.
* whether male or female, if possible wear no rings to your interview.
*just try to package yourself as a lower middle class guy/girl who needs a job.
*never ever tell the interviewer that you are from affluent family. I mean if you are from a business family, just say shopkeeper if they ask about your father’s profession.
*from my point of view, it goes against woman candidates to say their husbands are already doing a job. To say he is a job seeker is very very safe.the interviewers will think that a husband won’t let her go to another city for job. As it will also mean transferring his job to another city also.
*never ever go to the interview with colored streaks in hair. Those seem particular deal breaker.
*it is considered auspicious to have a tilak on forehead but its better if we go without it.
This is based on my experience only and one can follow his heart if you don’t like my suggestions.
