Bank job aspirants have found themselves in a fix with two crucial examinations being scheduled on the same day. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) and Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) have both listed their recruitment exams for January 20 (Sunday), leaving candidates in a predicament.
IBPS conducts exams to recruit Probationary Officers (PO) and clerks for all the nationalised banks in the country. Started in 2011, these exams are much sought after by those looking for banking jobs due to the job security, pay scale and benefits in the field being considerably better than private sector jobs. The number of clerical vacancies for which IBPS is conducting exams this year is more than 7,200 across India. The IBPS Clerical Mains Exam has been scheduled for January 20 this year.
Apart from IBPS, private banks and the banks that fall within the State Bank of India group conduct their own tests to recruit people as POs and clerks. This year, Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s exam to hire probationary officers is also scheduled for the same date as the IBPS exams. This has put a lot of candidates in dilemma since the timings for both these exams clash and the examination centres are different.
For instance, Tamizh, an aspirant from Melmaruvathur in Tamil Nadu, tells TNM that he had prepared to tackle both exams. “The fee for LVB exam was Rs 700. It is not even about the money now. It is about wasted opportunity. As a banking aspirant, I have worked hard to get through both the exams, but now, I am compelled to choose. I am sure many candidates like me would want to appear for both the exams,” he says. He also points out that IBPS is the one remaining gateway for a job in public sector banks for candidates who could not clear SBI exams.
However, this clashing of dates is not new in the domain of banking exams. TNM spoke to a few people who have taken bank exams before, and they say that the date clashes happen all the time.
“They always mention tentative dates for all the exams, which can be changed when they come to know of the schedule,” says Subhash from Thiruvarur, who has been giving bank exams for the past two years. Requests from candidates to IBPS to reschedule the exams don’t work either. They are met with replies from IBPS asserting that the date, time and venue of the exams cannot be changed.
TNM has reached out to IBPS as well as LVB and is yet to receive a response.
