Careers in Banking after Graduation

Banking – as a Career in India

Banking has always been a lucrative career for young graduates. With the push of financial inclusion, new banks coming in and the initiatives taken by the Indian Government to prioritise JAM (Jandhan, Aadhar, Mobile transactions), the Indian economy is exponentially increasing the opportunities, especially for Banking aspirants. RBI has issued 21 new banking licences out of which 11 new banks are already operational. They include two full-service banks (IDFC and Bandhan), seven Small Finance Banks and two Payment Banks.

 Why choose a Banking Sector Job?

The Banking sector offers the best opportunities for graduates, compared to other industries. Even when the overall job creation was low, the Banking sector contributed the maximum towards employment in FY2017 – roughly around 21%. In addition to this, here are some more advantages of a career in the banking industry

Ø  Comparatively high job security, even in the private sector

Ø  Competitive compensation

Ø  Good social standing

Ø  High growth sector

 How to get a job in the Banking Sector?

For a graduate, there are various ways to start a career in Banking. The most popular & aspirational route, is to join a Public Sector Bank (PSB), as a Probationary Officer (PO).

Before we look at the ‘How’, let us quickly see What a Probationary Officer does!

A Probationary Officer designated as an Assistant Manager in a Public Sector bank. After spending the initial 12-24 months in probation, he/she gets confirmed as Assistant Manager.

The responsibilities of a Bank PO Interview, would be –

Ø  Bringing in Business: As a PO, you’re expected to bring in revenues by promoting the products of the bank and its partners. These products include fixed deposits, mutual funds, insurance policies, credit cards etc.,

Ø  Reporting: A major part of the POs responsibility is generating End of Day reports (deposits, withdrawals etc.,), managing the day’s closings to avoid any mismatch.

Ø  Customer Service: Involves servicing branch customers in account opening, deposits, receipts, ATM cards, chequebooks, loans etc., Note that this is not a direct responsibility of a PO, as these services are predominantly handled by the clerical staff.

Ø  Other major responsibilities include Cash Handling, Payment clearance, Managing internal communication, Supervision of clerical work, Loan processing, etc.

Coming to the ‘How’ –

 IBPS PO Exam:

All Public Sector Banks (PSBs) except SBI, hire Probationary Officers (POs) through the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) exam. IBPS conducts the PO exams once in a year. Aspirants will have to clear Prelims, Mains and IBPS Interview, to get selected. The procedure is common across all the Public Sector Banks, except SBI. At the end of the process, you will be allocated to the bank you have selected, based on your preference and ranking.

Note that, the Ibps PO exam is fiercely competitive! Here are some statistics –

In 2016, for 8862 vacancies, a mammoth 30 lakh candidates appeared for the prelims! Out of which, 1.8 lakh candidates were selected for Mains and just 27,000 – about 3:1 – made it to the interviews.

Click here to know more about the IBPS Bank PO exam, 2018.

 The SBI PO Exam:

Did you know, State Bank of India (SBI) was once the Central Bank? That is, it performed the function that RBI, the banking regulator, performs today! SBI is the largest bank in India with more than 2 Lakh employees. It separately conducts its own PO exam to recruit Probationary Officers. Every PO aspirant aspires to join State Bank of India.

Similar to IBPS, 25 lakh+ candidates applied for a mere 2403 vacancies in SBI PO 2017. 6376 candidates made it to the Personal Interview round.

Click here to know more about the SBI PO exam.

Given the competitive nature of the exams, you must prepare wisely – for all the stages, not just the written exams.

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – Grade ‘B’ Officer:

RBI’s grade B Officer is one of the most prestigious banking jobs that graduates aspire to get into. Thanks to the attractive take-home salaries of approximately INR 65,000 that grade B officers start their career with. Also it’s more cool to work for the Banker of Banks, rather than a Bank, right?

Having said that, there were only 161 vacancies announced in 2017 and 2 lakh+ applicants! Which means tougher competition to get in!.

 Private Sector Banks:

If the chances of getting into a public sector bank or RBI seem farfetched to you, an equal or better career is up for grabs in the Private banking sector.

 Why the Private Sector?

Let’s get something straight! Public sector bank jobs are no more your relaxing, settled for life peaceful jobs! Bad loans piled up over years at the PSBs, has led to a major shake-up. The government is getting Public sector banks to follow their private counterparts in terms of efficiency, HR policies, Risk Management etc., Targets and sales pressure will also become a reality here, as in the Private sector; but you may not see the same level of growth, that you can in the Private sector.

Read this comprehensive article to know what the private sector is and the various opportunities here. [Includes the list of new banks now operational]

Unlike PSBs and RBI grade ‘B’officer exams, there’s no ‘One Exam Cracks All’ formula for the private banks. You need to keep a track of the openings in each bank and apply for it, basis your competencies and eligibility. Here’s a list of some popular private banks and their career pages.

Ø  HDFC Bank – http://www.hdfcbank.com/aboutus/careers/

Ø  ICICI Bank – http://www.icicicareers.com/

Ø  Axis Bank – http://www.axisbank.com/careers/

Ø  IDFC Bank – https://careers.idfcbank.com/

Ø  Yes Bank – https://www.yesbank.in/work-with-us/career-opportunities

Ø  Bandhan Bank – https://www.bandhanbank.com/recruitment.aspx

Ø  IndusInd Bank – http://www.indusind.com/careers

As the career page will have a huge bunch of CVs, you must write a crisp, CUSTOMISED cover note for each bank; your CV must have a standout factor, to get it shortlisted. A great project, internship or a banking-specific certification, are a must-have.

How to become a Research Analyst

“Yes, this stock has hit its peak; this is the right time to sell”. Where does this recommendation come from? How do Mutual Funds or Wealth management companies decide, which stocks to invest in? The answer lies in the extremely interesting field of Equity Research.

Broadly, there are two methods of analyzing a stock’s performance:

The ‘Fundamental Analysis’ approach, looks at the fundamental factors driving stock value: the economy, industry and the company’s financials. Using these, it then arrives at a fair value. The basic idea here is, the price of a stock should, finally, reflect its actual value.

It often doesn’t. Prices are also driven by herd mentality, fear, greed and mismatches between the demand and supply of the stock!

So, if a stock is trading at below its fair value, then you’d buy it – its price should go up, to the fair value; and vice versa.

Technical Analysis, on the other hand, is based on the principle that past investor behaviour will repeat in the future. That is, price movements in the past, will repeat in the future. It involves pure analysis of the past patterns of stock price movements.

In real life, most professionals use a combination of both.

As a fresher, how do you get the knowledge, to enter this field? First, let us understand the roles available to you. We can then see, how to get there.

Broadly, entry level roles are available in –

(a) The businesses which actually do the trading Brokerage firms. They need the research, so that they can advise their clients. They use these research reports, to showcase their expertise as well. Examples are IIFL, Angel Broking, Anand Rathi, etc.

(b) Global investment houses such as Goldman Sachs, Nomura have their captive research units (KPOs) in India, where Analysts will research not just Indian stocks, but stocks in other markets too. Traders will make decisions, or recommend investments to clients, basis this analysis.

There are third party KPOs as well, who handle the research for a range of clients – again, these are usually, global financial institutions. Examples of third party KPOs are Copal Amba, Crisil, Evalueserv, etc.

A brokerage firm typically prefers people with experience; at the least, an MBA in Finance. Fresher’s have more options in a KPO: the client there would lay out a template, and you would have very specific tasks.

In either case, your designation will usually be ‘Research Analyst’ or ‘Research Associate’.

An Analyst starts by doing some basic analysis such as calculating ratios using standard templates built in-house. She soon starts specializing in a particular industry such as IT, Healthcare, Auto, etc. She needs to acquire in-depth knowledge of a particular sector, in order to grow as an Analyst. This is because, a lot of factors external to the company, affect that particular industry. For example, US visa and outsourcing rules, will impact the Indian IT industry.

Within the Research team, it’s a fairly flat structure. You’ll grow quickly to doing the complete analysis of a company. However, the final report and recommendation (Buy?/Hold?/Sell?) is done by the head of Analysis for that sector.

So, how do you get there?

This is a competitive field! First, make a list of ten companies in each – Brokerages, Captive and Third Party KPOs, you can apply to. Second, find out the head of research on LinkedIn, for each company – you can also derive the email ID, by using the ‘firstname.lastname@companyurl.com’ format.

Write to each of them, with a customized cover note, and your CV.

But for the CV to catch their attention, you have to make sure, you have a great CV AND the right knowledge, to crack the interview. You must showcase your focus in this area – either via an internship, a project and/or a good short term course, with an industry endorsed certification. An extremely relevant one is the FLIP-NCFM certification on Equity Research issued by NSE. Once you’ve done this, you can also add on a FLIP Certification in Technical Analysis – both of them together, with give you a Research Analyst certification.