This article meant for those who cleared RBI Grade “B” officer written exam in 2013 and preparing for interview stage:
- Prologue
- Questions asked to me:
- WARNING about low scores
- My observations about the RBI Interviews
- Work-profile of Grade “B” Officer
- Career growth/promotion as RBI Grade “B” Officer
- Job Hierarchy in RBI
Prologue
I had asked Mr.Ramdhan Dagar to share some wisdom about RBI interviews. (He was serving as RBI Grade “B” officer, then he got AIR-500 in Civil service exam 2012 exam- that too without coaching, and left the job.)
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Mr. Dagar replies through email:
Although I don’t remember all the details of what transpired during my RBI interview in 2012 now, but this is what I can share:
Questions asked to me:
- Graduation related: Two questions from cost accounting relating to standard costing and cost benefit analysis because I am a graduate in commerce.
- Location Based: They asked a lot about the social problems plaguing my home state (Haryana)- the most prominent was obviously relating to khap panchayats and the status of women in Haryana. Some questions about the industrial development in Haryana.
- RBI related: Absolutely nothing from economics. The entire interview related to questions on my educational and personal background.
- Hobby based: One question about my hobby.
- And one question that i distinctly remember was “are you preparing for civil services‘ and if yes what are your optional subjects?. (My advice is don’t try to hide it from them because they will ask this question only when they get sure about the candidate being an IAS aspirant).
WARNING about low scores
- RBI is notorious for awarding very poor marks in interview. There were people with me in training who even got 0(ZERO) out of 50.
- Scores of 5,6,7,8,9 10 are pretty common.
- Even people from the senior batches had same type of pathetic marks in interview.
- By the way I got 24 marks and the highest was 30. (Mrunal comments:- you had recieved three digit scores in each paper of Public Administration in civil service main 2012- that too without coaching, and now we know that you even got high score in RBI interviews. Indeed man, **respect**)
My observations about the RBI Interviews
- I didn’t find any coherency between the interviews of mine and my friends(when we discussed about it during our training in Chennai)
- It was total random stuff thrown at almost all the people but yes guys appearing this time should brush up their bio-data, the basic fundamentals of Indian economy and RBI related current affairs.
- One interesting thing about the interviews for the grade ‘b’ is that it is one single panel which interviews every candidate.
- The panel goes from one center to another to carry this out and the people interviewing are 5 out of which one would definitely be a very senior functionary of a public sector bank (executive director or something).
Work-profile of Grade “B” Officer
- It depends on the department the person lands up in and also on the regional office to some extent.
- The best place to work is obviously Mumbai for the simple reason that you can learn the in & outs of central banking there because of it being the headquarters.
- But yes there is immense diversity in the work that you do even within the departments.
- There are very good departments like the rural planning and credit dept, foreign exchange dept, external investments and operations dept., banking supervision etc and
- Then there’re graveyards like the issue dept.(dealing with currency), estate and premises dept etc.
- Overall the work culture is quite good with some excellent facilities provided to the employees.
Career growth/promotion as RBI Grade “B” Officer
- There is nothing to worry about in this one as it is only the grade ‘b’ officers who rise on in the organization and occupy the top seats.
- There are 2 (out of 4) posts of deputy governor reserved for grade ‘b’ officers.
- Also all the executive directors and regional directors are people who were recruited as grade ‘b’.
- Currently there’s problem only with the first promotion which takes about 7 years and then its 4 to 5 years on an average.
Job Hierarchy in RBI
- Governor
- Dy. Governor (total 4) please note: two seats are reserved for Grade “B” officers.
- ED (total 10)
- chief general manager (regional director) (gr f)
- general manager (grade E)
- deputy general manager (grade D)
- asst. general manager (grade C)
- manger (grade B)
- Asst. manager (grade A)
- senior assistants
- assistants/ stenographers
- other staff
The thing is about 90-95% people are under grade ‘b’ DR( direct recruit).
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Thanks a lot Mr.Dagar, for sharing these details with the aspirants.
@RBI players, kindly share your detailed interview experience in the comments, when it is over. Best wishes.
sir can u provde some matterial on AFSPA???
sir, can u provide information about the interview for Asst Manager at BRBNMPL-(a wholly owned subsidiary of Rbi)??? Is it same like that of RBI? On what topic should we prepare??
Have there any recruitment of RBI Grade ‘B’ officer post in this year i.e 2014? I am eagerly waiting for that. please give any information regarding that( the tentative dates.). & how should I prepare for that exam?
Interview Experience 13Mar’14,Mumbai
5 members in board.Interview lasted for almost 20mins.There were 15 candidates to be interviewed & my serial no. was 14.So, my Interview turn arrived at 2pm.
Questions:
1.Asked about significance of my name(Russian prince’s name & means victorious).
2.Questions related to my Graduation(B.Tech-I.T) like what is Data Base,Data Structures,HTML,Java programming language,Object Oriented Programming.
3.Questions on my work-exp in IBM-Middleware technology & its importance
4. Why is high growth necessary for India?
5. About Bhartiya Mahila Bank-what’s its purpose & was it really needed?
7. Asked me if I m preparing fr UPSC. When I said yes,they started asking questions on how can RBI contribute for poverty alleviation in India,Nachiket Mor recommendations,shadow banking?
8. Asked about my Reading interests-I mentioned 2 books that I recently read fr RBI-preparation viz-India’s Economy in a new Millennium & Emerging India both by Bimal Jalan.Then,they asked me what views/suggestions are given in those books.
The Panel is cordial but at the same time knows to grill candidates.
All I can say is prepare your profile/bio-data well,be honest & confident.
All the Best fr all having Interviews in Upcoming Days..:)
Thanx alot Nikita.Best of luck!!
hi nikita
can u pls share u prep plan for the xam, being a work ex girl how did u managed the time besides ur regular work
@Avik:I left my jobaftr 1yr & only then started preparing for UPSC-Civil Services.RBI Grade B Officers exam was a complementary to it.Following Mrunal sir’s site & got all info about the exam frm site.
my interview exp…
date 12th march at bhopal
five members in board
Questions…
why RBI? why left SBI?
role of central bank
rational behind CRR, SLR
MSF and diff btw repo and MSF
LTV, CD ratio, home loan advances
CIBIL and its working
Ukraine issue, Indo US relations (working in MEA)
some hobby related questions…
intrvw exprnc
rbi target approach while deciding repo rate
about growth inflation debate btwn govt n rbi
about crr how it controls liquidity
what are nbfc n what are systemically important nbfc
about rbi website n prtclry abt publication section
my interest is politics..so one or two questns on dat
My interview on 18-03 at Bengaluru:
1. State the contrasting feature we find when we compare India’s civil services with that of UK?
2. Are you happy with our growth position as of now? What is our potential? How can we achieve it?
3. Are you comfortable with rupee position? what steps did RBI take to improve it in recent past?
4. What steps are required to increase exports?
5. What is IFRS? Who decides it? What is India doing in this context? When is the deadline for the same?
6. What is WTO’s objective? Why is it failing in that?
The panel was very cooperative. Not much profile related questions for me. Good luck for upcoming interviews. :-)
Does RBI grade b streeses work experience?. Is it ok for having gap in career graph (like 3 years…mean while preparing for govt exams..)
Hi Srinivasan, gap should not be a problem. (It is the case for most of us)They could ask about the motivation behind trying for a certain exam. Some candidates are asked about their previous work experience and how that could be helpful in RBI.
thanks boss…
does anyone remember the question paper of all 3 subjects of phase 2 held on 9,10 nov. 2013.do they give question paper back to candidates in phase 2 ????please share it
Very good sharing of ur experience,,,,
Guys thanx a lot for sharing ur exp.well I have s few queries abt rbi grade b exam myself working in ubi as a branch manager my age is 29 @ present but when the adv.will b published I will b 30 till then so will I b eligible then , I have nearly 5 years banking exp. So I guess their mite be some exemption ??? N secondly presently my basic is 21700 n which is going to incremented soon n gross salary isvaround 50 k/ month .so in terms of salary will it be beneficial for me?? Plz help me out…
in terms of salary seems no benefit…but definitely u will get peace of mind..!!
I am in. Thank God.
do correspondence mba allowed to write the exam..
Yes why not
Can anybody tell me allotment process of rbi group b officer after selection… are they allot randomly or give any preferences…????
Hi,
Is it compulsory to have an experience certificate for the work experience shown. I do not have an experience certificate for 5 years of work that I have done, so should I mention my work experience in the application form or should I leave it out since I can’t show a certificate.
PS. I have my appointment letters of both companies and my resignation e-mail.
i am SC candidate with 57% in b.tech can i apply for RBI grade B officer post ?
MBA from IGNOU is good or not ? suggest any other distance education university better than IGNOU.
What is the depth of study required for the phase II of exam? Can students with engineering background clear it? At least how many months before one should start to prepare for it?
Hi sir,
I am an IT professional.. Are there IT related departments or work profile for a grade b officer ?
Thanks.
Mrunal, I’m so thankful to you for all your help with my preparation for the RBI exam. I did well in Phase II, thanks to you, and now I’m in. So although, I didn’t get through the IFoS exam, like I had hoped, this turned out to be a really good career option for me. Thanks once again. :D May God bless you!
Dear Debbie, Congrats and all the best for such a promising career.
I would like to know from you is what study material you used for preparing RBI Grade B Phase I as well as Phase II, Phase I Especially for general Knowledge.
Also I appreciate if any of you seeing this query take out your time to solve my query.
Waiting for your valuable replies, Please reply ASAP….
Dear Debbie first of all accept my heartiest congratulations for this profound success. Would you please tell me and others who have requested you to share exact prepration material other than that mentioned by Mrunal Sir that would be extremely helpful for all the participants and would guide them to success in the examination. Thanking you in Anticipation Please do reply ……
Hi Khushagra and Sandip. Thank you for your kind wishes. I’m sorry I couldn’t reply any earlier. I would love to share with you the strategies that were useful for me. For Phase I, I found a few online timed tests which gave me a little practice before the real deal, since it was my first time to appear for an exam of this kind (I’ve appeared for UPSC before). For preparation, I just did the regular things- like reading newspapers, learning about our banking system and reading Economics books (Ramesh Singh and Dutt & Sundaram). For Phase II, I concentrated on my strengths. Since my background in Economics was practically non-existent, I concentrated more on Social Issues, instead, and on Management section for the other paper. As far as I can recollect, I actually left out only a few questions. When I was running out of time, I just drew flowcharts and diagrams to complete the answer. Mrunal had very timely posted the previous years’ questions along with his analysis. It was very helpful for me in my preparation. I spent much of my time in writing answers to those questions (even if not complete answers, I prepared the framework for most of them). I also had access to my college library and there was a lot of material on Management and Banking, which really helped me. My parents and sister helped me in preparing for the interview. RBI’s website is a treasure trove of information (esp. useful for the interview). That’s it. Everyone will have their own strategies that work for them. I hope some of my suggestions help too! Other than that, I’ll just add that hard work and determination is the way to success. :D So good luck and may you all achieve your dreams!
thank you very much debbie for replying us this means a lot . Hopefully we with mrunal sir and pals like you we will soon secure our dream job in central banking institution
one more question debbie
for phase 1 genreal knowledge can u mention test series you took
Thank you very much for sharing your experience and strategy. It’ll surely help :)
sir i had been slected for rbi assistance. so plese help me for my interview preparation
Hey Debbie,
Could you please guide me for interview as I have 4 years of GAP after 2.5 years working with TCS. I have been helping to Students for PO, SSC exams especially from Hindi medium background students. How should I justify GAP Years??
Congrats Debbie. I know I am not the first person to wish but best wishes. My aim was to become an grade b officer, so pls tell me which books i have to study for phase 2. Wish you once again.
sir i have applies RBI GR B Officr post.i want to konw how to prepare and what are material to be used to crack thew both level of exam sir .now i am working as Assistantin PSB
Hi Mrunal,
Thanks for all the help you are providing for young aspirants.Could please tell how to prepare for phase II part as I am from computer Science graduate and have very less idea about finance and economics? Waiting for your reply .Thanks
Hi Nim, hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to assure you that there is no need to be afraid. Take some time to figure out which portions you will be comfortable answering in the written phase. If you’ve had previous work experience, the interview is going to be a breeze. I am a life science graduate, pursuing M.Sc. Biotech, and I got 5th rank in the exam. :P A lot of it was luck, but some of it was also because I was able to decide which sections of the papers I needed to concentrate on. English was a plus and really gave me an edge over the more experienced candidates with economics and banking backgrounds. Besides English, I followed Mrunal’s posts on social issues and management. Spend some time going over the syllabus and previous years’ question papers. Those will definitely help you with your preparation. Also, I’m recommending this to anyone I can, please familiarize yourself with the RBI website. Its got a lot of information relevant to the exam. Good luck! :D
Thank you so much Debbie.Well I am following your tips and mrunal sir’s posts.Hope to crack this one.
Thanks mrunal sir for all the material you are providing for us.My query is as mentioned in the interview some got 0 in interview so the marks doesnt count for interview or what?
Also I want to know the phase II exam all three papers will be conducted on the same day or different day co its saying 3 hrs each.Please reply I am appearinf first time for it ?
Congrats debbie!!! I wish you have a bright career ahead.Even i want to know what material did you use for phase 1(specially economics)& phase2 since im also preparing for the same exam.
Thanks Pallavi. :) I have shared the strategy and materials I used for the exam in a previous post on this thread. Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Congrats debbie ! , can you share how you prepared for GA section of phase 1.
hello mam. I need to ask a thing. I hv done B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT BHU. and really want to get through this. I am currently working as a faculty in ALLEN(IIT coaching). Do they consider freshers for Gr B. Please help. I am in a real fix..
@debbie
how long did you prepare for?
Also how did you find the difficulty level vis. csat?
Do you have job experience. If no, was it a disadvantage at the interview stage
Thanks
Hi ! I just wanted to know that how much time is required to prepare for phase 2 exam? And which language should we prefer in intervew? As i am from engginering background how difficult for me to crack this exam?
Hi, mrunal sir
I have just applied for rbi grade b officer dr. My prep for paper I is goin smooth, but for paper II i am completely lost. I have no economics or finance background. I just dont understand wer to start from n which books to follow, what should be the strategy. Plz help.
hello guys… can anyone give an idea regarding the transfers in grade b post in rbi… i am an assistant in central secretariat service..group b cadre.. grade pay 4600.. i dont want to get settled in delhi… (because mine is a delhi based job)…
i just want to get settled in south india… this time i have applied for this grade b post in rbi.. but people are saying that once in four years, v wud get transfer orders… is that true… i need the facts.. please… i am very much confused.. can any one gimme the actual things happening in rbi regarding the transfer, in case i get into rbi in grade b officer cadre