Please find below my interview experience at Union Bank of India. I hope it will help bank PO aspirants in some ways.
My education : BE + MBA
currently working as a PO in an SBI sponsored RRB.
Interview location : Mumbai
First thing to be noted is that UBI people were in haste to wind up all interviews. Most
of the interviews held before mine hardly lasted for more than 5 minutes. In few cases, they merely asked candidates 'tell me about yourself' and after getting answer, replied, "ok you may go now."
My turn was at 12 pm and I reached the venue at 11:20 am. Document verification process went on for few minutes and my turn came around 12:15 pm.
I entered the room, there were three members. (1 of them was an IAS officer, as per other candidates)
------------------------------
So Mr.Joshi, you're coming from Gujarat. Good. Please have a seat.
Me : Yes Sir. I am from Gujarat. Thank you.
One of the persons took my form in hand and asked.
So Joshi tell me, why have you taken up MBA Marketing after Engineering?
Me : Sir when I was on the verge of completion of Engineering, I realized that if I pursue post graduation in management after Engineering, it would help me in getting more diversified job profiles and it would also help me grow faster in my professional life.
Interviewer : Okay. But why did you opt for Marketing?
Me : Sir, I have fair communication skills and public dealing skills. Also Marketing is an ever green filed which helps you in almost every sector you work with. Therefore I chose Marketing as my specialization in post graduation.
Interviewer : Did you take up any assignments after Engineering? Come on, you must have got some good opportunities after Engineering.
Me : Sir, I was very sure about pursuing PG in Management. Therefore I focused on its entrance exams and did not go for technical jobs.
Interviewer : But you've mentioned in your form that you've worked with a manufacturing firm.
Me : Sir, I joined that job after MBA., not after BE. It wasn't a technical job and I was into Marketing Communication department.
Interviewer : Oh yes yes. Sorry I misunderstood. So, what do you do at present?
Me : At present, I have been working with Saurashtra Gramin Bank, which is an RRB sponsored by State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer.
Interviewer : So you're already a bank PO. Since how long have you been working with RRB?
Me : Sir, I have recently joined RRB. I am about to complete 2 months.
Interviewer : Since you are a PO since 2 months, you must be aware about how a bank works. I mean, its basic functions.
Me : Yes Sir, I have tried to learn as much as possible about bank's general functions in these two months.
Interviewer : But dear, you are already into JMGS Scale - 1. What is the rationale in joining UBI?
Me : Sir as you know, RRBs are the extended arms of various nationalized banks. They dedicatedly work for agriculture financing and to accomplish the vision of financial inclusion.. They are good institutions to work with, but they have limited reach. Also, every corporate entity is an assimilation of the knowledge of all the people who work for it. So the bigger this system, the bigger will be this knowledge bank and the better will be my chances for learning and growth. Also, a nationalized bank can give me national exposure which I cannot expect working with an RRB. (then I made a humorous comment) - Sir working with RRB is like playing in Ranji Trophy and working with a nationalized bank like UBI is like playing for national team. Both are different.
All 3 broke into laughter with this comment. (I don't know whether it was okay to make such a humorous comment, but it was spontaneous and it just happened!)
Interviewer (smiling) : But Ranji Trophy is also a link to the national team, and you are anyway being paid the same as a national team player.
Me : Sir, playing for national team is a matter of privilege, which is beyond monetary benefits.
Interviewer : Alright. Now tell me about the advances portfolio of an RRB?
Me : Sir as I said earlier, RRBs work for agriculture financing and to accomplish financial inclusion. Their advances portfolio comprises mostly of advances for - crops, tractors, minor irrigation, self help groups etc. But tehsil and district level branches have a fair amount of business in regular loans like - home loans, vehicle loans, educational loans etc. But still the major focus is on agriculture financing.
Interviewer : How many RRBs does SBI have?
Me : I am not very sure Sir, but SBI owns around 12-15 RRBs in various states. In Gujarat, they have only 1 RRB.
Interviewer : Okay, so they have 1 RRB in Gujarat, hmmm. What is the share-holding pattern of an RRB?
Me : (Confidently) Sir every RRB has 50% stake of central govt, 15% stake of state govt and 35% stake of its sponsor bank.
Interviewer : Hmmmm. Which is the best quality a leader should possess?
Me : Sir leadership, whether formal or informal, is all about taking charge. Coming forward and owing the responsibility. So I think for any leader, having the attitude to 'take the charge' and 'owing the responsibility' is the biggest quality. Apart from this, a leader has to have influential qualities to get the objectives met.
Interviewer : Have you, in your life ever shown such qualities?
Me : Yes Sir, at the time of starting my job with RRB....he cut me in between and asked,
Interviewer : Not in RRB, tell me where else have you shown these leadership skills which you just talked about.
Me : Sir I have shown such skills in my family affairs on quite a few occasions. Also when I was an MBA student, we were supposed to make a group and present various topics. It used to be a group exercise, but I used to come forward and take the informal charge of the entire group and ensured all team members' efforts remained streamlined and we met our objectives.
Interviewer : Okay. Now tell me which newspaper do you read?
Me : Sir I regularly read Times of India. And I read Economic Times as well, but not everyday.
Interviewer : Times of India? Really? Why not other newspapers?
Me : Sir I personally prefer reading The Hindu. But I live in a very small town where it is very difficult to find Times of India even. We do not get delivery of The Hindu so it is not possible for me to read it. But I read its articles from internet.
Interviewer : Oh I see. Yes, The Hindu doesn't have wide distribution network. Anyway, tell me one major recent news you've read.
Me : Sir 3 BJP ministers of Karnataka have resigned today since they were caught watching obscene video clips on their cell phones during legislative assembly. These are the headlines of today's newspaper as well.
Interviewer : Okay. So what do you do at RRB at present?
Me : Sir, we 7 probationers have been assigned a special project initially. Actually SBI has given our RRB Bancs software which they use for CBS. The migration from old system to new system took place few months back but because of this migration, there have been some mismatches of data. Our objective is to correctly calculate all the parameters and ensure the accounts migrated are correct.
Interviewer : What is the NPA level in your bank?
Me : Sir I am not 100% sure, but it is around 1%. (in actual, it is around 0.8% so I could give a close answer somehow!)
Interviewer : Oh I see. Can you tell me which sectors come under infrastructure financing?
Me : Sir, power sector comes under infrastructure financing.
Interviewer : Then? Go on please.
Me : (thought a bit), transportation sector also comes under infrastructure financing.
Interviewer : Anything else?
Me : Not being able to recollect more Sir.
Interviewer : Its okay, its okay.
Then he signaled other members if they want to ask me anything. They said no.
Then he said, Okay Joshi, you may leave now.
I thanked everyone and left.
My education : BE + MBA
currently working as a PO in an SBI sponsored RRB.
Interview location : Mumbai
First thing to be noted is that UBI people were in haste to wind up all interviews. Most
of the interviews held before mine hardly lasted for more than 5 minutes. In few cases, they merely asked candidates 'tell me about yourself' and after getting answer, replied, "ok you may go now."
My turn was at 12 pm and I reached the venue at 11:20 am. Document verification process went on for few minutes and my turn came around 12:15 pm.
I entered the room, there were three members. (1 of them was an IAS officer, as per other candidates)
------------------------------
So Mr.Joshi, you're coming from Gujarat. Good. Please have a seat.
Me : Yes Sir. I am from Gujarat. Thank you.
One of the persons took my form in hand and asked.
So Joshi tell me, why have you taken up MBA Marketing after Engineering?
Me : Sir when I was on the verge of completion of Engineering, I realized that if I pursue post graduation in management after Engineering, it would help me in getting more diversified job profiles and it would also help me grow faster in my professional life.
Interviewer : Okay. But why did you opt for Marketing?
Me : Sir, I have fair communication skills and public dealing skills. Also Marketing is an ever green filed which helps you in almost every sector you work with. Therefore I chose Marketing as my specialization in post graduation.
Interviewer : Did you take up any assignments after Engineering? Come on, you must have got some good opportunities after Engineering.
Me : Sir, I was very sure about pursuing PG in Management. Therefore I focused on its entrance exams and did not go for technical jobs.
Interviewer : But you've mentioned in your form that you've worked with a manufacturing firm.
Me : Sir, I joined that job after MBA., not after BE. It wasn't a technical job and I was into Marketing Communication department.
Interviewer : Oh yes yes. Sorry I misunderstood. So, what do you do at present?
Me : At present, I have been working with Saurashtra Gramin Bank, which is an RRB sponsored by State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer.
Interviewer : So you're already a bank PO. Since how long have you been working with RRB?
Me : Sir, I have recently joined RRB. I am about to complete 2 months.
Interviewer : Since you are a PO since 2 months, you must be aware about how a bank works. I mean, its basic functions.
Me : Yes Sir, I have tried to learn as much as possible about bank's general functions in these two months.
Interviewer : But dear, you are already into JMGS Scale - 1. What is the rationale in joining UBI?
Me : Sir as you know, RRBs are the extended arms of various nationalized banks. They dedicatedly work for agriculture financing and to accomplish the vision of financial inclusion.. They are good institutions to work with, but they have limited reach. Also, every corporate entity is an assimilation of the knowledge of all the people who work for it. So the bigger this system, the bigger will be this knowledge bank and the better will be my chances for learning and growth. Also, a nationalized bank can give me national exposure which I cannot expect working with an RRB. (then I made a humorous comment) - Sir working with RRB is like playing in Ranji Trophy and working with a nationalized bank like UBI is like playing for national team. Both are different.
All 3 broke into laughter with this comment. (I don't know whether it was okay to make such a humorous comment, but it was spontaneous and it just happened!)
Interviewer (smiling) : But Ranji Trophy is also a link to the national team, and you are anyway being paid the same as a national team player.
Me : Sir, playing for national team is a matter of privilege, which is beyond monetary benefits.
Interviewer : Alright. Now tell me about the advances portfolio of an RRB?
Me : Sir as I said earlier, RRBs work for agriculture financing and to accomplish financial inclusion. Their advances portfolio comprises mostly of advances for - crops, tractors, minor irrigation, self help groups etc. But tehsil and district level branches have a fair amount of business in regular loans like - home loans, vehicle loans, educational loans etc. But still the major focus is on agriculture financing.
Interviewer : How many RRBs does SBI have?
Me : I am not very sure Sir, but SBI owns around 12-15 RRBs in various states. In Gujarat, they have only 1 RRB.
Interviewer : Okay, so they have 1 RRB in Gujarat, hmmm. What is the share-holding pattern of an RRB?
Me : (Confidently) Sir every RRB has 50% stake of central govt, 15% stake of state govt and 35% stake of its sponsor bank.
Interviewer : Hmmmm. Which is the best quality a leader should possess?
Me : Sir leadership, whether formal or informal, is all about taking charge. Coming forward and owing the responsibility. So I think for any leader, having the attitude to 'take the charge' and 'owing the responsibility' is the biggest quality. Apart from this, a leader has to have influential qualities to get the objectives met.
Interviewer : Have you, in your life ever shown such qualities?
Me : Yes Sir, at the time of starting my job with RRB....he cut me in between and asked,
Interviewer : Not in RRB, tell me where else have you shown these leadership skills which you just talked about.
Me : Sir I have shown such skills in my family affairs on quite a few occasions. Also when I was an MBA student, we were supposed to make a group and present various topics. It used to be a group exercise, but I used to come forward and take the informal charge of the entire group and ensured all team members' efforts remained streamlined and we met our objectives.
Interviewer : Okay. Now tell me which newspaper do you read?
Me : Sir I regularly read Times of India. And I read Economic Times as well, but not everyday.
Interviewer : Times of India? Really? Why not other newspapers?
Me : Sir I personally prefer reading The Hindu. But I live in a very small town where it is very difficult to find Times of India even. We do not get delivery of The Hindu so it is not possible for me to read it. But I read its articles from internet.
Interviewer : Oh I see. Yes, The Hindu doesn't have wide distribution network. Anyway, tell me one major recent news you've read.
Me : Sir 3 BJP ministers of Karnataka have resigned today since they were caught watching obscene video clips on their cell phones during legislative assembly. These are the headlines of today's newspaper as well.
Interviewer : Okay. So what do you do at RRB at present?
Me : Sir, we 7 probationers have been assigned a special project initially. Actually SBI has given our RRB Bancs software which they use for CBS. The migration from old system to new system took place few months back but because of this migration, there have been some mismatches of data. Our objective is to correctly calculate all the parameters and ensure the accounts migrated are correct.
Interviewer : What is the NPA level in your bank?
Me : Sir I am not 100% sure, but it is around 1%. (in actual, it is around 0.8% so I could give a close answer somehow!)
Interviewer : Oh I see. Can you tell me which sectors come under infrastructure financing?
Me : Sir, power sector comes under infrastructure financing.
Interviewer : Then? Go on please.
Me : (thought a bit), transportation sector also comes under infrastructure financing.
Interviewer : Anything else?
Me : Not being able to recollect more Sir.
Interviewer : Its okay, its okay.
Then he signaled other members if they want to ask me anything. They said no.
Then he said, Okay Joshi, you may leave now.
I thanked everyone and left.
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