How I aced IBPS SO (Marketing Officer) Exam – Deepanjan Das

IBPS SO Success Story – Deepanjan Das

I am Deepanjan Das from Silchar, Assam. I completed my B.Tech in Automobile Engineering in 2012, post which I pursued MBA from 2012-2014. After a few months of working, I finally decided to join the public sector and started preparing for bank exams. The first exam I appeared for was IBPS Specialist Officer 2015. I failed to clear the final cut off by a mere 1.8 marks. I was very depressed but I had full confidence that if I study, I will be able to clear bank exams easily.

At the beginning I had no clue as to how to prepare and what to prepare. I used to search for tips and strategy on the internet randomly. I also purchased the test series of Oliveboard and took the Mock Tests regularly. It helped me increase my speed and also score more.

I appeared for IBPS RRB PO, RRB Office Assistant, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerical and IBPS Specialist Officer and cleared the written exam of all these exams. At the end of the exam season, I had four job offers:

1. Bank of Baroda as a Specialist (Marketing) Officer
2. Assam Grameen Vikas Bank as an Office Assistant
3. Bank of India as an Assistant
4. Probationary Officer- reserved list (Hopefully will get the allotment soon)

Currently I work at Bank of Baroda as a Marketing Officer. 

Strategies regarding the preparation

I’ve one advice to the banking aspirants: try not to learn all the topics from all sections, rather be selective in choosing your favorite topics and practice regularly so as to master your skills. In my opinion, being a master of all topics is not needed in banking exams, as in the end only speed and accuracy matter.

There are a few topics in each section which are of extreme importance. It is advisable to pay more attention to the following topics if you want to score more:

Quant:  Data Interpretation, Simplification, Number Series.

Reasoning: Syllogism, Coding-Decoding, Blood Relations, Input Output, puzzles.

English Language: Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, Double blanks, Error Spotting

For General Awareness, Computer Knowledge and Professional Knowledge (Marketing), apart from Oliveboard Mock Tests, I used the following resources:

GK and Banking Awareness: BSC Magazines, GK Capsule, GKToday (for practising).

Computer: Arihant’s Computer Awareness Book.

Marketing Aptitude: Philip Kotler’s Marketing Management Book (any edition) + Kotler’s MCQ’s, marketing91.com (very useful website for strengthening Marketing concepts)

Review and Analysis of IBPS SO (Marketing Officer) 2016 Exam

Level of the exam was not that tough. If your Marketing Concepts are clear, you will be able to answer those questions confidently. The Quant, Reasoning & English Language questions weren’t as tough as that of IBPS PO.

Important Marketing Topics that were asked in exams:  Branding, Buyer Behavior, Distribution Channels, Marketing Planning, 4 Ps of Marketing, 7 Cs of Marketing, Services Marketing, Marketing Research, Pricing, Promotion, Segmentation, Types of Market, Product Life Cycle etc.

IBPS SO (Marketing) Interview

In Interviews, confidence is the key to success. Lack of it gives rise to nervousness coupled with anxiety which not only hampers one’s ability to think clearly but robs him/her of the power of expressing explicitly whatever he/she knows, thus resulting in confused and unclear answers. So, preparing well for the interview is of utmost importance.

Prepare well for the interview questions, frame your answers and also Practice Mock Interviews by answering the various banking questions by looking in the mirror. Such exercises will boost up one’s confidence level.

For Interviews, I prepared a list of banking questions which are frequently asked in Banking Interviews and wrote down answers for those by taking help from various websites. Moreover, I also prepared a list of questions which are very commonly asked in interviews (For example: Why do you want to join a bank, Why banking after engineering etc.).

My Marketing Officer Interview Experience

UBI Towers, Kolkata

14/03/2016, Panel IV, 08:30 AM

The panel consisted of 6 people.

Here are some excerpts from the interview: 

Interviewer 1: Introduce yourself

Interviewer 1: Why MBA after engineering? Why didn’t you join any Automobile company after engineering?

Interviewer 2: Why did you leave your job?

Interviewer 3: At which post you were working?

What was your salary there?

What were your job responsibilities?

For how many years did you work there?

Interviewer 3: Why didn’t you mention your work experience in the application form?

Interviewer 4: What profession is your father in? Is he still working? What was his designation in SBI? What were his views about the work environment in banks?

Interviewer 5: What are your hobbies?

So, riding bikes and traveling are your hobbies. Which bike do you ride?

Do you participate in any bike racing competitions? Would you join any bike racing club if you get a chance?

Interviewer 1: Travelling is also your hobby. Which states of India you didn’t travel to? Did you ever go hiking? I think you travel by train the most, so tell me the full form of PNR.

Interviewer 3: Why did you choose ECGC as your first preference? Tell me the full form of ECGC?  Do you know the functions of ECGC?

Interviewer 2: Ever heard of CRISIL?  What is the difference between CRISIL and ECGC? Why do you think credit rating is necessary? Being a student of Marketing you don’t like public interactions, why?

Interviewer 6: Name a few banking products.

How many types of bank accounts are there?

Interviewer 4: As a Marketing Officer which type of accounts would you like to sell the most in order to maximize the profit?

What is the difference between current account deposit and fixed deposit? Which one is more profitable for banks and why?

Interviewer 2: What is a balance sheet? In which side liabilities are shown in the balance sheet?

Interviewer 1: Where is your hometown? Are you willing to relocate? Will you work in Mumbai/Kerala/TN/J&K?

 

I wish all aspirants of IBPS SO (Marketing Officer) Exam the very best.  Give it your best shot!

Deepanjan Das
Marketing Officer, Bank of Baroda
Cleared IBPS SO (Marketing Officer), 2016