Overview of banking and job prospects in India

India has 12 public sector banks, 22 private sector banks, 44 foreign banks, 44 regional rural banks, 1542 urban cooperative banks and 94384 rural cooperative banks besides cooperative credit institutions. Indian banks have posted Compound Aggregating Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.11 per cent between Financial Year 2007 and 2019, reached USD 1.86 trillion by FY19. As of February 2020, the deposits stood at Rs 132.35 lakh crore.

Moreover, banking is one of the largest industries in India, which employs a huge number of workforce in various roles across geographies. In a rough calculation, about 20 lakh banking and semi-banking staff work in these banks. Additionally, all the banks recruit thousands of staff every year to fill the manpower required to perform different duties. That means banks are all-season job providers.

Job for all

The banks need a workforce to perform traditional jobs like finance, marketing, HR, sales etc as well as emerging domains such as development operations, analytics, data science and others. There are many ways to get banks jobs in different positions.

Candidates from all the educational backgrounds can enter bank jobs by cracking bank recruitment tests conducted by different banks and banking organizations. If you want to pursue a banking job, you can prepare for bank PO or clerk exams after graduation. Most of the public sector banks recruit their officers through IBPS tests, whereas, SBI recruits through a separate test.

Several institutions in India provide courses for banking job aspirants. You can pursue any of these post-graduate, diploma or certificate courses to settle in a good post in a bank. MBA or 2-year PGDM in Banking & Finance or Banking Management courses would help you to start a dream career. Candidate completed a short-term diploma or certificate course combined with an internship in a reputed organization end up in a great position with a competitive salary.

Even if you are not able to clear the IBPS or Bank PO tests, a host of programs offered by professional training institutions like Manipal Global Academy of BFSI will prepare you for a banking job. These intensive job programs aim to empower bank employees with holistic banking knowledge, skills and attitude by increasing confidence, enhancing productivity and makes them job-ready from day one.

The programs include ICICI POs, Axis Bank Young Bankers, HDFC Future Bankers and IDBI Assistant Manager are designed in collaboration with the leading banks in India. Upon completion of these six-month-long programs, you can earn a certificate of Post Graduation Diploma in Banking & Finance and an assured placement in the partner banks. The starting salary for freshers is ₹4 lakh per annum and above.

Manipal Global Education services in collaboration with Axis Bank has established a School of Fintech to train the engineering graduate to start a career in the emerging area of Financial Technology. This program offers an assured placement and ensures ₹8 lakh as a starting salary.

Salary and scope

A career in banking is full of opportunity to learn and grow. The main attraction for a banking job is the fixed salary. The starting salary for a fresh graduate is between Rs four lakhs to Rs eight lakhs per annum depending on the qualification, skills and position. Bank POs draw quite a high salary.

Prospects for career progression is also high in the banks. Within a couple of years, a candidate joined as an officer can be promoted to the senior post. Your consistent performance will attract rewards and recognitions and also promotions to executive posts. The skill and experience make you perform well in the banking job and ensures steady growth.

The banking sector is also bearing the fruit of technological advancement. This creates several new opportunities for the banking aspirants as well as the existing staff. With the right upskilling program, the current staff can also step up their position in the banks.