- In my opinion, preparation for an interview involves trying to anticipate all the questions that can be asked of you. These questions must be noted down as and when they come to the mind, and then suitable answers framed for them, written down and practiced
- The first thing to start with would be everything that one has mentioned about oneself in the Detailed Application Form. To give an example, I had mentioned that I played Kho-Kho for my hostel. I framed the following questions from this
- Rules to be followed while playing Kho-Kho?
- Awards given out at the national level for Kho-Kho?
- Does Kho-Kho feature in Olympics, Asian Games, CWG?
- Other traditional Indian games?
- Benefits of traditional Indian games vis-a-vis ‘western’ games like football, cricket etc?
- How would you promote Kho-Kho at the national level?
- Such an exercise needs to be performed for everything mentioned in the Form
- The second thing to be done would be to understand the issues facing RBI and Indian economy in general. I have highlighted the word ‘understand’ because until and unless one does not understand an issue starting from its very basics, it would be difficult to express the same in front of the interview panel. Much of this would already be covered while preparing for Phase – II of the exam. But one source I would specifically like to mention is the ‘RBI Speeches’ section, which contains speeches by some of the highest ranking officers of RBI. The specialty of these speeches is that these officers use very simple language to convey complex concepts. Some of the speeches I found highly beneficial were
- Note 1 : At the end of the day, any amount of ‘preparation’ for an interview can prove insufficient because the Panel members are way more smart and far more experienced than us. The aim of ‘preparing for an interview’ is only to ensure that one does not end up being totally blank even upon being asked a question related to one’s profile
- Note 2 : It is okay to say ‘Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that’
- Despite having prepared extensively (or so I thought) for the interview, the interview didn’t go too well for me, and I did not score much either
Notes I made to prepare for my interview and my interview transcript in docs below
Takeaways from my interview experience
- Try not to mess up on the basics like profitability ratios, RBI functions etc
- Although I had rigorously prepared for the LATEST developments , I did not prepare for major events that had happened in the recent past like GFC and Sovereign Debt Crisis. Although I know a lot about these topics, I was unable to recall the points during the interview because of having completely neglected them during interview preparation. This should not be done, especially if you have work experience with a foreign bank
- While leaving, I was nervous and forgot to thank every member of the panel. I just thanked the Chairman and left. Although I had STUDIED a lot for the interview, I did not practice even once. I feel I could have improved on this had I given a few mock interviews
- Even for questions to which I had partial answers, I simply said “Sorry Sir/Madam, I don’t know”. But I recently learnt that a better way to go about it is this – “Sorry Sir/Madam, I don’t know the answer to that, but what I do know is that…”
- Not a single question was asked from my work experience in AML which is something very relevant to RBI
Skidha's blog 
Is there any separate cutoff for interview score or is it just the total that is taken for the final merit list?
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Hi Rahul, there is no separate interview cutoff.
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Your blog is awesome. What I have been looking for the past few days is here on your blog. Thank you for the blog
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Worked in IT sector for more than 5 Years now, will that posses any drawback that I want to join the RBI now.
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Hi Suchita, no, there would be no drawback. In fact one of my good friends (and batchmate at RBI) has a similar profile.
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Hi Sir,
My qualification is Msc (Horticulture) ICAR. Worked as a Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO) Scale1 in Canara Bank. Resigned after working for 2.5yrs. Purely to concentrate on Civil Services. Couldn’t make even prelims once. Tried so many exams
Got selected as Manager in Regional Rural Banks ( Got selected UP) because of female. My parents not allowed me to go there. Next year went to RRB managers interview could not make in final list.Felt very sad. Now I want to ask you guidance resources regarding SBICBO.
Interview preparation strategy means where to start because I am agriculture back ground.( earlier I got reply through mail. From your site only. Through my query.
But now I want your guidance regarding where to start how to continue…., preparation for interview. &according to you which kind of questions I can expect from Interview board. The strategy sequence I want to know sir.
Please provide me Resources in pdfs. If you have any.
Thanks alot in advance.🙏
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Hi Suguna, sorry but I have absolutely no idea of the interview process for SBICBO. But for any interview in general you should be well versed with the job profile, the organisation you are applying to, your own resume, topics related to your educational qualifications, current affairs related to the job profile you are applying to etc. You can refer to the pointers mentioned by me in the Interview post on this blog. Google for videos/strategies posted by candidates previously selected in SBICBO. That would help you the most.
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Sir, I want to know how to start (or) from which head to start. How to continue…. Preparation.after reading your blog I have got idea about interview preparation. To do list. Every thing was kichidi in my head sir
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Hi Sir, SBI CBO is going to conduct Written exam along with Letter writing and Essay from important banking related topics(Please tell me important Banking topics)
General/Economy/Banking awareness/KYC- AML/preventive vigilence/Legal issues 30 questions for 60 marks.Exam was on 28th Nov. 2020. Please guide resources, websites if any for these topics and how to prepare only 2 weeks left for the exam. I am waiting for your reply🙏
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Sorry, I have no idea about this exam. Please look up strategies of people who have cleared this exam in the past.
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