From our research
What this interview looks like
The IBPS common interview is a 100-mark board of three to five senior bankers, usually a retired or serving General Manager as chair, an HR officer and one or two other officers, one often from the nodal bank or state. It runs 15 to 20 minutes in English, Hindi or a mix, and the final merit list counts the main exam and the interview in an 80 to 20 ratio with a qualifying minimum of 40 percent in the interview, relaxed to 35 percent for reserved categories. The board opens on your background and reason for banking, moves to banking and financial awareness and a question from your own degree or specialisation, then puts one or two branch situations to you, and ends on rural posting, transfers and long-term intent. For RRB officers the board also expects comfort in the local language and knowledge of the district's agriculture and economy. ExamPilot compresses this into a 15-minute mock with the same four stages, a banking-awareness bank matched to your background, and a score on the four things the real board marks.
How it is weighted
Interview carries 100 marks and 20 percent of the final score, with the main exam at 80 percent. Minimum 40 percent in the interview to be considered (35 percent for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD candidates). Final allotment is by merit and bank preference.
Who this is for
Graduates in any discipline aged 20 to 30 (relaxation for reserved categories) who have cleared the IBPS PO prelims and mains, including the descriptive paper, and are called for the common interview coordinated by a nodal bank in their state. Candidates usually have a bank preference list of the participating public-sector banks.
The panel focuses on
- Why banking after your degree, and whether the story holds up under one follow-up
- Repo rate, CRR and SLR, NPAs and provisioning, explained in words a customer would follow
- Your own graduation subject applied to a branch or a loan decision
- A current banking theme: digital payments and frauds, priority sector, a recent RBI action
- Angry customer, suspected mule account and target-pressure situations handled in the right order
- Rural posting, transfers and other exams answered honestly
Step 1
Pick your subject
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this post. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Shri Harish Chandra Pandey
Hiring manager
Panel interview · 3 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Smt. Sunita Raghavan
HR member
Shri Harish Chandra Pandey
Hiring manager
Mr. Vikram Malhotra
Hiring manager
What to expect
4 rounds · 15 minutes
An IBPS or SBI style board of senior bankers compressed into 15 minutes: introduction and background with the HR member, banking and financial awareness with a senior banker who also probes the candidate's own degree or specialisation, two branch situations on customers, fraud and targets, and a closing on mobility and long-term intent. The real board sits three to five members for 15 to 20 minutes, mixes Hindi and English freely, and scores out of 100 with a qualifying minimum.
- Round 1
Introduction & background
· 3:00Put the candidate at ease, understand their education, work and any gaps, and hear a credible reason for choosing banking after their degree.
Smt. Sunita Raghavan2–3 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Banking & finance awareness
· 5:00Test working knowledge of banking and current financial developments, and connect the candidate's own degree or specialisation to the work of a bank.
Shri Harish Chandra Pandey3–4 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 3
Branch situations
· 4:00Assess customer handling, ethics under target pressure, and judgement on fraud and compliance in a branch setting.
Shri Harish Chandra Pandey2–2 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 4
Motivation & closing
· 3:00Check willingness for rural posting and transfers, long-term intent in banking, and close politely without revealing any assessment.
Smt. Sunita Raghavan2–2 questions
Sample questions
IBPS PO PO interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the IBPS PO PO interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- Motivation
You did a B.Sc. in Chemistry. Why banking, and what would you say if the board suggested you are here only because it is a secure government job?
What a strong answer covers
A specific turning point, such as helping a relative with a loan or an internship at a branch, real interest in finance and customers, and an honest acknowledgement that security matters without it being the only reason. Avoid sounding defensive or giving a rehearsed line about serving the nation through banking.
- Banking awareness
Explain the difference between CRR and SLR to a shopkeeper who has just opened a current account with your branch.
What a strong answer covers
CRR is a share of deposits banks must keep with the RBI as cash, earning nothing, while SLR is a share kept in safe assets like government securities, gold or cash with the bank itself. Both protect depositors and influence how much banks can lend. Avoid jargon, wrong definitions or quoting rates you are unsure of.
- NPA
At what point does a bank classify a term loan as an NPA, and what do the SMA-0, SMA-1 and SMA-2 labels signal before that?
What a strong answer covers
A term loan becomes an NPA when interest or principal stays overdue for more than 90 days. Before that, banks flag Special Mention Accounts by days overdue: SMA-0 up to 30, SMA-1 from 31 to 60 and SMA-2 from 61 to 90, so recovery can start early. Avoid confusing NPA classification with write-off.
- Graduation subject
As a commerce graduate, read this situation: a small textile trader's sales doubled but his bank balance is always low. What would you look at before offering him a working-capital loan?
What a strong answer covers
Looks at the operating cycle, debtors and creditors days, inventory, GST returns and bank statements, cash flow versus profit, and the drawing power for a cash credit limit. Shows how a degree applies to lending. Avoid assuming growing sales automatically mean the business is healthy.
- Situational
A customer storms into the branch saying ₹20,000 left his account through a UPI payment he never made. Walk us through your first steps.
What a strong answer covers
Calms the customer, checks the transaction details, helps block UPI and cards immediately, registers a complaint in the bank's system and on the national cyber crime helpline 1930 or portal, explains the zero or limited liability rules if reported promptly, and gives a reference number. Avoid blaming the customer or promising a refund outright.
- Fraud awareness
You notice a newly opened savings account receiving many small credits from different states and withdrawing them the same day. What could it be, and what would you do?
What a strong answer covers
Recognises a possible mule account used for fraud or laundering, reviews KYC and transaction patterns, follows the bank's AML procedures by escalating to the compliance or principal officer for suspicious transaction reporting, and avoids tipping off the account holder. Avoid closing it on your own or ignoring it because the amounts are small.
- Priority sector
Why are public-sector banks given priority sector lending targets, and which sectors are covered?
What a strong answer covers
Credit must reach sectors that markets may underserve: agriculture, micro and small enterprises, education, low-cost housing, weaker sections, export credit, social infrastructure and renewable energy. Domestic commercial banks must direct 40 percent of adjusted net bank credit, or the off-balance-sheet equivalent if higher, to these sectors. Avoid listing only agriculture or inventing sub-targets.
- Ethics
Your regional manager wants you to sell five insurance policies this month, and an elderly customer asks for a fixed deposit. What would you do?
What a strong answer covers
Understands the customer's needs, offers the fixed deposit and explains insurance only if suitable, discloses features honestly, and refuses to mis-sell even under target pressure, while pursuing targets with genuinely suitable customers. Avoid bundling a policy with the deposit or pushing a product the customer does not understand.
- Rural posting
As a PO, you may be posted to a rural branch in another state where you do not know the language. How will you manage in the first three months?
What a strong answer covers
Practical steps: learning basic local phrases, relying on local staff and Bank Mitras, understanding local agriculture and schemes, and visiting villages. Shows genuine willingness and no reluctance. Avoid saying you would request an early transfer or depend entirely on others.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI IBPS PO PO panel that follows up like the real one.
Practise these questionsMeet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this post.
Smt. Sunita Raghavan
ChairHR member
Deputy General Manager (Human Resources), public-sector bank
Warm, observant, practical about postings and family, firm on honesty.
Female voice · 4 languages
Shri Harish Chandra Pandey
Hiring manager
Retired General Manager, public-sector bank; IBPS interview board member
Unhurried, sharp on fundamentals, kind to nervous candidates, intolerant of bluffing.
Male voice · 3 languages
Mr. Vikram Malhotra
Hiring manager
Engineering manager / Regional manager (hiring manager)
Direct, outcome-focused, fair but demanding.
Male voice · 2 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
The panel asks in your chosen language. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
- Hinglish (Hindi + English)Hinglish
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Banking & financial awareness30%
RBI and monetary policy tools, deposit and credit products, NPA and provisioning basics, priority sector, digital banking and payments, recent developments described accurately; for SO, depth in the specialisation applied to a bank.
- Customer & branch situational judgement25%
Handles an angry customer, a suspected fraud or mule account, target pressure and mis-selling temptation with the right sequence: safety and compliance first, customer dignity, escalation to the branch manager, no shortcuts.
- Communication & presence25%
Clear, courteous and concise in English or Hindi; explains a banking idea in plain language a customer would follow; does not bluff when unsure.
- Fit, motivation & mobility20%
Credible reason for banking after this degree, honest about gaps and other attempts, genuinely willing for rural and semi-urban postings and transfers, realistic picture of a probationary officer's first two years.
Pass mark 60 / 100 · Bank PO / SO / RRB officer interview panel
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