How to Become a Bank Manager

Bank Managers are a very crucial entity in any banking organization as they are assigned the duty of managing the entire functioning of a particular branch. There are no fixed criteria for the candidates to join as a bank manager but usually the candidates who join as Probationary Officers take the responsibility of Bank Manager. In certain cases, even the clerks with few years of experience and performance  are appointed as bank managers or branch managers. Usually, the promotion of candidates to the post of bank managers and higher levels is done on the basis of internal exams conducted by all the public sector banks in India. The various exams that the candidates appear for to be part of the banking system in India are IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, IBPS SO, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Assistant, RBI Grade B, etc. A candidate must complete his graduation to become a bank manager. In this article, we will explore different ways to become a bank manager.

The average salary of a Bank manager varies from Rs 6 lakhs per annum to 10  lakhs per annum. The salary of a bank manager depends on multiple factors such as their experience, scale they are working, designations and city they have been posted. All the leading private and public banks of India such as SBI, PNB, Indian bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra bank, Standard Chartered Bank, etc. recruit Bank Managers for all their branches. 

Bank Manager Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of bank managers are not clearly defined as they take care of entire banking operations and facilities. Some of the prominent roles are mentioned below: 

• Bank Managers are accountable for various tasks of credit unions, and all other financial institutions of their branch. 
• They look after all operational functions of the bank from transactions to any problems or issues faced by the bank or even if a server failure is taken care of by the bank managers. 
• Bank managers' most important role is to plan and lead the collection of accounting and financial information and prepare reports, budgets and statutory returns. They also have to meet the target of their branch. 
• Bank managers monitor sales targets and assign responsibilities to staff members to achieve the targets. 
• They promote different schemes of the banks for different kind of savings scheme and loan being offered by the bank  and market the institution to ensure a high level of customer service
• Bank Managers also present budget proposals to governing bodies and plan the most effective use of resources and financing of capital expenditure.  They also take care of business expansion and funding. 

Steps to Know How to Become a Bank Manager

As mentioned in the above paragraph, financial Services are the backbone of any nation. Notably, the demand for banking jobs have increased among youth as the number of applications have increased multiple folds. The candidates can make their career in banking in both public and private sectors. Also, banking jobs are more stable than other corporate jobs. Some of the steps that one can follow to be a bank manager are mentioned below:

• The candidates must meet eligibility criteria, i.e. they must have completed their graduation in any stream to appear for different examinations that help them in achieving the post of bank managers. 
• Candidates must prepare for the different kinds of entrance examination that are conducted for recruitment as bank managers. They must decide their preparation mode. Either, the candidates can do self study through different kinds of study materials that are available in the market or they can select the right coaching institute that helps in preparing for banking examinations. 
• Candidates then need to qualify the competitive exam of Bank PO that is conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) or State Bank of India (SBI).
• Once they qualify the exam, then the candidate initially gets appointed as a Probationary Officer (PO) which is equivalent to the post of bank manager. 
• When candidates join as PO, they are trained to gain some experience working in the public sector bank
• The candidates need to perform exceptionally or clear the internal promotional exams to be promoted as a bank manager. 
• Banking sector also includes various promotional opportunities after gaining certain years of experience and candidates can even reach the levels of Chairman and MDs
• Public Sector Banks in India offer good career opportunities to candidates 

How long does it take to become a Bank Manager?

Bank Manager is a designation that can be achieved within a few years of joining the banking services after clearing their IBPS or similar examination. It usually takes 5-6 Years after they have completed their XIIth Exams to become a bank manager. . may need at least five or six years after your 10+2 to become a bank manager. After completing the graduation for 3-4 years, the candidates can prepare for banking examinations. The students can clear the banking examinations in the first attempt also if they have prepared well or else they can drop a year and prepare for the examination and the same can be cracked in 2 years depending on the skills, it may take you one or two years after your graduation to clear a banking exam. After clearing the banking examination, the students join as Probationary Officers which gets promoted to Bank Manager after a few days of service. This secures a banking job for you.

Eligibility Criteria for Bank Manager 

The candidates must meet the eligibility criteria to fill the application form and finally get selected for the advertised posts. There is no direct entry as bank managers. The candidates who are working on a post which is in a lower grade of Bank PO or Bank Clerk or Bank Assistant can get promotions as bank manager after getting experience of at least 2-3 years. Below given is the Eligibility Criteria for Bank Manager in India:

• The minimum age must be 20 years of age and it can go up to 30 years of age for becoming bank managers.
• Graduation or Master’s Degree in a relevant field of BA, B.Com, B.Sc, B.Tech with one of the subjects of Maths/ Statistics/ Finance/ Economics in their graduation or master. Postgraduate qualifications add bonus points for students aspiring to become Bank Managers.
• It is expected by the recruiter that candidates must possess basic computer literacy as the majority of the work these days are done with the help of computer devices.
• Candidates must possess a Language Proficiency in relevant subjects depending on their location of recruitment.

Salary of Bank Managers in India

The average monthly salary of Bank Managers varies between INR 60,000-80,000. The candidates must also note that a bank Manager can earn up to the highest salary of INR 18.73 LPA. One of the major aspects why banking jobs are in demand these days are the perks and allowances that one gets in banking jobs. 

Skills Required for a Bank Manager

If you are a banking professional and you are working as bank managers, then there are certain skills that you must possess to become a Bank Manager. The skills are helpful to deal with the wide range of clients  that visit banks everyday. Some of the important skills are mentioned below: