BAN"KING"

The fast pace of growth in the banking sector is proving to be a major draw for young graduates, especially from the engineering background, according to a recent study. A large number of banking career aspirants hold a B.Tech or Degree in an engineering stream, says a BankersChoice online survey by TalentSprint. Science graduates come next, it added. "About 78 per cent of respondents see banking as a dream job, more than half of them are engineers," it said. It further said that 80 per cent of the women respondents think banking is a dream job, compared to 77 per cent men. The survey was conducted online last month involving 1,252 respondents in the age group of between 20-30 years in metro and non-metro cities. More and more young people are now becoming aware of the competition and want to prepare for a career in banking in a formal way, the study said. Nearly three out of four respondents expressed that they need professional training to get a banking job. However, one out of every four respondents believed there were no good training facility available in their neighbourhood. On effectiveness of online training, 54 per cent believe that it is effective than classroom sessions, while only 10 per cent believe that the latter more effective.

When assessing metro and non-metro, surprisingly 56 per cent in non-metro find online sessions more effective compared to 51 per cent in metro, the survey pointed out. The report further said banks were becoming more and more financial supermarkets, expanding the products and channels offered to customers across all categories. Reserve Bank of India has announced giving licences to new banks to operate by end of FY14, and the PSU banks are also expected to add more than 8,000 branches in the current fiscal alone. While public sector banks recruit primarily through a common selection exam conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) the private sector banks have been recruiting through their own individual channels. These recruitment activities are pan India and the aspirants for entry into banking come from all parts of the country, including Tier II and III towns and rural areas.