IBPS SO Exam 2025 – Complete Guide

The IBPS SO (Specialist Officer) exam is conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) to recruit specialized officers in public sector banks across India.

IBPS SO 2025 – Exam Overview

Feature	Details
Conducting Body	IBPS
Post	Specialist Officer (SO)
Participating Banks	11+ Public Sector Banks
Level	National
Selection Stages	Prelims → Mains → Interview
Mode of Exam	Online

Posts under IBPS SO

1. IT Officer (Scale I)
2. Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I)
3. Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I)
4. Law Officer (Scale I)
5. HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I)
6. Marketing Officer (Scale I)

Eligibility Criteria (As per 2025 Notification)

1. Nationality

• Indian citizen

2. Age Limit (As of notification date)

• Min: 20 years
• Max: 30 years
• Age relaxation:
  • SC/ST: 5 years
  • OBC: 3 years
  • PwBD: 10 years
  • Ex-servicemen: As per rules

3. Educational Qualification

Post	Qualification
IT Officer	4-year Engg. degree in CS/IT/ECE/related OR PG in same fields
Agriculture Officer	Degree in Agriculture, Horticulture, etc.
Rajbhasha Adhikari	PG in Hindi with English as a subject at Graduation OR vice versa
Law Officer	LLB (Bachelor of Law) and enrolled as an advocate
HR/Personnel Officer	PG in HR/IR/Labour Law/Psychology/MBA HR
Marketing Officer	MBA/PGDBA/PGDBM/PGPM in Marketing

 

IBPS SO Exam Pattern

Preliminary Exam Pattern (Post-wise)

For IT Officer, Agriculture Officer, Marketing Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, Law Officer:

Section	Qs	Marks	Time
Reasoning	50	25	40 min
English Language	50	25	40 min
Quantitative Aptitude	50	50	40 min
Total	150	125	120 min

 

For Rajbhasha Adhikari:

Section	Qs	Marks	Time
Reasoning	50	25	40 min
English Language	50	25	40 min
General Awareness w/ Special Reference to Banking	50	50	40 min
Total	150	125	120 min

• Negative marking: 0.25 per wrong answer
• Sectional Timing: Yes
• Cut-offs: Sectional and overall

Mains Exam Pattern

For IT, HR, Marketing, Law, Agriculture Officer:

• Professional Knowledge Test
  • Questions: 60
  • Marks: 60
  • Duration: 45 minutes
  • Objective type

For Rajbhasha Adhikari:

Type	Qs	Marks	Duration
Objective	45	60	30 mins
Descriptive	2	30	30 mins

• Topics: Essay, Letter in Hindi

Interview (Final Stage)

• Conducted by: Participating banks
• Marks: 100
• Minimum qualifying: 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD)
• Final selection based on Mains (80%) + Interview (20%)

IBPS SO Syllabus 2025 (Post-wise)

Prelims (Common Sections)

🔹 Reasoning:

• Puzzles & Seating Arrangement
• Syllogism
• Coding-Decoding
• Blood Relations
• Inequality
• Direction Sense
• Input-Output

🔹 English:

• Reading Comprehension
• Cloze Test
• Error Spotting
• Sentence Rearrangement
• Fill in the Blanks
• Vocabulary

🔹 Quantitative Aptitude:

• Simplification, Approximation
• Data Interpretation
• Number Series
• Arithmetic: TSD, Profit-Loss, SI/CI, Averages, etc.

🔹 General Awareness (Rajbhasha Adhikari only):

• Banking & Financial Awareness
• Current Affairs (last 6 months)
• Static GK
• Govt Schemes

Mains (Professional Knowledge – Post-Specific)

IT Officer:

• Networking, Operating Systems
• DBMS
• Software Engineering
• Programming Languages (C, Java, Python basics)
• Data Structures
• Cyber Security

Agricultural Officer:

• Agronomy
• Soil Science
• Horticulture
• Animal Husbandry
• Agricultural Economics
• Crop Production
• Irrigation techniques

Law Officer:

• Indian Constitution
• Banking Regulation
• Contracts Act
• Companies Act
• Consumer Protection Act
• Civil & Criminal Law

HR Officer:

• HRM, HRD, Performance Appraisal
• Recruitment & Selection
• Training & Development
• Labor Laws
• Motivation & Leadership

Marketing Officer:

• Basics of Marketing
• Advertising & Branding
• Sales Promotion
• Market Segmentation
• Digital Marketing
• Marketing Strategies

Rajbhasha Adhikari:

• Hindi Grammar
• Translation (Hindi ↔ English)
• Essay and Letter Writing

Important Dates (Expected – 2025)

Event	Date (Tentative)
Notification Release	October 2025
Registration	October–November 2025
Prelims Exam	December 2025
Mains Exam	January 2026
Interview	February/March 2026
Final Result	April 2026

Salary & Perks of IBPS SO (Scale I)

Component	Amount (Approx.)
Basic Pay	₹36,000 – ₹38,000
Gross Salary	₹52,000 – ₹55,000
Perks	DA, HRA, Special Allowance, Medical, LTC

Preparation Strategy

🔹 Phase-wise Approach

• Start with Prelims basics
• Prepare Professional Knowledge side-by-side
• After Prelims, shift full focus to Mains

🔹 Resources

• www.magmemedal.com
• Use post-specific books
• Practice mock tests regularly
• Study current affairs and banking awareness daily (for Rajbhasha, Law, Marketing)

Best Books (Post-Wise)

Subject/Post	Recommended Books
Reasoning	MK Pandey, RS Aggarwal, Magme’s Guide
English	Wren & Martin, SP Bakshi, Magme’s Guide
Quant Aptitude	RS Aggarwal, Arun Sharma, Magme’s Guide
IT Officer	Magme’s Guide, Arihant IT Officer Guide
Agriculture Officer	R Gupta, ICAR material,  Magme’s Guide
Law Officer	Universal’s Guide for Law Officer Exams, Magme’s Guide
HR Officer	Arihant's HR Officer Professional Knowledge, Magme’s Guide
Marketing Officer	Kotler Marketing, Arihant IBPS SO Marketing, Magme’s Guide
GK & Banking	Lucent GK, Banking Awareness by Arihant, Magme’s Guide

SBI SO Exam 2025 – Complete Guide

The SBI Specialist Officer (SO) exam is conducted by the State Bank of India (SBI) to recruit officers in specialized roles such as IT, Law, HR, Risk, Marketing, and others. Unlike IBPS SO, SBI SO recruitment may be regular or contractual and can vary post-to-post in selection process and exam pattern.

SBI SO 2025 – Overview

Feature	Details
Conducting Body	State Bank of India (SBI)
Exam Name	SBI Specialist Officer (SO) Exam
Posts Offered	Multiple (IT, Risk, Law, HR, etc.)
Mode of Application	Online
Selection Process	Online Exam and/or Interview
Job Location	PAN India

SBI SO Posts (Common in 2025 Recruitments)

• Assistant Manager (IT, Cyber Security, DevOps, AI/ML)
• Deputy Manager (Network Security, Database Admin)
• Manager (Credit Analyst, Risk Management, Marketing)
• Relationship Manager (Contractual)
• Specialist Officer (Law)
• Data Analyst / Data Scientist
• Chartered Accountant
• HR Specialist

Eligibility Criteria (Varies by Post)

1. Nationality

• Must be an Indian citizen

2. Age Limit

• Varies post-wise (usually 21–35 years or as specified)
• Age relaxation: SC/ST (5 yrs), OBC (3 yrs), PwBD (10–15 yrs)

3. Educational Qualification

• IT/Tech Posts: B.E./B.Tech in IT, CS, ECE, or equivalent
• Finance/Risk: CA/MBA Finance/FRM/CFA preferred
• Law Officer: Bachelor’s in Law (LLB), enrolled as Advocate
• HR: MBA/PGDM in HR
• Marketing: MBA (Marketing) or equivalent
• Data Science/Analytics: B.E./B.Tech + Certification/PG in Data Science/AI/ML

4. Work Experience

• Required for mid-level roles (e.g., Deputy Manager, Manager)
• Usually 1–5 years depending on the post

SBI SO 2025 Selection Process

The selection process varies by post. It may include:

Component	Applicable To
Online Exam	For certain Assistant/Deputy Manager posts
Shortlisting	For specialist/experienced roles
Interview	Most roles
Document Verification	All roles (final stage)

 

👉 For some contractual roles, there’s NO written exam – direct interview based on shortlisting.

SBI SO Exam Pattern (for Written Test Posts)

Example: Assistant Manager (IT) – Online Exam Pattern

Section	Questions	Marks	Duration
Reasoning Ability	50	50	90 mins
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35
English Language	35	35
Professional Knowledge (IT)	75	150	70 mins
Total	195	270	~160 mins

• Negative Marking: 0.25 marks per wrong answer
• Cut-off: Sectional and/or overall may apply
• Professional Knowledge is usually the key deciding factor

SBI SO 2025 Syllabus (Post-Specific)

🔹 Common Sections (in online test):

Reasoning Ability:

• Puzzles, Seating Arrangement
• Coding-Decoding, Syllogism
• Blood Relations, Direction Sense
• Inequality, Input-Output

Quantitative Aptitude:

• Data Interpretation
• Simplification, Approximation
• Number Series
• Time-Speed-Distance, SI/CI, Profit & Loss

English Language:

• Reading Comprehension
• Error Detection
• Sentence Rearrangement
• Cloze Test, Fill in the Blanks

🔹 Professional Knowledge (Highly Role-Specific)

IT Officer / Cyber Security:

• OSI & TCP/IP Models
• Networking & Security protocols (SSL, IPsec, VPN)
• Linux, Windows Server
• Firewalls, IDS/IPS
• Database Management
• Programming Basics (Java, Python, C++)
• Cloud, DevOps, SDLC, Agile

Law Officer:

• Constitution of India
• Contract Act
• Companies Act
• Banking Regulations
• Negotiable Instruments Act
• SARFAESI, DRT, IBC
• Court Procedures

Risk/Finance/Credit Analyst:

• Financial Ratios
• Credit Appraisal Process
• Risk Models
• RBI Guidelines
• Basel Norms
• NPA Management
• Balance Sheet & Financial Statement Analysis

Marketing:

• Branding, Segmentation, Targeting
• Consumer Behaviour
• Product Lifecycle
• Digital Marketing
• Marketing Metrics
• Sales Strategy

HR Officer:

• Human Resource Planning
• Performance Appraisal
• Training & Development
• HRM vs HRD
• Industrial Relations
• Labour Laws

SBI SO 2025 Important Dates (Tentative)

Event	Expected Timeline
Notification Release	August–September 2025
Online Registration	September 2025
Online Exam (if applicable)	October/November 2025
Interview & Result	November–December 2025

SBI SO Salary (Post-wise Overview)

Post	CTC Approx.
Assistant Manager (Scale I)	₹10–13 LPA
Deputy Manager (Scale II)	₹13–16 LPA
Manager (Scale II/III)	₹16–20 LPA
Specialist Officers (Contractual)	₹10–30 LPA (depends on role & exp.)

• Includes: Basic Pay + HRA + DA + City Compensatory + Performance Bonus
• Additional perks: PF, Pension (where applicable), Medical, LTC

Preparation Strategy

If Online Test is Applicable:

• Focus on Professional Knowledge (70% weightage)
• Practice reasoning/aptitude via mock tests
• Use official SBI SO previous papers (if available)

If Interview-Only:

• Create strong resume + documents
• Be ready with role-specific knowledge
• Prepare for technical + HR-based interview questions

Best Books & Resources

Section	Recommended Books
Reasoning	MK Pandey, RS Aggarwal, Magme’s Guide
Quantitative Aptitude	Arun Sharma, RS Aggarwal, Magme’s Guide
English Language	SP Bakshi, Wren & Martin, Magme’s Guide
Professional Knowledge (IT)	GK Publications, Arihant, NPTEL, Coursera, Magme’s
Law / Finance / HR	Universal Guide, ICAI material, HRM by K. Aswathappa
Marketing	Kotler’s Principles of Marketing, Arihant