Syllabus
The Punjab national bank conducts two rounds for getting the specialist officer post offer. So, the candidate has to clear both rounds to qualify as PNB SO.
- Written examination ( objective type)
- Personal interview
| Name of organization | Punjab national bank |
|---|---|
| Name of the posts | Specialist officer |
| Category | Syllabus |
| Exam date | Updated soon |
| Official website | www.pnbindia.in |
PNB SO 2021 Syllabus
The syllabus consists of four parts namely,
- English language
- Reasoning
- Quantitative aptitude
- Professional knowledge( Law, HR, Risk, Credit)
The detailed syllabus is given here,
| English language | Reasoning | Quantitative aptitude | Law | HR | Risk | Credit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloze test | Seating arrangements | Number series | Banking regulations | Human resource development | Credit and operational risk | Basic accounting concepts | |
| Reading comprehension | Puzzles inequalities | Data interpretation | Compliance and legal aspects | Business policy and strategic analysis | INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS( eg., occupational safety and health act) | Capital structure | |
| Sentence improvement | Syllogism | Quadratic equation | DRT act | Recruitment and selection | Valuation of goodwill and shares | ||
| Sentence correction | Data sufficiency | Simplification/ approximation | Laws and actions with a direct link to the banking sector | Rewards and recognition | Overview of cost accounting | ||
| Spotting errors | Input-output | Data sufficiency | Bankers book and evidence act | Training and development | Financial statement analysis | ||
| Para/sentence completion | Blood relations | Ratio and proportions | Banking ombudsman | Industrial relations | Cash flow statement | ||
| Para jumbles | Alphanumeric series | Profit and loss | Relevant law and orders related to negotiable instruments, securities, foreign exchange | Business policy and strategic analysis | Budgeting and budgetary control | ||
| Fill in the blanks | Order and ranking | Average | Consumer protection act | Performance management and appraisal | Cost sheet and work capital | ||
| Verbal reasoning | Mensuration | Prevention of money laundering limitation act | Grievance and conflict management | Issues redemption of debentures | |||
| Distance and directions | Time and distance | SARFAES | |||||
| Probability | |||||||
| Work, energy, and time | |||||||
| Relations | |||||||
| Permutation and combination |
PNB SO 2021 Exam pattern
The PNB SO Exam is a national-level exam. It has an online written test conducted by the Punjab national bank. It has objective-type questions from various subjects. For the guidance of the students, the detailed exam pattern and the syllabus are given below. The pattern consists of four parts namely,
- English language
- Reasoning
- Quantitative aptitude
- Professional knowledge( related to post- Law, HR, Risk, Credit)
| Section | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Medium of the exam | Time given |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | English and Hindi | 120 minutes |
| English language | 50 | 25 | English | |
| Quantitative aptitude | 50 | 50 | English and Hindi | |
| Professional knowledge ( relevant to the post ) | 50 | 75 | English and Hindi | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
- The PNB SO exam will be in two languages that are, English and Hindi.
- There will be negative markings in this exam. For every wrong answer, 0.25 marks will be cut as a penalty.
Book recommendations:
The books for the preparation are also available in two languages: English and Hindi. Here are a few of the very suitable quantitative aptitude books that can be referred to while studying,
For reasoning
| Name of the book | Name of the author | Book price |
|---|---|---|
| A modern approach to verbal and non-verbal reasoning | R.S.Aggarwal | Rs.619. |
| 14 Kiran’s tricky approach to competitive reasoning verbal and non-verbal 7000+ objective type question logical reasoning and analytical ability ( fully solved) | Kiran | Rs.590 |
| Word power made it easy to book | Norman Lewis | Rs. 90 |
| Analytical reasoning | M K Pandey | Rs.189 |
| Reasoning verbal, non-verbal, and analytical for competitive exams | Dipak Kumar Yugnirmal | Rs.400 |
For the English language
| Name of the book | Author name |
|---|---|
| Descriptive General English | SP Bakshi and Richa Sharma |
| High school English grammar | Wren and Martin |
| Objective General English | R S Agarwal and Vikas Agarwal |
| Word power made easy | Norman Lewis |
For quantitative aptitude books
| Name of the book | Name of the author | Price of the book |
|---|---|---|
| Teach yourself quantitative aptitude | Arun Sharma | Rs.259 |
| Quantitative aptitude for all competitive exams | Abhijit Guha | Rs.359 |
| How to prepare for quantitative aptitude | Arun Sharma | Rs.799 |
| Quantitative aptitude chapter wise solved | Arihant experts | Rs.196 |
| Quantitative aptitude for competitive exams R S Agarwal 2017-2018 | R S Agarwal | Rs.450 |
| Shortcuts in quantitative aptitude with four ebooks for competitive exams | R S Agarwal | Rs.259 |
For technical officers
| Name of the book | Name of the author | Price of the book |
|---|---|---|
| Bank credit officer | GKP | Rs.399 |
All these books can be purchased in online stores such as Flipkart and amazon too.
PNB SO 2021 Preparation tips
Preparation must be topic-wise. Having a brief idea of the topics is needed. So, to cover topic wise,
English language:
- Focus on reading comprehension, idioms, phrases, fill in the blanks, grammar, antonyms, synonyms, vocabulary, etc.
- The habit of reading English every day would greatly help.
- Also, writing helps in a way easy to understand and thus increases the grammar and syntax content.
Reasoning ability:
- Focus on the topics such as syllogism, coding-decoding, seating arrangements, order and ranking, puzzles.
- This part has a lot of calculations and is very much easy to score.
- Along with daily practice, note down the important formula and direct concepts which you feel are important and keep them for future reference.
Quantitative aptitude:
- This is the toughest part of the whole paper. This part has average, time and word, distance and directions, number series, data interpretation, quadratic equations, ratio, and proportion, etc.
- The candidates must be good at calculations, so while practicing try to solve without using a calculator.
- All the important formulas and concepts need to be understood and stored without changes in the mind.
- The more they practice, the more the solving speed and accuracy.
Also, practicing the formulas and concepts every day will be more helpful. Note down all the points which have direct solutions and prepare every day.
For, English knowledge the candidate can read newspapers every day and note down new words. This can improve one’s vocabulary power.
Also, practicing previous papers can be very helpful, as the questions might not be the same but the concepts will be similar.
Other tips for the exam
- The candidates who have applied for the PNB SO exam should stay updated with all the notifications that are being released.
- Finish the entire syllabus for the preparation. Preparing thoroughly will be very helpful to attend to all the questions under all the concepts.
- Implement the rules of grammar while taking notes and prepare perfectly.
- Try using new words that are uncommon in daily life so that the vocabulary can be increased.
- Having the confidence to clear the exam is the most important mindset to be acquired. With the proper plan, notes, and preparation strategy the candidates can easily crack the exam without much pressure.
FAQ:
Q1. Is the exam only in the English language?
No, the exam is available in two languages, English and Hindi.
Q2. Should I have knowledge about banking and marketing for the written exam?
Yes, there are a few questions that are related to marketing and banking.
Q3. What are the total marks for an interview?
The interview will be for 35 marks. Candidates need to score 40% of the marks to qualify for the round.
Q4. Who will conduct the PNB SO exam?
The Punjab national bank conducts it once a year.
Q5. How many questions will be asked in the written exam?
A total of about 200 questions will be asked.
Q6. Is it a state-level exam?
No, it is a national-level examination.
Q7. Is there an age limit to write the exam?
Yes, the age limit is 25 years to 35 years for the manager post and 25years to 37 years for senior manager posts.
