The Good News First
The four main banking exams — IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk — test substantially the same ground: English, quantitative aptitude and reasoning at the preliminary stage, with awareness and computer sections added at mains. That means the choice is not about what to study. One preparation covers all four, and the sensible default is to sit every one whose notification you are eligible for. The choice this page is about is which one to aim your difficulty level and expectations at.
Side by Side
| IBPS Clerk | SBI Clerk | IBPS PO | SBI PO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Post | Junior Associate | Junior Associate | Probationary Officer | Probationary Officer |
| Employer | 11 public sector banks | State Bank of India | 11 public sector banks | State Bank of India |
| Interview | No | No | Yes | Yes (with group exercise) |
| Age limit | 20–28 | 20–28 | 20–30 | 21–30 |
| Starting gross | ₹28,000+ | ₹30,000+ | ₹36,000+ | ₹52,000+ |
Which Bank Exam Has No Interview?
Both clerical exams. IBPS Clerk is selected on prelims and mains alone, and SBI Clerk on prelims, mains and a local language test — neither has an interview round. Both PO exams do have one, and SBI PO adds a group exercise alongside it. If interviews are the part of the process you are least confident about, the clerical route removes that variable entirely and makes selection a pure function of your written score.
Which Is Easiest to Crack?
The clerical exams, on two counts. The syllabus is the same but the questions sit at a lower difficulty level, and there is no interview to convert. IBPS Clerk in particular carries the largest vacancy count in banking recruitment — several thousand posts in a typical year — and SBI has recruited over thirteen thousand clerks in recent years. More posts against a similar syllabus means a more forgiving cut-off. "Easiest" is relative, though: these are still competitive national exams, and the clerical papers reward speed more than the PO papers do, which is its own kind of difficulty.
Which Pays the Most?
SBI PO, clearly, with a starting gross above ₹52,000 — noticeably ahead of IBPS PO at ₹36,000+ and well ahead of both clerical posts. It is also the hardest of the four to convert, with the most demanding selection process. Between the two clerical posts, SBI Clerk starts slightly higher at ₹30,000+ gross against IBPS Clerk’s ₹28,000+. Bear in mind that all of these are starting figures on scales that rise with increments, and that in-hand pay varies significantly with posting city.
The Honest Way to Choose
Rather than picking one exam, work out which describes you:
- 1You want the highest ceiling and will accept the hardest process — prepare at SBI PO level. Everything else becomes easier automatically.
- 2You want an officer role at realistic odds — target IBPS PO, which has the same profile across eleven banks and a less demanding final stage than SBI PO.
- 3You want employment soon and interviews worry you — target the clerical exams. No interview, more posts, lower difficulty.
- 4You are unsure — prepare at PO level and sit all four. The clerical exams cost you nothing extra in preparation and give you more attempts in the same year.
One Thing to Check Before You Apply
Clerical recruitment is state-wise and carries a local language requirement — SBI Clerk includes an explicit local language test, and IBPS Clerk vacancies are notified against particular states. Choose the state you are genuinely willing to work in and whose official language you can handle, because that decision is made at application time and shapes your entire posting. PO recruitment does not work this way, which is a real difference between the two routes that rarely gets mentioned in difficulty comparisons.
Do Not Over-Think It
The single biggest mistake in this decision is spending weeks on it. Because the syllabus is shared, time spent choosing is time not spent preparing — and the preparation is identical whichever way you decide. Pick the level you are aiming at, start work, and apply to every notification you are eligible for as it comes.