Well you know what i am an ACMA and i have been rejected to appear in the interview. As far as equivalence is concerned my degree has also been declared equivalent to M.Com and i have also got those minutes of meetings and all that. And yeah i attached all that stuff too. They dint listen to me either. So if you are somehow able to get pass this hurdle, do let me know. I have decided to not waste too much of my energy on it. But i doubt it would happen. Fingers crossed though.

The following material is collected from previous SBOTS threads (Courtesy of senior members).

I just want to tell all the people who are interested to make it through to the final that group discussion is not a very difficult thing to pass, you just need to do the following things, these might be wrong in someone's perspective but at both National Bank as well as State Bank i used the same.

1. Think and Jot Down Points Both in favour as well as against the topic given, for example our discussion topic was "Role of Private Channels, Negative or Positive?". I wrote 3-5 points in favour and 3 points against. when the discussion opened i kept quite till 3-4 people have given out their points, this way i was able to get their points as well and there is no need to speak up as a leader at the start cause that is not the guarantee to earn you a clearance pass for discussion. so then i was able to see that what are the points, now the points i had written in positives had already been said by the participants, only a single point was left and that was what i started with and then went on to the negative side.

THE ONLY THING THEY NOTICE ACCORDING TO ME IS THE FLUENCY OF ENGLISH, UR GRAMMAR in Sentences you utter and your way of connecting your previous point with the next one.

2. Never Look at the people observing you because they are not the part of your group, you must turn you neck accordingly with the participants, whoever talks keep ur face front to that person and never ever cut anyone's sentence. Thats it about listening and you may raise your hand so that people give you a chance to speak up.

3. There is nothing to be worried about group discussion cause just English is the thing you need to be fluent on. Talk the best you can.


4. The Last Tip from me is that if you dont know about a particular topic, dont ever think you wont be able to clear group discussion cause remember there should be 4-7 participants so what ever 3-4 people in the start say just say the same with different english just add this LINE > "I would like to explain the point given by my group fellow and then add your own words"

And Remember YOU ARE THERE TO COMPETE, and have to go through at any cost what so ever so dont be shy, dont hesitate, your only focus should be to pass it and go forward for the Interview.




Here are some points about group discussion based on my own observations:

Each group consists of 5 to 8 members. Time allocated ranges from 15 to 30 minutes. This time is for all the participants and no specific time is allocated to a particular member. So don’t expect any member or the GD managing SBP team to permit you for your participation. Around 2 to 5 minutes are allowed for brainstorming before resuming the discussion. You will be provided with blank page and pencil to jot down your points on the assigned topic. During these 5 minutes list down your points in bullet form and get help from these points when you start participating in the discussion. Don’t worry about the topic because normally those topics are selected about which we do have at least basic understanding. While assigning topic it is generally considered by the GD SBP team that candidates will not be examined solely for the extra ordinary knowledge they posses in that particular topic rather they aim at measuring the logical argumentative style, time management, team work, team sprit, leadership qualities, and above all managerial /administrative competencies. That is why topics are normally non-technical about which we do have at least basic knowledge.

Don’t:

1) Be overconfident
2) Make it battle field
3) Consider other group members as your opponents / enemies
4) Humiliate others
5) Be extremist in your opinion (Inflexible)
6) Follow lose -Lose policy
7) Consume major time on the cost of all other members
8) Be reticent and shy
9) Repeat the points of other members and copy others

Do:

1) Take initiative for positive steps
2) Try to organize the group if you find any deviation. Take it as team. Consider yourself as an active member of that team. Do assume the role of a leader /manager if you think it necessary in the time of hot discussion which is going to result in fruitless discussion without any conclusion.
3) Follow win-win strategy
4) Jot down your points speedily
5) Bring some innovative points (some thing new)
6) It is in your favor if you break the ice and initiate discussion.
7) It is in your benefit if you find an opportunity to conclude the whole discussion
8) Adopt moderate stance.
9) Notify both pros and cons of that topic
10) Note down the points of other members which you consider worth praising, do appreciate and praise these member on those points, second them and add some value to these points. Don’t negate them; negating them will be a suicidal step for you.

Misconceptions:

He wins who speaks more than the other members. Most talkative person has more chances of passing this GD exercise and least talkative person has lesser chances of success. (This is a common misconception among our candidates).

Real example: In our group Mr. Shaikh and Mr. Tunio were the most talkative participants and they consumed more than 50% time of the group. (Result: Both of them could not clear GD).

Reasons of their failure:

1) two extreme ends: Mr. Shaikh was Talibani in nature and Mr. Tunio was very liberal in nature. Mr. Opposed Cable channels and was of the opinion that there should be no Television Channels as these are against Islam. Mr. Tunio was of the opinion that there should be freedom of everything and no channel should be banned even if these channels are promoting immoral activities (porn channels etc.). Mr, Tunio believed that it depends upon the viewers whether they want to adopt good or bad thing.

2) Exploitation of the overall group: They adopted all the don’ts which I have mentioned earlier in Don’t list starting from serial number one to serial number seven. Both of them interrupted all the members time and again. They were of the opinion that one who speaks a lot is the one who wins this discussion. They didn’t know the essence of a group. Had they understood the group dynamics and team work they would not have failed in their strategy.

Mr. Khan didn’t speak at all but two sentences which were totally irrelevant. Result: Failed in GD. Reason of failure: He adopted serial number eight from Don’t list.

Mr. Pasha spoke only two and half sentences which were to the point. Reason of Success: He avoided all the blunders which are mentioned in Don’t list starting from Serial and one to serial number seven and serial number nine. He adopted point number 3, 8, and 10 from list of Dos.

Reasons of my success:

1) Blunders of Mr. Shaikh and Mr. Tunio: Isn’t it shocking that failure of two guys was the base for my success. Think over it and learn a lesson from this result. When I observed that both of them were unnecessarily hijacking the time of all the other members and were trying their utmost to ban all the other members to enter into discussion because their sole motto was to consume major portion of GD time and to defeat others with this strategy. I thought it necessary to stop them and to make them realize that they are going in a wrong direction.

“I suggested them that by playing undue dominant role and irrelevant discussion we people are not going to reach at any conclusion. Our discussion is not leading us towards the logical results. I request you to adopt a team work approach don’t make this a battle field and don’t consider group members as opponents. We have to work in a collective and positive manner. Now onwards no body will be consuming more than two minutes. Each member has two minutes to express his opinion and no other member will be allowed to interrupt him in his two minutes period. If any member wants to criticize or support the point of any other member he should do it in his own two minutes time period but not in the time of that other member. And there will be a 5 minutes session in which we will announce our concluding remarks.”

This was the interim interruption which made us able to conclude our discussion properly. When I suggested this work plan I got positive gesture from the SBP GD observation team and a moral support from the members except Mr. Shaikh and Mr. Tunio. So the blunders of both of them provided me an opportunity to play a leading and a time managing role in the group discussion.
2) I avoided all the points mentioned in Don’t list and applied point number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 from Dos list.

We were 7 members in our group and only 4 participants could clear GD. Topic of our group was “Cable Channels- whether they provide us information or deteriorate moral values in society”.

Two extreme scenarios about GD topic:

1) When you have rich information about the topic: Do take an opportunity to break the ice and start the discussion.

2) When you don’t know even the basics of the topic: Don’t be confused and don’t panic. Wait and watch other members do participate after the few members have expressed their opinion. You will definitely learn some points from their discussion and will be accumulating some points in your mind while listening to them. Don’t copy them exactly and don’t repeat their words. Do present some points in similar ideas with differing terminology and a little bit novel approach. One who clears written portion is able enough to reproduce the ideas of other in his own way and in his own words. This approach may save you in this worst scenario when you don’t have even basic knowledge of the topic.




Please don't panic. It's nothing difficult as long as you keep calm and steady. Here is how my GD and Interview went:

Every candidate checked in at LRC by 11. we were 36 in total.
After all the candidates had reported, they started verifying documetns.
After that, they form groups of 5 to 6 candidates which were taken to the discussion hall one by one.

In my group, we were 4 boys and 2 gals. when our turn came, our group was taken to discussion hall. In the hall we were greeted by a panel. they were four gentlemen. we are asked to be seated in a semi circle next to our nameplates which were already in place on teh table. After we were seated, one of the gentlemen welcomed us. He told that he would state a topic for discussion. he further told tah initially 5 minutes would be given to us for brainstorming during which we could jot down our points. we were provided with a pencil and a paper. He advised us not to adress teh panel and discuss among oursleves. The topic was: "are cable channels a good source of information or not?"

I spoke after first two candidates finished speaking. I noticed that the group was getting astrayed by quoting specific examples from star plus and GEO) instead of focusing on the topic: I will only quote instances which I remember:

boy(1): He begin the discussion instatnly and spoke advantages and disadvantages.
gurl(1): She spoke against the topic. she said it was teh waste of time as ladies in the house would watch star plus all the time and do nothign productive. at this poitn i begin:

I: just because some people waste their time watching star plus doesn't make cable a bad source of information. I explained, it is up to the user to watch out for teh content that benefits him/her and ignore that which doens't. Having said taht, i accepted taht some of the content shown on cable didnt' suit certain social values but that could be restricted through censorship. I spoke only twice in teh whole discussion.

boy (2) he spoke frequently inturrupting other candidates and did sound agressive. he repeated points of boy(1) and me. He also critisized gurl (1) for going against the group.

gurl (2) she spoke in the end. she started first few sentences with a broken english and after that she spoke in urdu. she spoke only once.

boy(3) he started by quoting me and was moderate enough. he too spoke twice.

I concluded the discussion by saying that: "i think most of us agree taht the advantages of cable channels out number its disadvantages which makes it a good source of information. The need is taht...and at this point the gentleman thanked us. the group discussion was over.

Result: both the gurls and boy (2) were not selected. and rest of us were qualified for panel interviews.

I suggest you talk to other candidates when u check in at center. don't stay alienated. I did this. and it helped me a lot as one of the candidates who i had made friends with b4 GDs was in my group. he was boy(3.)

Lead the group. i noticed taht all the candidates were specifically adressing me as if they were seeking my consent. I didn't do that. I kept an eye contact with all the members whenever I spoke.

Interview:
my turn of inteview came at 7:15. I am M.Sc. (Statistics) and most of the questions were based on hard core statistics. Few common questions such as, describe yourself, nature of job. i was also asked, would I be interested to join state bank if I was hired in a different capacity than where I actually fit in? I said yes, and i reasoned it.
Gud Luck!

Main focus is on personality, way of talking, presenting arguments, presentation, speaking power etc. Because tomorrow all the qualified candidates will represent this prestigious organization. As for GD and interview, a simple rule...Be yourself and don't project an artificial/fake personality.

Following are few of the topics from previous batches:

1. The stock market is that show economic health of a country
2. Islamic Banking
3. Speculation in stock market
4. Role of Media in Society
5. Judicial Activism
6. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
7. HAS DEMOCRACY FAILED IN PAKISTAN
8. Are cable channels a good source of information or not/impact is positive or negative

(Courtesy of the senior members of this forum)

General areas to be focused by candidates of all the disciplines:
1. Revise major concepts of your Master's subjects
2. Memorize Key economic indicators
3. Memorize major figures of current budget
4. Memorize key figures of Economic Survey
5. Prepare some general questions which are always asked in all type of interviews like: why do you want to join this organization? Why do you think that you deserve this position? How can you contribute in this organization? any reforms for this organization? Weaknesses and strengths of this organization?
6. Current Governor of SBP? First Governor of SBP? First lady Governor of SBP? Inauguration date of SBP? Who inaugurated SBP?
7. Brief History of SBP and major functions?
8. SBP Act year? Companies ordinance year? AML ordinance year? BCO year?
9. Visit SBP website and collect brief information about all the departments of central bank along with their major functions.
10. What are the principles of currency issuance? Which principle is applied in SBP?
11. No. of subsidiaries of SBP and their functions?
12. Monetary policy and its tools? Current monetary policy statement? Discount rate and its mechanism? Usage of monetary tools in credit control? Mechanism of money supply and demand? What is contractionary policy/ tightening monetary policy? What is expansionary / loosening monetary policy?
13. What do you mean by credit crunch? What do you mean by depression? Recession?
14. What is exchange rate? Current rate of USD? What is the mechanism of exchange rate determination? What is the impact of exchange rate on our imports and exports?
15. What do you mean by import quota? Which are the import embargoes? What is tariff? What is subsidy? How do tariffs and subsidies affect international trade? What is globalization? Why do developed countries demand discontinuation of subsidy and tariffs? What will be effect on developing countries if they follow the guidelines of globalization?
16. Memorize some terms: GDP, GNP, NNP, SDRs, FMU, AML, STRs, KYC, Cross cheque, dishonored cheque, PLS current and BBA accounts, DD (Difference between DD and Pay order), SWIFT, NIFT, Clearing, MT, TT, ATM, CIB, FIB, PIB
17. Denominations of prize bonds? Importance of prize bonds for government borrowing?
18. Location of printing press? Location of coins production?
19. No. of BSC offices across the country?
20. Which bank was performing monetary matters before SBP?
21. No. of commercial banks in Pakistan?
22. Name commercial bank having largest branch network?
23. Present Nationalized banks? When was nationalization started? When was privatization started? which bank was the first bank to be privatized?
24. No. of Islamic banks? Name any two
25. No. of Micro finance banks? Name any two
26. Distinctions to NBP as compared to other commercial banks? Which are these functions and when are these exercised?
27. Initiatives taken by SBP for agriculture sector? Initiatives taken for poverty reduction?
28. Difference between currency depreciation and currency devaluation?
29 Define fiscal policy? Difference between direct tax and indirect tax? Some examples of direct taxes and indirect taxes? Examples of direct tax and indirect tax?
30. VAT? Pros and Cons?
31. Economic problems of Pakistan? Energy crisis? How can SBP help in solving energy crisis and poverty reduction?
32. Define inflation? CPI? SPI? WPI? Methods to curtail inflation?
33. Define BOP? What is difference between BOP and BOT?
34. Ways to improve BOP? Ways to address budget deficit?
35. Level of current reserves? Their importance?
36. Yes or no to IMF? Why? Alternatives? How do you see borrowing from IMF? Merits and de-merits?
37. Yes or no to WB? Why? Alternatives?
38. WTO and Globalization? Opportunities and threats for Pakistan? GAAT?
39. Pakistan’s debt burden figure? And remedial measures?
40. NFC

Specialized questions may be asked from each discipline based on their degrees. For such questions you may consider following list to revise just definitions and concepts. You need not peep into the details of these questions. Just have a bird’s eye view of these:


Questions for MBAs and MPAs:
1) Difference between public administration and business administration?
2) Difference between administration and management?
3) Span of control? Unity of command? Job analysis? Job evaluation? Job description? Job specification?
4) Maslow’s hierarchy in motivational theories?
5) What is PMS? And its effectiveness in performance appraisal?
6) What is MBO? Its practical usage? What is Management by exceptions?
7) Define budget? What is zero based budgeting? Difference between zero based budgeting and incremental budgeting?
8) COGS? Balance sheet equation? Bad Debts? Good will? Intangible Assets?
9) Prime Cost?
10) Cost of conversion?
11) FIFO, LIFO, HIFO
12) Differentiate: Depreciation, depletion, and amortization?
13) Common Stock? Preferred stocks? Pari Passu?
14) Face value? Book value? Market value?
15) Working Capital? Liquid assets? Liquidity and solvency?
16) Leverage? Current Ratio?
17) MOA and AOA?
18) SDLC? DBMS?
19) Stereotyping? Grapevine communication? Helicopter factor? Halo effect?
20) Define economics?
21) Crowding out effect?
22) Examples of direct tax and indirect tax?
23) Barter?
24) Competitive edge and absolute edge in international trade?
25) Ad Valorem Tax
26) Research question and hypothesis? Research methodology?
27) Dependent variable and independent variable? Discrete variable and continuous variable? Primary data and secondary data?


Questions for Candidates having Economics background:
1) Define economics? Positive and normative economics?
2) Opportunity cost? Implicit vs Explicit Costs?
3) Elasticity of demand and elasticity of supply?
4) Market mechanism/price mechanism?
5) Indifference curve?
6) Consumer surplus?
7) Inflation? Methods to curtail inflation?
8) Cost push and demand pull inflation? Core inflation? Head line inflation? Stagflation?
9) Quantity theory of Money?
10) Difference between growth and development?
11) HDI?
12) Motives for money demand?
13) Nominal and real value of money?
14) Equation of National Income? Circular flow of income? Methods of NI calculation?
15) Open economy? Closed economy? Mixed economy?
16) PPP theory?
17) PPF?
18) Barter?
19) Economic externalities?
20) Economies of scale?
21) Competitive edge and absolute edge in international trade?
22) Monopoly? Duopoly? Oligopoly? Monopolistic competition? Perfect competition? Major features and differences.
23) Price Cartel? Kinked demand curve?
24) Ad Valorem Tax
25) Crowding out effect?
26) Trickledown effect?
27) Monetary aggregates?
28) Monetary hang out? Economy heat up?
29) Research question and hypothesis? Research methodology?
30) Dependent variable and independent variable? Discrete variable and continuous variable? Primary data and secondary data?

Questions for Marketing Students:
1) Define marketing?
2) Marketing Mix? Ps n Cs?
3) Marketing Research? Market intelligence?
4) SWOT analysis?
5) Target marketing? Market segmentation?
6) Core product? And augmented services?
7) Types of products? Shopping? Convenience? Staple? Etc.
8) Research question and hypothesis? Research methodology?
9) Dependent variable and independent variable? Discrete variable and continuous variable? Primary data and secondary data?

Questions for Stats and Maths Candidates:
1) Mean: arithmetic, geometric, harmonic? Mode? Median? Variance? Standard deviation?
2) Data Collection methods? Histogram?
3) Regression analysis? Scattered graph?
4) Sets?
5) Sampling? Sample space? Census vs Population? Cluster sampling? Stratified sampling? Random sampling?
6) Hypothesis and estimation techniques?
7) Chi Square?
8) Probability distributions? Normal, geometric, etc.
9) Conditional probability?
10) Permutation and Combination?
11) Operation Research?
12) Game theory?
13) Heuristic model?
14) Linear programming?


Some very technical questions expected from extra ordinary candidates of finance:1) Derivatives? Options? Put and call option?
2) Arbitrage? Interest Rate swap?
3) Futures?
4) Securitization?
5) Sterilization?
6) Debt monetization?


Why sbp didn't change its key policy rate in the last monetary policy,
What is the relationship between Inflation and growth, what is current account and how is it different from balance of payment, what is the ratio of current account today compared with that of june last year,
What is comparative advantage in trade
Current socio economic situations, most preferable the current global crisis.
Islamic banking-myth or reality

Computer related(having Computer Science majors):

Why do you want to join banking sector especially when you don't have any banking related subject of study?
what is computer virus?
what is database system? is it used in banks? if yes where?
difference between central and distributed database systems?
define networking
differece between networking devices like routers and switches etc.
what is artificial intelligence. Explain its process
what is robotics.
what is the differecne between coaxial cable, fibre optics cable and wireless communication.
what is computer program and algorithm?
what are programming languages?

Please post something original rather than reproducing the same stuff which is already on the forum.

Sent from my GT-P6200 using Tapatalk HD

__________________
~Life is short, there is no time to leave important words unsaid

anyone has recived phone call for sbots gd/interview ?please tell if sm1 has recieved call other dan the letter .

You can talk to them on this number 021-32453985, they are very supportive and ll let you know exactly when and where your interview is.

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~Life is short, there is no time to leave important words unsaid

thank u so much . i know about my interview just asking they are calling (phone) candidates or not .

No..not calling every candidate necessarily.

just received a call from SBP, Karachi..
he said they want to confirm if I had received the letter.. he confirmed the date of GD/PI..

__________________
Muhammad Yousaf Inam