IOB SO Recruitment 2026 — Exam Date Out

291 Generalist & Specialist Officer Posts | Online Exam on 31 October 2026 (Tentative) | Advt. No. HRDD/RECT/04/2026-27

1. Recruitment at a Glance

⚠ Read This First: The online application for this recruitment closed on 15 September 2026. This article is for candidates who have already applied and want exam details, and for readers who want to understand the posts. If you did not apply, you cannot apply now, so use this article to plan for the next IOB or bank recruitment. Also note that the exam date is tentative — the bank can change it, so keep checking iob.bank.in.

2. What the 9 October Exam Notice Says

• Notice Reference No.: HRDD/RECT/04B/2026-27, dated 09.10.2026, signed by the General Manager (HR), Central Office, Chennai.
• The online examination is tentatively scheduled for 31.10.2026 (Saturday).
• The admit cards will be made available for download shortly.
• Candidates are advised to visit the bank’s website regularly for further updates.

The original advertisement said the exam and interview dates would be announced later. This notice is the first official exam date. The exam centre, reporting time and shift are not in the notice — they will come with your call letter.

3. Important Dates

4. Post-Wise Vacancy and Category Breakup

PwBD quota (horizontal, inside the numbers above): 12 posts in total — Hearing Impaired 4, Orthopedically Challenged 5, Visually Impaired 2 and Intellectual Disability 1. PwBD candidates are placed in their own category (SC/ST/OBC/EWS/UR). All vacancy numbers are provisional, and the bank can increase or decrease them as per its need.

5. What the Vacancy Numbers Tell You

Two big posts — Manager (Branch Management) with 100 and Manager (IT) with 65 — make up more than half of all vacancies (165 of 291). Small posts like Senior Manager (IS Audit) with just 2 seats will naturally be very competitive. Note also that several small specialist posts have 0 unreserved (UR) seats, which means those seats are only for reserved categories.

6. Eligibility — Age, Qualification and Experience (As on 01.08.2026)

Important: For the IT posts, the notice lists many specialised technology areas (such as full-stack development, OS, network, cloud, storage, database, IAM, automation, ITSM, BCP/DR, virtualisation, DevOps, DevSecOps, middleware and IT procurement). The mandatory-certification lines above are taken from the official advertisement for the posts named. Please read your own post’s full line in the official PDF, since the certification and domain conditions are detailed.

7. Age Relaxation

The maximum age in the post table applies to General and EWS candidates. SC/ST/OBC candidates can add more than one relaxation, but the upper age cannot go beyond 50 years. There is no reservation for ex-servicemen in the Officers’ cadre — only age relaxation. To claim relaxation, you must show the proper certificate at the interview.

8. Salary, Probation, Bond and Other Facilities

DA, HRA, CCA and other allowances are paid as per the bank’s rules. In simple words, the starting basic pay is ₹48,480 for Scale I, ₹64,820 for Scale II and ₹85,920 for Scale III, and the exact take-home depends on city and allowances. Specialist Officers in MMG Scale II and III also get extra facilities during probation, such as conveyance expenses, newspaper cost, telephone/mobile expenses, residential furniture, and bank-owned or leased accommodation including rental advance and brokerage, as per the bank’s guidelines. Posting is anywhere in India and transfers are possible at any time. The Branch Management Officer is posted as Branch Head after completing probation.

⚠ Don’t Miss the Bond: Selected candidates must sign a Financial Service Indemnity Bond of ₹2,00,000 (Scale I) or ₹2,50,000 (Scale II and III) and serve at least 3 years. If you plan to leave the bank early, think about this before you accept an offer.

9. Application Fee (For Your Records — Window Closed)

The fee was non-refundable and could not be adjusted against any other recruitment. A candidate could apply for more than one post, and if someone applied more than once for the same post, only the last submitted application is considered.

10. Selection Process

1. Online Examination — 100 objective questions, 100 marks, 2 hours.
2. Personal Interview — only for candidates who qualify in the online exam.
3. Final merit list — 80% weightage to the online exam and 20% to the interview.
4. Medical fitness, character and caste verification — appointment stays provisional until these are cleared.

The bank can call only the required number of candidates for the exam and interview after screening their qualification, experience and profile. Meeting the eligibility rules alone does not guarantee a call.

11. Online Exam Pattern

• All questions are objective type, and each section has its own separate timer.
• Negative marking: 1/4th of the marks of a question is deducted for each wrong answer. Unattempted questions carry no penalty. Since every section has equal marks per question (1 mark each), a wrong answer costs you 0.25 mark.
• Qualifying marks: there is no minimum mark for English Language or General Awareness. You must reach the minimum qualifying marks — 35% for unreserved and 30% for reserved candidates — in the online exam.
• The bank can change (cancel, modify or add) any criteria or method of selection.

A small point to note: the advertisement first says candidates must secure the minimum qualifying marks in the Professional Knowledge section, and then says the 35% / 30% cut is for the Online Examination. Because the wording is not fully clear, the safe plan is to score at least 35% (or 30% if reserved) in Professional Knowledge itself. That way you are safe whichever way the bank applies it.

12. Time Per Question — A Simple Guide

This is our simple calculation (time ÷ questions). Because each section has its own timer, you cannot save time from English to spend on Professional Knowledge. Practise answering each question in about a minute, and skip the ones you don’t know, because of the negative marking.

13. Interview and Final Merit — With a Worked Example

• The interview carries 100 marks and checks role-related industry exposure, subject knowledge and communication skills.
• Minimum qualifying marks in the interview: 50% for unreserved and 45% for reserved candidates.
• Final merit = 80% of online exam marks + 20% of interview marks.
• Requests to change the interview date will not be accepted. Interview centres will be told in the call letter, and the bank can change date, time or venue.

Example: A candidate scores 70 out of 100 in the online exam and 60 out of 100 in the interview. Final score = (0.80 × 70) + (0.20 × 60) = 56 + 12 = 68.

Because the online exam carries 80% weight, a few extra marks in the exam help much more than the same marks in the interview. But the interview still has a qualifying mark, so don’t ignore it.

14. Admit Card and Exam-Day Rules

• After screening, the bank issues the call letter by email with the exam centre, date and other details. Also check the bank’s website regularly. The bank is not responsible for late receipt or non-receipt of any communication, so check your inbox and spam folder.
• Carry one original photo ID and also a self-attested photocopy. The photocopy must be handed over with your call letter to the invigilator.
• Accepted IDs: Passport, Aadhaar / e-Aadhaar, PAN Card, Driving Licence, Voter’s Card, Bank Passbook with attested photograph, ID card from a school or college, or an ID on a Gazetted Officer’s letterhead.
• Ration Card is not accepted. If your identity is in doubt, you may not be allowed to appear.
• Your signature on the attendance sheet or call letter must match the signature you uploaded. If it does not match, you can be disqualified.
• If your photo was not uploaded in the correct place in the application, admission to the exam can be denied.
• Exam centres are across India. The listed centres include Delhi / New Delhi / NCR, Mumbai / Navi Mumbai / MMR / Thane, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The bank may add or remove centres or give you a different centre than your choice. No request for change of centre will be accepted.
• You appear for the exam at your own cost and risk.

PwBD candidates who opted for a scribe or compensatory time must have indicated this in the application. Compensatory time is 20 minutes per hour (or as advised), and it is system-based, so it cannot be given at the centre to a candidate who was not registered for it.

⚠ Check Your Inbox Daily: The call letter, shortlisting and interview details will reach you by email. Make sure the email ID you used in the application is working and not full. The bank will not change an email ID or address on request.

15. Documents for the Interview (Original + Self-Attested Photocopy)

• Printout of the valid interview call letter
• System-generated printout of your online application form
• Proof of date of birth (birth certificate or SSLC / Std X certificate showing DOB)
• Photo ID proof (Passport, Aadhaar / e-Aadhaar, PAN, Driving Licence or Voter’s Card)
• Mark sheets and certificates of your educational qualifications
• Work experience proof: experience certificates, appointment letters, relieving letters, salary slips (to verify joining date, relieving date and designation)
• Certificates of any preferred certifications you did
• Caste certificate (SC/ST/OBC/EWS) in the Government of India format
• OBC candidates: Non-Creamy Layer certificate, issued within one year before the interview date, with the caste name matching the Central list letter by letter
• EWS candidates: Income and Asset Certificate from the notified authority
• PwBD candidates: disability certificate from the District Medical Board (and scribe details if a scribe was used)
• Serving in Government / PSU / Bank: original No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the employer
• 1984 riot-affected candidates: certificate from the District Magistrate

If you fail to produce the required documents at the interview, you can be stopped from appearing, even if you were called. Any adverse remark from a previous employer or any misconduct can also make a candidate ineligible.

16. A 3-Week Plan Before 31 October

This plan is only our suggestion. The official notice does not give a detailed syllabus for the post-specific Professional Knowledge section (it only says it differs by post), so use your post’s eligibility and experience areas as a guide to what the bank expects you to know.

17. Important Rules and Warnings From the Advertisement

• No change of category is allowed after registration. Results are processed with the category you chose in the application.
• Candidates must show original documents for nationality, age, qualification, experience and category. If they do not, they can be stopped.
• False information: if wrong or hidden information is found at any time, the candidature is cancelled. Even after joining, the person can be dismissed.
• Canvassing (asking for support or influence) leads to disqualification.
• Candidates attend the interview at their own expense. Outstation SC/ST/PwBD candidates who are not employed are reimbursed the to-and-fro second-class ordinary train fare by the shortest route, with proof of travel.
• The bank can cancel or stall the recruitment partly or fully at any stage. Its decision is final.
• Any dispute is subject to the courts at Chennai. If there is any difference between language versions, the English version is final.
• Candidates may also be considered for other IT-related posts if found suitable and eligible.

18. FAQs

Important Links

Official Advertisement PDF: Advt. No. HRDD/RECT/04/2026-27

Exam Date Notice PDF (9 Oct 2026): HRDD/RECT/04B/2026-27

Admit Card: Link will be activated on the official website shortly

Official Website (Careers page): iob.bank.in

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