Something to bank on. Private banks woo youngsters with the promise of job-assured courses

Private banks are catching future bankers young by offering a diploma that includes hands-on training leading to a regular job after its completion. The course-cum-job route is now the mainstay of hiring of freshers by leading private banks - HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank - which have tied up with private universities for running a portion of the residential course on their campuses.

ICICI Bank, for instance, has now called for applications to join the ICICI Bank Manipal Probationary Officers Programme in association with Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

The Rising Bankers Program is an initiative of HDFC Bank in collaboration with Amity Global Business School, to attract and develop young talent, who wish to pursue a career in Banking.

“This program aims to turn young graduates into highly-trained, well-groomed, customer-facing personnel. It entails on-campus learning for the first 5 months, followed by an internship for the next three months,’‘ HDFC Bank says. Successful candidates will be awarded a Post Graduate Diploma certificate and a full-time job opportunity with the bank.

Axis Bank too offers a young banker’s one-year programme specifically designed for it. Selected candidates will undergo six months of classroom learning (at Manipal Academy of BFSI, Bengaluru), three months of internship with Axis Bank, and three months of on-the-job training with Axis Bank (where candidates will undertake a full-time role) at any of the bank branches/offices pan-India.

Career growth

With little variations, the programs of these banks are designed around essential functional and banking-related subjects with a firm focus on experiential and application-based learning. The objectives of these courses include making the new staff to be fully ready in the first hour on their first day at the bank as a full-time staffer.

Some banks have also tied up with more than one university for conducting the programme to expand their reach and capacity.

Some graduates are finding this programme ‘interesting.’ “These days, work experience matters. It is better to work for a few years and think of higher studies for faster career growth,’‘ N. Prithivi, a BA Economics student, told businessline. 

In view of the skill gap in the case of many graduates, banks are finding recruitment through this route ‘very useful’, said a senior official of a private bank.

Expansion mode

Although these notifications do not specify the number of vacancies, top private banks are now in expansion mode and have been hiring in large numbers going by the number of new branches being opened. HDFC Bank added 684 branches during the last quarter, taking the total to 841 branches in the year so far.

The total number of employees of HDFC Bank increased from 1,34,512 in December 2021 to 1,66,890 at the end of December 2022.

ICICI Bank had about 1,17,200 employees on December 31, 2022. The employee count has increased by about 15,300 in the last 12 months.

(There are individual variations from bank to bank)

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