What it does: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan.
Best known for: Performing the role of a regulatory as well as the developmental body in a developing country like Pakistan.
Staff stats: Approximately 2,500 employees across Pakistan.
The good bits: Competitive salaries & facilities in the workplace. Opportunities for further education and training.
The not so good bits: Relatively slow progress within the company in terms of promotions. Bureaucratic way of working.
Hiring grads from: business administration; public administration; economics; statistics; commerce; finance, accounting, information systems and technology, mathematics, human resources and agriculture.
SBP was started by the very Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah to regulate credit in a newly formed country post-independence in 1947. Operations commenced in 1948. Initially, many industrial families contributed parts of their annual profit to help the bank function. It was only in 1956 that the bank became stable enough to have the government expand its responsibilities. When the financial sector in Pakistan was reformed in 1994, SBP was given full autonomy to run the country’s financial resources in the most productive manner. SBP is a leading member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, making specific national commitments to include people not enjoying the benefits of banking in their policy as part of the Maya Declaration in 1997.
Job openings for SBP are published in newspapers but are also prominently displayed on their official website. SBP also recruits from campus placement drives, and from recruiting agencies. The openings are categorised under three schemes; State Banks Officers Training Scheme (SBOTS), Statistical Officers Training Scheme (SOTS), and Economic Analysts Training Scheme (EATS). The recruitment process for SBOTS can be fairly long and may take up to one year. Even the recruitment process for SOTS and EATS may take five to six months, although some candidates are able to secure jobs within a month. This majorly depends on the urgency of filling an opening and the time of the year when the candidate applies.
After applying for the job, candidates can expect to hear back from SBP within one to two months. The process for the three schemes is specific to the expertise required from the candidates. For a job within the SBOTS scheme, candidates are first required to clear a comprehensive written test that includes testing English composition, quantitative skills, general knowledge, and knowledge about current affairs. If the candidate is successful in clearing this test, a group discussion round would be next. An interview round with a panel would be the next hurdle. Aspiring candidates should note that for the SBOTS stream, graduates awaiting the results of their degree are not eligible. It is therefore advisable to go through the eligibility criteria of the job profile carefully before applying. Candidates should also note that the final job offer is provided on the basis of marks obtained in each of the above rounds, and not just on the last interview round.
For graduates of statistics and economics, the process is somewhat simpler and quicker. The process is more or less the same; a written test followed by a group discussion and interview. But the difficulty level of each of these will be relatively low compared to the SBOTS scheme.
The interview panel may constitute three to ten senior officers from SBP, which can prove to be quite stressful and intimidating for the applicant. It can go on for more than an hour for many applicants. Adding to this, the diversity of the panel means that applicants are expected to be able to answer questions from different fields like finance, statistics, industry, or economics. That said, the questions are not difficult by themselves. Candidates are advised to be prepared to answer questions about national financial & economic conditions. Some questions may also be asked regarding the prior experience of the applicant.
Since SBP is a central bank, most employees tend to stay within the bank and scale-up. This is due to the job security that SBP provides, on top of benefits and perks for employees. Once hired, employees are required to undergo training (regardless of the scheme they get hired for) for six to twelve months. This means that employees learn valuable skills that can carry over into other finance, statistics or economics jobs. Employees get exposed to projects at the national and international level. They also get opportunities to attend training conducted by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and central banks of other countries. Additionally, there are opportunities floated internally for transfer to other financial institutions within and without Pakistan. SBP also provides scholarships to its employees to pursue Masters or PhD courses. Employees also get awarded with cash awards for completing certain certifications with international institutions. With such facilities, therefore, most of SBP’s employees find a long-term career at SBP.
If employees want to scale up in other organisations or companies, the best opportunities would come from getting employed at other banks in Pakistan. Alumni from SBP work at MCB Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Bank Alfalah Limited, and Meezan Bank Limited.
The salaries that SBP employees receive are carefully regulated by the government. There is very little scope for negotiation. That said, salaries that SBP pays are generally in line with or higher than industry standards. Under the SBOTS scheme, after training is completed, employees usually earn Rs. 28,000 to Rs. 75,000 monthly. Directors (deputy or assistant) can hope to earn Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 monthly. Auditors earn Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 60,000 a month as a starting salary. Employees in engineering departments also earn very well with salaries going up to Rs. 1,50,000 per month. Junior officers earn approximately Rs. 30,000 in a month.
From the various training programmes and scholarships available for employees, it can be said the SBP counts on employees settling into a long career at the bank. There are many opportunities to scale up within the bank, and the culture supports employees wanting to learn and expand their responsibilities. Since SBP is the central bank, holiday benefits are strictly followed within the bank, and the processes for this are streamlined. Employees are assured twenty-two leave days per year. There are out of the office and informal events organised for employees and their families.
The SBP premises have many facilities like a daycare centre, cafeteria, gymnasium, sports complex, and bank accommodation for female officers or new inductees. There is also a mosque with separate prayer rooms for women. Additionally, there is a library which has access to many reputed national and international journals that employees can use for research purposes. That said, a workflow can progress slowly, as is the case with many public sector organisations because of the amount of bureaucratic procedures involved. There is also very little flexibility in work timing, with employees expected to adhere to strict schedules. Some fresh graduates might find the bureaucratic way of working too old-fashioned, but this is the case at SBP due to the sensitive nature of the work.
As part of their CSR activities, SBP invests heavily in sporting events across Pakistan, organising cricket, badminton, football and table tennis tournaments. SBP’s role in promoting sports activities has been unmatched, especially in cricket. The bank is responsible for building many sports facilities in Pakistan, while also patronising talented sportspersons for them to participate at a national and international level. Setting up a Sports Committee to oversee the activities that SBP funds are used for in the promotion of sports, SBP is at the forefront of also providing employment opportunities to sportspersons from diverse parts of Pakistan.
It is clear from the various training programmes and scholarships that SBP hires employees who would be interested in pursuing a long term career at SBP. The workplace provides many benefits and facilities to its employees. That said, the workflow processes can be somewhat bureaucratic which may prove to be frustrating for fresh graduates looking for a more modern setting. However, due to the importance of the work, employees can hope to gain a lot of experience while working at SBP.