MBA+Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers = a successful public sector banker

Twenty six-year-old Sangita Shenoi (name changed) is thanking her stars for possessing the twin qualifications of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).

Unlike her colleagues who are just MBAs or just CAIIBs, the bespectacled Mumbai girl’s dual qualifications helped her in getting promotion as a manager in a public sector bank (PSB).

“It is not sufficient to have just a good track record on the job. The path to sure-shot promotion also includes both MBA and CAIIB qualifications as one is needed for getting an entry in the bank (MBA) and the other is crucial for getting knowledge about the banking sector (CAIIB). I am lucky to have cleared CAIIB last December after my MBA two-and-a-half years ago,” she said.

Shenoi is an MBA from a reputed institute and the CAIIB qualification is offered by Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF). The basic purpose of this qualification is to create awareness on the topics related to banking sector.

Why are both the qualifications becoming desirable?
According to R Bhaskaran, chief executive officer of IIBF, CAIIB is a knowledge-based course, while MBA is an employment-oriented qualification. “MBA will have an edge over CAIIB because it will convert people into highly employable candidates. Only after getting an employment in a bank people can take up CAIIB,” said Bhaskaran. The younger generation working in PSBs will have a combination of MBA as well as CAIIB, Bhaskaran said.

The demand for the MBA qualification in PSBs will also increase in the time to come. “More MBAs will be recruited in PSBs in the future as these days banks are offering a broad range of services,” said Uday Damodaran, professor of finance at Xavier Labour Relations Institute at Jamshedpur.

Those with an MBA qualification from reputed institute are hired at a much higher salary than plain graduates. And on the other hand the increment in salary which is currently given to PSB employees after passing the CAIIB examination may be discontinued in the future and only a one-time allowance may be given.

Earlier this year IDBI Bank emerged as the first PSB to have stopped the increment of Rs1,400 per month to employees who cleared the CAIIB examination. Now IDBI Bank just pays a one-time allowance of Rs10,000.