Although after privatization and liberalization of the Indian economy and with the entry of foreign multi-national companies, the emergence of Indian service sector and a rush of start-up companies opening there is today a big rise in number of private jobs available with better renumeration and employment facilities, finding a government job is a much-sought career option even today considering the benefits it offer like job security. Getting a government job or public sector employment in the banking and financial services industry is a dream of millions in our country. Similar to public sector banks, insurance companies conduct competitive examinations which attract a large number of students writing these examinations with the goal to enter the public sector workforce.
In the current article we will discuss, in general, the nature of competitive examinations conducted by
- 4 PSU general insurers namely National Insurance company, Oriental insurance company, United India Insurance company and New India insurance company
- 1 PSU Life insurer – Life Insurance corporation of India and its subsidiaries
- GIC Re – The sole public Indian Reinsurer
- IRDAI – The regulating body of insurance sector in India
The candidate should note at the very outset that apart from the examinations named and discussed below there may be any number of general or specialized vacancies coming in any of the public sector bodies mentioned above as per their requirements. The best way to be informed about any such vacancy and notification coming, so that the candidate does not miss the opportunity to apply and appear the test is to visit the careers page of the respective bodies or to follow employment newspaper or a good government job online portal.
Also, the sections and the name of the posts/tests mentioned are indicative and any the test conducting bodies have the liberty to withdraw, modify or conduct the tests as per their specific requirements, updated details for which will be available on the careers page of the respective PSU only. General eligibility for almost all the examinations mentioned below is being a graduate but there may be some special eligibilities as well as per the requirement of the opening post.
Examinations conducted by Life Insurance Corporation of India
- LIC ADO Exam: Conducted for appointment of apprentice development officers for LIC. Online objective test for sections like reasoning, current affairs, numerical aptitude, English is conducted following Interview and Pre recruitment medical exam. There is two separate Prelims and mains test for the open category followed by interview and medical examination.
- LIC AAO Exam: This is for the recruitment of assistant administrative officers at LIC for different specialization like Legal, information technology, Chartered accountant, Rajbhasha, Actuarial. Syllabus for the Prelims exam is same for all specialization (Quantitative aptitude, Reasoning and English) but in addition to others like Reasoning, Financial and Insurance awareness, Letter and essay writing, and current affairs there is one section devoted to the professional knowledge in the mains exam. This is followed by interview and Medical tests.
- LIC HFL Exams – LIC Housing finance limited holds recruitment exam for three posts LIC HFL Associate, LIC HFL Assistant and LIC HFL Assistant manager. Sections in the test is similar to the one above namely English, Reasoning, General awareness and Numerical ability. There is a section of professional knowledge for post of assistant manager (Legal). Medical test and interview are also a part of selection process.
Examination conducted by General Insurance Public sector companies (GIPSA): Generally, but with a few exceptions, all of the examinations conducted by Public sector general insurers will be in three stages Prelims, Mains and Interview. The prelims exam may be qualifying in nature for some of the tests. The sections normally asked in these tests will be Numerical aptitude, Logical Reasoning, General awareness and English.
- New India assurance company limited (NIACL) conducts test for openings of Assistant and administrative officer.
- National Insurance company limited conducts exam for post of administrative officer in three stages Prelims, Mains and Interview.
- Oriental Insurance company limited conduct tests for various openings including for the post of Agents, Assistant and administrative officer.
- Similarly, United India insurance company arranges test for assistant and administrative officer
GI Re conducts entrance exams for assistant manager officer scale I post by taking a written test, group discussion and interview. Graduates with 60% marks can apply for the examination. Also, the eligibility is different for different specialized posts like Finance/accounts, information technology, legal, Automobile/civil/aeronautical/marine engineering, company secretary etc. The written test is conducted in three parts, first part is an objective test of technical and professional knowledge, second part is a test of reasoning, English, general awareness and numerical ability and computer literacy, the third part is a descriptive test of English language (essay, precise and comprehension).
IRDAI conducts entrance competitive examinations for Assistant manager, Manager (Grade B), Assistant General manager (Grade C), Deputy general manager (Grade D) and General manager (Grade E). Out of the above the assistant manager post is for graduates and all other post are for persons who have attained 45 years of age. Eligibility criteria and examination pattern are different for different posts but for the assistant manager exam there are three tests Prelims (objective), Mains (Subjective or descriptive with three papers) and Interview.
Many good study and preparation materials like question banks and mock exams are available in the market and on the internet. The competition is intense and the candidate should definitely prepare well and give his best shot to crack the examination and get his dream job for a secure future.