LIC AAO vs Bank/SBI PO–Which is a better Post?

Are you confused about as to which is exam offers better career prospects-Life Insurance Corporation of India’s assistant administrative officer (LIC AAO) or bank probationary officers (PO)? Don’t worry, you’re not the only aspirant who has got confused! It is in fact one of the most discussed topics among the banking aspirants. As both the exams have a similar Exam pattern, many aspirants generally go for both the exams.

This article presents you with comparisons between the two posts coupled with a few essential facts that will surely help you in making an informed decision while choosing one of them as a career.

Before a succinct discussion, let us first throw some light on the a few important highlights of both the posts!

SBI PO and LIC AAO Highlights

Particulars	SBI PO	LIC AAO
Conducting Body	State Bank of India (SBI)	Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)
Post	Junior Management Grade Scale-I	Assistant Administrative Officer (AAO)
Frequency of Exam	Once in a year	Once in a year
Examination Type	Preliminary exam, mains exam and Group Exercise & Interview	Preliminary Examination, Main Exam and Interview
Bond	3 Years	4 years Bond
Medium of Exam	English/Hindi	English/Hindi
Exam Mode	Online	Online

SBI PO vs LIC AAO

Let us now discuss some of the prime differences between Bank PO and LIC AAO. Given below are the salient features of both of these exams encompassing differences in the job profiles, salary, perks and promotions.

Basis of Difference	Bank PO/SBI PO/ IBPS PO	LIC AAO
Nature of the industry	Banks save and borrow money (as loans) and helping various businesses and industries with capital.	LIC (Life Insurance Company) provides life insurance to the policy holders.
Exam pattern	IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) is responsible for conducting both the IBPS PO & LIC AAO Exams and therefore the pattern and level of difficulty of both the exams are almost similar. Plus, there is a separate exam for PO posts at SBI (State Bank of India), which is conducted by IBPS too.	The GK section of LIC may invite a few questions from the insurance sector.
Syllabus	SBI Syllabus includes:   -Reasoning -Quantitative Aptitude -English language -Data Analysis & Interpretation -Computer Aptitude	LIC AAO Syllabus includes:   -Reasoning -Quantitative Aptitude -English language -General Awareness -Insurance & Financial Market awareness
Responsibilities	Bank PO is an administrative job which includes the responsibilities of: -Managing customer accounts -Managing cash transactions -Clearing payments to employees -Issuing cheques and demand drafts -Making official announcements   And more.	LIC AAO is primarily an administrative job with various responsibilities like: -Interacting with clients -Managing databases underwriting -Brainstorming on new policies and schemes     And more.
Working hours	Bank employees only enjoy the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays.	LIC employees have five days per week work pattern and therefore they have the privilege of enjoying weekends as off days.
Work pressure	As a PO, your work-life can get more hectic as you will be expected to engage with prospective customers in order to make new customers for the bank.	Work pressures in LIC is not always very high, as an AAO employee you will not be not expected to interact with prospective customers to bring more business to the corporation. It is basically the job of an LIC Agent.
Salary	A bank PO generally receives Rs 34,000 to Rs 38,000 per month Note: Salaries vary from bank to bank.	The salary of an LIC AAO is Rs.40, 245 per month. This includes the house rent allowance and city compensatory allowance.
Transfers	As a Bank PO, you can expect transfers in three to five years. The Bank PO can be posted at a rural branch of the bank.	An LIC AAO expect transfers in three to five years, but it has an advantage over PO. Most of the LIC branches are located in cities.
Promotions and future prospects	You can expect a promotion within two to three years in a bank PO job. Promotions in banks happen every two to three years in the following scale:   -Bank PO -Assistant manager -Branch manager -AGM -GM	It might take a much longer time in case of LIC AAO, which can be somewhere from five to eight years.
Perks and benefits	As Bank PO, you can get the following benefits by the banks:   1. Contribution pension scheme or new pension scheme 2. Medical aid for self (100%) and for family (75%) 3. LTC 4. Home travel concession/ leave fare concession 5. Concessional interest rates for housing/car/personal loans We hope that this post will help you to make an informed choice regarding your future career. Get an amazing SBI Mock Tests Series and Beat the upcoming SBI PO Exam with flying colours!	As an LIC AAO employee, you can get the following benefits:   1. Defined contributory pension 2. Special allowance for passing actuarial examination 3. Gratuity 4. LTC 5. Cash medical benefit 6. Group Mediclaim 7. Group personal accident insurance 8. Group insurance 9. Vehicle loan (2-wheeler/4-wheeler) as per rules.

Conclusion

By the above-mentioned table, you might have clearly understood the major differences between the two posts. Now, it will help you in getting a perfect idea about which job suits your personality best. Hence, you need to gear up to prepare for either one of them or both. Both exams are worth it and impart industry experience and may as well lead you to the path of progress and satisfaction. Attempt Mock Tests to get fully prepared to beat them!