LIC Assistant Administrative Officer
Manage insurance operations, underwriting, claims and sales as a Class 1 officer at LIC.
Facts checked 29/10/2026
Is this for me?
- Working with numbers, rules and people's real-life money worries
- A stable, respected officer's job in a large public sector company
- A mix of desk work, customer problems and team leadership
- Transfers anywhere in India, and early years in smaller branches away from home
- Sales and target pressure, plus a lot of paperwork and rules
- A competitive exam with few posts, and a service undertaking that ties you to LIC for about 4 years
- Class 11–12 subjects
- No subject is compulsory in Class 11–12. Choose the stream you do best in. For the Generalist post, LIC asks for a bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised Indian university or institution. The result must be declared on or before the cut-off date in that year's notice (1 August 2025 in the last one). Reasoning, basic maths and English are what the exam tests.
- First degree
- Any bachelor's degree, usually 3 years. For the Specialist posts (CA, CS, Actuarial, Legal, Insurance Specialist), LIC asks for the matching qualification.
- Entrance exams
- LIC's own AAO recruitment exam: an online Preliminary, an online Main and an interview. LIC does not run it every year. In the last cycle, applications were open from 16 August to 8 September 2025.
- Licence or registration
- None needed to start working.
What the work is like
Work in LIC branch, divisional and zonal offices on new policies, underwriting (judging risk), premium and policy servicing, claim settlement, accounts and sales support. You also guide agents and Development Officers, and handle customer problems. Most AAOs start in a branch.
A day in the work
You reach the branch around 10 and check the day's pending files: new policy proposals, premium receipts and claim papers. You decide or recommend on underwriting and claim cases, and sign off work done by your clerks and assistants. A policyholder may walk in worried about a delayed claim, and you sort it out. In the afternoon you meet agents and Development Officers about sales targets, then close the accounts and reports before the day ends.
The path, step by step
- Step 1 · Class 11–12Take any stream. There is no subject rule. Build the basics the exam tests: speed in arithmetic, logical reasoning, and reading and writing English. Also read the business pages of a newspaper.
- Step 2 · Degree (about 3 years)Finish any bachelor's degree. The minimum age is 21 and the maximum is 30 on the cut-off date (2025 notice), with relaxations for reserved categories and others. Your degree result must be declared before the cut-off date, so final-year students should check the notice carefully.
- Step 3 · Phase I: Preliminary examAn online test of Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English. In 2025 there was no negative marking, and you had to clear each section separately. Prelims marks are not added to the final merit list. They only decide who goes on to the Mains.
- Step 4 · Phase II: Main examAn online objective test plus a descriptive English paper. In 2025 it was held on 8 November. Only Mains marks are used to pick candidates for interview. The descriptive paper details here are (reported) from the notice summary. (reported — check with the official body)
- Step 5 · Phase III: InterviewThe interview is for 60 marks. In 2025 the qualifying mark was 30 for General, EWS and OBC, and 27 for SC/ST/PwBD. About three times the number of vacancies are called. Final merit is Main marks plus Interview marks.
- Step 6 · Pre-recruitment medicalShortlisted candidates take a medical examination before joining. PwBD candidates also appear before a medical board that checks their status.
- Step 7 · Joining, training and probationSelected candidates are posted anywhere in India and join as Class 1 officers. The 2025 notice, as reported, asks for a minimum 4-year service undertaking (₹5 lakh damages if you leave early). It also reports a 1-year probation, which can be extended to 2 years, and about 5 years in branches outside your home zone for Generalists. Check the current notice for exact terms. (reported — check with the official body)
Ways in
- AAO (Generalist)Any bachelor's degree. This is the main route, with 350 posts in the 2025 cycle (32nd batch).
- AAO (Specialist)Posts for Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Actuaries, law graduates and Insurance Specialists. The qualification is specific to each post, and LIC notified 410 such posts in 2025 in a separate notice.
Your real chances
In 2025, LIC notified 350 AAO (Generalist) posts. As per the notice, about three times the number of vacancies are called for interview, and the others are dropped at the earlier stages. LIC's pages that I opened did not give a total applicant count, so only the number of posts is confirmed.
Time and money
| Stage | Time | Government college or body | Private college | Help available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 11–12 (any stream) | 2 years | Your school's fees | Your school's fees | — |
| Degree (any bachelor's, usually 3 years) at government college | 3 years | Govt. P.G. College Bilaspur (HP): BA without practical, 1st year ₹3,176 boys, ₹2,576 girls (2026–27) | RV University (Bengaluru): B.A (Hons) tuition ₹3,60,000 plus ₹16,000 other fees (AY 2026–27) | No official stipend found. Govt College Chamba: SC/ST and OBC scholarships exist, no amounts given. |
| LIC AAO exam (Preliminary, Main, Interview) | Preliminary, Main and interview in one cycle; exam dates vary | ₹700 plus GST and bank charges (reported); ₹85 plus charges for SC/ST/PwBD; not refunded | — | Reduced fee for SC/ST/PwBD candidates (reported). |
| Joining, training and probation as Class 1 officer | 1 year probation, extendable to 2 years (reported) | Paid: salaried officer; basic ₹88,635 a month (reported) | — | Training period is paid; about ₹1.26 lakh a month total in an A-class city (reported). |
Fees from: LIC AAO Generalist notification 2025 · Govt. P.G. College Bilaspur (HP) fee structure 2026-27 · Government College Chamba prospectus 2026-27 · RV University fee structure AY 2026-27. Fees change every year — check the college's own fee page before you pay.
What people earn
Class 1 officer scale as reported from the 2025 notice: basic ₹88,635 a month in the scale ₹88,635–4,385(14)–1,50,025–4,750(4)–1,69,025, plus allowances. Total at the start in an A-class city was given as about ₹1.26 lakh a month (reported). The pay figures were read from summaries of the notice, so check the notice itself.
Source: LIC AAO Generalist notification 2025 (Emoluments and Benefits section) ↗
Pay rises with yearly increments and promotions, and the allowances you get depend on the class of city you are posted in, so a metro posting pays more in hand than a smaller town.
Myth and fact
For girls and students with disabilities
The notice has reserved posts for SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwBD candidates, age relaxation for reserved groups, and lower qualifying marks for SC/ST/PwBD (27 against 30 in the 2025 interview). PwBD candidates appear before a medical board, and a scribe is allowed with the declaration forms in the notice. I did not see a separate women's quota in the pages I read.
Try it now
- Class 7–9Make a one-month family-style budget with income, expenses and savings. Then read what a life insurance policy covers and write 5 lines in your own words.Open link ↗
- Class 10–12Solve 10 reasoning puzzles and 10 percentage or ratio problems a day this month. Read one English editorial and write a 5-line summary.Open link ↗
- College or afterDownload LIC's latest AAO notification and read the eligibility, selection stages and service conditions yourself. Make a one-page plan against the cut-off dates.Open link ↗
Good to know
- LIC recruits when it has vacancies, not on a fixed yearly calendar. The latest official recruitment page I could open (licindia.in → Careers) showed the 2025 cycle. Watch that page for any new notice.
- Apply for only one post per notice. If you submit more than one application, LIC keeps only the latest and the other fees are lost.
- Posting is anywhere in India and transfers are part of the job. Think about this before choosing it.
- Related paths with the same graduate entry: NIACL Administrative Officer, bank PO exams and RBI Grade B.