How to Prepare for an Assessment Center

Not every entry-level role in banking will require attending an assessment center.

But if you’re looking to win a place on a banking graduate scheme, particularly in Europe, there’s a fair chance that this will be part of the process. They have to filter out the large pool of quality candidates somehow, whether or not you did well on that Citi interview.

Assessment centers tend to be made up of groups of between six and 12 individuals per session. Estimates suggest only about 10% of applicants for a graduate role gets to the assessment stage.

The approach will vary from bank to bank, but you should be prepared for a group discussion and individual interviews. In the UK, of the top 100 graduate employers, 79% did group exercises and 72% presentations.

Each exercise is intended to test a specific competency. As a result, it’s vital you revisit the job role profile that has skills, knowledge and competencies, and learn what is expected of applicants – that is what you will need to apply on the day.

So how should you prepare for an assessment center?

Prepare in Advance

One reason why candidates underperform at assessment centers is that they don’t know what to expect. It’s essential you do your research on what kind of tests you’ll get. The HR department or the bank’s website will provide guidance.

Whether it’s verbal, numerical and inductive reasoning tests, for example, practice ahead of time. For that, there are plenty of resources available online.

Don’t forget to do as much as you can in advance researching the bank, market, competitors, role and necessary skills.

Dress well, turn up and time and warmly greet the assessors. Now you’re ready to start your banking interview assessment.

Be Prepared to Play the Role

The bottom line is you must always keep in mind the competencies and skills the specific bank has outlined it is looking for and weave them into your assessment center engagements.

You must remember where you are. Even when you’re having a coffee break, chatting casually to other interviewees, or are walking out of the building you are being assessed. They’re not your mates and you’re not down the pub.

In other words, you must “remain in character” for your entire time there.

This includes building rapport to show that you can work well with others in a professional setting. To do that ask questions and be genuinely interested. Subjective impressions are made on non-verbal signs. And get used to someone watching you and taking notes.

Also take this as an opportunity to network. You may well end up working with some of them at a later date. So, make the effort to remember everyone’s name.

You’ve also got to try to connect with interviewers. Remember to be courteous. Also, drop in well-researched questions throughout the interviews. But make sure they target the right audience (e.g. don’t ask macroeconomic questions to the HR professional!).

Business Interview

You may find yourself having a business interview that is intended to give assessors a read of what you know about the commercial world around you.

Because of that make sure you read up on (and importantly take a view on) geopolitics, macroeconomics, sectors and so on.   

You must be able to relate this information to the bank itself. So do your research on the company, recent events in the business and how external factors (e.g. regulation, technology, low growth) are impacting the specific units or bank. So write some questions down in advance about the organization and key challenges it’s facing.

Remember to prepare answers. But also remember to listen to the questions before answering – it’s very easy to give them the answer you want to give rather than the one they want to hear.

Analysis Exercise

This is about microeconomics and how you as interpret information.

Do some research on at least two companies: preferably one company doing well at the moment and one less so. This helps to show your adaptability. Plus, you may get asked to compare and contrast two companies and this should make that easier.

In terms of the analysis, be able to talk broadly of what’s driving or impeding earnings (growth trends, competition, market segmentation). You need to be able to compare the current performance with the past, in addition to future expectations.

Having computed all this information, you need to have a view on stock undervaluation / overvaluation. So that requires being comfortable with the relevant valuation metrics for the stocks in question.

Situational Judgement Exercise

The key for situational judgment exercises is that they are looking for you to reflect the competencies that align with the bank.

If this it’s addressed in a normal interview format where they ask: “what would you do in X situation?”, have a think about what competency they are looking to address and apply a STAR technique approach.  Obviously, you would have needed to have done your research in advance to know what competencies the bank espouses.

To frame your response, refer back to past scenarios that are relevant. Be systematic in your STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach. Make sure you give answers that show you demonstrating the bank’s core values and competencies.

Group Exercise

These can be based around a topic question, ethical question or case study. You would need to discuss the topic and then present on it.

For group exercises, you may be assigned a role or asked to work together.

It’s not simply about winning the task or leading from the front. Don’t forget, you are collaborating with the team, NOT competing. If you are all good enough, they will take you all or they may not take any of you. Building bridges with other candidates could help you to perform better throughout the day.

Still, you must speak up – possibly more than you would normally. Remember it’s about quality rather than quantity and as much about the questions you ask as the points you make.

If you are a timekeeper, make sure you give time checks – i.e. something you can do but you still have to be involved. At the same time, you don’t want to be seen to be taking over. So keep focused on the task and don’t talk over everyone.

If you’re asked to do a presentation, think about professionalism required for the organization and the use of PowerPoint – and don’t just read out the bullet points.

Fundamentally, the assessors are looking for banking candidates that show empathy and can listen; you’ve got to put yourself in a position to help the quiet ones shine and support the group dynamic.

In order to do that, you must work as part of a team. You don’t have to be the leader of the group to be viewed a success. That’s the nature of banks anyway. So if you have the opportunity, be the person who invites everyone to contribute and be constructive when challenging someone’s point.

Remember, you still need to do everything in the context of the competencies that are required in the role. And if you’re an overly competitive type you may have to rein yourself in a little. Don’t be dismissive of opinions or interrupt. Just play the game.