Bright Network member Francesca has secured her place on the Barclays Graduate Scheme. Starting in August 2016, she’ll be joining the brand new Barclaycard and Personal and Corporate (PCP) scheme. We caught up with her to hear about the assessment centre.
The assessment centre was based at Barclays' Canary Wharf office and split into four sections:
- Group presentation
- Team problem-solving activity
- Competency-based interview
- Motivation-based interview
Finding the right role
Knowing exactly why you want to work at the firm is vital at the assessment centre. I was really keen to find a scheme that involved private banking as well as technology, which I knew was rare. The Barclaycard and PCP scheme was perfect for me and the assessment centre gave me the opportunity to express my desire to work in a technology focused role at the firm.
For the assessment centre, it's vital to research the firm as well as having a commercial awareness of the industry. While preparing for the day, I found myself becoming even more passionate about the role. For instance, Barclays was the first bank to give a woman a credit card in her own name which showed me that it’s a progressive firm. Nuggets of information like this are also great to bring up at interview when asked motivation questions about why you want to work at this particular bank.
Key resources
There are some fantastic resources online to help you prepare for the Barclays application process. I found other Bright Network member's assessment centre experiences really useful, as well as example interview questions and answers. I especially focused on competency based questions - finding example questions, writing them down and practicing what I would say. The Economist is really helpful to stay up to date on current affairs, especially if you do an economics degree like me.
The interviews were the most daunting part of the process but they were a great opportunity to show off your skills and meet future colleagues. In fact, everyone I met at Barclays - representatives and other applicants - was really nice and encouraging which instantly made me feel at home.
Have you recently landed a graduate role or internship? Let us know - we'd love to share your succes.
