Recruitment test structure

Aptitude and ability tests are designed to assess your intellectual performance. These types of test can be broadly classified onto the groups shown and you may be asked to sit a test which consists only of ‘numerical’ questions or these may form part of a test which consists of questions of different types.

Recruitment and selection tests are only part of the selection process and you will still be asked to complete an application form, send in a copy of your resume and attend at least one interview. All of these things will tell the employer something about you and help them to choose the most appropriate candidate for the vacancy. Recruitment and selection tests can be split into personality tests and aptitude/ability tests.

The principle behind personality tests is that it is possible to quantify your personality characteristics by asking you about your feelings, thoughts and behavior. Personality has a significant role to play in deciding whether you have the enthusiasm and motivation that the employer is looking for and whether you going to fit in to the organization, in terms of your personality, attitude and general work style? Personality tests can be applied in a straightforward way at the early stages of selection to screen-out candidates who are likely to be unsuitable for the job.

Reference: http://www.psychometric-success.com/faq/faq-recruitment-and-selection-tests.htm

Potential interview questions

Here is a list of potential question you could get at an interview. Be prepared to answer!

Career Questions
What other firms are you interviewing with and why?
Are you interviewing with management consulting firms too?
What career opportunities are you exploring other than risk?
What are the most important qualities for a career in risk?
What do you understand the responsibilities of an risk analyst to be?
Describe a current event in the market?
What is your most challenging professional experience?
What would you do if you were giving a presentation to a client and suddenly noticed a mistake in some of the calculations, which you had prepared?

Education Questions
What were your grades each year at university?
Why did you choose your university?

General Questions
What are your greatest strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Where do you see yourself in five years/ten years?
What are your proudest accomplishments?
Who or what is your greatest influence?

Competency Questions
Are you a leader or a follower? Give examples.
Describe an ethical decision you had to make?
Describe a time you failed, why did you fail, what did you learn?

Finance Questions
Why would two companies merge?
What major factors drive mergers and acquisitions?
What are some common anti-takeover tactics?
Why might a company choose to issue debt vs. equity?
What could a company do with excess cash on the balance sheet?
How would you calculate a firm’s WACC? What would you use it for?
How do you calculate the firm value for the following firm?
What would greater impact a firms valuation, a 10% reduction in revenues or 1% reduction in discount rate?
What major factors affect the yield on a corporate bond?
Walk me through the major line items of a Cash Flow Statement.
Say you knew a company’s net income. How would you figure out its cash flows?
What is the difference between the balance sheet and the income statement?
What is goodwill? How does it affect net income?
What is the difference between Purchase and Pooling accounting? Under what circumstances would you use one or the other?
What are deferred taxes? How do they arise?
What is working capital? How would you calculate it?

Industry Questions
What was our firm’s share price yesterday?
What is the FTSE at today?
Which way is the market going? Bond, equity and foreign exchange?
Where do you think interest rates will be in the next 12 months?
What has happened in the markets in the past three months?
What were the headlines in the Financial Times today?
What would you personally invest in?
What industry do you follow and what numbers do you look at to determine if a firm is doing well in the industry.

Risk questions
What is risk?
Tell us about Basel 3?
Which part of the SDLC includes Risk analysis?
What are the parameters to be considered for evaluating Risk analysis?
How to weightage the risk analysis, what are the tools to evaluate?

7. Stay professional to the end

Although it can be tempting to run screaming from a bad interview or skip joyously from a good one, recruiters will expect to you to be professional throughout the time you’re meeting with them, including after you’ve left the interview room itself.

If you’re shown around the office or have the chance to chat with trainees or other members of staff, remember that their feedback may count towards the organisation’s overall evaluation of you, so don’t say or do anything that you wouldn’t in a formal interview situation.

TOP TIP: Need to let off steam or sing for joy? Make sure you are a couple of blocks away from the employer’s office before you let rip – you never know who is watching! The same is true for comments online.

Reference:http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/interview-techniques/eight-steps-to-graduate-interview-success

4. Prepare yourself

Graduate interviewers will expect you to show a keen interest in their organisation, so use the research you’ve already done to think up at least three questions to ask about the employer and three questions about the job itself. You can write these down to take into the interview as a reminder.

Make sure you’ve checked out our careers advice on the leading graduate sectors to find out what recruiters in different industries expect you to know.

If you still have access to your university’s careers service, see if you can book a mock interview or practice any tests that might be part of the interview day – many offer these services or can provide DVDs and books about making the most of yourself at interview.

3. Think about yourself

Recruiters want to know what unique skills you can bring to the role. Think through your work experience and the skills and interests you’ve developed at university and how these relate to the job and area of work.

List your achievements and activities (such as work for university societies, interests and hobbies, internships or work placements, voluntary work or casual work) and make notes on the skills you learned and how you used them, and also what you contributed to different situations.

TOP TIP: Review your CV or application form: think of how you can expand on any examples and skills and consider some alternatives. Which examples would be the best ones to highlight for the particular job?

2. Research the employer again

Return to the employer research you did when you made your original job application and build on it. Fresh research will remind you what attracted you to the job and will help you anticipate interview questions.

Look on the organisation’s website for details of recent work or clients that interest you and think about how you could contribute to what the employer does.

Reference:http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/interview-techniques/eight-steps-to-graduate-interview-success

1. Find out what kind of interview you’ll face

Graduate employers use different kinds of interviews at different stages of the recruitment process.

Telephone interviews are often used at an early stage to check candidates meet the basic requirements and to filter out those who aren’t serious about the job.

Many organisations use competence- or competency-based interviews, in which you’ll be asked to match your skills to those needed for the role, eg communication skills, problem solving and teamwork.

Panel interviews – in which candidates are interviewed by several people such as HR staff and department managers – are also common in some graduate career sectors, such as teaching and public service.

TOP TIP: If the recruiter hasn’t already told you what kind of interview you’ll be having, contact them to find out. Once you’ve established what to expect you’ll be able to prepare for the kinds of questions and scenarios you could experience during the interview.

Reference:http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/interview-techniques/eight-steps-to-graduate-interview-success