BARCLAYS CORPORATE Assessment Centre

I am , you got any idea what to expect?? Not sure how to prepare for it..

Hey Perfectlysafe;

Did you not receive a pack? Apparently it starts with a competency interview, followed by numerical and verbal tests, finally finishing with a group exercise.

When did you receive your invite? and which division did you apply for?

Hi both,

when did you find out and what division is the assessment centre for?

I had a telephone interview on Tues 02 Nov and was invited on the same day to AC via email.

I applied to HR, Marketing and Communications.

Have you applied and to what division?

I had my interview last wednesday and got a call on thurs morning to tell me i'd passes. Just got my pack there, need to have a proper read through..think i'll struggle most with commercial awareness, need to do some work on that. it's client coverage i've applied to. Are you travelling in on the day? I'm coming from glasgow so need to come down thurs night.

@ perfectlysafe

I will be travelling in on the day, as I live in East London.

I'm nervous about virtually everything.... especially the tests! I should be ok but I wonder how it would be when the pressure is on.

My commercial awareness is ok, just need to relax and be confident about my answers.

I think they have more info on accommodation so refer to your pack.

Hi everyone,

I will also be attending the assessment centre on the 12th of November. I have applied for the Product division.

You passed the online tests, you have nothing to worry about! Just practice a few tests the day before.

Hetal

Yeh, I'm the same, pretty confident in general but I'm worried my nerves will get the better of me. Do you think there'll be a lot of us there? Don't know how many people to expect. I emailed about accomodation, waiting to hear back.

Hi Perfectlysafe,

I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm sure there will be quite a lot of us though. When did you email them? Hope they get back to you asap so you can cross that off your list! I'm traveling in from North London.

I'm also pretty confident but of course I worry that my nerves will get the better of me too. We just need to relax and do the best we can I guess.

Any guesses as to how long the competency interview will be?

@ Hetal You're so right! I've come this far so I've just got to believe in myself.

@ perfectlysafe Have no idea on the numbers of candidates. This is my first AC? Have you attended any others?

That's it. And actually, it's probably easier to do the tests on paper as opposed to having to look at screen? As long as you practice a few you will be okay.

My main concern is probably the group exercise - 2 hours!

Yeah I'll practice a few on Thurs!

My main worry is the competency interview. I'm generally good in interviews but it's the looking for a good example in order to meet their standard.

I wonder what the group exercise will entail. Do you know if this is the first AC?

I'm not 100% sure but I think this is one of the first ones. I asked the woman who interviewed me when assessment centres would be and she said they'll start in November and run through till March.

Yeah, me too. I have no idea what to expect for the group exercise and it says nothing in the pack just that we don't need to prepare.

So really all we need to prepare are the competencies and practice tests which is not too bad. Do you think they will get technical in the interviews?

I think it will depend on the interviewer.

Looking at previous threads; some individuals were asked technical questions and others were not. So in my opinion be prepared!

I'll send you a PM.

I am attending on the 12th too. I'm coming down from Manchester. I emailed them about accommodation, haven't heard anything back from them yet. I've applied for the Technology Division, hopefully everything will go ok. I'm not too bother by the numerical/verbal reasoning tests, but my commercial awareness could do with improving.

I've emailed about accom a couple of times and heard nothing back, can;t find a number to call. not sure if i should just go ahead and book something?I'm feeling the same about commercial awareness, definitely my weak point.

Yeah, I think I'll be giving them a call. The number should be in one of your emails. Let us know the outcome though after you've called them.

Just got an email saying someone will be in touch shortly with info about accommodation so I think they're organising it for us.

@ perfectlysafe

Result! Hope it gets sorted.

I wonder what the group work will entail. Case study or prioritizing tasks? My commercial awareness is ok but the group activity has been playing on my mind since last night.

Not sure about the group activity, they don't really give anything away! From what I've heard though, they assess you more on team work than the actual content so it's important to remember things like including everyone, being friendly, contributing well - that sort of thing, wouldn't worry too much about it. Think I'm most nervous about the interview, it'll be my first face to face one. Anyone know how long we'll have to wait before they let us know how we've done. And am i right in thinking that if we pass this stage we'll get an offer? I know some companies have another interview after the assessment centre...

I was told after my phone interview that the AC is the final stage, and you should receive your result from them several days after it takes place, where you pass or not.

Like perfectlysafe said, they'll more than likely assess you based on your team interaction, after all one of the competencies that they look for it team work and communication.

I've just received an email from them saying that they have booked the accommodation for me. It's a travelodge about a mile away from the AC.

I've just got the same e-mail, I guess I'll see you there :)

Hey Guys

Glad to hear your accommodation is sorted. One less thing to think about!

Roll on AC day!!!! Woop woop

Hi everyone,

I'll be travelling down on Thursday. Got an email today about the hotel details today.

Hotel: Travelodge Docklands Address: Coriander Avenue A13 London E14 2AA

Is everyone at the same hotel?

I was wondering if you lot were up for meeting up for dinner on Thursday night?

Cheers,

Ron

Yep, think we'll all be in the same hotel although not sure how many of us there are..dinner's a good idea though, would be good to meet some people before AC :)

What UCAS points did you guys have?

They don't the state the minimum amount of UCAS points.

I don't think they request a minimum amount of UCAS point, they just state a 2:1 grade in any discipline.

I have 320 UCAS points though :)

I have 360 but I don't think it's a requirement, they just want you to have a good degree.

Anyone else get through today. Been told im on the scheme for 2011

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

What's your name? How long after did they call you?

Thanks

wow well done!

How did they contact you? By phone or by email? It just seems a bit quick to be honest as the AC finished at 15:00 and your saying you were accepted at 17:30 and the assessors said that we would receive news whether we had passed or failed a couple of days after the AC. Not saying your making it up, just seems a little strange. If you have been accepted though, congratulations. What scheme is it that you went for?

@Barrowvian

It can happen though! The second year grad who I met yesterday also told me that she found out a couple hours after AC.

If they feel that you are too good to lose, they will try and scoop you up before any company does.

Hopefully we will hear good news soon. Fingers crossed!

Anyone else heard anything?

So gutted I missed the AC yesterday, my flights were cancelled :( How did it go for everyone? Wish you all the best, fingers crossed :)

Hi Everyone!

If we didnt get a call yesterday after the assessment centre, should we assume its a rejection??

Wats the starting salary for bar corp any1 ???

Isn't it 36k?

barclays capital us 36k im not sure about corp

What was the full format? How hard were the tests?

No way is Barcap front office 36k. You must mean back office.

Front office with barcap is around 45+5k sign on

Even the retail barclays scheme pays 36+8 sign on

Hey, has anyone heard back from Barclays Wealth? I had the phone interview 10 days ago and still no AC invitation/rejection..

Congrats to everyone who passed the BarCorp AC! Great job!

Of what use is cramming up salaries of front office, back office and different schemes if the job is not yours. Anyone who is interested in salaries for ANY organisation should go glassdoor.com where salaries of most big and medium sized companies in the world have been anonymously posted by employees.

Now back to this issue of assessment centre for Barcorp, who else has been contacted apart from "greatone"?

For all those who are still very much expectant, best of luck. And if you get it well done, and if you dont, as long as you got this far, there are still many more ACs you can get to. 17,000 grad jobs are available for 2011, barcorp is just 120 of those, so best of luck.

Hey, I have been invited for the AC for the GP in Finance. It will take place on the 25th of November. Does anyone knows what to expect ?

got first telephone interview coming up, can those who made it through to AC give me some advice on what to expect? do they ask mostly about your competencies or do they focus on questions surround barcorp??

cheers

Hi Jonny, There is no question about barcorp as far as I can remember. Perhaps they ask what is your view of Barclays as a whole company.

There is a lot of competency based questions. Be ready to backup your answers as the interviewer will ask you 2 or 3 more questions about the experience you will talk about.

What you will say will be typed on a computer by your interviewer, in order to be read then by the recruitment team. Consequently, focus on WHAT you will tell, more than HOW you will tell. In brief, be nervous or confused will not impact your chances to be the successful one!

Hi Jonny,

I applied for product and they didnt ask any competency questions just my career and uni history and questions like what will u do if you are bored with your job, why did you choose your degree etc. They also asked if I knew anything about product and said it will not be assessed! Another question was what experience do you have relevant to the job you are applying for.

Lava

Hi,

I have a telephone interview with Barclays Corp booked this monday for the client coverage role. Anyone, who has been through the same or any telephone interview with Barclays, could you please tell what to expect. (any exact questions to expect would do a world of good)

Just a lil nervous. This is my first tele interview, so just a bit nervous..dont know what to expect.. Many thanks

okay great - have plenty of things to talk about my own experiences but was worried about needing to prepare loads of answers about barclays clients, competitors, products etc. they don't test you on your commercial awareness in anyway here do they??

cheers for your help