BlackRock Portfolio Management Group Summer Internship

Hi, I guess I might be meeting you next week. I applied for the equities portfolio management group and have been invited for the interview on the 18th. I have also been searching around for information regarding their interviews but no luck yet. Don't even know how long its for. I think they may be interviewing all the equities applicants on the same day so that there isn't much of a chance for us to tell others of what the questions are like and prepare.

Oh so you finish by 12.30. I was told to be there by 12.15 so I'm after you.
I spoke to a guy who had his interview a while back.
He says the test starts of easy but gets very difficult very fast so you have to prepare for it well. He had 35 questions in 20 min I think or the other way round but the main point is to get as many as you can properly correct and not rush trying to finish it all as its almost impossible.
The interviews were not too bad, mainly competence questions of how you would react to certain situations. Make sure you know the usuals - markets, economic situation, etc..

Well, nice to meet you then :) I've been researching around since the last post and if the test is like I read for the US it'll be 35 minutes 32 questions, and we'll have two interviews with two different people, but I would like to know the details of what they ask. I emailed the person who sent me the confirmation and she said we should be done by 12.30. I was hoping someone knows more about the process.

Thanks for the tips. Did your friend mention how quick he knew the result after the interviews and did he go to the AC afterwards? Also, did he happen to mention how technical they got? Since we've applied to equities I don't think they'll focus on bonds that much, but they were mainly a bond house before acquiring Barclays Global Investors.

Hi, Sorry for the delay. This is what he said 'there were some technical questions but so long as you have pretty god knowledge about markets and different investments including bonds, investment trusts and commodities you ll be fine'
So for us, it may be more related to stocks and exchange rates.

Thanks for getting back to me. It certainly helps. Good luck to you at the interview. I'll be posting my result here after I get it.

hey guys, i did an internship with them last summer... first round for me was 2 x 45 mins interviews and test was rather hard, but it is not 'that' important... it is only one of the components... of course, it's really good if you can impress them with your numerical reasoning... :)
and next stage was the assesment day - group task and 2 more interviews... might be slightly different this year as they have a new HR grad recruitment person and now they have merged with BGI.
Good luck. My interview experience was really good - nice people.

Hey mint mint, thanks for the info. Can you please mention what division was your internship in? i.e. PMG - equities. If you were in equities, did they ask you a lot of questions about bonds as well in the first interview, or did they mainly focus on stock markets?

hey mike

i really dont want to disclose the divison as we were only a handful there last summer...
i think it can be rather individual.. and depending on which portfolio manager is going to interview you! you know, they are all great personalities and have their individual way of asking questions :)
my first interviews were more competency based, so make sure you can answer questions such as - why blackrock, why your division, why you and prepare some examples where you show your passion for investments - if you are following certain news, participating in some stock challenges, maybe spread betting, investing in stocks ect ect something that's outside the normal academic curriculum...
and in you can add some stories about blackrock - such as why they are the greatest, maybe a bit about the larry fink.. they will be pleased! oh, and are you confident in using excel financial functions? if you are, talk about it! make it visible ;) and excel knowledge is where the interns can add value from the first day!
i'm sure you'll do well and enjoy the interviews!

Interview went very well and I just found out I made it to the assessment centre on the 30th March. How did u get on?

I do not know what happened as I did not get any information as of yet. I will email Rachel today to find out what happened. Did she mention how many passed on to the next stage?

She didn't. The only thing she said on Thursday was that we would all be hearing today if we made it or not and that feedback would be given. Maybe she just hasn't emailed you yet. Best of luck and I hope you get your confirmation soon.

Thanks a lot mint mint, it really was like you said and everyone was really friendly. Could you please shed some light on the assessment centre as well if possible? There's not a lot of information on this online and I don't really know what to expect. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hey Michael, congratulations!
Last year when I had my assessment centre there were only 10 of us and they were about to hire 4 of us.
There was a group exercises for 20 or so minutes (you cant prepare for this one as they mainly look at your interaction with other ppl within the group), 1 interview with a managing director and another with a director. All in all, the best advice I can give you is - very similar to the previous one... both of my interviews were competency based... so questions about my motivation to work for BlackRock and interest to work in your chosen team... Best of luck!! (I had it on Monday and they called me on Thursday evening...)

Hi Micheal and mint mint. Sorry to disturb you guys but I was wondering if any of you had Rachels mobile number?
I had the interview on the same day as you Micheal and was supposed to get a reply on the next monday but I had to leave the country for a week so I just got back to London. I had emailed her twice but received a out of office reply both times so would appreciate it if you guys could help me. I do realise that I probably did not pass through the interview stage since they have not emailed me as of yet but would like to just find out for sure and move on.

Regards,
Kashif

I'm sorry Kashif but she didn't give any number in any of the emails. You could however call them and ask to be put through to HR or the person in charge of the summer internship program. I had to reach them once and since no number was posted for recruitment just called the number for other queries from their contact page (020 7743 3000) and asked to be put through. It got through to the answering machine but if I remember right it was Rachel's. Hope this helps.

Hi Michael, I am new to this forum. I got an online numerical test from BlackRock and am wondering what kind of test should I expect. SHL or PSL or other tests? If you don't mind, could you please share more details about your assessment center day?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I think it was SHL, but that was a very long time ago. After that we had a 1st round interview in London where we sat a paper numerical test as well - much harder than the online one. In terms of assessment centre, from what I can remember, expect a group exercise, individual exercise and two half-hour interviews with people from the business. In both exercises we had to do something related to the business, so things to do with funds (I am not sure if I am allowed to tell you the exact exercises, but trust me, it wouldn't help anyway unless I actually showed you the material - which I don't have). But do brush off on your financial ratios, have a few stocks ready to talk about and find out as much as you can about the business. The main point is to show teamwork, so don't argue with the other people in your team and offer additional and constructive points (i.e. don't say that's stupid if someone peoposes an idea you think is dumb) and don't try to dominate the discussion (by all means it's important that you contibute but being a good team player is more important than being right in these things). Hope this helps.

Yes, it really helps. Thanks a lot!

Hi Hayden (or anybody who can answer,
I am new to the forum.

sorry to desturb. I sent yesterday an application to BlackRock for the 2011 Grad Programme in London.

I was just wondering how long does it eventually take them to go back to candidates with a feedback, after application has been initially submitted.

Many thx and regards!

Hey Birichitto. I got an online test invitation a week after I submitted the application. Now I am still waiting for the next stage.

Hayden,

many thanks for your reply. Just to have anidea, was your application for Grad Programme or Summer Internship?

many thx in advance!

Hi,

I had a problem with the online application for the Summer Internship Program.
There was space for up to five work experiences, but I only have one. The progam wouldn't let me submit my application unless I filled all spaces.

Anyone had the same problem? How did you solve it?

Thank you very much

Just put a "-" in each extra field. Its no problem

Thanks a lot Kashif90. That is exactly what I did.
Do you know when I should expect an answer?
Thank you

Sorry no. Last year when I completed the numerical test, I did not hear back from them for a while. They will contact you when they want to contact you. I thought they forgot about me and then from nowhere I got invited to the interview.

Hi guys,

is there anyone out there who has already taken online tests, who has also been contacted for first round interviews with the PMG??
Thx

hi.
has anyone going for the summer internship already been invited to take the online numerical test?
thanks

Are the assessment centres the same for all the divisions?