Online Application
This will take around 1/2 hours to complete. It requires you to fill out your personal details, education history and any work experience you have. HSBC requires both a CV and cover letter.
How to respond for success
Be sure to spend time tailoring your application to align with the values of HSBC and make sure you include all relevant work experience in your application, as this is all HSBC will see when they’re deciding whether to forward you through to the next stage of the application process.
Expect a 1 to 3-week wait before progressing to the next stage.
Immersive Online Assessment
You will be faced with 3 types of online assessment. A numerical, verbal reasoning and situational judgement test. The whole process took around an hour, each test lasting 20 minutes.
Example task
The Numerical Test will focus on % growth, basic stats and other mathematical concepts. The Verbal Reasoning test consists of typical ranked order questions, where you need to infer various things from text, (emails etc).
How to respond for success
For the numerical reasoning, Louis recommends that you read all graphs thoroughly, to avoid simple mistakes. For the verbal reasoning and situational tests, attention to detail is imperative. Louis recommends putting yourself in the recruiters shoes, think about what they are looking for in a candidate, and be sure to try and demonstrate this knowledge and or set of skills in your answers. Take time out to read, understand and show how you align with HSBC’s core values. Also make sure to maintain good time management.
Expect a 1 to 3-week wait before progressing to the next stage.
Immersive On-site
This stage consists of a crossover between a video response and an essay type response to a question. The Video response question is longer than typical video interview questions, as its around 5 minutes, compared to the traditional 2 to 3. It will show you a scenario, then ask you to give your thoughts on the matter. The Essay type responses in Louis case, (Corporate banking) were centred around advising clients.
Example task
Louis was given a number of situations a client could be in, and how as a ‘HSBC corporate banker’ he would advise the client to proceed.
How to respond for success
In your video responses, Louis recommends trying to talk for at least 3 of the 5 minutes offered, but don’t waffle either. If you structure your response clearly in the time before your timer begins, and have done the homework on your division, you should be able to note down enough bullet points to cover in your response. Louis actually noted down how long he’d spend talking about each bullet point, Eg: ‘point A spend 30 seconds explaining’.
Expect a 1 to 3-week wait before progressing to the next stage.
Immersive On-site
This stage consists of a crossover between a video response and an essay type response to a question. The Video response question is longer than typical video interview questions, as its around 5 minutes, compared to the traditional 2 to 3. It will show you a scenario, then ask you to give your thoughts on the matter. The Essay type responses in Louis case, (Corporate banking) were centred around advising clients.
Example task
Louis was given a number of situations a client could be in, and how as a ‘HSBC corporate banker’ he would advise the client to proceed.
How to respond for success
In your video responses, Louis recommends trying to talk for at least 3 of the 5 minutes offered, but don’t waffle either. If you structure your response clearly in the time before your timer begins, and have done the homework on your division, you should be able to note down enough bullet points to cover in your response. Louis actually noted down how long he’d spend talking about each bullet point, Eg: ‘point A spend 30 seconds explaining’.
Expect a 1 to 3-week wait before progressing to the next stage.
Assessment Centre
This is the final stage of the application process. It consists of half a day and you will be undertaking numerous activities. Be mindful, it will be an early start. Louis's assessment centre began around the 7/8am mark, as this represents a typical start for a banker! So be sure to set your alarm and get a good night's sleep. Initially, you are given a run-down of the day. Louis’s assessment centre consisted of a 1 hour assessment to start off the day. Similar to the online assessment stage, this is typical rank order and competency based Q’s. Then you will undertake 3 interviews, a competency based, technical based and business specific interview. These interviews will be with top level VP’s (Vice Presidents) and MD’s (Managing Directors), so be sure to bring your A game! Mid technical interview, Louis was thrown a curveball question, along the lines of ‘talk to me about someone you admire?'. HSBC are likely to do this on purpose to see how you react. The best thing to do is remain calm and answer the question at hand.
Example task
For the Business specific interview, Louis was asked what is HSBC’s retail banking strategy, and how are they looking to expand their deposit book? For the technical interview, Louis was asked, what specific credit measures HSBC would use to pre-judge a client loan?
How to respond for success
For the Business specific interview, be sure to know the area thoroughly you are going to work in. Take time to research HSBC’s strategy as a bank. For Louis question regarding HSBC’s retail banking strategy, he talked about how Corporate banking relies on a healthy deposit book, these deposits are then used to make loans to corporates, thus build relationships, so in the future these corporates come back to HSBC for any ECM / DCM (Equity & Debt capital market) transactions. For the Competency based interview, be sure to have stories that demonstrate various skills, such as teamwork, or times when you’ve faced adversity and overcome issues. For the technical interview question, Louis clearly identified the different types of loan, for example: term A, term B and a revolving credit facility. Yet again, it is important you show sound understanding of the job role.
