CIB Summer Analyst

The Assessment Centre for the RBS Summer Internship in CIB is quite a straight forward task. I will try and provide you with as much information as possible and advise where possible.

The Assessment Aentre consists of three parts; a group exercise, a competency based interview and finally an individual presentation.

You are advised to be at the offices at about 9.30.

Group exercise: At the Assessment Centre split into one group of six and one group of four. My group was focused on dealing with a telecommunications company; we were each individually given a potential cost cutting solution to improve performance at the firm. The task was focused on primarily discussing the potential benefits and disadvantage of each proposal, and to try and persuade the rest of the group to take up your initiative. It's not the be all and end all if your proposal isn't chosen, as long as you show that you can work well in a team and can propose a reasoned argument you should do well.

Half the group was then taken for the competency interviews and the other half go off to do their individual presentation.

Competency Interview: The competency interview lasts approximately one hour and is with one of the employers in the CIB department. My interviewer was honestly one of the most friendly people I've ever met; she was a manager in the corporate coverage division and had been with the firm for several years. The interview itself inevitably started with the standard questions; why RBS, why CIB etc. We had a general chat about my experiences and my background. The interview was honestly more of a conversation more than anything. The interviewer outlines a situation, and then asks you three to four questions after each one. If you would like the interviewer to repeat the question, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to. An example of one of the questions related to a conflict between two of your senior managers, and how you would approach the issue. If you attack each questions individually and answer each one in detail you'll be fine.Why do you believe it is the Right Time for you to join the Corporate & Institutional Banking Programme?
Please use this section to talk about what you know about the Corporate & Institutional Banking Programme and how this fits with your career aspirations.

Individual Presentation: There is pretty much nothing you can do in terms of preparation for this part of the assessment centre. You are given 75 minutes to read through between 16-20 pages of information about a DIY gardening company. The fictional firm were acquired by the RBS Group, and your task is to conduct a 10 minute presentation to your manager informing them of the successes of the firm, the risks it poses to the RBS Group and finally any further questions you would ask the management of the fictional firm. You're provided with a flip chart which you are STRONGLY advised to use. You are left alone in the room without any of the HR staff, which means you have to organise your time as efficiently as possible. This is the same for the presentation itself, you have to try and stick to your 10 minute slot as much as possible. This is then followed by about 20 minutes of questions by your manager. The main aim of the exercise is to place you in a similar environment to one you would experience on a daily basis; so you have to keep in mind that you're an RBS employer and you're informing your senior on a personal level. Relate everything you say back to the RBS group and you'll be fine; try and absorb as much information as possible and use statistics where possible.

This is meant to obviously be the most challenging part of the application process, but if you show that you're confident and a team player in the group exercise, know your stuff for the competency interview and finally highlight strong presentational and organisational skills for the presentation will put you in a very good position. You will be informed in three days of the outcome of your assessment centre.