“One of the world’s leading financial institutions.” With a reputation like that, why wouldn’t you want to work at UBS? UBS is jointly headquartered in Zurich and Basel in Switzerland, but the company was able to put down roots in almost every major financial center due to its success.

Now they are operating four main financial divisions. They are:

• Global Wealth Management
• Personal and Corporate Banking
• Asset Management
• Investment Bank

Given its track record, working at UBS would be a great opportunity. It is a highly reputable firm and continuously performs well. However, it’s not easy to land a role there because of its reputation.

At UBS, you can expect a pretty straightforward application process. As per the industry norm, there are three rounds of interviews:

1. Online Assessments
2. Video Interview
3. In-Person Interview

Typically, UBS offers three tests: 

• UBS Cultural Appraiser: hypothetical questions
• Cognitive Assessments: numerical and verbal reasoning questions
• Coding Challenge: coding questions 

It’s helpful to know that the online assessments are role specific, which is great for a potential finance candidate. As someone pursuing a career in finance, you would only have to complete the UBS Cultural Appraiser and the Cognitive Assessments.

After you’ve passed the necessary tests, you are required to do a video interview. This can either be done through video conferencing or pre-recorded with Hirevue. For most roles, UBS tends to do the pre-recorded method.

You’re now on to your final stage: the in-person interview. Typically, you’d go into the office at UBS, where you meet with several senior leaders. This day usually operates like a Super Day, where candidates are interviewed to determine their fit for the role and the firm. 

Preparing For The Interviews

When applying for any high finance role, you must go the extra mile to prepare for the interviews. This includes dressing for the part, studying the technical questions, and practicing your answers to the behavioral questions.

UBS has some tips on its website that help approach the interview process. You can find it in their website's “How We Hire” section. Additionally, UBS provides a free download of an interactive guide to prepare for the interview process.

This guide assists you in determining your compatibility with the role by providing the user with various prompts. In addition, these prompts help to identify several things about yourself.

Being aware of your traits can be helpful when approaching behavioral questions. This is because most of the questions require you to recall an experience that highlights some aspect of you.

Interview prep is important. We get it. Here are some extra tips:

1. Be prepared by bringing a few copies of your resume if you are meeting in person.

2. Dress appropriately. In most cases, the first interview would be online, so you should at least wear a work-appropriate shirt or blouse. However, if it is an in-person interview, then you would dress in a professional business style.

3. When participating in an online interview, you should have a blank wall or a blurred background to avoid unnecessary distractions.

4. Make a memorable first impression. You have one chance at succeeding with this, so ensure you give it your best shot. Smile, maintain eye contact, and have a positive attitude.

5. Be prepared to ask the interviewer some questions. This can range from topics such as corporate culture, expectations, and defining success in the role.

6. This may seem obvious but know your stuff. Study the material and practice.

What To Expect From The Interview Process

The interview process is simple, in theory. However, there is much more to it than how many rounds there are or how to move on to the next stage. There are questions that can be considered the most important aspect.

At UBS, you will be asked many questions that range from verbal reasoning to general scenarios. All of these are asked to determine your fit for the role, division, and company. Your knowledge of the technical duties is not enough to guarantee you the role.

You can be expected to answer hypothetical, numerical, and behavioral questions during the interview process. Usually, UBS tends to start with a series of online assessments.

The number of assessments you are required to complete would vary on the type of role or division you apply to work for. As mentioned before, if you’re a finance candidate, you’re required only to complete two of the three tests. 

UBS Interview Questions And Answers

For a finance role, you must complete two online tests: The UBS Cultural Appraiser and the Cognitive Assessments. These are to test how well you can solve technical problems and to see if your values align with the core values of UBS.

Once these are completed, and you succeed on to the next round, you will have an interview where you will meet with senior officials from the firm. Whether or not this interview is in-person or online depends on the interviewers or the Human Resources department.

After the tests, there are two rounds of interviewing before potentially advancing to the Super Day. They are the Behavioral and Technical stages.

At UBS, the behavioral segment will be first. The interviewer will ask questions to get to know you better and decide if you would be a good addition to the team. In every interview, there are three questions that you will be asked. These are

1. Walk me through your resume/background.

2. Why do you want to pursue a career in this role? 

3. Why do you want to work at UBS?

The behavioral stage is the technical stage, followed by the behavioral stage. Here you will be met with all questions on financial problems. This includes making calculations, observing a model, and presenting industry-related news.

Some questions you can expect to be asked are:

1. How many financial statements are there?

2. Walk me through the financial statements.

3. Pitch me a stock.

In the following sections, there will be questions provided by people that have been interviewed at UBS. Additionally, there are sample answers to these questions.

Research and authored by Sandhya Singh 

Reviewed and edited by Parul Gupta