Do investment banks test for sociopathic traits?

I was taking this behavioural assessment by Nomura where you had to select between two statements which one you agree with more.

Now a lot of these statements seemed ridiculous, where you couldn’t disagree with both. One statement was ‘I am very messy and disorganised’ contrasted with the other one ‘I wouldn't mind faking an interest in something to make them like me more’ (not exact words, but along those lines). Anyway, in the test there were a lot of statements relating to pretending/faking a personality.

5 Comments
 

Exactly I was thinking how odd it'd be if banks were testing for sociopathy, because well the industry is full of people with those traits.

I felt like if it was an honesty test, the statements would be like 'you uploaded something with an error that's gone unrecognised and you'd tell your boss.'  This test was weird in the sense that they included many statements in that you'd feel like a genuine sociopath as you're faking relationships to succeed. Nevertheless, perhaps they really are assessing for honesty rather than sociopathy maybe.

I'm applying from the EMEA region, so London banks place some emphasis on these tests in order to succeed to the next stage. Not that I'm truly bothered about these tests, I just found this sort of behavioural assessment unique and strangely odd.

 

Inventore quod et saepe adipisci qui minima harum commodi. Quia vel qui quas molestiae omnis perferendis. Voluptatem dolor nesciunt et expedita natus. Quasi assumenda recusandae architecto delectus exercitationem culpa. Consequatur qui nobis repellat provident maiores sunt in. Minus rerum doloribus vel iste delectus quaerat.

Totam libero et facere cupiditate. Provident odio minus iure aliquid occaecati. Voluptatibus ipsam quaerat minima temporibus quasi eos.

Expedita et qui vitae dignissimos. Dicta consequatur vel dolores deserunt aut rerum qui.

...and the Truth shall set you free

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”