... this Thursday/Friday with Barclays Capital for a graduate Technology analyst role.
I have to go to London on Thursday and check into the hilton canary wharf then have dinner and drinks with Barcalys. Next day is the assesment day which is "a series of technical and competency interviews, group exercises and case study."
Im pretty apprehensive. I chose to do my technical interview on Java but I really cant remember much of it.
Anyone know any good revision site that basically define things like inheritance, serialization, beans etc.
Also what am I likly to have to do in a case study?
Not sure what it will entail and wouldnt like to guess but Id make sure you do do some revision on Java especially if you have specifically chosen to be tested on it.
Good luck with it - should be a pretty cool place to start at if you get it.
Dinner and drinks, the most important test.
Loads of people can do the technical stuff, you have to be social, interesting - and not drunk!
On the drinks thing - quite a few companies do this now - relax a bit as it isnt really a test in the same way that your various competency tests are - but it is still something where they will be forming an opinion of you.
Most people there will be quite friendly so make sure you get amongst them and be sociable and make sure you do have a couple of alcoholic drinks.
If you get yourself an orange juice and just talk to the friend you made during the day then they will just think youre a loser. But also dont go to the other extreme and get pissed & if you do see someone getting a bit drunk then keep away from them as youll probably never see them again.
if theyre paying.. get loaded & pull a bar maid... & drag everyone to a nightclub
Then find a better placement
Quote from: Eggtasticoif theyre paying.. get loaded & pull a bar maid... & drag everyone to a nightclub
Then find a better placement
Lol. They are paying ... not sure if i can consume more than the jobs worth tho *calculates*
Im pretty confident about the dinner bit, im pretty good with people and drink. Its the technical stuff ive let go since uni.
Cheers for the positive words :)
probably the worst advice.
do it, remain very pleasant, polite and honest, people will like you then.
Good luck fella - let us know how you get on.
General advice - dont get drawn into talking about the credit crisis or any secure networks youve worked on :)
Well ...
I went to the Hilton Canary Wharf on Thursday night and had a great meal.
Lovely food and got to chat with 8 or so high level employees inc the CIO of Europe. Was really good fun and interesting. Lots of wine and lots of stimulating conversation.
Then on Friday i had a technical interview, a competency interview, a group exersise (read a booklet and do a group discussion/presentation), a priororitisation test and interview and a few presentations on what Barclays Capital are offering.
I felt it went well overall. I got on really well with everyone I met. I wasnt as prepared on the technical interview as I could have been, I chose the topic of Java but it was more on project development and software design.
Had the dreaded phone call and I wasnt offered a full time place. They offered me a place on their intern programe for 10 weeks in July 08 at full pay with a high chance of being offered a full time place in early 09.
Not what I was hoping for but hey. Not bad for a first interview. Cheers for that tips, on the day I just did what felt right.
Sounds like it went pretty well!
Maybe worth doing the internship then doing a masters for a year?
you should have got loaded & dragged everyone to a nightclub.
Shows you work well when disoriented/under pressure & you can organise somthing.
Before I started work at my last job they invited me to the christmas party to meet the team before I started. I got very drunk, started a shots drinking game with 4 of the guys and then went to a night club wiht a couple.
When I started a month later the IT director said I was just what the team needed and put me in charge of organizing social events :P
Grats on the interview, sounded like it went well! best of luck.
Quote from: sexytwHad the dreaded phone call and I wasnt offered a full time place. They offered me a place on their intern programe for 10 weeks in July 08 at full pay with a high chance of being offered a full time place in early 09.
Not what I was hoping for but hey. Not bad for a first interview. Cheers for that tips, on the day I just did what felt right.
Thats not a bad outcome fella. Assume youre taking the intern placement?
I think I have to really seeing as I dont have any other jobs in the pipe-line.
Its just a pain that its not full time work until 09, and its also not guaranteed. On the up-side that pay is WAY more that I was expecting.
I should hope so from Barclays Capital.
35-50k intern?
It isnt something that you can really compare to IT in other industries though - the pay is very good in the city & junior analyst or developer with financial experience can earn a lot more than a more senior analyst or developer who doesnt work in finance.
I only work for a vendor (our clients are all banks/financial organizations) and the pay is probably a lot better than pretty much most other parts of the software industry however it is probably a bit less than Id get in the same role at a bank - some of the guys whove moved to work for one of our clients have done very well.
I reckon the internship would be worth doing IMO
something you might like to look at if youve got some spare time:
http://www.city.ac.uk/ell/cfa/computing/computing_programming/financialengineering.html
the course is run by a quant from Barcap so could be very useful to your career in fact
without doubt take it. After youve done the internship youre even more employable by the bank next door even if you dont get the barcap spot. Its win win tbh ;)