Central Bank - Bank Executive

Tan Princess

I've an aptitude test for this on saturday. Does anyone have any tips? About the test or what the interview is like?

charmed83

i'm also going for this test on sat. from what i can gather from the sample test sheet they gave us it seems alright. just analysing data from graphs, verbal reasoning and recognising patterns in diagrams.

don't think there's much we can do to prepare for it. as for the interview i haven't got a clue either but i'm sure they'll tell us more if we get past the aptitude test (fingers crossed, sounds like a great job!):)

dazberry

I did one in January for a development position. There were some process flow based things that you probably won't get - but the rest was pretty generic. I was sent a link for a similar but different test as a preparation - which were actually harder than the ones I ultimately sat.

As far as I remember there were 5 sections - verbal reasoning, letter pattern matching, process flow, numerical estimates and one more that for the life of me I can't remember.

They weren't necessarily difficult - but its depends what you're good at or not - the pattern matching was the most difficult for me and I figured that I wouldn't get any - yet once I started I got about 60% done. The key here is time - I flew the other sections but you don't get the luxury of having a lot of time to ponder things - you really need to get your brain into overdrive - and find the way of thinking that works for you and the problems at hand.

One thing to be careful of is to make sure you write the correct answers in the correct boxes. At the end I fecked 2 questions by writing in the wrong section. You use a pencil but you can only fix an answer once (they tell you how) - they don't give you a rubber.

I did get called for interview, the interview was a panel of 4 people - and was pretty easy as interviews go. The only catch was that I had to give a 5 minute presentation on my role in software development at the start - so likely you guys may get something similar.

Didn't get the job in the end. I did a great interview for a more senior job - team lead/dev mgr which would be my level - but I just applied for the job because I am desperate to get out of the hole I work in at the moment - I think they figured that. But it was all good experience otherwise.

Best of luck

D.

Tan Princess

WAhey I got the interview I asked the HR girl the format of the interview she didn't mention anything about a presentation. Hopefully we won't have to do one so.

charmed83

uh oh, i'm worried now. havent heard anything either way. i'll have to give them a ring and see what the story is. what did the hr girl say bout the format of the interview?

charmed83

just checked e mails there and got through to interview too! was expecting a letter in the post!

Electric

For a Bank Executive position in the Central Bank you don't have to give a presentation. You must sit aptitude tests and then an interview. The aptitude tests are pretty standard there really isn't anyway you can prepare for them. Though remember to bring a calculator for the maths section it will make things easier.

The interview is usually made up of a panel of 3 people. One from HR and the two others from various departments in the Bank. They normally last from between 25-45 minutes.

There is no set questions that they ask but obviously knowledge of the Central Bank and Financial Regulator plus current market awareness is essential.

Oh and I know it sounds stupid but when going for interview please go to the right building. The Central Bank is on Dame Street with the golden tree in front of it. You wouldn't believe the amount of times that HR get phone calls from the Bank of Ireland opposite Trinity telling them that people who have interviews with the Central Bank have turned up at BoI thinking that was the CB and then HR have to go collect them!

dazberry

Tan Princess wrote: »

she didn't mention anything about a presentation. Hopefully we won't have to do one so.

When I got notice of the interview via letter - it included detail about the presentation. Again as Electric mentioned - you likely won't have to do one.

Electric wrote:

Oh and I know it sounds stupid but when going for interview please go to the right building. The Central Bank is on Dame Street with the golden tree in front of it. You wouldn't believe the amount of times that HR get phone calls from the Bank of Ireland opposite Trinity telling them that people who have interviews with the Central Bank have turned up at BoI thinking that was the CB and then HR have to go collect them!

At least I went to the right place - and then was brought out and into the building next door!!! But it wasn't specified on the letter

D.

Tan Princess

[So for current market awareness how detailed are we talking, just a general blurb on the irish economy or a knowledge of financial markets. My background is economics but i try to avoid finance stuff as much as possible as I'm crap at it.

What exactly does the job involve does anyone know is there much technical stuff. Do you know what technical questions they might ask? I've heard its easier than the ESRI interview.

Electric

dazberry wrote: »

When I got notice of the interview via letter - it included detail about the presentation. Again as Electric mentioned - you likely won't have to do one.



At least I went to the right place - and then was brought out and into the building next door!!! But it wasn't specified on the letter

D.

The building next door is the Financial Regulator....just in case anyone asks

Electric

Tan Princess wrote: »

[So for current market awareness how detailed are we talking, just a general blurb on the irish economy or a knowledge of financial markets. My background is economics but i try to avoid finance stuff as much as possible as I'm crap at it.

What exactly does the job involve does anyone know is there much technical stuff. Do you know what technical questions they might ask? I've heard its easier than the ESRI interview.

It depends on where you will be placed but it is usually a general entry level management position. The EO position is the 2nd grade on the scale. There will most likely be quite a bit of admin and research, but as for specifics I couldn't really say. I wouldn't worry about having to do technical stuff as part of the job there is a good amount of training required. And it's highly unlikely that you will be sent out to meetings by yourself.

They aren't looking for in depth knowledge of financial markets etc. But they will expect you to know about the credit crisis, why there is so much pressure on the economy and other stuff that has been reported in media recently. Essentially they want to know that you are aware of the bigger picture.

I doubt they will ask too many technical questions. The competition is open to both internal and external candidates so they have to be quiet even handed in their questions. In some ways its good in others its bad. They probably won't ask you about the internal workings of the Bank but they might look for awareness of the Financial Regulator. But they might compensate by asking more HR questions than they would with an internal competition.

Tan Princess

Thanks for that. Do you work there? Does everyone start at the bottom of the payscale or do you earn more if you have an MA? I heard that was the case in the civil service but I'm not really sure if the CB is considered the civil service.

Betty-Boop08

Hi all, I have an interview for this position as well and the e-mail I received stated that I will have to filll out an online motivational and work type questionnaire which I guess will be referred to in the main interview. Does anyone have any tips (do's / don'ts) in relation to this? Or have any experience with the type of questions that can result from it??!

Tan Princess

I know I got that too but they haven't sent me the questionnaire yet. What the hell are motivational questions. Totally freaked me out. I wonder how long we have to do it. Apparnetly interviews are starting the week of the 26th

Betty-Boop08

I read up on these type of tests before and the questions are along the lines of "What motivates you most at work?" and you are asked to rate the 4 answers they give you (such as 1. Job satisfaction 2. Salary 3. Flexible work hours 4. Job security) in order of preference. I'm a bit worried about how to answer though and what they'll be looking for.....

PonyP

The questionnaire that you fill out is only really used so they know what type of questions to ask you in the interview. Central Bank make most people do one of these (including their own staff) when people are applying in a competition. Interview shouldn't be too bad. Just make sure you know about the functions of the Central Bank/Financial Regulator and that you have some idea of what is going on in the economy at the moment, i.e. possible recession, credit crunch, housing market etc. It may help to suggest ways that your degree/masters etc. would benefit you in your career,e.g time management, working with people on projects, being able to prioritise your work.
Best of luck!:)

The_Conductor

Tan Princess wrote:

Thanks for that. Do you work there? Does everyone start at the bottom of the payscale or do you earn more if you have an MA? I heard that was the case in the civil service but I'm not really sure if the CB is considered the civil service.

EO or higher roles are considered to be graduate recruitment, and you would not normally qualify for a starting salary above the minimum of the scale. If the qualification is in an area of direct relevance to the work you will be undertaking, it is possible that incremental credit may be given on recruitment up to a set number of points. Note: it will have to be directly relevant- someone with a masters in food science will not necessary come in at above the minimum point on the salary scale in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food- if they are assigned to a non-relevant area.

The salary scale isn't bad though- link here

The first point of the EO scale for newstarts is EUR31,394 (note: its the scale at the bottom of page 9 of the above document).
Note: it takes 16 years to reach the maximum of the scale which is currently EUR49,809 (including 3 years for LSI 1 and another 3 years for LSI 2)

S.

Ps- The Central Bank (and a number of other public organisations- including the Houses of the Oireachtas etc) are not part of the civil service (though most people would imagine they are). The civil service is strictly the direct employees of government departments, not state bodies or other state institutions.

Betty-Boop08

Thanks for all the info! All I need now is the letter that's apparently being sent out this week to confirm when the interview is!

Tan Princess

Yeah I haven't gotten that letter yet either. I guess i'd better start doing some prep anyway. When do they want you to start? Would it be OK to say I couldn't start until the beginning of august as i'm finishing my masters?

Betty-Boop08

I get the feeling there's so much red tape involved with each stage that it could be later than that if you're lucky! Would love to know how many are being interviewed, for how many positions!

charmed83

i'm waiting for a letter as well to get the interview times. the whole process seems to be taking a long time,considering we did the aptitude test over 5 weeks ago. was talking to a girl who works as a bank executive in the central bank.she said there was a lot of internal candidates going for it as well... would love to know how many jobs are on offer.

Tan Princess

WEll I did the dublin exams and there were about 40-50 people maybe and I asked the HR girl and she said there were two other sets of exam and they were going to interview everyone who did well enough on the exam so at least 50 I'd say.

Does anyone know what the story is with moving sideways into the economic research area once you go in as Bank Exec can you move around after a year or so?

charmed83

did ye do the online personality questionare yet? what did ye think of it? it's hard to know how much they'll take from it and use in the interview...

Betty-Boop08

Hi, to be honest I weighted a lot of the answers equally with 2 balls (in each question with 3 statements). I have no idea what they'll derive from my answers!!

Electric

Ps- The Central Bank (and a number of other public organisations- including the Houses of the Oireachtas etc) are not part of the civil service (though most people would imagine they are). The civil service is strictly the direct employees of government departments, not state bodies or other state institutions.[/QUOTE]

The Bank isn't part of the civil service (there was a court case a couple of years ago that decided this) but it does follow the civil service model exactly. Staff get the same pay, holidays, pensions, benchmarking etc.

Probably the only difference is that you can't move from one government dept to another but you can always be seconded.

The_Conductor

You ***can*** move from one government department to another- on either a permanent basis, or via a secondment (keeping your original department as your "parent" department). Its very popular at particular grades (AO/AP esp). It doesn't tend to happen at the lower grades (though with decentralisation this is also not always the case- as its expected that large pools of staff will move from Agriculture and Social Welfare to Revenue etc......)

Betty-Boop08

Just wondering if anyone has had their interview date confirmed yet?

n.catenthusiast

Afriend of mine who did the apptitude test at the same time as me has his interview on Thursday morning, so I guess they've started the interviews.

I haven't got any word myself though....think I'll give them a buzz if I don't hear anything in the next few days...

charmed83

i haven't heard anything either. that's good that they've started doing them though, really want this job!

Betty-Boop08

How much advance notice are they giving of the actual interview date?

charmed83

i got letter today for interview thursday week so just over a weeks notice it looks like!

Tan Princess

Mine's on the 23rd. I can't believe they want the actual leaving cert and degree. Grrrr that's my next week spent searching for those.

Betty-Boop08

Noooo! Have to dig them out as well! Good luck to anyone up first for interview, please let us know how it goes!

Kazd

Hi, I applied for same job and have interview on Friday. I got email to ring, I haven't received letter yet!! Kinda freaking out reading these. I assumed it'd be competency based interviews, are they not or does anyone know who previously had interview for this position?

Tan Princess

Kazd wrote: »

Hi, I applied for same job and have interview on Friday. I got email to ring, I haven't received letter yet!! Kinda freaking out reading these. I assumed it'd be competency based interviews, are they not or does anyone know who previously had interview for this position?

It is competency based there is a list of competencies on the job spec

Kazd

Thanks, thats what i thought. I haven't a background in economics so was kinda panicking there! Seems like a lot of people are going for it. There was only bout 15/20 people at my exam so didn't think so many going for it. Ah well, good luck to everyone!

n.catenthusiast

Just preparing for the interview for Monday-I'm trying to find the job spec but they've taken it off the website. As far as I can remember it was quite vague i.e. 'being a flexible team player with initiative etc...', but it'd be nice to have a quick flick through it beforehand.

Anyone know if it's be floating around the interweb anywhere?
Cheers!

charmed83

the sent out a copy of it when they sent out the information about the aptitude test? hope the interview goes well, let us all know what it was like!!

n.catenthusiast

just did the interview this morning-wasn't too bad-two HR guys, one young, one old. They kinda did the good cop bad cop routine...

Questions mainly related to my CV-so work and education-bad cop asked some pretty penetrating questions-I think he was seeing how I did under pressure.

Also know something regarding the role of the central bank and the current global situation.

Wasn't too bad all in all. not sure how I did, but I think they've got a fair few people to get through...won't get any answer until the second week of July...

Kazd

I did my interview last Fri and I had same routine. Thought the format was a bit strange as not really structured or mayb that's just what I'm used to. Got asked random questions like do I think the leaving cert is too stressful for people doing it???? Interview was fine really, not as scary as I thought. Have a long wait for results tho.

n.catenthusiast

Mmmmm, got some funny questions too-i.e. How long did you take to prepare for this interview? How did you prepare?

Slightly worrying the length of time to wait-implies a grotesque amount of candidates, or maybe (hopefully!) they just like to take their time about such matters.

One interviewer mentioned that they reserve the right to conduct second interviews-but I would have thought that wouldn't affect the length of time, given that we would be notified one way or the other by the 2nd week of July...

Kazd

Ha ha me too! There was a really random question but I cant remember. I dunno I think they were trying to distract me by skipping to different topics, as you said see how u cope under pressure.

I asked about the different places you could b placed and one interviewer said there is 25 departments so anywhere really. They must be taking in a big intake. He also said that they were conducting interviews for 3 weeks, so last week, this week and next week. So lets say 90-100 people at least!! Its hard to tell tho. Second interview probably be more intense!

charmed83

well, i had my interview yesterday. they didn't mention anything about 2nd round interviews, just that they would be in touch by the 2nd week of july. and they've about 20 jobs straight away and there would also be a panel formed for any future vacancies.

Tan Princess

Did they ask you about each of the competencies? I'm so nervous, mine is on monday. How long was your interview?

charmed83

no, not really. just a general chat about cv ( work experience & college) and then some questions about the central bank and how it operates. one person from hr and then one person from the insurance section i think. lasted about half an hour. wasn't too nerve wracking overall.

Tan Princess

And how technical were the questions about the bank? Do you have an economics background? I'm quite sh1t at macro...

charmed83

not too technical at all. i don't have a economics background (i have a maths degree) but maybe they might have asked more technical questions if i did have one. just a small bit about sub prime mortgages, credit crunch etc.

Tan Princess

My interview was grand thankfully they seemed really nice I really want the job now I can't believe we have to wait until the 2nd week in July to hear.

Mitzy

Does anyone know about the jobs they have advertised with the Financial Regulator? I applied for a job there the other day. I have years of experience in the broker market but would really like to get into the Financial Regulator. Do you know if you need a degree in Accountancy for the compliance end? Any jobs I've seen advertised for compliance seem to require an accountancy qualification. Cheers

Betty-Boop08

I have the interview tomorrow, am dying to just get it over with! Were the questions about the credit crunch, subprime etc about giving your opinion on what's going on and what can be done to alleviate it or just general questions to see how aware you are of things? I'm a bit worried about what they might ask in relation to general knowledge about the bank etc, I find the competency questions a lot easier to deal with!

Tan Princess

THey were checking were you aware and then asking your opinion I found them grand I didn't know a helluva lot about the bank but other than looking at their website I didn't really know where to go to find out. I reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to job.