Hints & Tips

Overview of our hiring process
Helping you prepare your CV
Helping you through the application process
Helping you prepare for assessment centres

Overview of our hiring process

At The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, we place a high priority on attracting and hiring the very best people in the market. People matter to us. All of our selection activities are designed to enable us to assess your skills and experiences relevant to the demands of the role you have applied for. We aim to ensure that our process is robust, transparent, based on realistic job demands and equitable to all prospective candidates.

We also work hard to make the hiring process a two way process at RBS. We will ensure that you are provided with the information and support you need to enable you to best demonstrate your experience and capabilities. We will also ensure that you have access to the information you need to make the right decision about a career at RBS.

Your selection experience will vary based on the role you have applied for but will typically include the following stages:

Application stage

Whether you apply directly to us through our careers website or through our staff referral scheme, we will ask you to provide background information about you. This will usually involve completing an application form or submitting a CV.

For some roles, you will be asked to complete an application form and then be directed straight through to an online assessment process. For other roles and once we have reviewed your CV and established that there is a good fit between your background and the 'essentials' we are looking for in a particular role, you will be contacted by our recruitment team. They will provide you with more details on what to expect from the next stages in the hiring process and also share more information with you about what it's like to work at RBS. They will also be able to answer any questions you might have.

For some roles, we may also invite you to an initial phone interview. This is aimed at assessing your skills, background and experience relevant to the role you have applied for and helps us decide if we should invite you to the next stage of the hiring process. Phone interviews typically last about 30-40 minutes.

Interview stage

If you are invited to an interview, you will have the opportunity to describe your experiences and capabilities in more detail. This interview will usually be done face-to-face in our offices and will typically be with one of our recruiters or a line manager. The interview process and the types of questions we like to ask will vary based on the role you have applied for, but typically involves exploring your behavioural abilities (we define these as competencies), your technical skills and background (typically based on your qualifications and/or relevant work experience) and also a shared discussion about the reasons for your interest in working for RBS.

We will ensure that you are fully briefed on what to expect from the interview process and what we are looking for if you are invited to this next stage in the process.

Further selection stages

The next stages of the selection process, to enable us to make a final decision about whether you are a good fit for RBS, will vary based on the role you have applied for. In some cases i.e. where this has involved an online assessment, a face-to-face interview will be the final stage in the process. For other roles, the final stages could involve further interviews e.g. with peers, or with people you could be working with, further individual assessment exercises or an assessment centre. As before, we will ensure that you are fully briefed on what to expect and how best to prepare for any of these events.

What happens next

Following your selection process, and assuming it has gone well for both of us, we will make you an offer. This is a very important part of the overall process and your recruiter or RBS contact will keep in touch with you throughout, to help answer any questions you might have and also to support you with any of the practicalities involved in confirming your offer e.g. our pre-employment screening process.

If you decide to apply, we wish you success with your application.

Helping you prepare your CV

Here are some guidelines on how to make sure that your CV does the best job possible in supporting your job application process – and do it's job in getting you through the initial selection process.

About you

Include essential information about you so that we know how to contact you: your name, your contact numbers and residential address and if possible your email address.

Educational background

• Your CV should accurately reflect your academic achievements and technical qualifications and experience as appropriate.
• Provide details of your highest level of school or technical qualifications, the institution you received them from and the dates.

Your work experience

• Whether you are applying for your first role after college or university or have substantial work experience and accomplishments, we are interested to know about the skills and experiences you have acquired along the way.
• This is an important part of your CV, so make sure you devote time and attention to it.
• Provide us with details of your role, your achievements and any special projects you may have worked on with each relevant employer. Aim to be concise – and don't forget to provide examples of the outcomes you have achieved.
• If this is your first role or you are at an early stage in your career, make sure you include details of any relevant extra curricular activities, work experiences etc to help us get to know you better.

Before you submit, make sure you review your CV to ensure it captures the essential information about you that makes you a great potential fit for the role you have applied for.

Helping you through the application process

If you are applying for a job online, it's very likely that you will find yourself competing with a lot of other applications. You will need to ensure that, as a minimum, your application meets our requirements in order to get our attention.

• Think about the requirements of the role you are applying for. Ensure you are able to provide a satisfactory response against those that are mandatory e.g. right to work permits.
• Then think about how your skills and experience match what we are looking for. A 100% is obviously a great start (80% match as a minimum) in making it much more likely that you'll get shortlisted for interview.
• We advise against applying for lots of different jobs at the same time. You need to ensure that each application you make is focused and given the attention it needs to succeed.
• Read reply instructions carefully – one of the most common reasons for your application being rejected at this stage is a failure to complete all the information requirements. We may come back to you to check for missing or incomplete information – but it's in your best interests to take the time to check through your application and ensure you have provided everything that we have asked for, particularly where we have attracted a high number of applicants.
• Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
• Online application forms often restrict the number of words you can use so it pays to be able to capture key details as clearly and succinctly as possible.
• Make sure you upload your CV – and a covering letter if that is required.
• And finally, don't forget to check the closing date – and ensure that you aren't too late in applying. If you miss the application deadline, we will not be able to consider your application.

It's a good idea to keep a safe dated record of any reference numbers you are given for specific job applications.

Helping you prepare for interviews

When you are invited in for an interview, it is most likely that this will involve a visit to one of our offices. The main focus of the selection interview is on discussing your past experiences and accomplishments as well as your general fit for a role at RBS and your interest in joining us.

Throughout the interview process – and it may involve you participating in more than one, depending on the role you have applied for – we will be looking for several qualities and characteristics that are required for successful performance in the role. Interviews may take different formats based on the role you have applied for and the stage you are at in the selection process.

We will ensure that you are provided with more details on what to expect when we invite you to attend for interview. In general, first interviews are likely to be focused on your personal qualities and experiences as well as exploring your technical and professional skills relevant to the role you have applied for. Interviews usually last about an hour and usually involve one interviewer – although, through the selection process, you are likely to be interviewed by other RBS people as well.

Guidance on how to prepare

• Do your homework: Before your interview, we encourage you to learn as much as you can about RBS, the job you have applied for and the business area it is in. Familiarise yourself with our business, our products and where we do business. Research our competitors. The more you find out about us – for example through researching our website, reading the press or talking to friends and contacts – the more prepared and confident you will be in the interview.
• Review your CV and application: Think about the types of questions we will be asking you and which experiences you want to share as part of the interview process. All of our interviews will ask questions that are directly related to the job you have applied for and some may include questions about key behaviours and qualities. We will tell you in advance what we are looking for so that you can prepare specific examples of experiences that you wish to discuss, of situations you have personally been involved in that demonstrate your capabilities and experiences. Review the job description for the role you have applied for. Why are you interested in a role at RBS? Why do you think you are a good fit with what we are looking for? What do you think you have to offer us? What success stories do you want to share?
• Make the most of the interview process: If you can, find out who you will be meeting, their name and their role. We want to ensure that our interviews are a two way process. They are an opportunity for you to find out more about us, the role you have applied for and whether we are the right company for you. Think ahead about any questions you might want to ask.
• Don't forget the basics: Bring a copy of your CV and application. Know the dress code and wear something appropriate. Ensure you can provide more details on what you have referenced in your CV. Maintain good eye contact with your interviewer and look interested – body language makes a difference to how you come across! Make sure you know where your interview will be held and make sure you allow plenty of time to get there. Don't forget to let us know if there are any reasons for you not being able to attend or if you are running late. Get a good night's sleep the night before and aim to be as relaxed as possible to enable you to show your best self!
  
  Above all, the most important thing to remember is to be yourself , aim to put yourself across well to the interviewer and come along prepared to share your experiences and interests. At RBS, we constantly strive to find new and better ways of doing things for our customers and our business. We look for people who are motivated, want to be challenged and who are genuinely interested in joining us. And above all, remember that we want you to do well at the interview.

Helping you prepare for assessment centres

For some roles at RBS, we use assessment centres as part of the selection process. These are usually the final stage of a process and will be tailor-designed to reflect the demands of the role you have applied for and the qualities we need to find in candidates. We will provide you with specific information on what to expect and how the event is structured as part of the selection process. Here are some general guidelines on what they are, why we use them and how best to prepare for them.

What is an assessment centre?

An assessment centre is an event that typically involves a number of candidates coming together at a location and experiencing a range of exercises. Candidates will be observed by a number of different assessors at the event. They usually last a day but can range from half a day to two days depending on the nature and seniority of the role you have applied for. It is important to remember that we are not assessing the performance of the group as a whole but you as an individual and how you perform in each of the exercises. Everyone is assessed individually and on their own merits.

Why do we use them?

In simple terms, assessment centres are one of the most robust and effective ways to form a view on whether or not someone is a good fit for a role. They also provide you with a more comprehensive sense of what is involved in the role you have applied for. We use them because making the right selection decision is really important to us. They enable us to see how you behave in a range of realistic work-based situations so that we can determine if you are a good fit for the role in question.

What's in it for you?

As with our other selection methods, it's helpful for you to view the assessment centre as a two way process:

• You will get the opportunity to experience a range of activities that tell you more about our business, what we value in our employees and allow you to ensure that the role you are applying for is right for you.
• They give you multiple opportunities to demonstrate the full range of your skills and personal qualities and why you are a good fit for the role you have applied for.
• They also typically involve several observers or assessors, which gives you the opportunity to be seen by more than one person, making the overall process fairer to you.
• Through meeting other candidates and a range of people from RBS, they give you an insight into what we are like to work for.

What happens at an assessment centre?

Assessment centres usually involve several exercises. This may include interviews, group discussions, presentations, role plays or business case studies. They may also include written exercises and psychometric tests (designed to provide either a measure of your mental abilities e.g. numerical reasoning skills as well as personality or personal style questionnaires, designed to provide us with more insight into your preferences and ways of doing things). In general, we design exercises to reflect the typical demands of the role you are being assessed for and we have a defined set of behaviours that we are looking for across the range of exercises you will participate in e.g. your communication and influencing skills. We will provide you with more information on what to expect from your event and what we are aiming to measure as part of the joining instructions.

How to prepare for an assessment centre

When you join us, we want you to be engaged and motivated to be in a working environment that enables you to give your best. The overall aim of any of our selection processes, therefore, is to make sure we are a good fit for each other. Assessment centres provide us with a great opportunity to get a realistic picture of who you are and how you are likely to behave at work. So the most important guidance we can provide is to be yourself.

Most exercises will provide you with some preparation time on the day and will not involve any pre-work. However, there may be some assessment centres that will require you to complete work in advance of the event and these will be sent out to you where appropriate. If we have told you that psychometric tests are involved e.g. numerical reasoning tests, it may be a good idea to refresh yourself on how to complete basic calculations e.g. percentages. There are also lots of example tests you can access online which will give you the opportunity to get some practice in advance e.g. through searching for practice tests and become more familiar with the format that the test is likely to take.