Applied online and completed the competency questions on why you are suited to broking and the challenges facing the industry. I then didn't hear back till January after applying in November.
The next stage was a phone interview. This was short, around 15 mins, 20 with my questions at the end. It covered competency questions, why I want to be a broker, what will make me particularly good at the role, why ICAP, I was again asked what challenges facing the industry and voice broking. I was also asked what ICAPs share price was, where it was 6 months ago, also where the FTSE 100 was trading over the last year. I was also asked when was the first time I was entrepreneurial and tried to make money. I used an example of selling at school.
I got to the next stage which was an assessment centre. This consisted of trading simulation, numerical test, group presentation, one interview:
Trading simulation: This was a virtual video that attempted to mimic a typical trading day and was like a virtual bloomberg. It had a video with a presenter giving out market news, and other information on the screen included various companies and their share price, as well as FX rates which scrolled across the screen. Questions would then come up on screen one at a time relating to the information in the video and on the screen. Each question lasted 40 seconds. There were 18 in total, and split into groups of 3 questions. Each of these groups represented a particular time in the day i.e. the 1st 3 questions related to 10.30, the 2nd 3 questions 11.30 and so on.
The questions were very timed pressured and I struggled to get my calculations done quickly, then choosing the relevant multiple choice question. This was particularly difficult on questions which for e.g asked for the amount of shares that could be bought in company x in a different currency, this was because by the time you did the calculation ready to convert into the new FX rate, the relevant rate had scrolled off screen and you had to wait for it to scroll on the other end of the screen.
Numerical: Standard SHL. A little harder the ones you get online and the charts for each question don't necessarily follow in order. i.e. questions 1,4,6 will use the same chart, and 2,3,5 will use the same chart. So if you are able to you could answer questions relating to the same chart, but I just did it in order as not to confuse myself.
Presentation: This was time limited group exercise. You were split into 2 groups, and had to give a presentation to the assessors convincing them to invest in your commodity (these were gas and coal for each group). You were given a variety of materials which you could use. You had 5-10 mins to prepare, and then 5 mins to give your presentation. Just ensure everyone is making a contribution in the preparation and make a logical structure, the details are here or there, but try to add something creative for your section of the presentation. In my feedback I was told I gave creative ideas, and did so confidently, so make sure you speak up and don't fidget and get to the point.
Interview: This was not very long. It was face to face with 2 recruiters. Very little was asked and I think the onus is really on you to sell yourself rather than answer lots of questions that they ask. They only really asked why I wanted to be a broker and what I had that would make me successful. They really want to see your character, so express this! Whether this is smiling throughout, being upbeat, or describing a hobby or sport with passion. It will show that you have the personality to be a broker (unfortunately this was my downfall, despite being outgoing normally I had recently been reigning in how expressive I had been in other interviews to be more professional, when in fact it would have worked in my favour this time!). Other things asked were just going through various work experiences on my CV and whether I had worked on a fast trading floor before which I did.
Overall, while I felt on some tasks you didn't have sufficient amount of time to demonstrate everything about you (for e.g. face to face interview I didn't get a full chance to expand on all my sporting involvement), the experience was relatively well handled. I got a decent amount of feedback when I called in, which is good given that there have been occasions when I've received nothing, not even a reply to say I had been rejected.