Company interview guide
Barclays interview process and practice questions
Barclays' interviews usually explore why you want the role and how your past examples show its five published Values: Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship. For early careers, Barclays describes short interactive online assessments, then an assessment centre that includes a motivational interview with a leader. Experienced hires usually have an online assessment or short phone interview before the main interview, and some roles add a case study, role play or presentation.
As candidates commonly report it; it varies by team, level and year. Last reviewed 18 October 2026.
The interview process
- 1Online application and CV
- 2Early careers: two short interactive online assessments, plus a technical skills test for technical programmes
- 3Experienced hires: online assessments or a short phone interview on your experience and skills
- 4Assessment centre or interview, in person or virtual; for early careers it often has two or three stages, including a motivational interview with a leader
- 5Some roles add a role play, case study or presentation
- 6Screening checks after a successful interview, which depend on location
What interviewers listen for
- Respect
- Integrity
- Service
- Excellence
- Stewardship
- A specific, well-researched reason for wanting this role at Barclays
- Examples from your own experience that show the skills and behaviours in the job description
Behavioral questions
Tell me about a time you made sure everyone in a group felt able to contribute.
A good answer covers
- Who was being left out and how you noticed
- What you changed in how the group worked
- How the work or the decision improved as a result
Tell me about a time doing the right thing took courage or cost you something.
A good answer covers
- The situation and the pressure to take the easier route
- What you did, and who you told
- The outcome, and whether you would do it the same way again
Describe a time you went out of your way to help a customer or colleague when it wasn't strictly your job.
A good answer covers
- What they needed and why nobody else was picking it up
- What you did, showing empathy rather than just following a script
- The difference it made to them
Tell me about something you left in better shape than you found it: a process, a project or a team.
A good answer covers
- What state it was in when you took it on
- The changes you made and how you got others on board
- How it held up after you moved on
Tell me about a time you set yourself a high standard and fell short. What did you change?
A good answer covers
- The standard and why it mattered to you
- Where and why you fell short, owned honestly
- What you do differently now
Role and technical questions
A customer calls because their card payment was declined while they were travelling. How would you help them?
A good answer covers
- Verifying who they are without asking for their full PIN or passwords
- Likely reasons in plain words: a fraud check, a limit, funds or wrong details
- Fixing what you can on the call and explaining what happens next
What does an investment bank do, and how is it different from a retail bank?
A good answer covers
- Investment banking: advising on deals, helping companies raise money, trading for institutional clients
- Retail banking: accounts, cards, loans and mortgages for individuals and small businesses
- How the risks and sources of income differ, and where the role you want sits
How would you design a system that flags possibly fraudulent card transactions within a second?
A good answer covers
- Inputs: transaction details, device, location and the customer's usual pattern
- Rules plus a scoring model, and the time budget for each step
- Balancing false alarms against missed fraud, and learning from confirmed cases
A report you own shows totals that don't match the finance team's figures. How would you work out which is right?
A good answer covers
- Comparing definitions, data sources and cut-off times first
- Reconciling a small sample line by line to find where they split
- Agreeing the fix with finance and writing down the definition
If a central bank raises its policy rate, what usually happens to savings rates, loan rates and a bank's customers?
A good answer covers
- Banks' funding costs rise; variable loan and mortgage rates usually follow
- Savings rates often rise too, sometimes more slowly
- Effects on borrowing demand, customers who struggle to repay and the bank's margin
How would you make sure a change to a banking app doesn't break payments for existing customers?
A good answer covers
- Testing at several levels, including the payment journeys that matter most
- Releasing gradually behind a switch, with monitoring and a quick way back
- Keeping a record of the change for audit and incident review
Why Barclays? Fit and HR questions
Why Barclays, and why this programme or team?
A good answer covers
- Something specific about Barclays' business or the programme, not only its size
- How the role matches what you've done and want to learn
- What you've done to find out about it: events, people, reading
Barclays' purpose is 'Working together for a better financial future'. What could that mean in the role you're applying for?
A good answer covers
- The purpose in your own words
- A concrete link to the day-to-day work of the role
- A short example of something similar you have done
Where would you like to be a few years after joining this programme?
A good answer covers
- A realistic next step within the business
- The skills you want to build to get there
- Why Barclays is the right place to build them
Tips
- Learn the five Values and prepare two examples for each; Barclays says assessors look for alignment with its Values and ways of working.
- Use the practice tests on Barclays' assessment platform before the online assessments; you can take them on a phone or tablet.
- Prepare hard for the motivational interview: why Barclays, why this business area, and what you've done to learn about it.
- Read the job description for the skills and behaviours it lists, and map one example from your experience to each.
- Barclays says third-party AI tools, including transcription bots and meeting assistants, aren't permitted in its interviews, and using one gets the application withdrawn.
- Ask your recruiter early if you need adjustments, such as extra time; Barclays offers them through the process.
Practise it out loud
A mock interview asks the way Barclays's interviewers are known to, follows up on your answers and gives you a report. The warm-up is free, needs no account and checks five of these questions as you answer.
About this guide
Written by Orbit from Barclays's own public pages and what candidates commonly report. Orbit isn't affiliated with Barclays. The questions are practice questions in the style of its interviews, not questions taken from them. Processes change, so check the job post and what your recruiter tells you.