I was initially contacted by an internal executive recruiter for Barclays, based in London. He presented this senior executive role and said the hiring process would be transparent and move quickly. The interviews dragged on for over 4 months. The hiring manager was deceptive and misleading. The hiring manager at one point texted that things were looking quite positive. The internal executive recruiter followed up with a call to say they were ready to move forward. Days later I was told I would need to meet with the COO. That meeting was set up for 3 weeks later. The Monday of that week I spoke with both the recruiter and hiring manager as they prepped me for that meeting. Less than 24 hours before the meeting I was contacted by the recruiter who let me know they decided on another candidate and that meeting with the COO was unnecessary. I have never experienced such a poor and deceptive process. I can only imagine how Barclays treats customers!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I interviewed with 11 people over the course of 4 months. Questions were very scripted and none of the interviewers were interested in probing deeper. The hiring manager said they were interested in expertise from outside industry. He insisted non banking non credit card experience was not an issue. In fact they wanted strong product leadership from strong consumer technology and media. In the end it seems the people at Barclays did not know what they wanted out of a candidate. In my assessment they ultimately wanted a corporate clone that was more closely aligned to what they already have in house. I suspect their products and services will continue to suffer as a result.
I am very sorry to read about your experience of our recruitment process. This has clearly been unsatisfactory and frustrating for you.
I do not know which of our businesses your were seeking to join however i will share your thoughts with our teams to make sure we learn from this experience.
This is not what we would want for our candidates and I apologise.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Barclays (London, England) in Dec 2013
Interview
It was very thorough like your form now. I actually just want to get to look at some reviews and am stuck writing this form out. The interview process was 11 interviews
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 7 months. I interviewed at Barclays (London, England) in May 2015
Interview
- Competency based interview
- Multiple interviews with key senior people
- Questions were mostly CV based
- Questions relating to career progression and decisions
- Most important achievement & failures
- Why you want to join Barclays?
- Why you want to leave your current employer?