I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Barclays in May 2010
Interview
very informal chat, almost like a meeting with someone you know just discussing issues. the guy even went and got us both a coffee.
I would say act very professional, i know we always do but act even more professional than you normally do.
Buy an expensive suit so that you fit in. Always look your best,
seems like a cook place to work for, although the interview process is a little bit stranger than normal.
they are asking successful people to go back in to solve a problem, however would not elaborate on what this is in any way
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Barclays (London, England) in Nov 2009
Interview
First, a phone interview mostly based on my personal background (personality test) along with classical questions such as: Why Barcap ? Why did you choose to study math ? Why do you want to work on a trading desk ?
Then the assessment center in London: one full day of 1:1 interviews (4 in my case) with operationals from different desks + a trading game (1h30).
Finally, the "final round": got interviewed by a full desk (3 traders). They asked me a lot of technical questions and checked my quantitative background, they also explained to me what products they trade.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Write a quasi-algorithm that computes the implicit volatility (i.e. numerically inverts the Black-Scholes formula) with the Newton-Raphson method.
I applied in-person. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Barclays in Apr 2010
Interview
After setting up an interview through a contact in the company, I was interviewed by 3 AVPs who asked me basic interview questions like what I did during my various internships as well as my leadership and teamwork capabilities. Overall the interview was relatively straightforward and they were all very nice and friendly during the interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me one instance where you were a leader of a group and there was some problem within the group and how you resolved it.