Anyone else had to this to land a job. It seems every job in finance in banks now asks me to do one of these. I just bombed one at Barclays…the math itself is really basic, simple adding, subtracting, multiplication, percentages. But finding out what they’re asking in all the data and finding which ones to use is really messing me up when each question only has 90sec to complete.
I have always done well on tests, my math skills are at least above average and I’ve never struggled in math subjects, I had top 10% in my Math SATs. But these tests trip me up. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been a while since I had to do these kinds of math problems, because I killed it in all my upper-level business classes.
I see there are testing practice packages that promise to help you, I wonder if they’re actually helpful.
they probably need to see your reaction in 90 seconds or less, as markets react to news, events, in near real-time.
you need to make a financial decision that could make or lose money for your clients or firm in less than one minute. Yes, make or lose money.
the nature of the industry’s beast
Are they multiple choice questions, or do you have to fill in a blank?
Do they give you an average of 90 secs, or do they present one question at a time with a 90 sec timer?
If it’s the former then it could be helpful to see some examples. You might get lucky and the next bank will give you a question you actually practiced and that you can answer in like 5 seconds so that you can give the remaining 85 seconds to something you have not seen.
This guy’s channel might be a good source. I believe he collects questions presented to people who’ve interviewed for IT positions (it’s common in IT as well).
I decided to buy the practice packages. I’m going to grind and see if I can do it. I think I can as they’re almost like trick SAT questions under time and always tricking you.
