RBS, Global Transaction Services (corporate finance) (graduate programme)

Question:

Talk about a time when you convinced people of a idea or your way of thinking.

Answer:

In 2008, my university wanted to elect a student representative to improve the student experience. In my opinion this approach was not fetching far enough. I wanted to create a body of students with representatives from each department.

I convinced the dean of the school by highlighting the potential gains and he agreed to invite all potential candidates to a meeting. At the meeting I successfully pitched my idea to the other 4 candidates together with plans for a competition as the first event.

The competition was a huge success. Based on this, I convinced the majority of the members that we needed a budget for future events and acquired a 5.000 funding for the society.

Question:

Talk about a situation where you had to resolve a conflict.

Answer:

During my research I had to work together with my academic supervisors and demonstrate academic innovation in my research. Their ideas would occasionally conflict with mine. To resolve these I intently listened to them to understand their ideas and their motivation. I then would look for commonalities with my ideas and try to merge these. This always resulted in an acceptable compromise.

Question:

Talk about a time where you motivated people.

Answer:

As captain of the football team, I regularly had to motivate my team during our training sessions and before our matches against other universities. To motivate individual team members I look for their positive traits and abilities. I will compliment them on these and will

try to notice when they do well in certain exercises to compliment them on their achievement. Especially if I had to correct them before I will make sure to praise them, if they managed to get it right the next time.

To motivate the whole team especially in front of the matches I appealed to our team spirit. I would normally give a pep-talk in front of everyone and make sure to highlight one key-strength of each team member in front of the others. In case we lost the match I tried to point out

the good things about the match, especially if someone fought very well against a superior opponent. In case we won I would pick out the highlights and compliment them on the win.

Question:

Why do you want to work in Global Transaction Services?

Answer:

I became very interested in finance and investment banking during my course, where I made many friends who now work in corporate finance, hedge funds and private equity.

Their work fascinated me. I started to research the field and went to events like the Oxford Private Equity conference.

I started to read books about the subjects and got especially interested in the investment philosophy of Warren Buffet. I think he is very inspiring. Especially looking at his last deal which was just announced this week, where he is taking over the Burlington Railway in USA. It is a fascinating long term investment and at the same time moves the market in his favour because everyone perceives it as investment in Americans future which naturally causes a really on the stock market, which in turn positively affects his extensive portfolio.

The area GTS is extreme fascinating for me because I am really interested in the demanding, fast paced and steadily changing environment of corporate finance and M&A. Individuals need to have determination and be willing to take responsibility and go the extra mile. In the past I have shown that I thrive in these environments while

delivering exceptional results.

Question:

Why do you want to work for RBS?

Answer:

I have done in depth research about RBS and their Coverage & Advisory department.

Looking at the latest big news like the reformation of the department in Asia or the ABN Amro deal and of course the nationalisation through the HM Treasury, RBS is currently reinventing and restructuring itself to acclimate to the new economic conditions.

Being hit the hardest during the recession it still one of the leading banks in the UK and the next two years will be really exciting with new opportunities coming up especially in the M&A business.

I want to take part in this unique process contributing with my natural business acumen, my excellent problem solving skills and my lateral approach to developing solutions.

I have very good interpersonal skills and work well in teams. I further exhibit leadership in critical situations and know how to motivate people.

I am an achiever and reach the goals that I set myself. I fully live up to my German heritage, being efficient, effective and organised.

I am very interested in private equity and corporate finance and have read several books on the subject. I studied the annual reports of companies like BT, GE to understand them in general and the annual report of PE companies like Terra Firma and Blackstone to understand the

business. I am currently studying for the IMC certificate on my own time.

These questions were provided to us by a candidate claiming to have interviewed at the institution named above. We cannot guarantee that these were the actual questions asked.