Students are complaining about the weirdest behavioural test in banking

Applying for an internship or graduate job in an investment bank has long involved psychometric tests. UBS, for example, is known for its challenging cognitive tests. Pymetrics' balloon popping test has been in deployment for years. But the most peculiar test currently exposed to students is given to people applying to Nomura.

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Alongside a fast-paced inductive thinking and numerical test, Nomura asks applicants to answer a series of questions designed to probe their behaviour. Some seem very obscure. 

Students are asked to choose which statements they agree with most from a list of seemingly unrelated statements. These include:  

"When I think about the future, I get worried because I know how difficult life can be," versus, "To get key people in the company to notice you, you have to pretend to share their interests."

 And: 

"It is a waste of time to be friendly to people you do not like," versus, "If I think a task at work is too challenging for me, I will leave it for someone else to do." 

And: 

"It is foolish to continue to try to do something if you have already failed at it," versus, "It is important to have expensive things so people know you are successful." 

Students say the questions are off-putting. "They're really weird questions," says one. "You're picking between two characteristics that are very undesirable and selecting the one you would rather go for."

Nomura declined to comment on its unusual test. The same student said he felt like he was being pushed into anticipating what the bank might want and responding accordingly. He was rejected. 

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