Commonwealth Bank Assessment Centre, Online Tests, Recritument Process & Interviews Preparation – 2024
What Is Commonwealth Bank?
Commonwealth Bank is the largest bank in the Southern Hemisphere. Headquartered in Sydney Australia, they are a multinational bank with businesses in New Zealand, Asia, and the United States. It is one of the Big Four Australian banks founded in 1911. They provide services in institutional banking, retail banking, personal banking, insurance, investment, and brokering services. There are several career opportunities, not only in the banking sector, but also in technology, security and risk management, and human resources. There are opportunities internships, with 120-150 offered a year. There are also positions available for traditional hires. There are 11 different graduate streams available, Comminsure, Colonial First State, Local Business Banking, Marketing, and Retail Banking Services. Commonwealth Bank offers its employees benefits that include:
Private health insurance
Gender-neutral parental leave
Childcare Centres
Counselling service
Study assistance
Paid volunteer leave
What Is Commonwealth Bank’s Hiring Process?
Application
The Commonwealth Bank hiring process starts online. After identifying a position of interest, you will create a profile and fill out a form. You will be asked to identify two business areas of interest to you. The application has twelve questions, each with a 200-word limit. The recruiting team has certain standards by which they will judge an applicant’s suitability for a role, and if they feel you may be better suited to another position within the company, they may call and discuss that possibility with you. Be honest but be sure to emphasize the skills the job description calls for when completing your application form.
Phone Screening/Video Interview
If the recruiting team decides to move on with your application, they may set up a phone screening with you. They will ask you to go more in-depth about the information on your resume or ask a few questions about relevant past experience. The intention is to make certain you have the qualifications for the job before continuing in the hiring process. Job-seekers should expect questions about their motivations in applying with Commonwealth Bank. Phone screenings are very brief and usually last no more than 15 to 20 minutes. Some applicants may be asked to submit a video interview instead of a phone screening. The questions will be provided to you and will cover the same topics as the phone interview.
Commonwealth Bank Psychometric Test
Before continuing to an in-person interview, job-seekers will be required to take a series of online aptitude and personality tests. You will be given a time frame during which you must complete the assessment tests, or you will be disqualified. Based on the level of job you have applied for, you will have 1-2 hours to complete the tests. Once you have reached your time limit, the test will automatically shut down. Commonwealth Bank uses Saville and SHL tests. For graduate stream applicants, there may be additional testing required.
OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire): The OPQ/OPQ32 is a psychometric test given by SHL to see how well you will suit the job you applied for. The OPQ measures your dominant personality traits and determines your working style, how well you work with people, and measures those against what they are looking for in an employee.
Numerical Reasoning Test: The numeracy aptitude test will examine your ability to understand charts or graphs and interpret numbers. The test taker will be presented with a data set, that may contain more than one piece of information, and you will have to determine the relevant information and use it to answer the questions. You will have around 18 multiple choice questions to answer, and you will be allowed to use a calculator.
Verbal Reasoning Test:The verbal reasoning exam measures how well you understand verbal and written information. You will be given a passage to read followed by statements that you must answer as true or false based on the information you were given. There are about 30 questions and about 18 minutes to complete this portion of the assessment test.
Logical Reasoning Test: This logical test measures your ability to understand non-verbal and non-numerical information. You will be presented with shapes in a sequence and must finish the pattern. The missing shape can be at any part of the sequence. This test is multiple-choice.
Commonwealth Bank Assessment Centre
If you pass the online assessment test, you will be asked to come in and attend an assessment centre. At an assessment centre, you will be asked to perform a number of activities and tasks that will help demonstrate how well you will actually perform in the role you applied for. You will be asked to perform a group exercise. This is a chance to show that while you are a team player, you can also be a leader. The recruiters will want to see you treating others on your team with respect, listening to everyone’s ideas, and also contributing your own. Not everyone at an assessment centre is applying for the same job, and it is very important to treat them as collaborators, and not competition. A common type of group exercise is to present all the job candidates with a business problem that requires a solution you will have to work together to solve the problem and put together a presentation demonstrating your solution.
Commonwealth Bank Interview
Commonwealth Bank uses behavioural interviews, also known as the STAR method (situation, task, action, result). Behavioural interviews are based on the theory that past action is a predictor of future performance. Depending on the role you are hoping for, you may interview with more than one manager. The questions will all be based on past experiences, how you handled them, and what the end result was. Experiences that you can directly relate to the job qualifications will help demonstrate that you are the right person for the job. Turning negative experiences into positives to demonstrate adaptation and growth is beneficial. Common questions during behavioural interviews include:
Have you been faced with a difficult situation involving a colleague? How did you handle it?
Talk about a time when you faced a task that you feel you failed at? How would you handle that different now?
What is something you learned at a past job, that you feel prepared you for this position?
Why did you choose to apply to Commonwealth Bank?
What are the goals you hope to achieve by working with us?
Commonwealth bank identifies its core values as, integrity, excellence, collaboration, accountability, and service, and recruiters will want to see these values demonstrated during your interview.
How to Prepare for Commonwealth Bank Tests?
Psychometric personality tests may seem difficult to prepare for, but you can give yourself an edge. Since these assessment tests are tailored for the company using them, be sure to carefully research the Commonwealth Bank. If you get to know their corporate culture and guiding principals, you can anticipate the type of answer they are looking for. Give yourself plenty of time to take the tests. Rushing may cause you to make errors that will affect your score. Practice the skills you may feel you are weak in. Take your time reading passages to train your brain to process all the information presented. Do some practice work reading graphs and charts, so you can be confident that you understand how they present information. While it is possible to take the test a section at a time, setting aside time to take it all at once is ideal, so your concentration isn’t broken. Commonwealth Bank has a few practice questions at the beginning of the assessment test. Instead of skipping them, go over the practice questions, they provide a guide as to what to expect of the rest of the test questions. If you follow these steps, you can approach the assessment tests with confidence, and make it to the end of the hiring process.
