Westpac Aptitude Tests, Assessment Centre, Recruitment Process & Interviews Online Preparation – 2024
What Is Westpac?
Westpac is an Australian bank and financial services provider that has its HQ in Sydney, Australia. Westpac has grown to support its global consumer base and offers many international career opportunities, from graduate opportunities to commercial banking; there are many opportunities for career success with Westpac.
What Is Westpac’s Hiring Process?
The application process at Westpac is incredibly thorough, and this is because they only want the best talent possible. Although Westpac has a lengthy pre-employment screening process, it keeps applicants informed throughout.
To begin the application process, job seekers need to search for a relevant role on the Westpac careers site.
Online Application
Once you find a role matching your skills, you should apply online. The application form is relatively straightforward and will ask you to upload your most recent cover letter and CV. You will also have to answer some competency-based questions that tie in with the role.
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email and tracking link to allow you to keep updated on the progress of your application.
If your application meets the requirements of the recruitment team, you will be sent an email link to complete their online psychometric tests.
Westpac’s Assessment Tests
Westpac will ask you to participate in four online aptitude tests. These tests are the perfect way for the recruiter to understand how you work in a non-biased way. Every person with a successful CV will progress on to these tests.
Culture Fit – The first test has been designed to see how well you would fit in with Westpac’s company culture. Applicants will be given SJT (Situational Judgement Test) questions and will select an answer from a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Verbal Reasoning Test – In this aptitude exam, applicants are assessed on their competence to understand, identify and examine information within a passage of text. Candidates will then be shown a statement and will be expected to select whether an answer is true, false, or if they cannot say.
Numerical Reasoning Test – In the numerical reasoning test candidates are tested on their ability to read and understand a series of numerical data in the form of graphs, charts and tables. This test is timed, and applicants will have 20 minutes to answer 20 questions.
Abstract Reasoning Test – In the abstract reasoning test, candidates are presented with a variety of shapes, patterns and images. They are expected to say which pattern comes next from a series of multiple-choice answers. The power to make a rational decision from inadequate data is what is being evaluated in this test.
Assessment Centre
If you are successful with your aptitude tests you will be invited to participate in a half-day assessment at the Westpac office you have applied to. Several candidates will be present on the day, and you will be expected to participate in various individual and group activities.
Group Activity – You will be put into a small team and given a topic of discussion. The point of the group activity is to understand how you work with a diverse group of people with varying viewpoints. In the group task, your aim should be to show that you are confident, can listen, and take other people’s opinions on board.
Presentation – Before the assessment day, you will be sent a brief to work on and bring with you. This will be regarding a topic in the financial services industry, so research is key here. This task allows the recruiters to see how you communicate information to a panel of stakeholders and to understand how confident you are with your presentation skills. The interview panel will have time at the end to question you on the information you have presented.
Final Interview
The concluding piece of Westpac’s employment process is the face-to-face interview. The face-to-face interview seeks to understand your motivations for applying to Westpac, why you have applied to the role and your career aspirations.
In addition, the interviewer will also ask you competency-based questions and aim to understand how you acted in previous job roles. Situational-based questions will allow you to tell the recruiter about a time when you did something. It gives you the prime opportunity to prove how you are the best candidate for the role based on your previous experiences.
The great thing about competency-based questions is that you can successfully prepare for them by using the STAR method.
Some common interview questions for Westpac are:
Why do you want to work for Westpac?
What do you know about Westpac?
Tell me about a time when you dealt with an irate customer. How did you deal with the situation?
Tell me about a time when you had to complete a task you had never done before.
Tell me about a time when you have had to deal with a difficult co-worker.
Westpac Interview Tips
Aside from preparing answers to common competency questions by using the STAR method, you can ensure that you ace your interview by getting a friend or family member to run through questions with you. When you go through questions and answers beforehand, this will help you to feel more confident in your delivery and will pay dividends on the day.
How to Prepare for Westpac’s Assessments?
The best way to prepare for Westpac’s aptitude tests is by taking the time to take practice tests and researching Westpac’s competencies and core values so that you keep these in mind when answering the questions.
As for the other psychometric tests, preparation is key. When you practise verbal, numerical and logical reasoning tests online, it gives you the prime opportunity to understand the type and styles of questions that you may face when taking part in the tests. The brilliant thing about practice tests is that you can see the answers, meaning that if you get an answer wrong, the explanation will give you tips and tricks on correctly answering and why.
Conclusion
Working at Westpac can be difficult, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Westpac offers a wealth of career and progression opportunities, and each role they hire for is highly sought after. This is why preparing for all steps of their recruitment process is so important.
Throughout the hiring process, you should research the company, its core competencies and values, and emphasize that your work history and skill set coincide with these. Additionally, you can impress the recruitment team by being enthusiastic and showing interest in the job and the financial field.
