What To Expect At A Bank Of America Assessment Center

The Bank of America is the second largest banking institution in the US, providing commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking services to corporate and personal clients.

Opportunities for both early careers and experienced professionals are available in the following areas:

• Consumer and small business banking

• Wealth management

• Global banking and markets

• Administration

• Finance

• Corporate audit and credit review

• Global HR

• Environmental, social and governance, capital deployment, and public policy

• Global risk management

• Legal

• Technology and operations

Aside from a competitive salary and a business structure designed to help career progression, Bank of America employees have access to a wealth of programs for emotional, financial, and physical well-being as well as things like enhanced leave options and extra support for retirement.

Bank of America application process

Getting a job at Bank of America is a straightforward process, although there are a few stages that you have to get through.

Firstly, you need to find the role that you are interested in. The careers site at Bank of America has lots of resources to help you through the process, and it is also where you will find the available vacancies.

When you click the ‘apply’ button, you will be invited to upload the most recent copy of your resume. You can also choose to populate this with the details from your LinkedIn profile if you prefer. You will be asked to share details of your previous experience, and will need to answer some relevant questions depending on the role you have applied for.

If your application matches the basic criteria, you can expect to be invited to take some online psychometric assessments. These might include verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, or situational judgment, depending on the requirements of the role.

The next stage is typically interviews - usually either by phone or via a video interview platform. The phone interview will be mostly about getting to know you and looking at your motivations for joining the Bank of America, while the video interview will consist of pre-recorded questions that you need to answer on camera - it is not a live experience, and the recruitment team will watch it later.

One of the last stages is the Assessment Center, which is usually followed by a final, face-to-face, interview.

Why does Bank Of America use assessment centers?

The assessment center is an opportunity for the recruitment team to meet candidates face to face, often for the first time in the process. By getting a group of applicants together and asking them to complete different exercises, the recruitment team can evaluate each candidate on their soft skills like teamwork, communication, and leadership - all of which can be difficult to measure in other ways.

For the candidate, the assessment center is a way of being exposed to some of the work that they would be expected to do in the role, and the environment that they will be in when they do. They will also have the opportunity to meet some of their peers, the recruitment team, and even line managers and senior team members, which is useful for networking.

The assessment center provides both the candidate and the recruitment team with a way to properly establish job fit.

What skills is Bank Of America looking for?

The Bank of America is very forthcoming about its values and what they are looking for in a candidate.

The competencies and skills that they are looking for include:

• Genuine interest in the business

• Commitment to the purpose of the business

• Passion for serving clients and the community

• Rich and varied experiences

• Personal integrity and accountability

• Bringing authentic self and distinctive expertise to every situation

• Aptitude for leadership

• Respect for the values and the culture of inclusion

The Bank of America is focused on establishing a diverse and inclusive workplace, and as part of this, they are recruiting directly from underprivileged and underrepresented sections of American society.

The values that underpin everything that the Bank of America does are as follows:

• Deliver together

• Act responsibly

• Realize the power of our people

• Trust the team

Each role will have specific skills and competencies that the recruiters are looking for, and you will be able to find this out through the details in the job description.

Bank Of America assessment center format

The content and structure of the assessment center will vary depending on the role that you have applied for. However, the basic exercises are likely to include the below:

Bank Of America presentation exercise

For the presentation, you will be given a topic and some time to prepare. The topic might be a case study about a fictional Bank of America client, or it might be something completely different.

You will then be asked to present your findings to the group, including the recruiters. You’ll be assessed on your problem solving and decision making, as well as your presentation skills. You may be asked questions about the topic once the presentation is complete, so make sure that you have used all the available time to research.

Bank Of America group exercise

In the group exercise, you will be assessed on your teamwork and communication in particular. You will be provided with a case study or a client brief, presenting a problem that needs to be solved. As a team, you will need to discuss and debate the potential courses of action before reaching a consensus that everyone is happy with.

When you are completing the group exercise, make sure that you are sharing ideas but also listening to others - you will need to have great interpersonal and negotiation skills, and show leadership by encouraging everyone to speak.

Bank Of America role play exercise

In the role play exercise, you will work with a partner to do some research about a particular topic or case study, and then you will complete a role play exercise with an assessor. The assessor will be playing the part of a customer and you will be asked to sell them a service or solve a problem for them as part of your pair, making use of your communication and negotiation skills. In some cases the ‘customer’ might be unreceptive or even angry about something, so you will need to show that you have excellent customer service skills too.

Tips for passing the Bank Of America assessment center

1. Research

One of the first things that the careers page at Bank of America describes as something that they are looking for in a candidate is a genuine interest in the business - so if you want to impress at the assessment center you need to know as much as possible about the bank. Use the website, follow them on social media, and make sure that you read as much news about the financial industry as you can.

2. Know what to expect

Knowledge is power, and the more you know about what to expect on the day, the more comfortable you will feel. The recruitment team will keep you up to date with your application status and the next steps, so make sure that you are logging in to your account regularly.

3. Rest and eat well

Applying for a new role can be nerve-wracking, but you need to focus on getting enough sleep and fuelling yourself properly. If you get less (or more) than 6-8 hours of sleep a night, it has been clinically proven that cognitive ability suffers; so sleep is really important. You also need to make sure that you at least eat a healthy and hearty breakfast before the assessment center so you aren’t distracted by feeling hungry.

4. Make a good impression

This is often the first time you will have met the recruitment team in person, so you want to make a good impression. Dress to impress, ensure that you are presented smartly, and be friendly and approachable. Smile and maintain eye contact, and make sure that your body language remains positive throughout the day.

5. Don’t be late

You will be traveling to the assessment center, and they are usually timed to start around rush hour - which means you are going to need to plan your journey effectively to make sure that you arrive on time if not early. Whether you are taking public transport or driving, or even getting an Uber, make sure that you leave in enough time to get there when you want to.