I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at HSBC (Liverpool, Inglaterra) in May 2017
Interview
The interview/ recruitment process was very lengthy. Upon applying i was contacted within 2 weeks, further to this i was then contacted 3 weeks later for a telephone interview. Once i had passed the telephone interview it took another 3 weeks to have my face to face interview. After this various background checks had to be conducted which took just over 2 months.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
In HSBC we like our staff to show empathy towards customers in various situations, can you give me an example where you were empathetic?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at HSBC (Leeds, England) in Mar 2018
Interview
This is not a customer service job. This is a sales position. The person conducting my interview told me, 'we are not allowed to use the word 'sales' in the job description as it puts people off. They did a role play exercise but I didn't pass as I didn't try push sales. As I applied for a service job... not a sales job.
I didn't even get to the face-to-face interview stage! Basically, you're not allowed to be nervous - as if you can control your nerve! The interview has 2 parts - role play and then face-to-face.
In the role play stage they will give you some papers with information which you will have to read for only 10 minutes. After that you will do a telephone role play where the interviewee will act as the customer; you'll have to take the call as if you were doing a live call.
The feedback I got was pretty positive - I was told I could do the job and I was using the customer's name and everything. Sounds like I've ticked all the boxes right?. But due to MINOR stuff my application will not go any further.
It's just a shame that a reputable company like HSBC will not even consider that you're only human and get nervous just like any other human beings. You're expected to be 100% on the first attempt despite of having no experience of doing an interview role-play whatsoever.
Atleast give two attempts or allow the candidate to complete the face to face stage. Just seems unfair.