HSBC Innovation Banking interviews Flashcards
for assessment centre 1stMay
How would skills from your experiences benefit you in this programme?
Autonomy and responsbility from various sole-projects during my placement year. (communicated with lead engineers and reported directly to chief execs)
Team work from university projects and learning golf with a team of other women.
Numerical analysis and data representation from data analysis during placement year.
Leadership from being London BU representstive for internal initiative during placement year. (navigated meetings with both senior and non-senior employees)
Interpersonal and client relationships from sales and customer relationships manager - was trusted by client to support them at Goodwood and Salon prive to help sell their car. Trusted to speak to their customers on the daily.
Tell me about yourself
- Graduated from Cardiff uni w 2.1 in mech eng last July
- This entailed a 14 month placement at an engineering data management and professional services company
- Then wanted a break from my usual routine and structure that I usually meticulously stick to and moved to Australia with my friends to experience something new - with the aim to work in hospitality and travel
- I got here and loved Sydney so decided to live here, then through new Australian friends I managed to get a job as a trainee broker, which I am doing now.
Walk me through your CV
Work experiences:
- most recently - trainee broker in Sydney working within the Australian securities exchange. (In contact w of clients and mainly set up the futures desk which entailed lots of new spreadsheets and data manipulation)
- project analyst at QR (14 month placement- was told it had to be eng related but was determined to get a placement in London so after meticulous research I found the perfect place and impressed my supervisor)
- i worked as a supervisor at burger restaurant to earn money between uni years. (started as FOH then promoted in 2 weeks - mainly delegated tasks/shifts)
- work experiences as a teenager made me want to work in a client-centric career, specifically at PA
extra curricular:
- quite busy, try to socialise through golf, pilates and running as dont drink that much
- training for half marathon :((
- if I do have time, I’d do a course in something I dont currently know but am interested in - usually a basic financials course
(do I mention/????: actually been made redundant in the last weeks as they cant afford to keep me on but its fine bc will be a door to door salesman for solar, which i’m looking forward to as it’ll be fun to talk to lots of people and i’m sure will help me to think on my feet)
Why do you want to work at HSBC Innovation Banking?
- main reason is because it has the HSBC name but seems more small and intimate - the perfect environment to be supported to thrive professionally. dont feel as much as a cog in a massive firm but still have the big firm backing
- I’m intrigued by the developments from SVB to innovation banking since the acquisition. Fond of the SVB culture and interested in the successful merge between the two names
- would be rewarding to work with investors and entrepreneurs to make their ideas a reality
- Exciting to be a part of such an established and global organisation like HSBC with a wealth of opportunity and communications and work alongside innovative tech and life sciences clients
- To benefit start ups and pionneer the tech and life sciences industries
Why ADP?
- excited by the hands-on teaching it will provide
- will provide me with the fundamentals to appropriately solve clients complex solutions
- already have good professional experience and now want to know exactly how to help clients financially; portfolio management; financial analysis; learn different products; etc
- I am extremely keen and driven to learn more about finance fundamentals and am excited for my career to progress in this direction
What is your understanding of the role?
To support a range of clients (startups/large corporates) with solving their complex finance issues, whilst undergoing hands-on training to learn the fundamentals in the field.
- specific focus on tech and life-sciences clients?
Why this role/Relationships Banking and Structured Finance? (why this over Strategic Fund Solutions?)
- tech and life sciences focus (draws on my passions for stem and background in technology and science)
- combines my interest in a finance career with my holistic background in data science and engineering
- I think the range of clients could be super interesting and vary day-to-day
- id be able to relate to the clients’ needs more with my experience
- super interested in working with clients at all stages of their journey- from early stage VC backed startups to large public corporates
How would you build relationships with different stakeholders? FINSIH
- ## understand their different wants/needs and their relevance to the project outcomes, maybe using a stakeholder analysis matrix
How have you demonstrated empathy at work, previously?
S - represented London BU for an internal initiative that enabled non-senior employees to speak their mind about the organisation to senior employees anonymously, through myself. It was my job to relay feedback to seniors and relay their actions back to non-seniors. I also would feed back to the other business units, and the global lead of this initiative.
T- this involved listening and taking appropriate action. Making sure the non-seniors felt heard, without taking irrelevant info to seniors. I had to manage expectations and keep everyone happy. Even had to make sure that seniors felt heard and ensure they didn’t feel undermined or attacked.
A - I believe I displayed exceptional listening, understanding, supporting, resolving and collaborative skills
R - I believe I fulfilled the mission of the initiative greatly as was invited to become the global lead of this initiative.
Tell me about a time when there was a conflict in your team.
I dont know if I have had ‘conflict’ as such but I have definitely experienced a difference of opinion with senior stakeholders.
S - I was contracted at a client, for whom I reported directly to the CEO to manage their sales and customer relationships data
T - I had to create a CRM system to manage all their lead and communications data, whilst contacting customers and cold calling leads to gain new customers. The CEO was quite demanding and wanted me to hit a target of 100 calls a day, which with the other requirements of my contract was just not possible.
A - I therefore had to manage expectations whilst ensuring I was still providing my client with the support they required, whilst attending to their vision. I did this in our daily meetings by showing the data on how many calls I had done, whilst also presenting the other stuff I had done and why it was beneficial for them. ie making sure any contrast to their opinion was met with value.
R - At times it could be difficult to do what was right but also see that the client’s CEO was happy, but they clearly respected my opinion and hard work and as trusted me to invite me to support them at Salon prive and goodwood
What interests you in technology/life sciences? FINISH
tech:
- “a field where creativity and mind can thrive at same time - like seeing your code work.
- we always seem to build a relationship between what we thought could never be combined”
What makes you unique?
A RANGE of experience in range of industries. Was also given a LOT of responsibility in my roles. Also very numerical, analytical and logical, and very interested in tech and carbon-reducing technologies.
Worked in capital markets, electric vehicle start-ups of different sizes, data management professional services company, consultancy, range of hospo, sales
Only graduated from uni last year and already have experience as:
- data analyst
- sales and customer relationships manager
- trainee broker in capital markets
-
I do as I say and get things done without procrastinating.
Why commercial banking? /finance
- relationship building
- numerical and analytical
- good at excel and analysing data and have the skills I can transfer from prev roles
- interested in startups and company journeys and providing financial advice and support to companies and be with them on each step of their journey and see them succeed - think it will be rewarding
- so keen to help new companies within the tech and life sciences fields with their journeys as are industries that are constantly changing and we have no way to fathom how they will be in the future which is SOO exciting - we could be at the forefront of pioneering change
Tell me something about you that’s not on your resume FINISH - give an experience
- a go-getter (driven?)/resilient?
I am great at research and decision-making.
- always find the best house to live in for the best price, the best deals on clothes, the best jobs - I do this by meticulously researching and having a holistic understanding of something. Can make very informed decisions but still in a timely manner.
OR I have a great gut instinct.
OR during covid I helped my dad and his friend with an initiative to restore old laptops. estimated 1 in 5 children didn’t have access to laptops at home. dad’s friend’s Syrian refugee friend’s English was falling behind and he didn’t have access to schoolwork. I helped to instal Linux for free and spread the word to friends that any old redundant laptops would be appreciated.
What excites you?
being part of something that seems completely new and pioneering. eg when I was part of my dissertation and I was conducting brand new research that actually aimed to help boiler companies
What are the Innovation Banking/SVB values?
- value people’s differences and champion inclusivity to encourage diversity in work
- collaboration and supporting each other
- take responsibility and accountability - use good judgement
- integrity - get stuff done and stick to word. decisive, make clear choices and bold actions, and move at pace.
Do you align w the innovation banking/SVB values? How do you demonstrate them?
- I’m very empathetic and am there for my friends at all times. I think I am a very good judge of someone’s mood and can adapt my communication style to benefit them. my friends can always count on me.
- I’m responsible and take accountability for my actions. I strongly live by the belief that if you believe your failure is somebody else’s problem then you are to blame. Jimmy Carr said it more succinctly.
- I get stuff done. good at just trying things and not procrastinating. I dont wait around. I’m good at making things happen. Evidenced by my drive and determination in university studies and my efforts towards initiatives at work and how I was trusted on multiple solo projects during my placement year.
Where do you see yourself in 1 year?
- would love have a clearer idea of a specialism that I want to focus on and to be on track to be a SME in a field
- to have responsibility and direct contact with clients, to start helping them autonomously/to be able to begin to lead teams in some way or another
- be a mentor to new starters
- be totally immersed in fintech/life science industries and work with interesting clients in the field
other:
- do half marathon in the autumn (great north run or crete or copenhagen)
- working towards marathon (ideally London but may do Brighton with my friend who just signed up)
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
workwise:
1. should have completed my CFA or ACA; to have some written accreditation to prove my worthiness
2. be in charge of multiple teams of people
3. have created new products to use in innovation banking to supply clients with greater efficiency
4. be an SME in field
other:
- be super good at golf!!!
- have invested money into a house and am extremely interested in doing a renovation job.
- would love to do the Italy euro scheme
- have travelled more. I really want to see India, Italy and Costa Rica(or other central/South America)
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
work wise:
1. very difficult to say because I should have a completely new set of skills that I probably cant envision atm - technologies would have changed so much and I dont think I could currently fathom the way technology will be at that time
2. defo be a director or v senior people lead
other:
- I am super interested in property and want to have multiple properties by this time. Hopefully do some restoration projects alongside work in my free time. Obviously it would take a while but I strongly believe in having a purpose outside of work that Is completely separate
