Banking Summer Internship - The Complete Tests Guide [2024-2025]

• Is It Hard to Get a Summer Internship?
• Get Accurate Preparation for Every Bank You Apply To
• Summer Internship Online Tests – Sample Questions (With Solutions)
• How to Ace the Summer Internship Tests and Get a High Score
• Pre-Recorded Interview
• What Is A Banking Summer Internship?
• When Does Summer Internship Happen, and How Long Is It??
• The 4 Benefits of Doing a Banking Internship
• When to Apply for A Banking Summer Internship?
• Which Investment Banks Have Summer Internship Programmes?
• Conclusion
• FAQ

Short answer – yes.

It is hard to get a Summer Internship, in the same way that every position is hard to get in the competitive investment banking world.

Because the banks have a lot of applicants, they use online tests and assessment centres to eliminate a large portion of them. This means that if you don’t get a high score, they will not even look at your application.

How high? Well, Morgan Stanley only looks at applicants that score in the 90th percentile. Yes, you read that correctly!

So, how can you beat the competition and secure a summer internship?

It's simple. Ace the online tests.

Let’s see how.

If you apply to several banks, which you should, then you will probably encounter at least one of these tests:

While the basic idea of each test is roughly the same for every bank, the question types might be very different, depending on the test provider.
Most banks use these 5 major test providers:

Our preparation pack is designed to help you succeed with all major banks. It includes practice questions, guides, and explanations for the five major test providers and assessment centres. Whether you're applying to one bank or several in the next month, this pack has you covered.

*For more information about a specific bank's assessment, click the appropriate link in the table below.

We specialize in preparation for employment psychometric exams. You can watch our video on Summer Internship Online Tests, and test yourself with some of the sample questions below:

Since banking is a numbers game, the most popular test used by banks is Numerical Reasoning. The emphasis would be the ability to read charts and tables and analyze the data quickly and efficiently.

Let’s see what a question in the test might look like:

Note: These questions have a lot of data, not all of it is relevant to the answer. To answer quickly, you need to learn a technique that will help you sort out all the data and beat the clock. You can find this technique and many others in our full preparation pack.

Now, let's move on to logical reasoning:

The most common type of Logical Reasoning question is the logical sequence. These questions are crafted to assess your analytical abilities and measure how effectively you handle unfamiliar information.

Let’s see what a question like this might look like:

Note: Symbol questions have patterns that are used over and over again. The trick is to know how to identify the pattern quickly.

For instance, consider the sample question above. Notice how each column features a diagonal line of identical symbols ('€' in the left column and '∆' in the right column). This pattern hints that the question involves the "movement of a sequence of symbols."

Techniques such as these are included in our comprehensive preparation pack. 

Next, let's dive into the realm of situational judgment:

This test is designed to evaluate your personality regarding the work environment. It seems there are no wrong or right answers, but actually – there are.

Let’s see it in an example:

Note: This type of question can be challenging due to its unusual structure. In school, you probably didn't encounter many questions that required marking two answers. However, with practice, you can become familiar with these different question types. This will not only reduce your stress but also significantly improve your performance.

As illustrated in the examples above, these tests don't feature particularly difficult questions. The challenge arises from the strict time limit of the exam.

You'll have very little time to answer numerous questions, which can be quite stressful. Imagine having only 30 seconds to solve a numerical question or 50 seconds for a logical one. Suddenly, it's not so easy, is it?

The best strategy to excel in these tests is consistent practise. Speak with your alumni, especially those in their 2nd and 3rd years, and they will echo this advice. I cannot emphasize enough how this is the most reliable method to succeed. Even if you practise excessively and find the test easier than expected, you'll be grateful when you're invited for an interview.

The best strategy to excel in these tests is consistent practise. Speak with your alumni, especially those in their 2nd and 3rd years, and they will echo this advice. I cannot emphasize enough how this is the most reliable method to succeed. Even if you practise excessively and find the test easier than expected, you'll be grateful when you're invited for an interview.

Practice ensures:

• No surprises: Familiarize yourself with all question types and reduce stress.
• Speed: Learn to answer quickly and beat the time limit.

Let's proceed to the Pre-recorded Interview:

A pre-recorded interview, sometimes called a one-way video interview, is a tool used to screen candidates in the recruitment process for the summer internship by most of the leading banks and financial firms, including Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and JP Morgan.

The interview assesses job-related competencies, personality traits, and behavioural tendencies in a way that actively involves the candidates by requesting them to respond to work-related questions or tasks.

There is no direct interaction with your recruiter; instead, you will address questions or assignments alone in front of a camera.

During the pre-recorded interview, you usually have up to two minutes to prepare each answer and up to three minutes to record it.

The number of questions varies but generally ranges from 5 to 8, taking about 20-30 minutes to complete. The questions you’ll receive are tailored to the specific position you applied for to ensure you have the skills required on the job. Some pre-recorded interviews also include job simulation assignments, such as case studies and situational judgment tests.

These interviews are administered through online platforms like HireVue, Cappfinity, and Amberjack, but sometimes, you may be asked to record your answers on your own devices. Once submitted, your recruiters review the recordings to determine whether you will proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

It’s important to note that pre-recorded interviews do not always replace traditional in-person interviews but usually serve as a way to gain initial insights into your work-related skills and attributes.

Summer Internship programmes are offered to students in their penultimate year (second last year of the degree), which means 2st-year students in a 3-year course or 3nd-year students in a 4-year course. Therefore, The ideal time to apply for a summer internship would be the end of your first undergraduate year. 

Summer Internships are usually offered by all BB banks (Bulge Bracket banks), and some smaller or boutique banks as well. 

Depending on the bank, some internships are generalist, which means that you will go through different divisions, while others are divisional, which means you will spend your time only in one division.

During the programme you will get a chance to experience what it is like to work in a big bank and network with industry people. You will be shadowing employees of the bank and seeing exactly what their day looks like. Exciting stuff!

As the name suggests, the Summer Internship usually takes place in July-September, right after the spring semester is over.
Because this programme is designed for students, it is aligned with the academic year schedule. Summertime is perfect to get the students while they are free from university duties.

Note: some banks will offer off-cycle insight internships. Those can take place any time of the year, and are a good solution if you missed the Summer deadlines.

The programmes mostly last between 8-10 weeks.

Having said that, some internships last 5 weeks and some last 16; some start in June and some in September.

A few weeks seems short, doesn’t it? Well, not quite…
As short as they are, summer internships are VERY IMPORTANT. Here is why.

It would be best if you considered applying for a summer internship for several reasons:

Studying in academia is important, but the emphasis is on theory and less on practice. Bank recruiters would weigh your resume more solemnly if they knew you have hands-on experience working in a bank. Also, it will make you stand out from the abundance of finance alums.

The opportunity to secure a graduate job while you are still in school is perhaps the main reason students are applying for internships. It is only natural that employers prefer to hire someone they are familiar with and have left a good impression than to screen, interview, and test a brand-new candidate.

An internship is a perfect opportunity to better understand the day-to-day job of a banker. For instance, you may discover that IB isn't as appealing as you thought before and prevent future disappointment; maybe you will find out that a different banking job is a better fit. Ideally, the internship experience will reassure your concerns and make you understand that banking is indeed the right job for you.

Being surrounded by banking professionals is excellent for networking and may lead to different opportunities such as job offers and ventures.

Investment Banking is a HIGHLY COMPETITIVE field, with some arguing that it is the hardest field to get into. Especially when you are looking at the BB banks, which are obviously the most desired places to get into.

These banks know how competitive it can get, so they decided to start screening and looking at good candidates early on. How did they do that? Summer internships for students. They are offered a full-time job if they perform well and impress whoever needs impressing. WIN!

Nowadays, the wildest dream for any student is to land a summer internship. They know it will improve their chances of getting a job offer, as external hiring is becoming more and more scarce.

This is why summer internships have become very competitive, and the chances of landing one in the desired BB bank are plummeting every year. 

Tip: to raise your chances of getting a Summer Internship offer, apply to several banks. If you get in more than one – great! It is recommended to go to as many SW as you possibly can.

Apply as early as possible!

Let’s break it down and understand why:

• Rolling Basis – although we don’t exactly know how it works in each bank, we know that many of them recruit on a rolling basis. This basically means that they go through the applications in batches, and once they fill all their spots – they stop looking. Yeah, even if you are a top candidate, they would hate to lose.
• Competition – most of the candidates apply around September. And if we said that firms look at applicants in batches, the earlier you apply, the smaller your batch. The smaller your batch, the less competition.

What does it mean regarding the timeline?
Most banks open for applications around August, and the deadlines go all the way up to March.

Note: it is different for each bank. Best if you check in the desired bank’s official site for specific dates.

Basically, all the BB banks offer these internships and then some.
They differ from one another in the stages of the application process, the length of the internship, and whether it is a general or divisional programme.

Note: the following information is an estimate based on past years. The details might change a bit.

Let’s talk about some of the major and most desired players out there.

Note: more banks are offering programmes, these are just the major ones.

The Summer Internship is an essential first step into investment banking. Although the screening process can be challenging and lengthy, research and preparation can immensely reduce uncertainty and boost your skills.

Use all the information and tips I have given you, and land your internship!
Apply for a lot of banks, and practice, practice, practice.

Good luck, I believe in you!

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Check out these fantastic free practice tests (all are completely free):

Free Aptitude Test | Free Psychometric Test | Free Numerical Reasoning Test | Free Verbal Reasoning Test | Free Cognitive Test | Free Critical Thinking Test | Free Abstract Reasoning Test | Free Spatial Reasoning Test | Free Personality Test | Free Inductive Test | Free Mechanical Reasoning Test