Pass the HSBC Online Immersive Assessment in 2024

The HSBC Online Assessment is a complex, multi-area test specifically tailored for HSBC by Cappfinity. The test is used to screen candidates for student, intern, and graduate positions, especially for the company’s Spring Insight program.

The HSBC Online Immersive Assessment contains 38 questions overall, 16 of which assess your cognitive abilities (math and verbal reasoning) and 22 are situational judgment questions and personality profiling questions, based on HSBC's four Core Values.

When you apply to HSBC, you will go through a challenging screening process. It will begin with the HSBC Online Assessment – a two-part test:

The HSBC Online Immersive Assessment is a collection of 38 questions across 5 subtests including both cognitive and behavioural exercises. While the test is untimed, the recommended time to finish is around 50 minutes.

If you pass the Online Immersive Assessment, you will be invited to take the HSBC Online Job Simulation Assessment. It is a collection of 4 micro exercises containing 15 behavioural, personality, and pre-recorded video interview questions. The assessment takes 35 minutes to complete.

These 4 micro exercises are also conducted to candidates going through HSBC’s assessment centers.

The HSBC Online Immersive Assessment revolves around one fictitious project (e.g., leading a research team for a new company product). It is comprised of 5 subtests assessing different skills required from actual HSBC employees working on such projects:

1. Project Kick-Off – 4 questions
2. Global Engagement – 4 questions
3. Data Monitoring – 10 questions
4. Navigating Competing Commitments – 9 questions
5. Pause and Reflect – 11 questions

All 5 tests are presented as tiles on a main interactive homepage as shown below. The tests are taken by order, and only after you complete one test is the next test unlocked.

Let’s go through a brief overview of the tests. Sample questions are provided below.

• Theme – You are assigned to the creation of a new team within the company.
• Question Type – Situational judgment
• Question Format – A scenario and 5 optional responses. Rank the responses from 1-5.
• Number of Questions – 4
• Assesses - Ability to manage employees, set working standards, and make educated decisions.

• Theme – Scenarios focusing on cooperation with colleagues, both team members, and other positions.
• Question Type – Situational judgment
• Question Format – A scenario and 5 optional responses. Rank the responses from 1-5.
• Number of Questions – 4
• Assesses - Ability to communicate with others, resolve work-related conflicts, and balance requests of different individuals within the company.

• Theme – You are working with a remote team to complete your project.
• Question Type – Mostly cognitive, with a few situational judgment questions.
• Question Format – 5-6 information tabs, multiple-choice or free text questions.
• Number of Questions – 10 (8 cognitive, 2 situational).
• Assesses - Integration and interpretation of numerical and verbal data.

• Theme – You are working on several small side projects alongside your main project.
• Question Type – Mostly cognitive, with a few situational judgment questions.
• Question Format – 5-6 information tabs, multiple-choice or free text questions.
• Number of Questions – 10 (8 cognitive, 2 situational).
• Assesses - Integration and interpretation of numerical and verbal data.

• Theme – You are about to complete the project, and face issues of work overload, deadlines, and fixing urgent errors.
• Question Type – Situational judgment + Personality
• Question Format – A scenario and 5 optional responses. Rank the responses from 1-5.
• Number of Questions – 11
• Assesses - Personal responsibility, time management and prioritization skills, and ownership of projects.

As mentioned above, the HSBC Online Immersive Assessment is comprised of two types of questions:

• Cognitive questions
• Situational judgment questions.

Here’s a sample of each type, adapted from the actual HSBC assessment, followed by a brief explanation.

Cognitive questions on the HSBC Assessment include 5-6 information sources (texts, tables, graphs, etc.) and you are required to analyse the data therein (e.g., finding correlations between factors, calculating revenue, or interpreting the intention of a piece of text.)

Tests 3 and 4 (Data Minitoring and Navigating Competing Commitments) contain mostly cognitive questions.

The main challenge of these questions, which usually does not exist on other cognitive tests, is the need to dograte several data sources to come to the correct answer.

Situational judgment questions comprise subtests 1,2, and 5 (Project Kick-Off, Global Engagement, and Pause and Reflect, respectively). They assess you based on the four HSBC Core Values (read more about the Core Values below).

Note that some values assessment questions, mainly in subtest 5 (Completing the Project Delivery) are structured as personality profiling questions.

Personality profiling questions ask you to self-report your personal preferences and traits. In the HSBC Online Job Simulation Assessment, they appear as a two-sided scale, on which you can place your preference.

Here are three important tips for your preparation for the HSBC Online Immersive Assessment.

A major part of the HSBC Online Immersive Assessment is to show you can integrate multiple info sources to come to decisions. You will not always need to use all of them, but you will certainly need to use them.

Check every info source you have and ask yourself why it was placed where it did. Even if the question seems to rely solely on your personal preferences and opinions, it really isn’t.

The HSBC Online Assessment is often referred to as a values assessment. That is because your personal adherence to the three HSBC core values is tested and assessed ALL THE TIME.

These four core values are:

• Succeeding together – trustworthy and supportive, able to communicate and collaborate with coworkers and clients.
• Responsibility – committed to quality, takes accountability for results, always stands up for the right course of action.
• Getting it done – results-driven, thorough and ambitious. Able to make decisions, rise to a challenge, and take some risk.
• Diversity – inclusive to others and able to take a broader perspective and approach.

Although the core values themselves are pretty simple and straightforward, showing HSBC that you follow them in a natural, unpretentious way, is much harder.

That is why it is crucial to prepare for the value assessment questions with the same effort and mindset you prepare for the cognitive ones.

The HSBC Online Immersive Assessment is officially untimed. However, the instructions state that the estimated time to complete the assessment is around 50 minutes.

While your performance on the HSBC Online Assessment is more important than your solving speed, it can be assumed that candidates completing the test in a shorter time will be preferred, given that scores are identical.

So, when preparing, find your personal balance between methodical, thorough work and working at a reasonable pace. That is especially important in the cognitive section of the test.

In addition, remember that the HSBC Online Assessment allows you to go back and review your answers (but only until you submit the subtest!). So, if you find yourself struggling with a question, move on to the next one, but don’t forget to get back to it later. You will often find you suddenly have a fresh view on the topic after letting go for a while.

Both sections of the HSBC Online Assessment (Immersive and Job Simulation) are specifically tailored for HSBC by Cappfinity, a leading provider of pre-employment assessments.

Cappfinity, established in the UK in 2005, focuses on strength-based assessments, both cognitive and behavioural. In recent years, it has begun replacing well-established test providers in providing assessments for the finance industry. Among its many clients in the industry (apart from HSBC) are EY, Barclays, and KPMG.