It was a painful process.

Applied a whim just to test out opportunities from a background not related to software. I spent little time preparing and it feels weird to say but I don’t think I was grilled enough on my motivations for the application. The assessment centre was online and involved one short role-play based assessment and followed by an interview. The role play assessment was interesting, you were given a load of information to look through and then quizzed on it shortly afterwards.

Overall I didn’t feel like the interview was very thorough (30min and one-to-one).

Ended up getting the offer but HR was an absolute nightmare, difficult to reach, not forthcoming with any extra information about the role, and repeatedly delaying getting the contracts sent out. I believe they outsource all this work to inexperienced HR companies who care little for the concerns of the individual hires.

Due to being unsure of exact structure, duties, and training provided in the role, because we were provided no opportunity to ask during the assessment day, I tried to contact HR and my line manager to obtain more information. I tried for weeks through emails and phone calls, which culminated in a 10 minute rushed phone call with my future line manager. I declined the offer shortly afterwards, any company which is not willing to spend time discussing the role with future hires is not one I wish to be working for.

Barclays operate a fishing net approach I think, throwing money at new hires just assuming they will accept based on the salary alone.

Why was I interested in the scheme.