Commercial awareness is vital when applying for a banking
internship and can be divided into different categories: economic (knowing the
inflation rates and more specific reports on the industry in general); political
(such as global and national government policy and legislation); industry
trends (such as the main competitors of the company you’re applying to and also
recent innovation in the field). Knowledge of the field you’re applying for
really helps in an interview, as the other candidates will have similar
qualifications to you, and showing that you understand the job you’re applying
for can put you ahead of the rest. One intern giving the talk mentioned how his
interview had focused heavily on just one report, so the extra knowledge really
helped him to impress the interviewers.
Although this session obviously focused on the banking
industry, the ideas are relevant to other applications; in depth knowledge of
the field you’re applying for will always make you stand out from the crowd. It
was recommended that to keep commercially aware you should:
- follow the news
- research the company you’re applying to
- research the company’s five main competitors
- find out what makes your chosen company different
- consider what challenges or opportunities the company is likely to face in the near future
The second part of the talk about assessment centres was far
more specific to internships in the banking industry. Only about 3% of
applicants are invited to an assessment centre, and around a quarter of those
invited are offered internships. The main point stressed by Lloyds is that you
should always present yourself as a professional, right from your attire to your
interactions with the other applicants. Remember that you are always being
assessed, even if you’re just having lunch or chatting to other people at the
assessment centre.
This session was really useful and, even though I haven’t
previously thought about applying for a banking internship, the advice they
gave about commercial awareness could be applied to any job interview.
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