Last night I sat the on-campus test for the graduate recruitment program at Barclays Capital. Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank, tests over 10,000 students world-wide each year BEFORE asking them to sumbit their resumes. Their theory is that they are a global employer (they took two Melbourne MBA students for positions in London last year), and that since not all business schools require the GMAT for their applications, they should give all applicants a fair and equal chance by having their own test.
I did a 96-question psychological profile ("are you a team member or an individual?" "are you interested in making a lot of money or having a lot of responsibility?" etc) followed by a verbal and a quant test. The questions weren't that difficult (any reasonably smart junior high school student could probably do them), but the amount of time allowed for the test was miniscule - four sections, each with around 15 - 20 multiple choice questions, but only 10 minutes allowed per section! None of the answers are immediately obvious - the questions require logical thinking and several calculations.
My advice to anyone who is planning to sit the test this season - make sure you're alert, bring a stopwatch, and make sure you are completely familar with the functions of your calculator. I didn't finish any of the sections (although I did randomly select an answer for the questions that I didn't have time to do), but I was fairly comfortable that I'd done reasonably well.
I should know within a couple of weeks whether I've made it to the next round.
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