Hi everyone,
I’m interviewing for a sales and trading internship at Barclays and trying to prepare for the market-based questions. For those who’ve gone through it, how current and specific are the questions? Do they expect you to discuss individual trades or just have a general view on macro and asset classes? I’m not sure how much detail to prep.
Hi Anonymous,
great that you’re preparing early!
From what I’ve seen, Barclays interviews for sales and trading usually focus more on your market awareness and how you think, rather than expecting you to pitch a complex trade like a full-time trader would.
They’ll often ask questions like:
In my experience, they want to see that you understand the bigger picture (e.g. interest rates, inflation, central banks, geopolitics) and how that affects major asset classes. You don’t usually need to get into exact trade ideas unless you bring it up yourself.
If you can speak clearly about one or two asset classes and give your own view, even a simple one, that already goes a long way. And if you add, “I’m still learning, but I’ve been following...”, that shows humility and curiosity, which interviewers want to see.
I hope that helps! 😊
