Applied for Finance Summer Analyst (London) online. Got an invitation down to their assessment centre after 3 weeks.
Assessment day consists of role-play, group discussion and 2 interviews. Received an offer after 3 working days.
Role-play scenario was to identify issues with Company's operation and explain it to one of the employee. Given 10 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to explain. Important to manage time well, and pay close attention to details. Remember, its a role play and you have to remember what capacity you are acting in and stick with it.
Group discussion comprises of 2 stages. Can't remember the time breakdown exactly but I think its around 35 mins for preparation, 10 mins for group presentation. Typical group discussion process; analyze information given to you, present your case to your group and come to a decision on what to do as a group, then present it to the recruiters. No need to be aggressive, be sure of what your stance is and go with the flow.
Interviews are 30 minutes each. Mainly competency and motivation questions, with a few commercial awareness questions. Some candidates were given brain teaser questions, not all.
Very professionally conducted, every other applicants were generally very smart and sharp in their thinking. I prepared heavily for the interview, did massive amount of research into the Company. They were (I think) looking out for people with genuine interest in the department / Company and of course, commercial awareness.