Recruitment Process

​​Applying for a job can be a daunting process at any stage of your career. We hope to be able to make this as straight forward as possible via our careers page portal and with the support of our in-house Talent Team. We’ve included some information on our application process and all the top tips you may need to deliver your best self in your application.

Online Application

You can apply for all our roles using Our Careers Page. Our recruitment process is handled by our experienced and supportive Talent Specialists within the bank. Throughout our process you will always have at least one point of contact with one of our friendly team and we’re always on hand to answer queries via our careers inbox: careers@co-operativebank.co.uk

​​The Interview Process:

We're so glad you're interested in a role and career with us at the Bank. If your skills and experience match our role requirements we will invite you to an initial call with one of our bank’s Talent Specialists. Depending on the role you’re applying for, our process may look something like this:

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Initial Call with our Recruiter

We conduct our calls via telephone or Microsoft Teams and they usually take 15 – 30 minutes. Our calls are designed to be a two way conversation to gain further understanding of your skills and experiences and to provide some insight on what's important and motivates you with your career journey. We will also ask you if there's any reasonable adjustment you would require to continue. An overview of our chat is shared with the hiring manager and you will then be advised on the next steps. If you are successful you would progress to a second stage interview.

TIP: This is your chance to ask us any buzzing questions about life at the Bank and specific skills the hiring manager may be looking for from candidates. We’d always recommend doing a little research beforehand on our Bank website and read the latest news and updates over on our LinkedIn page.

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Online Assessment (Customer Advisor roles)

For some roles you will be invited to complete an online assessment. This includes four pre-recorded interview questions and three fun digital games that will show your navigational strengths. We have designed this process to be as enjoyable, fair and straight forward for you as possible. If successful, a member of the team will reach out to you to inform you of the next steps which would be a call with the recruiter to discuss your skills and experience further.

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The Interview

Please ensure you're set up with your technology, there's no background noise or distractions if possible, and you have downloaded or logged into your video conferencing software prior. During your interview we will usually ask you competency and behavioural based questions that will focus on your relevant skills, experience and interest in the role you have applied for. Tips on how to prepare for these types of questions, are are at the bottom of the page.

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After the Interview

After the interview you will be contacted within a few days by your recruiter with the outcome. If you are not successful on this occasion you will be provided with feedback to support you with your career aspirations to help you with your interviews in the future. If you are successful your recruiter will be in touch with the next steps of the process.

We really look forward to speaking with you and hearing all about you and your experience so far! Feel free to ask us any questions and our Talent team will be happy to support wherever they can.

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​How to prepare:

The best advice we can give you is to come to the interview well prepared with a bank of examples ready to refer back to which display your relevant skills and what sets you apart from other candidates. In addition, we recommend you familiarise yourself with our Bank values as we may ask you some questions around how they resonate with you. Please feel free to take notes, ask questions, ask for clarification on anything you are unsure of.

S.T.A.R Technique

We advise you structure your answers using the S.T.A.R. technique. Try to use ‘I’ instead of ‘We’ when explaining your answers to highlight your individual involvement and remember to stick to answering the question.

​​Leadership Capabilities:

Our People Leaders play an important role in creating a consistent colleague experience, supporting our people to be the very best they can be for our customers, communities and each other. If you have applied for a leadership role within our bank, we will spend some time getting to know your leadership style across 3 dimensions of leadership - Engaging, Deciding, Delivering. To prepare, we recommend thinking about examples where you have demonstrated these.

We welcome applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and lifestyles who can work with us in maintaining a culture of belonging, where people are valued and respected. We are a Disability Confident Employer so if you require any reasonable adjustments to be made throughout the interview process please inform your recruiter.

​Best of luck!

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