Bank of China Associate Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process starts with an initial conversation where they ask you to introduce yourself and explain your motivation for applying to the firm. Following this, you'll face questions that are derived from your resume and the job description, and you're expected to answer them in Chinese. The interviewers aren't looking for overly sophisticated or eloquent responses.

I think it's a warning if you are in the US and looking for a job in the financial area to stay away from this company. I asked for someone to help refer my resume, but their HR email address was undeliverable. There was no phone screening. An AVP emailed me and arranged for an on-site interview. Three people conducted this interview: an AVP, the manager of the trading department, and a VP. The AVP was nice and friendly. The manager of the trading group was also nice and asked many questions about my previous experience, which was normal. However, the VP was really rude and arrogant. He kept asking private questions, some of which were totally unrelated to the position. He just toughly faulted me because something in my resume made him feel unreasonable. It was like, 'Why was your graduate program only one year?' and 'How did you get your GC of the US?' He also judged my previous employer, saying something like, 'Small volume of business and it seems like there was not too much operation.' The high-level leaders are expats from China, so they don't speak English very much and there's a seriously bureaucratic atmosphere. The associate position is basically like an account manager, with lots of marketing and promoting stuff, as they told me in the interview.

Sent in a cover letter in Chinese and resume. Two weeks later, I got a surprise phone call from a nice HR lady from Markham asking some job-related questions in English. The next day, I was told to come in for an interview and a written test the day after. The interview was only 15 minutes, with very simple questions in both English and Chinese. They also asked me to read and translate passages on the spot. Be careful, they will definitely ask "illegal" and personal questions. After the interview, I had to go back to the office for a two-hour written test, which involved writing in English and Chinese with only pen and paper, no aids allowed. A week later, I was told I ranked sixth out of ten test takers and didn't get a second interview.