Vanguard Investments Australia Interview Questions
& Process

It was a two-stage interview process. The in-person interview felt really warm and relaxed, and they totally made an effort to make it feel that way. That was pretty unexpected for a company like this, but it was a really good experience all the way through the recruitment process, and they kept me updated consistently.

The whole thing took about 2 months. First, there was an online interview with the UK team. Then, I had an in-person meeting with the UK Hiring Manager. After that, I did an online case study and a mock engagement meeting with some US principals. The Australian HR team was pretty bad at communicating; I was always the one chasing them for feedback and to know what was next. They never called back, and didn't respond to voicemails. The Australian HR person claimed they couldn't get my emails, but any emails I sent to their offshore colleagues went through fine and got responses. I wonder if the local HR team's connection with an outside recruitment agency is why direct applicants like me get ignored.

The first interview was in-person at their Melbourne office with two interviewers. I thought it was an IT/digital BA role from the website, but it's actually a tech BA role that requires AWS knowledge. The interview lasted about an hour, and was mostly behavioral/situational questions about managing stakeholders, with one part where I had to look at an AWS architecture diagram and figure out the requirements. I was told there would be another round with the hiring manager, but I didn't make it past this first one. I waited a few weeks for feedback but never heard back even after following up, and the recruiter became unresponsive. It would have been nice to at least know I didn't get the job, even without feedback, instead of being ghosted.

The interview process started with a 45-60 minute phone interview. The second interview, which lasted about an hour, focused on behavioral questions. These included prompts about leading a group, handling conflict, and managing multiple tasks with time management strategies. The second interview was a group interview with two people. They asked about problem-solving, convincing others, dealing with clients (internal/external), and successfully solving technical problems, including the process. They also asked about staying updated with the Finance Market and future career goals within the company. A key aspect of the group interview was that interviewers quickly judge character from the moment the candidate speaks. One interviewer seemed disengaged and made the conversation feel like an interrogation, which is unfortunate as it can lead to missing good candidates who are focused on their own interests.