I applied online. I interviewed at Vanguard (Malvern, PA) in Oct 2015
Interview
Three step process. First was a phone interview that lasted about 30 minutes. The woman was very nice and asked about my experiences and sprinkled in some easy STAR questions. She also asked me some very basic technical questions. Such as, what is a mutual fund? Write down some answers as to what is a mutual fund/stock/bond to help you out. After the questions she asked me to come to campus for a 4 hour interview that consisted of a PowerPoint presentation, sit-down STAR question based interview, a role-play and finally a mathematical quiz. The presentation was general stuff about the company led by middle-management. Ask a question or two after to show you're involved. Try not to force a question though. Then one-on-one with some other middle-management employee. Questions about experiences working on a team, with a deadline and working with a difficult client with STAR answers. Those are just some examples as there were about 12 questions total. The role-play was easy so do not freak out. They ask you to role-play answering a clients call and overcoming small objections. They don't expect you to figure out the problem but want to see how you respond to the client. Be clear, concise and polite. Then it was the mathematical quiz on a computer. This does not affect your ability to get hired. The questions were pretty hard and basically give them some basis on how you'll perform on the Series 7. Don't sweat it. After you finish the quiz they dismiss you and say they will call you with their decision.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How have you dealt with a difficult client in your past experiences?
Relatively straight forward process. Basic financial literacy and a few behavioral questions. There was also a short case study / role play scenario at the end. They are mostly testing to see if you can handle answering phones and dealing with customers and that you have basic financial / investment understanding.
very standard, it started with a few phone calls and emails, then in person. Standard "tell me about a time xyz..." questions. The interviewer was super nice and personable. Although it seemed they were in a bit of a rush.
I went down to the location for a day and did a rotation of interviews with multiple people. It took a couple hours and the questions were not too difficult.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a time where you had to overcome a difficult situation.