Citi Taiwan Internship Experience — Application and Interview Process
This is the English version of the article I published on Medium back in Nov 2020. With the help of ChatGPT, I am translating this to English for a wider audience. If you are more comfortable reading Chinese, you may access the original article here.
This article mainly shares my application process and interview experience for the Citibank internship program in Taiwan. I hope it can be helpful to those who are interested in applying for the Citibank campus program or other foreign bank internships.
The content includes my background, how I got interested in Citibank, the application process, the first-round interview, the second-round interview, and the offer release.
Background
I applied for the 2019 summer internship in the 2018–2019 academic year and received a return offer for the 2020 full-time analyst (management associate) position after completing the summer internship in 2019. The department I applied for was the Global Consumer Banking (GCB) division of Citibank. The application process may vary for positions in other departments.
In recent years, Citibank Taiwan’s main focus for recruitment has been in GCB. They typically hire around 10 interns and full-time management associates (MA) for the summer internship program each year. O&T is the second most recruited department. As for the departments on the right-hand side of the organizational chart, such as BCMA, TTS, and CCB, they are relatively small in terms of headcount, with only 1–3 employees in each department. (Note that in 2021 Citi sold the consumer banking devision in Taiwan to DBS and the recruitment of GCB intern should have terminated.)
How I got interested in Citibank
As a business school student, it is natural to have the goal and aspiration of interning at one of the world’s largest banks before graduation. Even if it is not a dream come true, it is still something that many students strive for. In the months of September to November 2018, when my peers were fervently submitting their resumes, I also applied for the following year’s summer internship programs at major foreign banks. In Taiwan, there were primarily three options — Citi, HSBC, and Standard Chartered.
So in addition to applying for Citibank Taiwan, I also applied for the summer internship programs at Citibank Hong Kong, HSBC Hong Kong, and Standard Chartered Taiwan that year. (P.S. You can only choose between HSBC Hong Kong and Taiwan, and you can only apply for Standard Chartered in your own home country/region.)
Application
Looking back, it was quite embarrassing, but after submitting my resume to Citibank’s system in late 2018, I didn’t hear back from them at all. On the other hand, Standard Chartered was constantly processing my application to the next rounds. (To add, I completed Citibank’s online application on October 5, 2018, according to my email records, so I was quite early.)
As a matter of fact, before I went to Tokyo for exchange in March 2019, I went to Standard Chartered’s headquarters in Taiwan for the final round interview of their summer internship program, but I failed to get an offer (you can read about my experience with Standard Chartered’s application and interview process here). Then, I went to Japan, thinking that if I couldn’t find an internship for the summer, I would just stay in Japan longer and travel to various famous sights.
However, fate can be unpredictable, and after a series of twists and turns, Citibank unexpectedly reopened the recruitment process for the summer internship program in April, and the position was announced on 104 (a leading job search website in Taiwan) with applicants instructed to submit their English and Chinese resumes to a designated email address.
So, while in Japan, I immediately started revising my resume (basically just adding my internship experience at HSBC) and wrote a heartfelt email (using the email as my cover letter and mainly talking about my experience at HSBC). Believe it or not, I received a response from HR inviting me to the first round interview later that week on the same day I sent the email.
First round Interview (HR Interview)
Actually, many banks have changed their first-round interviews to video interviews, but Citibank still maintained its HR one-on-one interview. Due to my location in Japan, I had my interview with HR through a Citibank Meet online video conference.
The process felt more like a conversation, allowing HR to understand why I wanted to apply for the position. Common questions like “Why Citi?”, “Why you?”, “What are your short-term and long-term career goals?” were asked. HR also asked questions based on my resume, such as why I wanted to apply for a position in Taiwan instead of continuing to look for internships in Hong Kong. Overall, I believe it’s important to answer truthfully and not exaggerate, and to let HR feel your sincerity and that you have done your homework, have a basic understanding and aspiration for the position and Citibank, and aren’t just blindly applying because the job seems good.
The interview was mostly conducted in Chinese, except for one or two questions to ensure and verify your English proficiency.
Shortly after the first-round interview, I received an invitation for the second round the following week. HR asked if I wanted to come to Taiwan in person, but due to time constraints, I maintained the online video conference format.
Second round interview Part 1 (Case Interview)
The second part of the interview was the Case Interview, which was a Group Assessment with eight people in total. We were given a period of time (in my case, it was 20 minutes) to read the case material. Then, we had to spend some time (in my case, it was 25 minutes) discussing and exchanging opinions about the case material, and coming up with a consensus. Finally, we had to present our conclusions to the interviewers in the last few minutes (in my case, it was 5 minutes).
Our case was about a bank facing the decision of acquiring three different consumer finance companies. The three options were companies that focused on digital loans, online insurance, and inclusive finance. We needed to clarify the challenges faced by the bank as a traditional institution, and evaluate the benefits and risks of acquiring these three companies with innovative services. We had to present our best acquisition choice and the reasoning behind it.
As there were eight people in the group, the presentation time was limited. However, the 25 minutes of discussion time was also evaluated in the interview process, and the interviewers could clearly observe the level of enthusiasm and understanding of the applicants. Inevitably, there were different opinions during the discussion. Therefore, we needed to first sort out the pros and cons of each option during our reading time. When other interviewees expressed their views on any one of the options, we could agree and provide additional explanations or express opposing views based on certain information. This allowed the interviewers to feel that we had a thorough understanding of the issue, and that we could have meaningful discussions with different people and effectively drive the project forward.
Second round interview Part 2 (Panel Interview)
Following the Case Interview, the second part of the interview was a Panel Interview that was not related to the reading materials. Firstly, they asked everyone about their thoughts on the interaction during the Case Discussion. They wanted everyone to say who they most wanted to cooperate with, and who they least wanted to cooperate with, and explain the reasons. I remember there was an awkward silence in the room, and everyone tried their best to tactfully comment on the performance of different people during the discussion.
In my opinion, this part of the interview should easily allow the interviewers to see the candidates’ expectations for teamwork and project execution, or their imagination of their colleagues. This could help them screen out suitable candidates for Citi.
Next, the interview was divided into two meeting rooms, with two interviewers respectively asking behavioral questions. Four people in each group answered the same question in turn, such as “tell me about your last internship experience”, “how did you manage to overcome difficulties?”, “what is your biggest weakness?”, etc. The interviewers also had follow-up questions.
Basically, those who had prepared their answers could raise their hands and start answering. If the person who answered first did poorly, the person who answered later would have time to rearrange what they wanted to say and skillfully stand out. But at the same time, it could be awkward if someone repeated the same story that had already been told.
Both parts of the second round were conducted in English. I closed myself off in my dormitory for a while to prepare for this interview. Fortunately, the interview was on May 2nd (the second day of the Reiwa era and the sixth day of the Japanese Golden Week holiday, with four more days to play). After it was over, I felt relieved and immediately went to the Currency Museum in Tokyo’s city center to visit on the sunny day.
Offer Release
On May 7th, I received a phone call from the Taiwan HR team congratulating me on being selected for the summer internship program. I remember being so excited that I yelled into the phone! However, that evening I had a lot of conflicting emotions and ended up talking to many different people on the phone until almost dawn. The internship at Citibank was set to start at the end of June, which meant that I had to end my exchange student life in Tokyo a month earlier.
On May 8th, I replied to the HR team and informed them of my preferred department (they asked during the phone call), and later received the official acceptance letter. Then, I asked my family in Taiwan to help me with a series of due diligence documents, including applying for a personal credit report from the Financial Information Service Co. and a police criminal record certificate (which is required for financial-related jobs) from the Ministry of the Interior.
The most troublesome thing at the time was the health report. I had scheduled to return to Taiwan two days before the start of the Citibank internship (on a Saturday) so that I could complete my academic responsibilities for the exchange program in Japan. However, the fastest health report would take about a week and five working days to produce. In the end, I confirmed that I could use the health report from Japan instead, and with the help of a Japanese friend, I found a clinic that was willing to perform the relevant tests and paid 10,000 yen for the examination. Fortunately, the Japanese health report was written in mostly kanji characters, which I could understand well, so I didn’t have to pay another 10,000 yen for an English version.
Epilogue
According to a colleague who also received an offer in the same interview, I was the only one who participated in the Case Interview/Panel Interview via video conferencing, while everyone else was present in person. However, due to the large screen and loud microphone of the video conferencing system, I was able to speak with a lot of momentum. Since 2020, video conferencing has become more common, and this unexpected advantage may be difficult to come by again.
