Awaiting assessment centre decisions

I graduated this summer and only started applying for graduate schemes near the end of October. I applied to a lot, many of them I got rejected from and this week I got two emails saying I passed stage two of the assessment but this does not automatically mean I get a space for the AC, but they will get back to me soon with the outcome while they shortlist candidates. One of them was for a finance scheme at TfL and another one is for the change development programme at Nationwide, specifically for the business analyst role. I had a look on Linkedin of people who have secured these roles and many of them have a high class degree. I got a 2:2 from KCL in BSc Chemistry, my main experiences are working at a restaurants and charity shops, so compared to others who managed to get an internship at EY or any other relevant experiences, I am a pretty weak candidate. May I please know how will recruiters filter out the ones that have passed the second stage and allow them to go onto the AC stage? Or should I be emailing recruiters on how I am grateful that I have passed the second stage and look forward to hearing from them soon? Any tips on how I can up my chance or should I be patiently waiting? Any tips on AC? As I have never gotten an AC yet and I am pretty bad with interviews. Thank you!

Hi, I can’t speak too much on the recruiter side of things but in terms of preparing for ACs as someone who is looking to get into finance I would say try your best to practice working on case studies, especially ones with multiple options that require you to pick one (for example a company is thinking to invest in a business, here are three options tell us which one they should pick and why) this is a very generic example but I’m sure you understand the gist. All of the ACs I have been to have consisted of working on individual case studies with a limited amount of time. You will also probably have a group exercise to do which will also have a case study but you will work amongst a team (normally between 3-5). I’d say learn how to be a good listener, give your opinion but don’t be too bossy they’re not necessarily looking for who will be the loudest but who they can see being an efficient team player (of course make sure you bring a valued point of view whilst still doing this). As for the interview I would recommend trying to research the firm/business you’re applying to and how your values and experiences may match with what they’re looking for, remain calm and don’t overthink. I used to feel I was bad at interviews as well but after some reflection I realised I was just way too nervous and over thought everything, when I started to relax and trust my preparation I started to see better results.
Again I can’t speak too much on the recruiters but don’t give up and don’t see yourself as less than just because you don’t have what you would consider relevant ‘experience’, just try to articulate the experience you do have in a good manner that shows you will be of value to the company you can talk about your work experience and your education experience. I don’t think it’s necessarily about what your experience is, it’s more about how you can phrase it to show it aligns with what they’re looking for in a candidate.
I know it’s hard as grad schemes are really competitive but keep trying and with more experience you’ll get better and better. Hope this helps!

This is a really helpful reply thank you so much! Please may I know where to practice for case studies? As this is something very new to me

I graduated this summer and only started applying for graduate schemes near the end of October. I applied to a lot, many of them I got rejected from and this week I got two emails saying I passed stage two of the assessment but this does not automatically mean I get a space for the AC, but they will get back to me soon with the outcome while they shortlist candidates. One of them was for a finance scheme at TfL and another one is for the change development programme at Nationwide, specifically for the business analyst role. I had a look on Linkedin of people who have secured these roles and many of them have a high class degree. I got a 2:2 from KCL in BSc Chemistry, my main experiences are working at a restaurants and charity shops, so compared to others who managed to get an internship at EY or any other relevant experiences, I am a pretty weak candidate. May I please know how will recruiters filter out the ones that have passed the second stage and allow them to go onto the AC stage? Or should I be emailing recruiters on how I am grateful that I have passed the second stage and look forward to hearing from them soon? Any tips on how I can up my chance or should I be patiently waiting? Any tips on AC? As I have never gotten an AC yet and I am pretty bad with interviews. Thank you!

Hi, can you please let me know the video qquestons for nationwide im applying for a placement and would highly appreciate it

Hi did you pass the AC? I want to kindly ask is 2:2 acceptable if the role asking for a minimum 2:2