Fast-tracking qualified candidates for a leading bank during a severe skills shortage

The client is a leading bank, one of the top two in its domestic market, and employs 11,000 staff worldwide.

Banks want to identify and attract top graduate talent. However, graduates with little or no experience must be carefully assessed for suitability, and compliance checks are also required. In this case, there was a severe talent shortage, and the customer needed to quickly ramp up a vital service.

Competition for top graduate talent in banking and financial services is intense. This particular bank, a longstanding client of Morgan McKinley’s contingency recruitment services, turned to Morgan McKinley to source the talent for a fast-track programme run in conjunction with the Institute of Banking.

Specifically, the bank needed to expand its MARS (Mortgage Arrears Resolution Strategies) division due to the high demand for these services and a significant shortage of qualified talent. The role of a Mortgage Support Associate requires a Qualified Financial Advisor (QFA) status, which typically takes up to a year to achieve by passing the two necessary QFA modules.

Consequently, the bank decided to pioneer a six-week internal fast-track programme in partnership with the Institute of Banking. Staff were to be hired temporarily, only being converted to permanent hires upon the successful passing of all the QFA exams within six weeks. The bank covered all costs for education and qualifications.

Morgan McKinley sourced and screened 200 candidates across two phases, drawing on our extensive national database, all major job boards, and a targeted social media and referral campaign. In doing so, we communicated the purpose, terms, and conditions of the offer to set the right expectations.

We completed all necessary compliance checks and coordinated and facilitated several assessment centres throughout the project, with full aptitude and psychometric testing (including numerical and verbal aptitude tests and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) test). We also conducted background compliance checks in conformance with the bank’s policies.

Following the assessment centre phase, we conducted 110 in-person interviews to reduce candidate numbers by 50%. 57 candidates were then submitted to the bank for a second interview, with Morgan McKinley coordinating all candidate care and management aspects. By the end of the project, 37 candidates were hired directly for the programme, with a further six hired in other business areas.

Benefits to candidates: Today’s graduates expect the hiring process to be fair. Having grown up in a world of instant communication, they want rapid and constructive feedback on how they did in screening tests and interviews. Morgan McKinley has implemented a raft of process improvements to meet this need for its clients, such as setting up new assessment centres.

Morgan McKinley recruiters are tasked with providing useful feedback to all applicants throughout the process, whether successful or unsuccessful. This ensures a worthwhile experience for all.

Benefits to the client: The bank achieved its target of filling all places on the programme with talented graduates and made some additional direct hires. The high level of candidate care also helped the bank reinforce its reputation as an employer of choice.