Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Standard Chartered GBS Apprentice Hiring drive for the Technology 2025 Batch in India - a highly competitive selection process.
Program Highlights:
Duration: 12 Months Apprenticeship
Stipend: ₹40,000/month
Locations: Chennai & Bangalore
Expected Joining: July-Sep 2025
Eligibility: 2024 & 2025 grads from CSE, IT, ECE, EE with CGPA ≥ 6
This apprenticeship offers exposure to real-world projects, tech training, workshops, and potential conversion to a full-time role based on performance. A great opportunity for freshers to grow and explore!
Selection Process:
Around 220 students were shortlisted after clearing online assessments and behavioural rounds.
On the big day, ~180 students appeared for in-person interviews (Tech + HR).
Post technical interviews, ~150 students were shortlisted for the HR round - and yes, I was one of them! The interviewers shared that they were impressed with the students overall performance and mentioned they’d be taking a good number of us forward. But… we weren’t quite sure if their definition of a “good number” matched ours.😅
However, things took a surprising turn. It was already 8 PM (the process started at 9 AM), and only one HR person was available to interview everyone.
So what happened?
A Group HR round was conducted in a conference room with 15 students at once. Each of us was asked any two of the following questions:
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Why apprenticeship and not a full-time role?
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Why Standard Chartered?
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Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
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What did you learn in the last 3 months (non-technical)?
Some found it tough to express themselves in this setting and felt they'd have done better in a 1-on-1 HR round. Still, 68 students were finally shortlisted - and I’m grateful to be among them!
Thoughts?
Have you ever experienced a Group HR round? Do you think it’s an effective way to evaluate candidates? Would love to hear your experiences or opinions in the comments 👇