Chase is an international brand that continues to innovate as a leader in the financial services industry. The company has a century-long track record of success and generated ~$120B in revenue in 2020. If you’ve got an upcoming interview with Chase, you will do well to spend time preparing. Chase behavioral interview questions test for personality, attitude, and professionalism. We’ve done the work to bring you interview tips, an overview of the company, and a collection of common Chase interview questions. Now, all that is left for you to do is bring your A game to the interview!
Chase History & Culture
Known as a “bulge bracket” player in the industry, JPMorgan Chase is one of America’s four biggest banks. Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Bank of America make up the other three. At a high level, the Chase half of the company is the consumer-facing, retail banking business. The JPMorgan side is more business-facing, providing investment banking services. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on the consumer bank.
John Thompson formed Chase National Bank all the way back in 1877. Like most banks, it grew through several early acquisitions. But no acquisition really made Chase “pop” until the bank merged with John Rockefeller’s company Equitable Trust in 1930. This made Chase the largest bank in America - and the world.
Chase National Bank became Chase Manhattan Bank around 1955. This was also the first time Chase adopted the familiar octagonal logo everyone knows today. Fast forward to 2000 – the entire entity finally became JPMorgan Chase after Chase Manhattan acquired JP Morgan. The size of the bank helped it withstand the 2008 crisis better than most competitors. Chase’s portfolio of products today includes credit cards, checking & savings accounts, auto loans, and home mortgages.
From a cultural perspective, Chase emphasizes diversity and flexibility – for both customers and internal employees. Chase’s customers are diverse, and they come to the bank for all sorts of needs. In turn, Chase boasts a diverse workforce that customizes the Chase customer experience on a case-by-case basis.
Life At Chase
As is the case at many big companies, working at Chase provides you a blank canvas of career opportunities. You’ll meet colleagues who are driven to succeed until they reach the management level. And you’ll find other colleagues working at Chase as a stepping stone toward a career elsewhere.
Whichever bucket you fall into, at Chase you’ll enjoy a lot of flexibility and professional development. The consumer bank’s sheer size (serves roughly 50% of American households in some way/shape/form) allows it to invest heavily in training. The bank offers firmwide courses to prepare leaders for the ever-changing business environment. On the flexibility side, CEO Jamie Dimon announced late last year that many Chase employees can take advantage of remote work well into 2021.
In exchange for these benefits, you can expect to work hard in a fast-paced environment. Chase doesn’t expect new employees to know everything, but the firm does expect you to exhibit a desire to learn. And that goes for the customers you’ll be serving as well. Chase rewards employees who know how to learn what customers want, and then meet those specific needs.
Chase Interview Tips
As a major international brand, Chase values professionalism and presentation. Chase’s behavioral interviews are meant to gauge the type of personality traits that play well in Corporate America. Of course, exposure to the banking industry is a plus – but don’t sweat it if you lack banking experience. Whatever your background might be, just focus on presenting your client-facing experience.
Given the fast-paced work environment at Chase, you should also be prepared to answer questions around managing priorities. Come armed with a couple anecdotes that speak to how you’ve balanced multiple projects in the past (and driven results!).
Chase Behavioral Interview Questions
Here are a few of the most common Chase behavioral interview questions. You’ll notice a theme of testing for interpersonal skills:
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Describe a challenging team-based project and how you managed the adversity.
At Chase you can expect to work cross-functionally across multiple teams. Your interviewer will want to see how you’ve managed those type of situations in the past.
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Tell me about a time you took a risk professionally.
Chase interviewers want to test for intuition and initiative. As you think through your answer to this one, don’t be afraid to show a little vulnerability.
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How would you describe your management style?
As we’ve talked about, Chase Bank is a big place with a lot of different options for upward mobility. Your Chase interviewer will want to get a sense for your leadership style in order to match you to the right promotion track.
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What part of the Chase business interests you most?
A question like this sneakily tests whether you’ve done your homework. Of course, your specific answer will vary from other candidates, but make sure you’ve researched a couple specific product offerings.
Conclusion
Chase leads the way in a very crowded, competitive banking space. Given its sheer size, Chase is not the easiest place to stand out. But at the same time, the bank offers plenty of opportunities to network and get plugged into the right teams.
At the end of the day, proper preparation is the key to standing out in the interviews, and we have a team of expert interview coaches dedicated to helping candidates land jobs at firms like Chase. Reach out today for interview prep support!
Additional Reading:
- Bank of America Interview Questions
- AT&T Interview Questions
- Google Interview Questions
- Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide