Deutsche Bank · Psychometric Tests
Deutsche Bank sifts candidates through SHL (Verify Interactive G+, OPQ32, SJT) before any interview. Below: the exact format, what each section tests, and how to practise it in identical conditions until you walk in confident.
Deutsche Bank Pack
One-time payment. Yours for the whole application season.
Applying to several firms? The Season Pass is a yearly subscription covering every firm, £139 a year, cancel anytime.
The format
Step 2, the first active evaluation checkpoint, immediately after the application form and CV and strictly before the HireVue. You must clear the benchmark thresholds to unlock the next stages.
Most psychometric tests split into 3-5 sections, each with its own clock. Speed and accuracy both count.
Modern formats get harder if you answer correctly, easier if you struggle. Your final score reflects what you can actually do under time pressure.
Deutsche Bank sets a pass mark per test type. Below it, you don't progress regardless of how strong the rest of your application is.
Completion window. The link is triggered within 24-48 hours of applying, with a 10-calendar-day window. Each module is completed in one sitting once started, but the modules can be spread across different days.
By division. A unified SHL platform for all programmes; front-office divisions (IBCM, FIC) enforce higher relative cut-offs on the numerical and deductive modules. Expert Developer and Quantitative Finance streams add a HackerRank or SHL coding layer.
Recent changes. DB has moved away from traditional linear multiple-choice aptitude tests toward the interactive Verify G+ engine, and pushed quantitative puzzle games out of the video stage back into this early SHL sequence.
The provider
Deutsche Bank configures its own selection of SHL (Verify Interactive G+, OPQ32, SJT) modules. Below: the exact products in the suite, why they were chosen, and what the provider's reputation is across the candidate pool.
History at Deutsche Bank. SHL has administered DB's online testing suite for several years across global early careers.
Candidate reputation. SHL is the global standard for workplace psychometrics. The Verify G+ engine is interactive and adaptive on an Item Response Theory model: a correct answer raises difficulty and an incorrect one lowers it, so two candidates rarely see the same questions, and early careless mistakes lower the scoring trajectory.
Section breakdown
Each section has its own format, timer and trap pattern. Worked examples below show exactly what you will see and where candidates drop points.
24 scenarios · Untimed (recommended 20-25 minutes)
What it tests. Decision-making aligned with the six values: Integrity, Sustainable Performance, Client Centricity, Innovation, Discipline and Partnership.
Worked example. Asked to choose between an Associate's pitchbook data and a VP's valuation update both due tomorrow, the best option maps both tasks, communicates the conflict and aligns an explicit priority; the worst accepts both silently and delivers two unverified drafts.
Common traps. The escalation trap (taking a minor problem straight to an MD), the lone-wolf strategy (silently absorbing the work) and splitting the difference without solving the problem.
How to handle it. View every scenario as a risk-aware, collaborative professional; prioritise client interests, transparent communication and team collaboration over individual effort.
About 8-10 questions · Part of a combined 36-minute G+ block (about 90 seconds per question)
What it tests. Interpreting quantitative data and computing percentages, growth, ratios and currency conversions under time pressure.
Worked example. Given quarterly divisional revenues, if Americas falls 15% (600 to 510) and EMEA rises 12% (450 to 504) while APAC and LATAM stay at 300 and 150, set the combined projection slider to 1,464.
Common traps. Visual overload on multi-variable charts, input-precision errors on sliders, and confusing millions with thousands on an axis.
How to handle it. Keep a calculator and scratchpad, read the units, legends and axes first, estimate before fine-tuning the slider and match the platform's required units exactly.
About 7-8 questions · Part of the combined 36-minute G+ block
What it tests. Abstract problem-solving and pattern recognition: deriving rules from non-verbal data and predicting the next step.
Worked example. Across three blocks black triangles fall 3, 2, 1; white circles rise 2, 4, 6; the connecting line rotates 0, 45, 90 degrees. Block 4 is 0 triangles, 8 circles, line at 135 degrees.
Common traps. The single-rule trap (tracking rotation but missing colour or border changes), the time sink and clicking randomly without tracking how actions change the sequence.
How to handle it. Break each pattern into individual variables (orientation, shading, count, position) on scratch paper, isolate each rule, then combine them to build the missing block.
About 7-8 questions · Part of the combined 36-minute G+ block
What it tests. Applying a set of rules to reach a specific conclusion and drawing accurate inferences from complex parameters.
Worked example. With M&A Update immediately before Risk Review, Capital Allocation neither first nor last, and Compliance after Risk Review across four hours, the only valid grid is 09:00 M&A, 10:00 Capital Allocation, 11:00 Risk Review, 12:00 Compliance.
Common traps. Solving entirely in your head, and not locking absolute positions first before mapping relative constraints.
How to handle it. Sketch a matrix or grid, lock any absolute positions, map the relative connections and eliminate impossible combinations until the sequence resolves.
About 104 trait blocks · Untimed (about 30-45 minutes)
What it tests. Behavioural profile across relationships with people, thinking styles and feelings/emotions: data focus, resilience, compliance and competitiveness.
Worked example. From statements on taking charge in a crisis, double-checking data accuracy or maintaining group harmony, mark one Most and one Least like you per block.
Common traps. The 'perfect candidate' fallacy (contradictions trip the consistency check), extreme polarisation and overthinking individual statements.
How to handle it. Answer honestly in a professional frame, keep consistent across the 104 blocks, prioritise work ethic and analytical focus, and trust your first instinct.
2-3 coding challenges plus design questions · 60-90 minutes
What it tests. Data structures, algorithm optimisation and runtime complexity.
Worked example. Given an array of daily stock prices, write an O(N) single-pass function to find the maximum single buy-then-sell profit, tracking the minimum price seen so far.
Common traps. Missing edge cases (empty inputs, all-decreasing arrays) and over-engineering when a clean array or hash-map approach passes.
How to handle it. Read the constraints, write pseudo-code first, handle edge cases and verify the loops run within the limit before submitting.
Pass mark
Deutsche Bank uses percentile ranking against a global norm group of corporate applicants, finance professionals and target graduates, not a raw percentage.
Methodology. The Verify G+ numerical, inductive and deductive sections combine into a single cognitive index where strength in one balances a weaker module. The SJT is a separate absolute gate: scoring below the cultural-fit threshold auto-rejects regardless of perfect cognitive scores.
Response time. Results generate immediately; an invitation typically follows within 48 hours to 5 business days.
Score visibility. No raw scores, percentile rankings or feedback profiles are shared; you get an invitation or a rejection.
How to practise
Same provider, same section structure, same time pressure. With a scored report after every test so you can fix the weakest section before the real one.
Free practice section, scored. Full report unlocks with the Pack.
Why candidates fail
Specific failure patterns documented across past applicants. Most are avoidable with structured preparation.
Misallocating the 36-minute G+ clock
Spending four or five minutes on one inductive or deductive puzzle leaves too little for the rest, dropping the aggregate.
Not preparing for the interactive interface
Practising only multiple-choice mocks wastes test time learning sliders and nodes.
Careless calculation errors
Forgetting currency conversions, missing a column or misreading a percentage direction under the timer.
Rushing the SJT
Impulsive choices on the untimed scenarios that violate compliance or risk principles.
Triggering personality consistency flags
Contradictions across the 104 OPQ32 blocks mark the profile unreliable.
Poor system configuration
Not closing background apps or extensions, risking a freeze while the server clock runs.
What works
Concrete habits drilled by candidates who clear the cut-off, drawn from applicant accounts and practice patterns.
Master the interface
Learn how to manipulate sliders, node networks and grid matrices before test day to free mental energy for the problems.
Budget about 90 seconds per item
If still stuck after 90-100 seconds, enter your best estimate and move on.
Use an elimination matrix
Sketch a grid for deductive scheduling puzzles to map constraints and remove impossibilities.
Ground SJT answers in the values
Review the six values first and choose balanced, team-and-client-protecting options.
Methodical scratchpad
Note key intermediate values to prevent errors on multi-step charts.
A warm-up run
Complete a full timed mock earlier in the day to prime numerical and pattern speed before the live test.
From past applicants
Anonymised candidate accounts of how recent applicants approached the Deutsche Bank assessment. Each covers the prep, the experience, and the outcome.
Summer IBCM (passed)
Prep. About 15 hours of interactive Verify G+ simulations and mapping finance scenarios to the values.
Experience. The SJT came first on a fresh Saturday morning; the ability test followed on Sunday. The interactive interface (adjusting graph heights, dragging calendar blocks) felt unfamiliar, but a strict 90-second-per-question cap stopped two inductive items eating the clock.
Outcome. HireVue invite four days later.
Graduate FIC (passed)
Prep. Speed-drilled numerical charts, mental arithmetic and deductive scheduling grids.
Experience. Comfortable on numerical, but the interactive inductive matrices were highly abstract; the adaptive engine clearly escalated difficulty with each correct answer, layering overlapping rotations and colour shifts. Answered the OPQ32 authentically while highlighting analytical focus and accountability.
Outcome. Passed and advanced to the global-markets video interview.
Practice strategy
Practise the exact SHL design and pacing, not generic tests.
Exact-format simulation
The Intervyo Deutsche Bank pack runs the SHL numerical, verbal and inductive formats in the real interface, so you learn the mechanics on the exact layout rather than a generic portal.
Interactive sliders, nodes and matrices
Practise the interactive elements (sliders, nodes and scheduling matrices) under real timing in the Intervyo simulation so the format is familiar on the day.
Free practice on Intervyo
Run psychometric practice in the real formats to stabilise pacing under time pressure.
Time investment. Passers clearing the 75th-percentile benchmark typically invest 12-18 hours, weighted to interface mechanics, untimed pattern drills and full-length timed simulations.
Time management
FAQ
Yes; keep a physical calculator, pen and scratch paper ready to run calculations and sketch logic grids efficiently.
The other rounds
Psychometric Tests is one of four rounds. The Pack covers all four end to end.
Deutsche Bank Pack
Practise the exact SHL (Verify Interactive G+, OPQ32, SJT) format ahead of time, scored against the Deutsche Bank pass mark. One Pack covers HireVue, psychometric tests, live interviews and the assessment centre.
Get the Deutsche Bank Pack · £69Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Deutsche Bank, SHL, Pymetrics, Cubiks, AON or any other assessment provider. Test details are sourced from past applicants and published guidance; verify on the firm's careers site before applying. Sector: Investment Banking.
Deutsche Bank Pack
£69 one-time