I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Barclays (Sunderland, North East England, England) in Oct 2011
Interview
I am aware that the process has been streamlined since I was recruited and now I believe mostly consists of an online test and then face to face interview. I don't know what is in the online test, the sort of things they are looking for in the interview are personality, experience, being eagre and of course sales traits such as measured approach to products (FAB statements etc) and active listening skills etc (using the communication cycle).
The interview is mostly in the form of behavioral and situation-based questions, "tell me about a time....." . So preparation will help and being ready to answer questions makes a difference, as does being relaxed. Someone once told me you don't have to be 100% honest in these things and i think that is true, they are looking for you to know what they are asking and what they expect. So elaboration on existing experiences and building on them is fine if it answers the question.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The usual ones like "tell me about a time when you have failed...." is difficult to answer, you just have to be honest and show you have learned from experiences.