Applied for Graduate Wealth Management Scheme for Dubai office. Things went very quickly in the beginning - put in application and was immediately asked to complete numerical and verbal reasoning tests (had 5 days to complete them). Found out immediately that I had passed and was invited to a phone interview less than a week later (mid-November). Was told by HR interviewer that if I passed, I would be invited to a final round assessment center in Dubai, most likely in early January. I did pass, and then the waiting began...finally, mid-January, got an email from the recruiter asking me where I was based so I could be sent to an assessment center. I told her that I understood I would be going to Dubai, as that is where I had applied. After a week, she replied and said they wanted me to have another interview before they decided to send me to Dubai - but that interview was at 5:30 AM (I asked if there were any way to maybe push it back to say 7 or 8 AM and was told that it was impossible - I'm on the east coast, so even 8AM is still only 5PM in Dubai...). I got an email 30 minutes before the interview (at 5 AM) saying it was going to be to assess my knowledge of the company and business and when the Dubai manager got on the phone, he just asked me to tell him about my resume. Clearly NO COMMUNICATION. Waited another week (now into February) and got an email from a totally new recruiter saying that Barclays had decided not to hire anyone into graduate scheme for Dubai for this year and that because of changes to the program, would probably not be hiring people into Dubai ever again - would only be hiring into London and some other European offices. So unorganised and unprofessional.

First, numerical and verbal tests online, then telephone interview (behavioral questions), then full day assessment center in London HQ consisting of numerical test again, role play, group presentation and interviews with hiring managers and HR. The process went smoothly and HR was good at following up with the results. The role play can be difficult, but you should relax and think quickly on your feet.