ANZ's purpose and what it means for your interview

ANZ's purpose is "to shape a world where people and communities thrive". On its own, that could describe a lot of companies, so it's worth knowing what ANZ is doing now as well. In October 2025 it announced a strategy called ANZ 2030, built on four pillars: Customer First, Simplicity, Resilience and Delivering Value. Its immediate priorities include bringing ANZ Plus, its digital banking app, to all its retail and small business customers, and integrating Suncorp Bank, which it bought in 2024.

ANZ's graduate page also talks about improving the financial wellbeing of its customers. If that's something you care about, it can go in your answer to "Why ANZ?". If it isn't, leave it out. A reason you've added to please the interviewer is hard to back up when they ask about it.

ANZ's international network

ANZ describes itself as the most international of the Australian and New Zealand banks. It operates in close to 30 markets, including more than 10 in Asia, and its international business is part of its Institutional division. If you have a link to Asia or the Pacific, such as a language, time spent studying or working there, or an interest in trade with the region, mention it, especially if you're applying for the Institutional stream. That's a reason to choose ANZ that wouldn't work as well for the other big banks.

ANZ's values and what each one looks like in an answer

In April 2026 ANZ replaced its older values with four new ones: Put customers first, Deliver with excellence, Own the outcome and Work as one. Have a story ready for each. Most behavioural questions relate to at least one of them, so knowing them helps you decide which story to tell.

Value 01
Put customers first
What this looks like in an answer
ANZ describes this value as "providing better outcomes for customers every day". In an answer, that means a time you made things better for a customer, a client or anyone else who was relying on you.
How to show it
Retail jobs, tutoring, volunteering and group projects all have customers of a kind. Pick a time you noticed what someone needed and did something about it. Say what you did and how they were better off, rather than describing yourself as customer-focused. If you can, say how you knew it helped.
Value 02
Deliver with excellence
What this looks like in an answer
ANZ describes this as "setting high standards and delivering on commitments". That covers the quality of your work, and doing what you said you'd do by when you said you'd do it.
How to show it
Use a story with a result you can measure, and give the number if you have one. Say what a good result looked like in that situation and what you did to reach it. A before-and-after works well: how something was done before, and how it was done once you'd improved it.
Value 03
Own the outcome
What this looks like in an answer
ANZ describes this as "taking accountability and doing what's right". It covers owning your mistakes as well as your successes, and raising a problem instead of waiting for someone else to notice it.
How to show it
Talk about something that didn't go to plan and was at least partly your doing. Say plainly what your part was, without sharing the blame around. Then spend most of the answer on what you did to fix it and what you do differently now. A story about doing the right thing when it cost you something fits here too.
Value 04
Work as one
What this looks like in an answer
ANZ describes this as "bringing the best of ANZ together to succeed". In an answer, that means working with people outside your own group who want different things, and putting the shared goal first.
How to show it
Pick a story where people had different priorities or roles, and say what you did to get them working towards the same thing. Make your own part clear: what you said or did that got the group moving. A group that got on well from the start doesn't give you much to talk about.
Older guides
ANZ's previous values
What changed
Until April 2026, ANZ's values were Integrity, Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Excellence, sometimes shortened to ICARE. You'll still see them in older guides and forum posts.
What to do about it
Stories you prepared for the old values still work. Integrity and accountability fit Own the outcome, collaboration and respect fit Work as one, and excellence fits Deliver with excellence. If you mention ANZ's values in an interview, use the current four. Quoting the old list suggests your research is out of date.

Graduate program streams

ANZ's Australian graduate program runs for 18 or 24 months, with a new rotation every six months. The program page lists the streams below, as well as Communications and Public Affairs. What's on offer can change from year to year, so check before you apply.

  • Retail and business banking: the Australia Retail and Business & Private Bank streams, which look after personal customers, business owners and private clients. Be ready to talk about times you've helped customers.
  • Institutional: banking for large companies and institutions, including ANZ's international business. Read up on markets and trade before your interview.
  • Technology: technology roles across the bank. Find out what ANZ Plus does before your interview.
  • Agribusiness: banking for farmers and other rural businesses. There's also a Suncorp Bank Business & Agribusiness stream. If you've grown up or worked in a regional area, say so.
  • Risk: the teams that measure and manage the bank's risks, such as the chance that a loan isn't repaid. Be ready to explain how you'd make a call when you can't be sure of the outcome.
  • Finance: reporting, analysis and planning for the bank's own numbers. Brush up on how a bank makes money.

The selection process

1
Online application
ANZ says its application is short. Take care with it anyway, because it's the first thing they see. If it asks why you want to join, give a reason that only works for ANZ, such as its international network, ANZ Plus or the stream you've chosen.
2
Digital interview and assessment
Next comes a digital interview, where you usually record answers to questions on screen, and a game-based assessment that ANZ says helps it get to know you. You can't do much to study for the assessment, but do it somewhere quiet when you're fresh, and read every set of instructions properly. For the interview, use STAR, and record yourself on your phone a few times beforehand so talking to a camera feels normal.
3
Personality questionnaire
Questions about how you like to work. Answer honestly. There are no right answers to learn, and describing someone you're not could land you in a role that doesn't suit you.
4
Interview preparation
ANZ lists a preparation step before the interview, with tips from past graduates. Use it, and do your own practice too: say your STAR stories out loud, and have your answer to "Why ANZ?" ready.
5
Face-to-face interview
You meet some of ANZ's leaders. Prepare for behavioural questions like the ones below, plus questions about why you chose ANZ and your stream. ANZ describes it as a chance for you to get to know them as well, so bring two or three questions of your own.

Practise your answers out loud before your ANZ interview

Add your CV and the job description, and InterviewZap asks you behavioural questions based on them. Answer by typing or out loud, and after each answer you'll see what was missing and a better way to say it.

Start Practising Free →

No credit card. Free to start.

ANZ graduate interview questions to practise

Use the STAR method for the behavioural questions. Each practice question below shows the ANZ value it's closest to. Practise with them to get your stories ready, whatever the wording on the day.

Questions 1–10 · To practise out loud
Question 01
"Tell me about a time you faced an ethical dilemma. What did you do?"
Closest ANZ value
Own the outcome. ANZ's description of it includes "doing what's right".
How to answer it
Pick a real dilemma, where doing the right thing cost you something: time, money, a friendship or an easy mark. Explain what was pulling you each way, then what you did and why. Spend more of the answer on how you weighed it up than on how it ended. A story where the right choice was obvious from the start doesn't tell the interviewer much about your judgement.
Question 02
"Describe a time you worked effectively with people from different backgrounds or cultures."
Closest ANZ value
Work as one.
How to answer it
Say what the difference was and how it affected the way the group worked, such as how people gave feedback, made decisions or treated deadlines. Then say what you changed in the way you worked. If the story involved people in other countries or time zones, bring that out, given ANZ's international network. End with something you learned that you've used since.
Question 03
"Tell me about a time you made a mistake that affected others. How did you handle it?"
Closest ANZ value
Own the outcome.
How to answer it
Describe the mistake and who it affected, without playing either down. Say how you told people, what you did to limit the damage, and what you do differently now. If you owned up before anyone found out, make that clear.
Question 04
"Give me an example of a time you held yourself to a higher standard than was required."
Closest ANZ value
Deliver with excellence.
How to answer it
Say what was required, what you did beyond it, and why. The why deserves a sentence of its own: was it pride in the work, the people relying on it, or a standard you set yourself? Say what standard you were aiming for and how you knew you'd reached it.
Question 05
"Why ANZ? And what do you know about our business?"
What a good answer shows
That you chose ANZ for reasons you can explain, and that you know what it does and where it's heading.
How to answer it
Pick one or two things that are particular to ANZ and connect them to your own interests: its international network, the ANZ 2030 strategy, ANZ Plus, or the stream you're applying for. If your answer would work just as well for CBA or Westpac, rewrite it. For the second half, know ANZ's main businesses, the four pillars of its strategy, and a recent piece of news about the bank.
Question 06
"Tell me about a time you had to get a group of people who disagreed to agree on a way forward."
Closest ANZ value
Work as one.
How to answer it
Explain what each side wanted and why. Then walk through what you did to get the group moving. Show that you found out what was worrying each side, beyond what they said in the meeting, and that the plan you landed on dealt with those worries.
Question 07
"Describe a time you delivered good work despite being short on time or resources."
Closest ANZ value
Deliver with excellence, and Own the outcome.
How to answer it
Describe the constraint, then explain how you decided what came first, what you simplified, and how you told people about the trade-offs. Be specific about the outcome. "We delivered on time and the client was happy" says less than "We delivered everything the client needed for launch on time, and the one feature we held back went out the following week."
Question 08
"Tell me about a time you raised a risk or problem before it became serious."
Closest ANZ value
Own the outcome. Risk management is also part of the Resilience pillar of ANZ's strategy.
How to answer it
Say what you noticed, why it worried you, how you raised it and what happened next. It's a better story if raising it was awkward and the problem would have been easier to ignore. Show that you spoke up even though it was uncomfortable, and that you took it to someone who could act on it.
Question 09
"Give me an example of a time you received critical feedback and acted on it."
Closest ANZ value
Deliver with excellence, and Own the outcome.
How to answer it
Describe the feedback, how you felt when you first heard it, and what you changed. Spend most of your answer on the change. Compare "I learned to communicate more clearly" with "I now send a short written summary after important meetings so everyone agrees on what was decided". Only the second tells the interviewer what you actually do differently.
Question 10
"Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision with limited information. How did you approach it?"
Closest ANZ value
Own the outcome. When the new values launched, one ANZ executive described it this way: "When you make a decision, you own the outcome, even if it's wrong."
How to answer it
Say what you knew, what you didn't, and how you decided anyway: what you gave the most weight to, and how you allowed for being wrong. Talk the interviewer through your thinking step by step. If it turned out to be the wrong call, say so, and say what you'd do differently next time.
Before the interview

Prepare two stories for each of ANZ's four values. Read up on ANZ 2030 and on the stream you're applying for. Then practise your answers out loud until you can tell each story clearly without notes.