What makes Macquarie different

Macquarie Group was founded in Sydney in 1969. As well as banking, it manages assets for investors, provides financing and risk management in commodities and financial markets, and advises and invests in companies. It describes itself as a global specialist in sectors ranging from renewables and infrastructure to technology, resources, commodities and energy.

Expect questions about business and markets alongside questions about your own experience. Macquarie's interview tips include researching Macquarie and current market trends, and thinking through technical or case study questions so the interviewer can see your reasoning. Practise spotting opportunities, explaining how a business makes money, and making a call when you don't have all the information.

Macquarie's principles are opportunity, accountability and integrity. Its description of opportunity mentions "entrepreneurial spirit balanced with operational discipline", and accountability means taking responsibility for your actions and managing risk. So as well as stories about hard work and reliability, have some where you spotted an opportunity, made a decision and owned the result.

Read the AFR before your interview

Reading the news the night before won't give you much to say. Follow infrastructure investment, commodity markets, mergers and acquisitions in Australia, and changes in regulation, and pick one current story you find interesting that links to Macquarie's business. It will serve you better than general statements about being commercially minded.

Macquarie's business groups: know which one you're applying to

Macquarie has four operating groups: the three below, and Macquarie Capital, which advises companies, institutions and governments and invests Macquarie's own capital. Four central service groups support them, covered in the last card below. Applications to Macquarie Capital and Macquarie Asset Management need a cover letter as well as a CV.

Group 01
Banking & Financial Services (BFS)
What BFS does
Personal banking, business banking and wealth management for about two million Australians, including home loans, savings accounts, business lending and private banking.
How to prepare
This is the group that serves everyday customers, so have examples of looking after clients and explaining financial products clearly. Read up on how Macquarie competes with the Big Four banks for home loans and deposits.
Group 02
Macquarie Asset Management (MAM)
What MAM does
A global asset manager that invests for institutions and individuals in infrastructure, real estate, credit, green investments and agriculture, among other areas.
How to prepare
Be ready to talk about infrastructure as an investment: why long-term investors such as pension funds buy it (long-lived assets with steady, often inflation-linked income), and how a manager can add value to the assets it owns. Show that you're interested in long-term investing and that you follow markets.
Group 03
Commodities & Global Markets (CGM)
What CGM does
Financing, risk management, market access and physical logistics for clients in commodities such as oil, gas and metals, as well as in financial markets and asset finance.
How to prepare
Have examples of making decisions quickly with incomplete information. Learn the basics of commodity markets, the energy transition, and how CGM helps clients manage changes in prices. Be comfortable with numbers.
Group 04
Central service groups, including COG
What they do
Four groups that support the business: the Corporate Operations Group (technology, data, AI, market operations and more), the Risk Management Group, the Legal and Governance Group, and Financial Management, People and Engagement.
How to prepare
Be ready to show the skills your function needs, such as coding for a technology role or accounting for a finance role. Commercial awareness still helps, because the operating groups are the internal clients you'd be supporting.

The Macquarie selection process

Macquarie lists these stages for graduate roles. It says the process can vary a little between teams, and your recruiter will tell you what applies to the role you've applied for.

1
Online application
An online form with your details and your CV, plus a cover letter if you're applying to Macquarie Capital or Macquarie Asset Management. Macquarie says it welcomes applicants from all degrees and looks at your transferable skills and your reasons for applying, so be specific about why Macquarie and why that group.
2
Psychometric assessment
A test of cognitive ability and behavioural style. Macquarie says there's no pass or fail, and that the results are read alongside everything else from the process. Your recruiter will send a link to practice tests, which Macquarie says are the only authentic practice for its assessment, so use those rather than ones you find online.
3
Video or phone interview
If you go through, a recruiter will be in touch for a video or phone interview. Macquarie describes it as a chance to learn more about you and your career ambitions, so be ready to explain why you applied and what you want to do.
4
Interviews with the team
Next you may be invited to one or more interviews with people from the team, possibly in person at a Macquarie office. How many depends on the team and the role. Macquarie's tips for this stage include using examples that show more than one behaviour, treating the interview as a two-way conversation, and ending with a question about an industry trend.
5
Offer and checks
After your final interview, your recruiter will tell you roughly when to expect feedback. If you get an offer, you'll complete reference checks and employment screening before you start.
Think out loud

Some questions won't have a right answer you can prepare. When that happens, say what you know, what you'd want to find out and what you'd assume in the meantime, then give a view and explain how you reached it. Practise this with open questions as well as polishing answers to the ones you expect.

What to prepare stories for

Macquarie says it's looking for curiosity, a willingness to learn, and an interest in its work and values. The questions further down come back to the five themes below, so have a story ready for each, and be able to say how what you did helped the business or the people you were working for.

  • Commercial awareness: following markets, spotting opportunities and thinking in financial terms
  • Analytical thinking: breaking a problem down, working with data and reaching a reasoned conclusion
  • Problem-solving under pressure: making decisions with incomplete information and adapting when things change
  • Client and stakeholder focus: working out what clients need and building good working relationships
  • Initiative and ownership: acting without being asked and taking responsibility for the result

Practise your interview answers out loud

InterviewZap asks you behavioural questions about your own experience, written from your CV and the job description you give it. It follows up on what you say and gives you feedback after every answer, so you can practise telling your stories before the real thing.

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Macquarie interview questions to prepare

Use the STAR method for behavioural questions. For questions about markets or business, start with a clear position and then give your reasons.

Questions 1–10 · Practice questions for Macquarie
Question 01
"Walk me through a time you identified a business opportunity others hadn't seen."
What they want to know
Commercial awareness and initiative, which fit Macquarie's opportunity principle.
How to answer it
The example can come from anywhere: a student society, a part-time job or a uni project. You need to have spotted something with commercial or practical value, and then acted on it. Tell it in business terms: what the opportunity was, why others had missed it, what you did, and what it was worth in the end, because without a clear result the answer will feel thin.
Question 02
"Tell me about a time you had to make a decision with limited information. How did you approach it?"
What they want to know
Your judgement when you can't know everything. In finance you rarely have all the information you'd like.
How to answer it
Describe the decision, what you knew and what was missing, how you worked through the gaps, and what you decided. Spend as much time on your reasoning as on the outcome. A well-reasoned decision that didn't quite work out makes a good answer, often a better one than a lucky result you can't explain.
Question 03
"What's happening in financial markets right now that interests you? Why does it matter?"
What they want to know
Whether you follow markets and can explain what an event means for a business.
How to answer it
Choose a theme you find interesting, such as the energy transition and what it means for commodity markets, how interest rates affect infrastructure valuations, or M&A in one sector. Explain why it's important as well as what happened: who it affects, and what it means for Macquarie or its clients. Add your own view ("I think this is more important than it looks, because…") so it's more than a summary.
Question 04
"Describe a time you took ownership of a project or problem that wasn't technically yours to solve."
What they want to know
Initiative and ownership, which line up with Macquarie's opportunity and accountability principles.
How to answer it
Describe the gap you noticed and why nobody else was dealing with it. Then say what you did to step in, what got in your way, and how it turned out. Make the outcome clear: say what changed because you took it on.
Question 05
"Tell me about a time you worked under a lot of pressure. How did you keep the quality up?"
What they want to know
Whether your work stays good when time is short and the stakes are high.
How to answer it
Say where the pressure came from: a deadline, the volume of work, competing priorities or high stakes. Then walk through how you handled it: what you did first, what you put off, and how you kept the quality up on the parts that counted. Show how you decided what had to be perfect and what could be simpler.
Question 06
"Why Macquarie, rather than a Big Four bank or another investment bank?"
What they want to know
Whether you chose Macquarie on purpose and know how it differs from other banks.
How to answer it
Be specific about what's different at Macquarie: how its principles would shape the way you work each day, its global asset management and infrastructure business, the range of businesses under one roof, or a particular group you want to join. If your answer would also work for Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan, rewrite it.
Question 07
"Describe a time you persuaded someone to take a risk or change direction they were reluctant to pursue."
What they want to know
Whether you can argue for an idea and back it with reasons, rather than going along with the group.
How to answer it
Describe what you were arguing for, who you needed to convince, and why they were reluctant. Then walk through how you made your case: the evidence or reasoning you used, how you dealt with their concerns, and what happened. Show that you worked out what was really holding them back, which isn't always the objection they give first.
Question 08
"Tell me about a time you had to learn something complex quickly in order to contribute."
What they want to know
How quickly you can learn something unfamiliar. Macquarie takes graduates from all degree backgrounds, so you may well start in an area you didn't study.
How to answer it
Describe what you didn't know, how long you had, and how you closed the gap: where you went to learn, how you checked you'd understood it, and how soon you were useful. Describe your method as well as how fast you were, because you'll need that method again in a graduate role.
Question 09
"Walk me through a time you received feedback you initially disagreed with. How did you handle it?"
What they want to know
Whether you can hear criticism without getting defensive, even when you think it's wrong at first.
How to answer it
Choose a case where your first reaction really was to disagree. Describe the feedback, why you resisted it, and what you did to think it over fairly. If you decided it was right, explain what you changed. If you decided it was partly right, explain how you sorted the useful part from the rest. Either can work, as long as your reasoning is clear.
Question 10
"What does 'entrepreneurial' mean to you, and how have you demonstrated it?"
What they want to know
Whether the word means something to you. Macquarie's principles mention "entrepreneurial spirit balanced with operational discipline", so it's worth having an answer.
How to answer it
Skip the dictionary definition. Say what it means to you, from your own experience: owning a problem, thinking commercially, acting when others are waiting to be told. Then give a specific example. Remember the second half of Macquarie's phrase, "balanced with operational discipline". An answer about taking risks with no thought for the downside misses it, and so does one that's only about working hard.

Building commercial awareness for Macquarie

Commercial awareness comes from regular reading, so start early. Some ways to go about it:

  • Read the AFR most days for a few weeks before your interview, and note the stories that touch the group you're applying to.
  • Follow Macquarie's recent deals and results. Its investments and transactions are often in the financial press, and Macquarie publishes its own news and results on its website.
  • Know the energy transition story. Macquarie invests in renewable energy and decarbonisation through its asset management business, and works in energy markets through Commodities and Global Markets. Be able to explain why the transition is a commercial opportunity as well as an environmental one.
  • Have a view on interest rates and valuations, especially for MAM and BFS. Higher rates usually lower the value of long-lived assets like infrastructure and property, because their future cash flows are discounted at a higher rate. Rates also change how much people borrow. Then form your own view on where rates are heading.
Practise out loud

Once you have a few views of your own, practise explaining them out loud with a time limit, along with your stories from work and study. Open questions get easier once you've tried answering a few.