How UBS Interviews in 2026: Process, Questions & What They Score
The complete process, reported questions, and what interviewers score.
UBS / Interview snapshot
6
stages from
application to offer
32
reported questions
26
public sources
Independent: SupaCV is not affiliated with or endorsed by UBS. This is one well-documented shape of UBS's interviews, not a script: processes change and vary by role, team, level, and region, so confirm specifics with your recruiter.
On this page
01 / For every UBS candidate
The process, start to finish.
UBS is a Swiss global financial services firm (Investment Bank, Global Wealth Management, Asset Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, plus Group Functions/Technology) that has been absorbing Credit Suisse since the 2023 acquisition. By 2025 UBS had migrated roughly 950,000 Credit Suisse clients onto its systems, with the integration expected to be substantially complete by end of 2026, so this is still a live, relevant topic for interviews.
UBS's hiring process is fairly standardized across divisions and geographies for graduate/campus and experienced-hire roles, though the number and format of interview rounds vary by division (Investment Banking runs a classic "Superday"; Technology relies more on HackerRank/coding rounds; Quant roles add multiple technical/probability rounds; Wealth Management leans heavily behavioral).
Publicly available detail comes mostly from UBS's own careers site, aggregated candidate reports on Glassdoor and Wall Street Oasis, and finance-recruiting prep sites (PrepLounge, GraduatesFirst, Superday AI, Wall Street Prep) rather than from a single authoritative UBS "interview process" document, so specifics below should be read as "typical," not universal.
Stage 1: Online application
Self-paced; UBS asks candidates to complete online assessments within about 7 days of receiving the invite
Candidate submits CV/resume, education, work experience, languages and skills through UBS's careers portal for a specific role or graduate program. Applications can be saved as drafts for up to 30 days.
Stage 2: Online assessments
Roughly 30-90 minutes total depending on which tests are assigned
AON-administered psychometric battery: numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and inductive/logical reasoning tests, plus a 'Culture Match' (cultural fit / situational-judgment) assessment that measures alignment with UBS's stated Pillars/Principles/Behaviors. Technology and some quant roles add a HackerRank coding test (MCQs on OOP/DBMS/OS/Computer Networks plus 1-2 coding problems). Note: for some US roles these assessments have reportedly been in a pilot phase and may not affect every application; confirm with your recruiter.
Stage 3: Video interview (HireVue)
Roughly 20-30 minutes to record
One-way, pre-recorded video interview: candidates see a question on screen, get prep time, then record an answer with no live interviewer. Typically 5-7 questions, mostly motivational/behavioral (e.g., why this role, why UBS, teamwork, handling disagreement) plus some situational or light commercial/markets prompts; a practice question is usually offered first.
Stage 4: First-round / phone interview
About 30-45 minutesRole- and division-dependent
For some divisions (notably Wealth Management and some Technology/Quant tracks) there is a live 1:1 interview (often with HR or a hiring manager) before the final round, largely behavioral for WM roles or technical (coding/CS fundamentals) for tech and quant roles. Sales & Trading candidates commonly report going from HireVue straight to Superday, skipping this stage (a pattern also seen at peers like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan).
Stage 5: Assessment Centre / Superday (final round)
Half a day to a full day for the assessment centre itself
The capstone stage, done in person or virtually: typically 2-3 back-to-back interviews (some candidates report up to 5) with a mix of behavioral/fit and light-to-moderate technical questions (e.g., DCF walk-through, financial statement linkages, valuation methods for IB; probability/stochastic calculus/pricing/C++ for Quant; low-level design and coding for Technology; asset-allocation/current-events discussion for Wealth Management). Graduate programs commonly also include a group exercise (4-6 candidates, 30-40 minutes on a business scenario) and/or an individual presentation exercise (30-60 min prep, 10-15 min presentation plus a 10 min Q&A). Quant roles have been reported to run as many as 6 technical interview rounds across the full process.
Stage 6: Decision / offer
Overall process: roughly 3-8 weeks end to end, varying by division and volume of applicants
Feedback after Superday is often fast in trading/markets roles (commonly cited as 2-3 days) and can be same-day to 24-48 hours for IBD; for other divisions and campus programs the full process from application to offer is commonly cited as 1-2 months. Glassdoor's aggregate data (roughly 2,500+ submitted interview reports across all roles) puts average time-to-hire around 26 days, though this varies widely by role (as fast as ~19 days for summer interns, ~54 days for graduate programs).
A tag is the condition given in brackets in the stage name.
Reported interview time, one scale in minutes
Where the minutes go
- Online assessments~30 to 90 min
- Video interview~20 to 30 min
- First-round / phone interview~30 to 45 min
Not drawn: Online application, Assessment Centre / Superday and Decision / offer, whose durations are not given in minutes.
02 / What UBS scores
The framework.
UBS Pillars / Principles / Behaviors (used explicitly in the 'Culture Match' assessment and referenced throughout hiring materials)
01
Our Pillars: Capital strength ('a balance sheet for all seasons')
02
Our Pillars: Simplification and efficiency ('make it easy to do business')
03
Our Pillars: Risk management ('anticipate and handle risk effectively')
04
Our Principles: Client centricity ('clients are at the heart of everything we do')
05
Our Principles: Connectivity ('create success by connecting people, ideas and opportunities')
06
Our Principles: Sustainable impact ('act today with tomorrow in mind')
07
Our Behaviors: Accountability with integrity ('take ownership')
08
Our Behaviors: Collaboration ('work as one UBS')
09
Our Behaviors: Innovation ('improve every day')
This 3x3 framework (three Pillars, three Principles, three Behaviors: nine named items total) is UBS's own culture/values model, published on ubs.com under 'Our culture.' The page lists exactly three items in each category, worded as above: Client centricity, Connectivity, and Sustainable impact are the only three Principles.
Heads-up: a batch of low-quality 'mission statement' SEO sites (not UBS-affiliated) circulate a different claim that UBS has 'four core values' including 'Excellence'; that item does not appear on UBS's own culture page and should be disregarded as unreliable secondary-source noise. UBS's official 'How we hire' page ties its Culture Match Assessment to this Pillars/Principles/Behaviors framework, and prep sites (e.g. PrepLounge) advise candidates to study it directly for the culture-fit stage.
Read the rest of the framework notesShow less
There is no separate, distinct 'leadership principles' list akin to Amazon's; this is the closest thing UBS has to a publicly documented competency framework, applied firm-wide rather than being role- or division-specific. Beyond this, UBS's careers site references 'core competencies' without naming a separate list, so treat the nine items above as the complete, current framework.
03 / Coach's notes
Coach's tips.
01
Explicitly study UBS's own Pillars/Principles/Behaviors framework before the Culture Match assessment and any HireVue or Superday interview: interviewers and the automated culture-fit test are checking alignment with these specific named terms, not generic 'teamwork and integrity' language. Get this from ubs.com directly rather than a random SEO recap; some third-party sites get the list slightly wrong.
02
Have a substantive, specific answer to 'Why UBS?' that goes beyond generic bank-prestige talk: reference concrete, current UBS facts (its scale post-Credit Suisse acquisition, a specific business line, a recent ranking, or a deal) to show you've researched the firm rather than treating it as a backup to other banks.
03
Prepare for the Credit Suisse integration as a live topic: interviewers, especially in IB and Wealth Management, may probe your understanding of how the two firms are merging systems/clients and what that means for the business; have a point of view, not just awareness that it happened.
04
Treat the HireVue one-way video stage seriously: record in a quiet space with a plain background and good lighting, use the practice question first, and structure every answer with STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) since this stage is explicitly behavioral and eliminates a large share of candidates before any human sees you live.
05
For Technology and Quant tracks, drill CS fundamentals (OOP, DBMS/ACID, OS paging/segmentation, computer networks) and classic coding patterns (arrays, linked lists, sorting, hashing) for the HackerRank OA, and separately brush up on probability brainteasers and stochastic calculus for quant-specific technical rounds; these are graded as distinct stages, not one combined test.
06
Expect division-specific process variation and confirm your own path with your recruiter: Sales & Trading often skips a standalone first round and goes HireVue-to-Superday directly, Wealth Management interviews are much more behavioral/business-model-focused with lighter technicals, and graduate programs frequently add a group exercise and/or timed presentation that experienced-hire tracks do not include.
04 / The research
Where this page comes from.
Compiled from public sources across 13 sites. UBS's own page is among them: ubs.com/global/en/careers/how-we-hire.html.
- sites
- 13
- coaching and prep guides
- 19
- candidate reports and forums
- 4
- UBS's own pages
- 3
Source composition
Where the research comes from
Grouped by the kind of site that published each source: UBS's own domain, candidate forums, and everything else.
- Coaching and prep guides19
- Candidate reports and forums4
- UBS's own pages3
05 / The questions
Reported questions, by category.
Showing questions for
Roles are grouped by the category each question fits, not by the source.
Investment Banking technical
(IBD analyst/associate, Superday rounds)
6 questions
Walk me through the three financial statements and how they connect
Tests accounting fluency: how the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement link.
Walk me through a DCF analysis
Tests valuation mechanics: projecting free cash flows, discounting at WACC, and terminal value.
What is the difference between enterprise value and equity value?
Tests valuation definitions: bridging enterprise value to equity value via net debt and other claims.
Walk me through the main valuation methodologies (DCF, comparable companies, precedent transactions)
Tests valuation breadth: DCF, trading comps, and precedent transactions, and when each applies.
Pitch me a recent deal or piece of market news and what you think of it
Tests market awareness; expect a structured take on a recent deal or news item with your own view.
How would you assess whether a company is financially healthy?
Tests financial analysis: margins, leverage, liquidity, and cash generation as health indicators.
Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.
Wealth Management / Private Banking
5 questions
Walk me through the wealth management business model: how does it generate revenue, and what are its main costs?
Tests division knowledge: how wealth management generates revenue (fees, lending) and what drives its costs.
How would you think about asset allocation for clients of different ages/life stages?
Tests advisory fundamentals: mapping risk tolerance and time horizon across life stages to an allocation.
What's the real benefit of diversification, and what would you rather be: a stock, a bond, or another asset class?
Tests investing fundamentals: diversification's risk-reduction logic plus a defensible asset-class preference.
A current-events / markets question (e.g., reaction to a recent macro or market development)
Behavioral questions on client relationship-building, trust, and handling a dissatisfied client
Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.
Technology / Software Engineering
(HackerRank OA plus technical interview rounds)
7 questions
OOP fundamentals questions embedded in MCQs (inheritance, polymorphism, multi-threading, code output prediction)
Tests OOP fundamentals via MCQs: inheritance, polymorphism, threading, and predicting code output.
DBMS questions: normalization, joins, ACID properties
Tests database fundamentals: normalization, join types, and ACID transaction properties.
OS questions: paging, segmentation
Tests operating-system fundamentals: paging versus segmentation and their tradeoffs.
Coding: group anagrams from a list of words
Tests hash-map grouping with a canonical key (sorted string or character counts) per anagram class.
Coding: find the missing number in an array / merge two sorted arrays
Tests array fundamentals: sum or XOR tricks for the missing number and two-pointer merging.
Coding: convert a binary-valued linked list to its decimal equivalent
Tests linked-list traversal with an accumulator: shift and add bits to build the decimal value.
Low-level design implementation discussion in team/technical rounds
Low-level design discussion; tests class decomposition and implementation reasoning.
Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.
Quantitative roles
(Quant Analyst / Quant Developer, multiple technical rounds)
5 questions
Classic probability brainteasers (undergraduate-level probability and 'green book'-style puzzles)
Tests classic quant probability puzzles at green-book level; clean setups and speed matter.
Stochastic calculus and derivatives pricing questions
Tests quant theory: stochastic calculus and derivatives-pricing fundamentals.
C++ language and programming-concept questions
Tests C++ depth: memory model, object lifetimes, and core language concepts.
Statistics and machine-learning fundamentals questions
Tests statistics and machine-learning fundamentals at interview depth.
Numeric/pattern puzzles, e.g. find a general rule for numbers like 1978, where 19+78=97 (first two digits plus last two digits equal the middle two digits). This specific puzzle is documented on QuantNet as a reported UBS quant interview question
Pattern-finding puzzle; tests turning the digit relation into algebra to characterize such numbers.
Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.
Every role
Behavioral / Fit
(all divisions, esp. Wealth Management and campus/graduate programs)
8 questions
Tell me about yourself / walk me through your resume
Why investment banking / why this business division?
Why UBS specifically (as opposed to other banks)?
Tell me about a time you worked in a team to achieve a common goal
Describe a situation where you faced a setback and how you overcame it
Tell me about a time you worked with conflicting personalities on a team
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Tell me about a time you had to adapt quickly to a change, or handle a disagreement with a manager
Every role
Wealth Management / Private Banking
1 question
Why wealth management (as opposed to other businesses)?
Your next step
Interviewing at UBS?
Make sure your resume gets you to the first round.
Practicing for UBS against your resume is in Interview Prep on Career.
Common questions
Quick answers.
How many stages are in UBS's interview process?
UBS has 6 stages, set out in The process.
What framework does UBS use to evaluate candidates?
The framework behind UBS's evaluation is set out in What UBS scores.
What kinds of questions does UBS ask?
UBS's questions fall into 5 categories, grouped in The questions.
How reliable is this UBS interview playbook?
It is compiled from public sources, and the evidence is in The research.
Sources (26)
Every public source this page was compiled from. Links open in a new tab.
13 sites, by sources
- wallstreetoasis.com6
- glassdoor.com4
- ubs.com3
- preplounge.com2
- superdayai.com2
- graduatesfirst.com2
- geeksforgeeks.org1
- quantnet.com1
- tryexponent.com1
- mockquestions.com1
- wallstreetprep.com1
- assessmentcentrehq.com1
- jobtestprep.co.uk1
- 01ubs.com/global/en/careers/how-we-hire.html
- 02ubs.com/global/en/our-firm/our-culture.html
- 03ubs.com/global/en/careers/about-us.html
- 04preplounge.com/en/blog/finance/investment-banking/firms/ubs
- 05preplounge.com/en/articles/interview-ubs
- 06superdayai.com/banks/ubs
- 07superdayai.com/banks/ubs/hirevue
- 08graduatesfirst.com/ubs-job-tests
- 09graduatesfirst.com/ubs-assessment-centre
- 10wallstreetoasis.com/company/ubs-ag/interview
- 11wallstreetoasis.com/company/ubs-0/interview
- 12wallstreetoasis.com/company/ubs-private-wealth-management/interview
- 13wallstreetoasis.com/resources/interviews/superday-investment-banking
- 14wallstreetoasis.com/resources/interviews/why-ubs
- 15wallstreetoasis.com/forum/job-search/does-skipping-the-first-round-of-inte…
- 16glassdoor.com/Interview/UBS-Interview-Questions-E3419.htm
- 17glassdoor.com/Interview/UBS-Quantitative-Analyst-Interview-Questions…
- 18glassdoor.com/Interview/UBS-Software-Engineer-Interview-Questions-EI…
- 19glassdoor.com/Interview/UBS-Wealth-Management-Interview-Questions-EI…
- 20geeksforgeeks.org/interview-experiences/ubs-on-interview-experience-for-…
- 21quantnet.com/threads/ubs-quant-interview-question.4191
- 22tryexponent.com/blog/why-ubs-interview-question
- 23mockquestions.com/company/UBS+Wealth+Management
- 24wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/superday
- 25assessmentcentrehq.com/ubs-assessment-centre
- 26jobtestprep.co.uk/ubs-assessment-test-preparation
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