PhD
The application form
The Bank’s application form for PhD Entrants has been developed to allow us to collect the information we need from you quickly and efficiently. There are six stages for you to complete before you can submit an application.
Register
The first page you will come to when you apply for a role is the “register” page. On this page we require you to provide basic information which allows us to contact you to let you know the outcome of your application. It is not possible to apply for more than one role using your login details.
Equal Opportunities Monitoring
There is also an Equal Opportunities form which we would like you to complete to enable us to properly monitor our performance in recruitment as recommended by the Commission of Racial Equality. Any information you provide on this form is stored separately to your application and plays no part in producing any shortlist. We recognise that not everyone wants to disclose this information so under each heading you will have the option to “decline”.
Education
You will be required to provide information on your education, from your undergraduate university to your PhD studies and the qualifications you have received.
If your academic qualifications were studied for, and awarded outside of the UK, please state the actual qualification and awarded grade/score rather than providing an equivalence to UK qualifications.
Scheme Specific Questions
You will be required to answer a scheme specific question relating to policy. We recommend that you first complete this answer in a word processing package which will enable you to check the spelling and grammar before submitting.
Work Experience
If you have undertaken any relevant work experience, record it in this section. Work experience can include voluntary placements and part time paid work, as well as formal placements you may have had.
Supporting Documents
Applicants are required to submit: an application form; a CV; one-page non-technical summary of your thesis; current research paper and a supporting reference from your supervising professor. These can be added using the upload facility on the application form.
Submitting
Finally, do proofread your application and consider your communication style. Writing is a very important skill at the Bank, so we need to see that you can express yourself clearly, concisely and accurately on your application form. If in doubt it is always best to write in a more formal style than to use any colloquialisms or informal terms.
Once you have completed these stages you must submit your application in order for us to view it. As a security measure, you will be asked to re-enter your password before you can do so.
We have a fixed deadline for applications PhD Entry. Applications are not assessed until this date has passed. As a result, candidates who apply when the recruitment window first opens may experience longer waiting periods. We will acknowledge receipt of your application and provide you with timescales for letting you know your progress. This commitment continues through the further stages.
The telephone interview
The telephone interview is primarily technical in nature and is designed to find out more about: (i) the specific skills an applicant has to offer; and (ii) their motivation for applying to the Bank of England. Applicants should therefore expect questions ranging from their personal career objectives to technical aspects of their thesis and to topical policy-relevant issues.
The telephone interview will take around one hour so please make sure that we contact you in a place where you can talk comfortably for this time and are not distracted by any background noise. We often find that a fixed land line gives a clearer connection than a mobile line, particularly for overseas calls. You will have two interviewers, taken from a panel of interviewers within Financial Stability or Monetary Analysis. The interviewers will either hold a PhD themselves or will have been engaged in policy and research related work in the area for a considerable time.
Once all interviews have taken place, selection panels in from both areas will convene to discuss the feedback and to make the decisions on the candidates to invite to Selection Centre.
The selection centre
Applicants who are successful at the telephone interview stage will be invited to our Head Office in London for a selection centre. The selection centre is a full day of meetings with the objective of gaining more information about you across a number of dimensions including specific research skills, strength of economic analysis, communication skills and interest in policy issues. The selection centre comprises a range of interviews, a written analytical exercise and a research seminar and will bring you into contact with a broad range of Bank staff to enable you to get to know us and our culture better. A sample timetable can be seen by following this link