Behind the Game: How Pymetrics Evaluates Investment Banking Candidates

If you are applying for investment banking roles, you will likely encounter Pymetrics as part of the recruitment process.

Pymetrics is a data-driven assessment platform that uses neuroscience-based games to evaluate cognitive and behavioural traits. Unlike traditional psychometric testing, it does not rely on written answers or personality questionnaires. Instead, it measures how you behave while completing short online games.

For investment banks, this provides an additional lens through which to assess candidates beyond CVs, grades, and interviews.

What Is Pymetrics Measuring?

The platform evaluates traits commonly associated with performance in high-intensity environments, including:

• Risk tolerance
• Decision-making style
• Attention and focus
• Cognitive flexibility
• Emotional recognition
• Learning patterns

Rather than asking you how you would behave, it observes your actions in structured game scenarios.

Why Investment Banks Use It

In competitive recruitment processes, banks are looking for more than technical competence. They want to understand how candidates:

• Respond to uncertainty
• Process information under time pressure
• Balance risk and reward
• Interpret social cues

Pymetrics provides behavioural data that complements interviews and technical testing. It is also designed to reduce unconscious bias by assessing candidates on measurable traits rather than background characteristics.

What to Expect

The assessment typically consists of a series of short games completed online. They may include:

• Risk-based games – such as inflating a virtual balloon where higher reward increases the chance of failure.
• Memory and attention games – testing how quickly and accurately you process information.
• Decision-making games – assessing consistency and judgement under changing conditions.
• Emotional recognition games – measuring how accurately you interpret facial expressions.

The games may appear simple, but they are built on established psychological experiments and analysed using behavioural algorithms.

After completion, your behavioural profile is compared against benchmarks relevant to the role.

How to Approach It

Preparation for Pymetrics is less about memorising answers and more about understanding the format.

Key principles:

• Be consistent. The platform is measuring patterns in behaviour.
• Do not attempt to “game” it. Artificial responses tend to create inconsistent data.
• Stay focused. Many games assess attention and impulse control.
• Approach each game independently. Avoid overthinking previous decisions.

Some familiarity with the game style can reduce anxiety, but the objective is to capture natural behavioural tendencies.

The Bigger Picture

Pymetrics is not a pass-or-fail personality test. It is one component of a broader assessment process that may also include interviews, technical testing, and case studies.

For candidates pursuing investment banking, it reinforces an important point: recruitment is increasingly multidimensional. Technical knowledge matters. So do behavioural patterns under pressure.

By knowing what to expect and how the games measure your traits, you can approach Pymetrics deliberately, showcase your strengths, and position yourself as a standout candidate.