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 tool that uses neuroscience-based games to evaluate cognitive and behavioural traits. Unlike traditional psychometric testing, it does not rely on written responses or personality questionnaires. Instead, it analyses how candidates behave while completing short interactive 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 relying on self-reported responses, it evaluates behavioural patterns 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

While the format is unfamiliar for many candidates, it is increasingly common across investment banking recruitment processes and similar assessment tools.

This topic is also covered in more detail in the Interview Skills module of our Investment Banking Analyst Training course, including practical guidance on how to approach behavioural and psychometric-style assessments.

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

Bringing it Together

Pymetrics sits within a broader shift in investment banking recruitment, where candidates are assessed across multiple dimensions including technical ability, behavioural traits, and performance under structured conditions.

It is not a pass-or-fail personality test, but one part of a wider process that may also include interviews, technical assessments, and case studies.

While the format can feel unfamiliar at first, the underlying expectations remain consistent: clarity of thinking, behavioural consistency, and the ability to perform under pressure.

Understanding this broader structure helps remove unnecessary uncertainty from the process. Candidates are not being tested on hidden tricks, but on patterns that reflect how they are likely to perform in real roles.