Nomura Aptitude Test & Online Assessment Guide 2026
The complete guide to Nomura's graduate and internship recruitment — SHL-style online assessments, digital video interview, assessment day and superday structure, and a division-by-division preparation plan.
Overview: Nomura's Global Position
Nomura Holdings is a Japan-headquartered global investment bank and financial services group with a genuinely international footprint. While its home market remains Japan and wider Asia, Nomura's European investment banking presence expanded substantially in 2008, when the firm acquired the European and Asian operations of Lehman Brothers. That acquisition transformed Nomura from a primarily Japanese house into a firm with a real seat at the table in EMEA investment banking, alongside a continued build-out of its business across the Americas. For graduate and internship applicants, this history matters: Nomura's culture blends Japanese institutional stability with the trading-floor pace and deal-driven intensity of a bulge-bracket EMEA investment bank.
Candidates researching Nomura should not assume the process mirrors any single competitor exactly. It is closest in shape to other global investment banks — an online application, online aptitude assessments, a digital video interview, and a final assessment day — but the specific weighting of technical versus behavioural content varies by division. If you are also applying elsewhere, our guides to the UBS aptitude test, the Deutsche Bank aptitude test and the BNP Paribas aptitude test are useful cross-references, since all four firms use broadly similar SHL-style online testing at the screening stage.
As with most global investment banks, Nomura does not disclose the pass mark for its online aptitude assessments. Competition for graduate and internship places is high, so the sensible goal is strong, consistent performance across every test type rather than chasing one specific published number. Build your preparation around repeated, timed practice rather than trying to reverse-engineer a threshold that Nomura has never released.
Nomura Divisions & Role Types
Nomura recruits graduates and interns into several broad divisions, each with a distinct culture, skill emphasis, and interview style. Identifying your target division early shapes what you should prioritise beyond the core aptitude tests.
📈 Global Markets — Fixed Income
Rates, credit, FX and securitised products trading and sales. Numerical and probabilistic reasoning, market awareness, and quick mental maths are heavily tested.
📊 Global Markets — Equities
Cash equities, derivatives and equity research-adjacent roles. Combines market intuition with structured, analytical reasoning under time pressure.
🏦 Investment Banking
M&A advisory plus Equity Capital Markets and Debt Capital Markets. Heaviest technical interview focus — valuation, deal mechanics, and client-facing communication skills.
🏢 Wholesale & Corporate Functions
Coverage and corporate-facing roles supporting Nomura's broader wholesale banking franchise. Blends commercial awareness with relationship-oriented competencies.
💼 Wealth Management
Advisory and client relationship roles serving private clients and institutions. Interpersonal skills and financial-planning aptitude are assessed alongside numerical reasoning.
💻 Technology
Software engineering, data and infrastructure roles supporting trading and banking systems. Coding assessments and systems-design questions replace some of the financial-markets content.
Central and support functions — including Risk, Finance, and Operations — also recruit graduates and interns each cycle. These roles place more weight on analytical, process-oriented reasoning and structured problem-solving than on market-facing technical knowledge, though the same SHL-style online assessments are typically used at the screening stage regardless of division.
The Nomura Recruitment Process
Nomura's graduate and internship recruitment process follows a shape that is broadly typical of global investment banks, running through four main stages from initial application to final decision.
Online Application
Submit your CV alongside academic details and short motivation questions covering why you are applying to Nomura and to your chosen division.
- Be specific about your target division — generic "banking" answers read as under-researched
- A strong, clearly structured CV matters here — see our graduate CV guide for formatting and content tips
- Reference Nomura's specific history and market position, including its European growth since 2008, where relevant
Online Aptitude Assessments
Candidates who pass the CV screen are invited to complete SHL-style online tests, typically covering numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and/or logical (inductive/diagrammatic) reasoning.
- Usually completed remotely within a set time window after invitation
- Numerical reasoning is generally the most heavily weighted test for market-facing and technical roles
- Consistent, repeated timed practice is the most reliable way to improve performance across all three test types
Digital Video Interview
Shortlisted candidates complete a pre-recorded video interview on a HireVue-style platform, answering a set of motivational and behavioural questions on camera.
- Typically a fixed number of questions with brief preparation time and a short response window per question
- Reviewed asynchronously by Nomura's recruitment team rather than judged live
- Practise on camera beforehand — the format feels unnatural the first few times
Assessment Day / Superday
The final stage is a concentrated assessment day, sometimes described as a superday, combining several interviews with analysts, associates and more senior bankers in one sitting.
- Often 3–6 interviews across a single day or a tightly packed schedule
- Mixes technical and division-specific questions with behavioural and cultural-fit assessment
- May also include a group exercise or case discussion depending on division and location
Online Aptitude Tests
Nomura's online assessment stage typically uses SHL-style tests, the same testing family used widely across investment banking and professional services recruitment. Expect some combination of numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and logical reasoning, depending on your division and role. Because Nomura does not publish a pass mark, your target should simply be to perform as strongly and consistently as possible across whichever tests you are assigned.
| Test Type | Format | Typical Time | Focus | Top Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical Reasoning | Data tables, charts and graphs — multiple choice | ~20–25 min | Ratios, percentages, trend interpretation — most heavily weighted for markets and IBD roles | Estimate an approximate answer first, then match to the closest option rather than calculating to full precision |
| Verbal Reasoning | Passage-based True / False / Cannot Say | ~20–25 min | Reading comprehension and careful inference from written business content | Base your answer only on the passage given — never on outside knowledge or assumption |
| Logical Reasoning | Abstract shape sequences or diagrammatic puzzles | ~15–20 min | Pattern recognition and rule identification under time pressure | Scan systematically for one changing rule at a time rather than trying to see the whole pattern instantly |
All three test types reward speed built through repetition rather than raw natural ability alone. Our numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning guides break down the exact question formats and common traps you will meet, and you can build genuine timed familiarity using our free practice tests before your real Nomura invitation arrives.
Many candidates report that the biggest single improvement comes from practising strictly timed, rather than reviewing questions at leisure. Sit full-length, timed practice tests repeatedly in the two to three weeks before your Nomura assessment window, and review every incorrect answer to understand the underlying trap rather than just the correct figure.
Digital Video Interview
Candidates who clear the online aptitude tests typically move to a digital, pre-recorded video interview, run on a HireVue-style platform. Questions appear on screen one at a time; you are given a short period to prepare and a limited window to record your response, with no option to restart once you begin. Our dedicated HireVue interview guide covers the platform mechanics in detail, but the content itself is straightforward to prepare for once you know what to expect.
Common Question Themes
- "Why Nomura?" — A strong answer references something specific to the firm: its Japanese heritage combined with a genuinely global markets and banking footprint, and its European expansion following the 2008 acquisition of Lehman Brothers' European and Asian operations. Avoid generic prestige-only answers.
- "Why this division?" — Show clear understanding of what the division actually does day to day, and why your background or interests fit it specifically rather than banking in general.
- Motivational and career-fit questions — "What attracts you to a career in [division]?", "Tell me about a time you worked under pressure." Prepare concise, structured answers in advance.
- Behavioural questions in STAR format — Have two or three well-rehearsed examples covering teamwork, leadership, and resilience that you can adapt to slightly different question wording.
Because the video interview is asynchronous, presentation matters: dress as you would for an in-person interview, use a quiet, well-lit space, and look at the camera rather than the on-screen text while answering. Recording a few practice answers on your own phone beforehand removes most of the discomfort candidates report feeling the first time they use this format.
The Assessment Day / Superday
The final stage of Nomura's process is a concentrated assessment day, often referred to informally as a superday, held either in person or virtually depending on the division, location and hiring cycle. Candidates typically complete a set of back-to-back interviews — often somewhere in the region of three to six — with a mix of analysts, associates, and more senior bankers across the target team.
Each interviewer generally assesses a slightly different set of competencies, so the cumulative picture across the day matters more than any single strong or weak moment. Expect a blend of technical or division-specific questions, behavioural and motivational questions, and general commercial-awareness discussion about current markets or recent deals.
Several consecutive interviews in one sitting is mentally demanding, and candidates who perform strongly early but fade later in the day lose ground. In the final week before your assessment day, run mock interviews back-to-back rather than one at a time, so the format itself feels familiar and your energy and clarity hold up across the whole schedule.
Some assessment days also include a group exercise, case-study discussion, or presentation element alongside the individual interviews, particularly for Investment Banking and Global Markets intakes. Confirm the exact structure from your invitation email, since it can vary by division, region and year, and prepare accordingly rather than assuming it will match what a friend experienced in a different division.
Division-Specific Technical & Market Questions
Technical expectations at Nomura broadly mirror the wider investment banking industry, with the specific content shaped heavily by the division you are targeting. Preparing the right technical material for your division is at least as important as general aptitude-test practice.
Investment Banking Division
- Valuation fundamentals: Be able to walk through a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, explain comparable-companies analysis, and describe how these methods are used together in a live deal context.
- M&A mechanics: Understand the basic mechanics of a merger or acquisition, the difference between enterprise value and equity value, and how a deal moves from mandate to completion.
- Commercial awareness: Follow recent M&A, ECM and DCM activity and be ready to discuss a deal you find interesting and why. Our broader investment banking aptitude test guide covers the wider technical landscape in more depth.
Global Markets
- Numerical and probability reasoning: Expect mental-maths and probability-style questions similar in spirit to the online numerical reasoning test, but applied verbally and under interview pressure.
- Market-awareness questions: Have a clear, data-supported view on two or three current market themes — rates, FX, credit or equities — relevant to your target desk.
Technology
- Coding and systems questions: Expect practical coding exercises and questions on data structures, algorithms, or systems design, in addition to the standard SHL-style online tests.
Support & Central Functions
- Analytical and process reasoning: Risk, Finance and Operations interviews lean toward structured problem-solving and process-oriented thinking rather than markets or deal technicals, combined with standard behavioural fit questions.
4-Week Preparation Plan
A structured four-week plan gives you enough time to cover every stage of Nomura's process without cramming any single element at the last minute.
- Week 1 — Aptitude test foundations: Work through timed free practice tests covering SHL-style numerical, verbal and logical reasoning. Focus on understanding the question formats and identifying your weakest test type early, so later weeks can address it specifically.
- Week 2 — Behavioural answers and firm research: Draft and rehearse STAR-format answers to "Why Nomura?" and "Why this division?", and research Nomura's business, its history — including its expanded European presence following the 2008 Lehman Brothers acquisition — and its current market position relative to other global and Japanese banks.
- Week 3 — Division-specific technical preparation: Investment Banking candidates should drill valuation and deal-mechanics questions; Global Markets candidates should practise probability and market-awareness questions; Technology candidates should revisit coding fundamentals and common systems-design patterns.
- Week 4 — Mock interviews and assessment-day rehearsal: Run mock video-interview sessions to build comfort with the on-camera format, then rehearse a full mock superday — several consecutive mock interviews back-to-back — to build the stamina the real assessment day demands.
Throughout all four weeks, keep reviewing your CV and application answers so they stay consistent with what you say at interview — reread our graduate CV guide if it has been a while since you last updated it. If you are also preparing for other banks in parallel, our guides to the Deutsche Bank aptitude test and BNP Paribas aptitude test processes can help you spot where preparation overlaps and where it needs to diverge by firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Prepare for Nomura?
Start with our free SHL-style practice tests and build consistent, timed performance across numerical, verbal and logical reasoning before your assessment invitation arrives.