Re women applicants: I was one of 2 on my first selection day in 2013. I believe there were only a couple of dozen or so women overall. We seemed to have been given just as much of a grilling as everyone else. There was a woman conducting the interviews from HR who by all accounts was particularly harsh with the women she interviewed it seems from various people who gave their feedback in various places onlind and social media. I don't think there was any favouring at all to women in the process.