Graduate Schemes and Telephone Interviews

Abraham

Abraham

Abraham

Soldato
Joined
13 Dec 2002
Posts
7,646
Location
Manchester City Centre
1stly good luck to everyone else who's applying for graduate schemes at the moment, sooo many massive application forms :s

2ndly:

I'm currently waiting to arrange 2 phone interviews, one for atos origin and one for fujitsu, i've just been booked in for one on weds with BT

now i've never done a phone interview before
what should i expect?
the fujitsu one says no formal preperation is required but knowledge of the company and the position i've applied for is useful
no information about the other two
the fujitsu one is also a "competency interview" whereas the others are just phone interviews

essentially i'm confused and not sure how to prepare for these

any info/help appreciated
 
Generally they use interview when, as you've quite rightly sussed, they get a huge amount of applications.

There are 2 main objects for the interviewer for a telephone interview;

- Get a handle on the type of person you are and how you respond to situational based scenarios
- Test core compitancies.

If you know your stuff, are confident in your knowledge, and are a positive in your answers (ie no umm-ing and arrr-ing - Talk like a Pirate day excluded), then you'll go a good way to impressing them and getting through to a face to face.

Take a second ot two, no longer, to quickly think through your structure to your answer before launching in. I would also think about jotting down the question, or as much as possible, so that you can easily refer back to it, and don't look like a dimwit asking them again.

Pax

P.S. Good luck.
 
I had a few phone interviews when applying for Placements a couple of years ago.
As Pax rightly pointed out they will most likely ask you for examples of when you have displayed certain characteristics.
To prepare for these types of questions, I found it useful to make notes, thinking about my strengths & weaknesses, as well as examples from my work experience of such competancies. These will vary depending on the job, but usually include communication, team working, customer focus, organisation skills, etc

It's also worth knowing a little about the company & the position itself, which will show your interest in the job.
 
Having been through the Atos Origin's graduate recruitment, the phone interview is to get a feel of what kind of person you are. I was just myself and told the interviewer what my long term goals were, worked well :) As has been said they also ask the standard questions teamworking etc.

Have you had the programming competancy test yet? Thats the one where you head to an office near you and sit a paper.
 
Zirax said:
Have you had the programming competancy test yet? Thats the one where you head to an office near you and sit a paper.
Click to expand...

I've done it but it's online this year, i was the first person to do it and the software was broken, spent half the time panicking that i'd started on half the available time :s was all very straightforward though, reckon i shouldnt have far off full marks
 
the bt one went pretty well i thought, got a technical one to do with them now, the fujitsu ones are all booked up at the mo, waiting for atos to give me a date they've confirmed i got through the aptitude test
 
ok, the BT one didnt go that well, i didnt get through to the technical phone interview :(

just finished the atos one, despite being a bit flustered (the phone didnt ring, only got through by chance because i picked up to check there was a dialling tone) i think it went pretty well, hope so anyway :s, is the one i want the most

fujitsu's application service is still buggered, not been able to book a phone interview yet
 
What sorts of things were you asked for the interviews?

I've passed a Microsoft telephone interview (not run by Microsoft) and am searching through the forums for advice on interviews and past experiences before I post a new thread :)
 
Similar stuff to the long questions on application forms:

Describe a situation when....

you have worked as part of a group, and had to overcome poor teamwork
you have had to change your plans

stuff like that

other than that:

what do you know about company x?
why have you applied to company x?
 
I did a bit of work experience with Origin in one of the Philips factories in Austria quite a few years back. Didn't realise they had merged. Maybe that will help me get a job with them when i finally graduate, then again probably not. :)

Good luck with the interviews anyway.
 
Before the phone interviews write down a list of examples from your university life, social life, work experience etc that can be used to demonstrate all the different competencies. Write out a big list of 'buzzwords' and try and slip them in at appropriate moments.

IMPORANT - Establish whether they are writing down as you go, or recording to be transcribed at a later time. THIS IS VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT. If you get this wrong you will either end up talking far too fast for them and they will miss all your good points, or far too slow and you will sound like a moron.

Oh, and I think BT's telephone stuff is done by Accenture this year - a few people from my course have had them and the success rate is very very low so don't beat yourself up about it. One guy even got an email telling him he had the job on the Monday, then one on the Tuesday saying he was rejected - no apology, nothing.
 
yeah BT's stuff is done by accenture, in the 3 i've had they've made it clear they would be typing as i spoke so not to worry about any pauses
i've not struggled to come up with any examples, however i think i probably am falling down on the buzz words/key points as that will be what they're looking for
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom