Tips and Tricks for Your Application Process

As the recruiting for new corporate graduate pools draws near, I would like to share some tips on how to prepare for the process – starting with video interviews and finishing with assessment centers. The recruitment for the corporate graduate program usually does not include video interview, but the tips regarding it could be useful for you in the future.

1. Video Interview. If you have a video interview, try out your microphone and webcam prior to the interview. Make sure the proposed software works for you a few days in advance, so you have enough time to find alternatives if it does not. Putting up sticky notes with important details (relevant experiences, description of your past responsibilities) or questions around your webcam can be helpful as well in case you get nervous. Do not put walls of text on the notes, as it will be obvious you are reading – just bullet points! Also don’t forget to check what your interview partner(s) can see in your background while on webcam.
2. Telephone Interview. Dress up for a telephone interview the way you would for a normal one. I know, it sounds ridiculous, I thought the same when I heard about it for the first time. But it really helps settling into/in creating a professional atmosphere (especially if you have this interview from home) and feeling more confident in comparison to wearing your home clothes.
3. Face-to-Face Interview. Plan your way to the place of the interview beforehand and prepare alternative routes in case of train cancellations, traffic jams and public transportation hiccups. Prepare answers to the standard questions and don’t forget to use specific real-life examples to illustrate your answers, e.g. a conflict you had had and how it was resolved, failures and successes you experienced etc. Always use the opportunity to ask your own questions about the position or anything that concerns you. Also, try appearing calm – even if you are not 😉
4. Assessment Center. In case there is an assessment center in your recruitment process – don’t invest too much time into doing online exercises, as those will most likely be different from the ones you will actually encounter. So don’t waste your time on this! A more productive use of your preparation time is working on areas you feel less confidentabout and trying to improve them – e.g presentation skills, self-introduction, stress management etc. And probably the most trivial and the most frequently suggested tip – be yourself as pretending to be someone you are not will usually be very obvious.

This article was written by our employee.