Difficulty Rating

60%

Interview experience

Positive

0%

Neutral

100%

Negative

0%

  • Softcat - Graduate IT Sales Executive (Leeds, Marlow, Bristol, London or Manchester)

    Difficulty Rating

    80%

    Interview process

    During a telephone interview with a recruitment company for this role, I was asked questions on why I wanted to work for them, when I have sold before, when I have used initiative and when I would be free for an assessment centre. The assessment centre happened to be the week after my phone interview so it was a fast turn around.

    Upon turning up to the interview (hard location to find, taxi driver didn't know it so make sure you know it), I walked into a boardroom style room, with a table full of other candidates. When myself and two others turned up, this table was full so I had to sit behind them and this made me less viable. We were all given simple English and maths tests, nothing to worry about. Then there were three talks from people within the company who gave us details on the company itself, the role, and how we could progress within the company. The day was assessed on how much we asked them, how we responded and how well we did on a one minute (pre-prepared) presentation of ourselves. There were no one-to-one questions, so if you didn't feel you knew the answer, you were fine. Also, I took a copy of my CV and application and this was not needed.
    All candidates were in smart attire but the people already working there were casually dressed. Although I turned down the next stage (a one to one interview, and then another telephone interview), I am pleased that I went and it helped me learn a lot about assessment centres and how they are run.
    It lasted two and a half hours, instead of the five hours I was told.

    Most difficult question

    To do a one minute, no note presentation on myself, the company and the role using four of eight key words.

    Interview tips

    Learn about the company - the CEO, the people in charge of each sector. The main drive for people who were there was for money, they liked people who were money focused. You do not need any prior IT knowledge.

    Experiences at the assessment centre

    All given English and maths questions, these were easy and no preparation was needed. We were given time at the start and in-between each talk from a member of the team to do these.

    Interview steps

    Interviews:

    • Phone
    • 1:1
    • Group / Panel
    • Senior Management
    • Video

    Tests:

    • Numerical
    • Personality
    • Verbal reasoning
    • Psychometric

    Other:

    • Assessment centre
    • Group exercise
    • Background check
    • Presentation
    • Competency based questions

    Rating the interview

    How would you rate the pre-attendance information?

    pre-attendance information:

    How well was the interview organised?

    interview organisation:

    What was your overall impression of the organisation?

    overall impression of the organisation:

    What was your overall impression of the selection process?

    selection process:

    Did the interview reflect the overall values / culture of the organisation?

    overall values / culture:

    Would you recommend this company to a friend?

    would recommend company to a friend:

    Did you want the role following your interview?

    wanted role after interview:

  • Graduate Sales Executive - Softcat (Bristol)

    Difficulty Rating

    40%

    Interview process

    I applied for the job online by submitting my CV and after 2 weeks I received a call back from them where they interviewed my over the phone. After going through my CV, they invited me for an Interview at their Finsbury Place office in London. There were more than 15 other potential candidates on the day which built up pressure.

    Most difficult question

    If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do?

    Interview tips

    I didn't like the role in particular as it needed too much relocation and the pay wasn't that good (base salary).
    However if you do decide to go for the interview please ensure you do your research and ask as many questions as you can in the presentation and remember at any point of the day you are being analysed as a potential candidate and the more proactive you are the more chances of you getting the job.

    Experiences at the assessment centre

    On the interview day, to begin with we had a presentation to tell us about the company(at the same time asking us questions about the revenue, profit last year) to engage and pin point the potential candidates. You have to make sure you do your research as the selection process starts from that very first presentation. After this, I was sent to a meeting room where I had 3 people come to me and give me their brief and then asked me questions about myself, sales strategy etc. Two of them were rather calm and the other one was a little tough and giving me hard time.

    Interview steps

    Interviews:

    • Phone
    • 1:1
    • Group / Panel
    • Senior Management
    • Video

    Tests:

    • Numerical
    • Personality
    • Verbal reasoning
    • Psychometric

    Other:

    • Assessment centre
    • Group exercise
    • Background check
    • Presentation
    • Competency based questions

    Rating the interview

    How would you rate the pre-attendance information?

    pre-attendance information:

    How well was the interview organised?

    interview organisation:

    What was your overall impression of the organisation?

    overall impression of the organisation:

    What was your overall impression of the selection process?

    selection process:

    Did the interview reflect the overall values / culture of the organisation?

    overall values / culture:

    Would you recommend this company to a friend?

    would recommend company to a friend:

    Did you want the role following your interview?

    wanted role after interview: