Sent CV off through the company website. Had an invitation to have a Telephone interview which lasted 25 minutes, was asked about my work history, experience and motivations. I was asked about the values and the culture of hays and was then asked to attend a face to face interview. During the face to face I was asked competency and behavioural questions. Expect to justify any answers you give, the interviewer probed my answers which gave the questions much more depth. Tie in any answers with the values of hays and show how you have demonstrated these values through the answers you give. I then took part in 2 role plays, the first was a business development phone call where I had to secure a meeting, the second was an after care call whereby my “placement” had not been satisfactory. They don’t make these easy and expect to handle numerous objections one after the other. After the face to face I was asked if I had time to have an interview with the director. Again, this was mainly a conversation based around my motivations and experience. I was made very comfortable throughout the whole process. I was then asked to attend a 1:1 assessment day a few days later with the director. During this I did several role plays. The idea is that the assessment centre gives you insight into the day to day business a consultant will undertake. The first role play was a business development phone call, the second was a follow on from that where I meet the client. During this I was given a job spec and was given time to ask the client any questions I might have about the role, business and the candidate. I then had to write a job advertisement and was given 15 minutes to do this. In the third role play I was given three CVs to look at, I had to then pick one and sell this candidate back to the client so be prepared to justify your logic behind picking the CV. After this I was told I had passed the assessment day and was offered a job. I negotiated a salary of £18,000 as the states salary is £16,500-£18,000. I accepted the offer and cannot wait to start my new role! The whole process was very thorough and everyone I met in the office was lovely. I felt comfortable throughout the whole process and this created a conducive environment to interview at my best.

The pre-screening session felt quite rushed, and I didn’t really have the opportunity to fully introduce my background as the interviewer often moved on before I could finish my responses. This made the conversation feel one-sided. Unfortunately, it also gave me a less positive impression of the interview culture, and I decided not to proceed with the second round.