HELP!!! telephone interview with BAT

hi,
i already had one for marketing. it's a competency based interview so they will ask u to describe all sort of situations that will prove that u have certain skills: leadership, team player, decisive, innovative, flexible but persistent etc.
might be something additional for finance...

basically think about stories from ur life- at univerisity or from previous job... the questions will be e.g.:
-did u have a conflict in a team. what did u do and what was the result?
-did u improve some process or an example of innovation u came up with?
-situation in ur life when u had some goal. how did u reach it? did u have any difficulties?
-when u had to give or u were given a feedback. what was that, how did u feel, what did u do?
-how do u deal with a problem?
-tell me about a situation u had to make a difficult decision.
-whats ur biggest success?

and of course- check out the market - brands, sub-brands, producers (who owns which brands) and trends and which brands compete with each other. some basic knowledge. i was asked - what are the challenges in this particular industry. They will ask u also questions about ur competencies in finance- think what are the basic things u should know.

remember about the structure of ur answers: first describe a situation, describe what were u suppose to do, then what u did and finish with the result.

check if ur cell batery is full :) and u have a good connection in the place u sit.

be cheerful and confident - that also maters:)
good luck!

Thank you so much !!!

no problem:) let me know how it went and if u had some untypical or difficult questions.
good luck!

thank you so much!!! you are so sweet :)

Hi xidal,
How was your interview? Do you remember who was the interviewer? (someone from BAT or Hudson)

Hi everyone! I also have a phone interview tomorrow, I'm getting pretty nervous...anyhow, does anyone know about the next step, the assessment center?
Good luck!

not good...actually...
i am afraid i do not remember where the interviewer is from...sorry about that...but it was a lady...and she was very nice...

hey believe yourself ... do not be nervous...the interviewer s very nice...good luck:)

Thank you for your answer, I'm sure yours went well!

Maybe it's a bit late to share... the first round telephone interview was conducted by Hudson. I believe the interviewer would be British.. at least the one I encountered.

I consider my interview not really successful as i was way too nervous -- yet I received another letter for an "additional 30-minute interview" due to "large number and high calibre of applications for the International Management Trainee Programme this year". I'm not sure if every applicant has received this or they have done some filtering?

And anyone has whatsoever idea for this interview?

Thanks

I received the same mail so i don't know if they have filtered yet. I wish you good luck Angeline!

Same here - I received an email today as well - ANy idea how many vacancies they have for Finance Programme. Have they advised the time slots to anyone regarding this new phase of interview.

Good Luck to everyone.

I received a phone call from them yesterday to book the time slot... so keep an eye on your mobile/ landline!

Is everyone here applying for the position OUTSIDE the UK?

Good luck to everyone too!

Hi Angeline

Thanks for the update - got the phone call today. Its for Finance programme.

Any idea what areas would be covered in the interview? Did they highlight anywhere how many people they will take?

Good Luck

Hi everyone,

I wanted to know whether everyone applying to for BAT are EU nationals?

Thanks.

This is what their requirements page say - I guess.

Hello --- for the vacancies they have you can call the number provided in the email, the lady was really nice to answer the questions.

I guess you dont have to be EU national but you definitely need legal working right for the country you applied -- I am not EU national myself, and still in the running... hope it helps!

Hi Guys,

I had the second telephone interview yesterday. If anyone hears back about the outcome of this interview please let me know.

Apparently, final round is in Budapest :D Sounds incredible!!

Good luck, if you are still to face the interview.

i have a 2nd telephone interview this monday.

bhattc3 - what division did you apply to?

anyone applied to the operations department?

Finance

Hi
Mine is on Monday as well -

bhattac3 - what did they ask you in this 2nd interview?? it would be great if you can highlight any key areas??

Good Luck everybody :)

It'll just be the commercial awareness questions such as 'why BAT,' why the IMT' and so forth. This is what they told me.

It'll just be the commercial awareness questions such as 'why BAT,' why the IMT' and so forth. This is what they told me.

re: bhattac3

Mate, it would be a great favor if you share your experience of 2nd interview with us? what they asked you, how many questions they asked and what was their main emphasis on? Thanks

Everybody has finished his last phone interview? I wonder when they will give us a feedback. Did they tell you something about that?
Have nice day.

Hi

They said they'll finalise on Monday and inform next day - But no news still...Fingers xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Any idea how many people they interviewed second time ?

Anyone going to the Final Round in Budapest from London?

Have you received the call for Budapest ????

Yes heard back yesterday. I applied for Finance though, so they might still be waiting to get back to the non-finance guys.

Great news - Congrats

Yeh i got a call for Budapest as well but im in operations. how many ppl are you up against bhattac3?

Any1 else from Finance here ???

Yupp I am going to the AC on wednesday the 5th in Budapest for the Finance programme. I had an extra interview on friday the 23rd of april....just 30 mins...they wanted to really know the motivation for the programme and finance skills. How many people are going to the AC for each position? They have booked my flights now at least :D

Hi guys,

Does anyone know what salary can you expect from BAT graduate programme in UK?

I have no idea. I was thinking the same thing. Why, have you been offered a job?

Hello everyone.

I just had a phone call from a recruitment agency regarding the Finance Graduate Program of BAT based in the middle-east.

Anyone in the same situation?

Anyhow, I was wondering about the salary of this 2 year program. Any guess?

Also, do you think I should ask this question during the interview?

Thanks.

I recently just had my telephone interview for Finance, from what you guys are saying my interview was both the "first and second" interviews combined into one. As it covered in great deal behaviours, competencies, motivations, and financial awareness (with a dodgy hard last question for extra spice).

I was uncharacteristicaly nervous which is strange coz I've never been like that in my others.
I was kinda shocked when I was told the AC would be held in Budapest, would be cool to go there for an AC, but a complete bummer if your rejected afterwards lol.

Didn't ask about salaries; would be suicide to ask at telephone interview stage, let alone at an AC!

Oh well, I find out the outcome of the interview in next 2 weeks...

Goodluck to you guys & gals.

Oh right, if you need any help with the AC then let me know. I attended it in May and got an offer, I start work this September. Good Luck!

Congrats mate! What role are you going in for?

Was your AC held in Budapest too?

Well fingers crossed about the telephone interview and hopefully I'll be PMing you soon.

Oh it's in the plan (operations) division and yeh the AC was held in Budapest. They dont take many graduates so if you get in, that'll be an achievement :)

I also did my interview for Finance last week!

Its split up in three parts:
1. Behavioural questions (name an example of a time in which you failed)
2. Motivation (why do you want to join BAT)
3. Finance (what are the most important external relations for a Finance exec)

I think I did okay, wasnt as prepared as I wanted (failed on the easiest-to-look-up question: whats the share price of BAT atm :D), but hopefully will get picked for the AC in Budapest too. I dont have a finance background tho, so I wonder how that will affect their decision.

I also asked how many candidates were left for how many positions, but got a very vague answer. I have the idea that there are not that many candidates left and there are only a "handful" positions (good news for us Knowslian ;)).

Cyrus1987, could you send me tips of the AC too ?

@bombolulu

Yeah, my interview was exactly the same as yours mate. Apart from my last question wasn't "what is our share price" but "what drives our share price" . Still couldn't answer properly anyway. Same here pal, I don't have a "finance" background either; so I guess were lucky or so awesome to get to this point! :D

I think we hear of our outcomes next week or so I believe. Most of my questions the lady (from Hudson recruitment) couldn't answer.

Well lets hope eh? I like it if there is a rolling recruitment as opposed to the competitive scenario of 2 places for an AC of 12 people >_<

Would be cool to travel to Budapest (not so much if you get rejected). I asked if there is any reinbursement in place coz flights to Budapest for October are fricken expensive. All I got: "you'll find out"

Hello everyone :)

I had my telephone interview for Finance today..I think it went good..

Well, I was asked questions like (the interviewer was some man from Hudson):

- why BAT
- how would you feel working for a tobacco company
- Why do you think we should hire you for this position
- what are your strengths and weakness
- how do you work with resistance inside your group; what did u do and what was the result
- situation where you had to adapt quickly
- did you ever recieve any feedbacks? did they help you in some way? how?
- if you are the financial officer of a commercial unit what would you do to improve the unit's performance
- BAT brands and competitors
- what helped BAT do well during the crisis
- salary expectations
- did you apply also to other companies; which one?
- do you have questions for us?

They'll let me know the outcome max in 2 weeks and the potential AC will be in November (probably in Budapest).

@bambolulu and @Knowslian: guys do u have any news?

Hey Joesphin

Some interesting questions there. Specifically the BAT during the financial crisis one...:p
What did you answer for salary expectations?!

Not heard anything. Waiting for phone interviews to be completed I think. AC is to be held in November? I was told October. ah well

best of luck

Well, I didn't specify a particular range..it's not good talking about money during your 1st interview..more or less I told them it's important, but it's not the most important thing..

About the AC, yes, I was told November..strange..

Best of luck to u too!!

No news yet!

I had almost the exact same questions as you Josephin. And same here, they told me the AC would be in October.

I have an engineering background (aerospace). What are your backgrounds??

I have a finance background.

Well, let's hope that the outcome is going to be positive :)

dont worry, they take two weeks or more. sometimes less. just hold in there :)

Ah, update from my side:

I got impatient last week and asked for more info from Hudson, but they couldnt help me. Got a phone call today from BAT in Amsterdam that they are restructuring the traineeship program and have stopped taking anyone in (in the region).

Apparantly I did pass the telephone interview, but they are holding off until January (three month restructuring process) before moving on. They asked if I was still interested and if they could contact me in January. So we shall see what happens.

I do hope you guys got in! If not, and still wondering why no phone call: this might be the reason.

On the BAT jobs site, it does indeed say that for the European region, all applications are closed.

Rearranging the programme meant they changed from Hudson to GTIsolutions. I suppose the structure might be different now

Has anyone had an interview since the beggining of 2011? Would appreciate any info..