BT Telephone Interview!

Hey man,

I've got the very same interview coming up shortly - do you have any advice or questions to prep for?

Recommend you both check out telephone interview and common interview questions!

Hey Red,

I'm reasonable well versed in Telephone interviews generally, I've had loads now :S. I was curious is BT had any specific questions that I could revise for.

Hey guys, got a message off Redsuperted recommending I give you the benefit of my BT assessment experience. The bastards didn't take me on at the assessment centre, but their scheme is fantastic - one the best ones out there.

The telephone interview I had with them was relatively simple, if I recall correctly. One question I definitely remember was a customer orientated one - so have that at the ready. I think it was around a challenging customer and how you went the 'extra mile'.

The second was, (I think! My phone int was in November last year!) on innovation and a creative idea I had produced and the challenges around this.

The third, again I think, was around collaboration and effective teamwork - how you successfully contributed towards a team's objective, what you would change next time etc.

If you have something robust for those questions, and have the following as a backup you'll be fine:

Example of leadership
Example of time restricted challenge
Example of being results driven and analysing information to draw rational conclusions

I have compiled some decent examples and written in bullet format some responses for the above questions - each and every time I have a phone interview I just bring it on screen and adapt each one slightly to fit the specific question - never failed me yet. Just make sure you don't read it word for word, and you don't read too fast. Take pauses to allow them to catch up typing your response and it also gives the impression that you're thinking about what to articulate next.

I hope this helps - if anyone would like anymore information, or on the assessment centre give me a shout. I attended the very first assessment centre for the 2009 intake. Do be warned also... if you pass the telephone interview, it doesn't guarantee you a place at the assessment centre! You have to get selected after that by a BT line manager.

D

Hey man,

Ah great I appreciate that! I try and do somethign similar. Build up a list of questions for each interview I do.. Now i've got an pretty big collection of scripting answers...

Still, I need to get a few you mentioned. Thanks a lot. Where did you end up in the end?

Nowhere yet TeamMCS! I've had 3 ACs and got knocked back from all of them so far, don't know where I'm going wrong. Got HMRC AC next week, so fingers crossed. It's tough at the moment man. Give me a shout if you need anything more pal

Sorry to hear that mate. I've got to the last 5 at a full time job at Microsoft - sadly they nailed me on the fact my degree didn't tally up with the requirements!

Things are looking good for another AC I went too. they want me for a final interview.. fingers crossed man, good luck

Dave1984 - I have the BT AC next Wednesday. Any chance you could give some hints as to what to expect other than what they have already told me?

Thanks

ANy inputs on BT assessment centre for fast track leadership?

Guys, any more info on BT's telephone interview? Pls post more competency based questions etc...

Cheers

Passed tel interview...AC next tuesday (20th)...

GUYS PLS SOMEONE BE KIND ENOUGH TO GIVE BT AC TIPS ASAP...no info. for BT AC anywhere!!!

Guys I have my BT AC on 20 of july if anyone can be kind enough to help with that.....what the day is like and the kind of questions they ask etc...!!!!

Again...isn't that date already gone? Unless u messed ur calendar n set it back 1 month...in which case I'd die laughing!!

The date is 20 Aug for AC thanx again cyborg for the correction....:)

@riqs - Best wishes for the interview. Any tips for the 3 questions on the application? How detailed were you?

I have an assessment center coming up on Sep 23rd. It will be great if you all share your experience.

@Surmai - best of luck for the AC. I have the interview tomorrow, any tips?

Hey Surmai,

How did the AC go?
I have one coming up soon also and just found this page... any tips much appreciated.
Sorry to see you didnt get a response on this page yourself.

//Johnny5

Hi Prodigycalvin, Seems like you have attended the AC for fast track leadership in June. ANy inputs on BT assessment centre for fast track leadership will be highly appreciated...

Again no info on BT Telelephone interview, nothing here and concrete information provided which is very frustrating can some one please share me with the information,as my interview is tomorrow....

Again no info on BT Telelephone interview, nothing here and concrete information provided which is very frustrating can some one please share me with the information,as my interview is tomorrow....

Hi hjmk,
I did some research but didn't find any think relaible, I don't know how I can help really :(. But All I can do is to remind you to be confident, try to revise the questions been asked in the application form they may help. But any case I wish you all the best , finger cross for you :).
Please let me know how the interview will go. All the best mate.
M

Hi hjmk,
I did some research but didn't find any think relaible, I don't know how I can help really :(. But All I can do is to remind you to be confident, try to revise the questions been asked in the application form they may help. But any case I wish you all the best , finger cross for you :).
Please let me know how the interview will go. All the best mate.
M

Hi All,

Just gave my telephone interview and I will tell the exact questions asked in the interview, hopefully persons can benefit form the exercise.....

1) Why do you want to apply to BT??? How does it with your long term aspirations and plans

2) Why have you applied for the graduate programme?? What do you know about it

3) What do you know specifically about the digital and media marketing programme??

4) Tell me about a time when you gave a particularly innovative solution and idea to a problem??

5) Tell me when you identified a solution which resulted in cost savngs or revenue generating opportunity. How did you achieve this and what steps did you initiate??

6) Tell me about a time when you were faced with an obstacle or challenge that might have prevented form achieving some thing and what you did to turn around the situation??

It was 30 minutes long and could have been better, however the interviewer was really helpful.Finally some information on BT which might prove to be helpful for all....

INFO ABOUT BT GRPOUP
BT Group plc (LSE: BT.A, NYSE: BT) is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries.[3] Through its BT Global Services division it is a leading supplier of telecommunications services to corporate and government customers worldwide.[4] Its BT Retail division is a leading supplier of telephony, broadband and subscription television services in the UK, with over 18 million customers.[5]
Operations
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.[25] BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
BT runs the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones. Currently BT is responsible for approximately 28 million telephone lines in the UK. Apart from Kingston Communications, which serves Kingston upon Hull, BT is the only UK telecoms operator to have a Universal Service Obligation (USO) which means it must provide a fixed telephone line to any address in the UK. It is also obliged to provide public call boxes.
BT's businesses are operated under special government regulation by the British telecoms regulator Ofcom (formerly Oftel). BT has been found to have Significant Market Power in some markets following Market Reviews by Ofcom. In these markets, BT is required to comply with additional obligations such as meeting reasonable requests to supply services and not to discriminate.
As well as continuing to provide service in those traditional areas in which BT has an obligation to provide services or is closely regulated, BT has expanded into more profitable products and services where there is less regulation. These are principally, broadband internet service and bespoke solutions in telecommunications and information technology.

Our company

BT is one of the world’s leading communications services companies, serving the needs of customers in the UK and in more than 170 countries.
Our main activities are the provision of fixed-line services, broadband, mobile and TV products and services as well as networked IT services.
In the UK we are the largest communications services provider, serving the consumer, business and public sector markets. Globally, we supply networked IT services to multinational corporations, domestic business and government departments. We also provide access to our network and services to more than 1,000 communications providers in the UK and others worldwide.
To find out more about BT, including company details and our organisational structure, please visit the company profile pages.
To see how the company has performed please see our Annual Report.
Group businesses

BT Group plc is the listed holding company for an integrated group of businesses that provide voice and data services in the UK, elsewhere in Europe and around the world.
BT Retail - serves business and residential customers and is the prime channel to market for other BT businesses.
BT Wholesale - runs BT's networks and provides network services and solutions to other communication companies.
BT Global Services - BT's global managed services and solutions provider, serves multi-site organisations worldwide.
BT Innovate and Design - BT Group’s IT design and delivery business.
BT Operate - deploys and runs communications services for customers over BT's core network and systems.
Openreach - owns, maintains and develops the access network that links homes and businesses to the networks of Britain's communications providers.

Our vision, strategy & values

Our vision
Our vision is to be dedicated to helping customers thrive in a changing world. The world we live in and the way we communicate are changing, and we believe in progress, growth and possibility. We want to help all our customers make their lives and businesses better with products and services that are tailored to their needs and easy to use.
This means getting ever closer to customers, understanding their lifestyles and their businesses, and establishing long-term relationships with them.
We're passionate about customers and are working to meet the needs they have today and innovating to meet the needs they will have tomorrow.
Our strategy
We operate in a range of markets, providing communications services to customers in the UK and globally. To ensure those customers get the services and support they deserve, our focus is on building a better business. By building a better business, we will also deliver a better future – for BT, for our customers, and for our shareholders.
Three areas - customer service delivery, cost transformation and investing for the future - are essential building blocks to making BT a better business. They are linked: the better we serve our customers, the less time and money we spend on reworking and fixing faults. By continuing to transform our cost base, we open up new opportunities to invest in BT’s future.
We are building a better future through our five strategic priorities:
1. Broadband-based consumer services
2. The ‘Brand for Business‘ for UK SMEs
3. BT Global Services – a global leader
4. The Wholesaler of choice
5. The best network provider
For more information please see our 2010 Annual Report.
Our values
Our corporate identity defines the kind of company we are now and the one we need to be in the future.
Central to that identity is a commitment to create ways to help customers thrive in a changing world. To do this we must live our brand values:
• Trustworthy - we do what we say we will
• Helpful - we work as one team
• Inspiring - we create new possibilities
• Straightforward - we make things clear
• Heart - we believe in what we do
We are committed to contributing positively to society and to a sustainable future. This is part of the heart of BT.
If you feel you have received excellent service from someone in BT and that they have exemplified the BT values, why not tell us about it so that we can ensure outstanding performance becomes business as usual.
BT - in figures

     Full year 

to 31 March 2010 Half year
to 30 Sept 2010
Revenue £20.9 billion £10.0 billion
Profit before tax £1.0 billion £0.8 billion
EBITDA £5.1 billion £2.7 billion
Capital Expenditure £2.5 billion £1.1 billion
Total Exchange lines in UK 24.5 million
Total Broadband lines 15.1 million
Employees (direct) 100,000 approx

T as a corporate citizen
• BT is proud of its record as a world class employer and its contribution to Corporate and Social Responsibility projects around the world.
• we support the British Red Cross with funding for essential emergency satellite telephones, IT equipment and GPS systems for vehicles to help them deliver disaster relief worldwide;
• BT’s support helped the charity telethon appeals to raise £150m in 2009/10 for good causes (e.g. Children in Need, Sports Relief, Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti appeal);
• BT people spent 28,000+ days volunteering in the community in 2009/10;
• in the UK, one of the charities we support is Childline, the emergency helpline for children and young people. Since 2002, we have donated services worth £5 million and helped the charity raise more than £7 million;
• nearly 10,000 of our employees work from home. Some 65,000 people were equipped to work flexibly, using whichever locations were most convenient to them on a particular day;
• 96% of women return after maternity leave, compared with a UK national average of 47%;
• we invest at least one per cent of our corporate pre-tax profits in communities each year. In 2009/10, our investment amounted to more than £26 million – a combination of direct funding and in-kind support. Our employees donated an additional £2.5 million through Give As You Earn schemes;
• we are twice winners of the Queen's Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development;
• we fund and manage the UK's largest corporate Education programme in schools; and
• our total tax contribution to UK central and local Government is around £3 billion each year.

Our strategic priorities
We will build a better future for BT through our five strategic
priorities.
Broadband-based consumer services
We recognise that competition is intense and that customers’
demands are evolving, but we are confident we can continue to win
in this changing market. We already provide the UK’s most
comprehensive broadband service, offering more features than our
competitors. This has helped us maintain our retail share of the
broadband digital subscriber line (DSL) and local loop unbundling
(LLU) market at around 35% over the past three years. We plan to
build on this position in a number of ways.
The ‘Brand for Business’ for UK SMEs
We are already the leading provider of fixed communications for UK
small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and we are well placed to grow
our mobility and IT activities. The market is fragmented and no other
supplier can match our channels or breadth of portfolio. We continue
to build sales and service channels that can offer our smaller business
customers a one-stop shop for communications and IT – providing
good value for money in these challenging economic times.
The wholesaler of choice
BT is committed to supplying CPs in the UK and overseas with vital
communications infrastructure. We have the broadest portfolio in the
industry and are trusted to underpin the UK’s infrastructure. We aim
to be the wholesaler of choice in the UK, where we have more than
1,000 CP customers and we are the established leader for carriers,
and to extend and develop our international wholesale business. Over
the next year, we also aim to consolidate further our position as a
leading provider of managed network services (MNS) in the UK’s fixed
and mobile markets.
The best network provider
Super-fast fibre-based broadband is critical to BT’s future success
and will be critical to the UK economy. We will play a major part in
this new communications environment and are making good progress
in deploying this new technology.
How we measure our progress
We measure our progress through key performance indicators: free
cash flow and customer service.

Hey guys, is anyone kind enough to share some information on BT`s AC? What sort of tasks does the case study, role play and group exercise entail? Many thanks in advance.

Please guys has anyone done the BT assessment center. I have applied to BT corporate sales. I have it this week please help!

Hey needjob, don`t worry too much, they really put you at ease throughout the day. Just be yourself and enjoy!

Hi sparkle thanks have u attended one can u please elaborate

Will be great from you Sparkle to share and I'm sure needjob and myself will be very thnakful :)

hey! To be honest, I don`t feel to be in a position to give you guys advice cos I don`t want to mislead you (I had my AC on Tuesday and haven`t heard the outcome yet so don`t know how well/badly I did). But I`m happy to share some general observations if thats ok :)

BT will put you up in a lovely hotel the night before the AC. You`ll have a nice dinner with the rest of your group and with a couple of people from HR. They are really really really nice people who try hard to make sure you are as relaxed as possible - and think they do it well.

The assessment day itself was not nearly as stressful as Id thought, although it doesn`t mean you shouldn`t prepare. You`ll be split into groups and your timetable will vary from person to person. Throughout the day, all the accessors were very friendly and professional. I was truly impressed!!! They really tried to make us as comfortable as possible so we could do as well as possible.

You`ll go through a range of exercises:

Case study - the brief was very well structured and pretty much all the answers were in it. The thing I would stress is manage your time better than me :) - I took it too easy in the beginning and eventually ran out of time for the last 2 points I wanted to make. But the rest of my group managed to complete the exercise within the time limit. Nothing too scary about it.

Interview - varies, depends on who will be interviewing you but generally, the managers were very nice and not trying to trick us - I got a sense they really just wanted to find out what I am like, what I enjoy doing, what I know about BT and why I`d be an asset to the organisation.

Group exercise - again, nothing scary about it. The brief was pretty simple and we had enough time to prepare our suggestions and organise our thoughts (individually). After the preparation, you`ll have a group discussion. Our team was excellent I think, in my group all the people participated and no one tried to dominate the rest of the team.

Role play - was probably the "trickiest" of all since you simply cannot prepare yourself for that in advance. You`ll be holding a meeting with a senior manager and depending on the brief you get (apparently there are different versions), you`ll prepare a strategy of what you want to achieve during the meeting and how. Afterwards you will act it out with an actor/actress. My actress was lovely, it was a pleasure dealing with her. What I would say here is:

a) manage your time well!! you only get 20 minutes to accomplish your objectives
b) be yourself - treat the meeting as a real life situation, the more you relax, the better youll do I think (but that`s my personal opinion). Bear in mind that this is THE exercise which truly shows your personality and how you act under pressure. Take it as a test of not just whether you`re a suitable candidate for BT but also whether they are a suitable organisation for you.

Presentation - was the exercise that I personally had been most excited about :) We had been given a week to prepare a presentation on a question given by BT. I would expect that there are different questions. This is the part for which you`ll need to do your homework and do some research on the organisation. Nothing scary though, my accessor was lovely, he listened to me carefully and after the presentation asked me a few questions to make sure I`d done my research. Make sure you know what BT stands for, what they offer, etc.

Anyway, thats about it, hope it helps. Bear in mind, they`re NOT trying to trick you. They just wanna see the real you. My guess would be that the more you relax, the better you do but do take it with a pinch of salt since I`m still waiting to hear from them. Overall, regardless of the outcome, I was extremely impressed by the whole experience and have a very high opinion of BT staff.

Good luck and enjoy!! :)

sparkle,
Wish you all the best mate, hopefully you will get a positive answer. but really appreciate your lines , they are more than helpful.

best luck

M.

thank you so much!!!!!!!!! Hey what role have you applied for !!
And wish you the very best for the outcome :)

@nedjob @miz No worries, glad it was helpful :) I applied for Marketing. Thanks for your wishes, fingers crossed for you guys as well!

Thank you very much for your sharing!

I have a question, is there psychometric test on the day of Assessment Centre?

no, thers no psychometric test on the day

God bless sparkle.....

Dear hmjk007 thank you so much for your help, Those were the exact questions i had in my interview. I was also asked of the strengths and the skills (2 different questions) i have that could improve BT's performance, and after each example i gave i was asked about feedback I've received and what I've learnt from the experience. Just giving some love back. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Thanks Leoman.. I have it coming Monday.. Thanks a lot for sharing!!!

Guys,

anyone having Assessment centre on 26th May?? Please let me know.
i have been invited the day before (on 25th), but the actual assessment centre is on 26th..

Stella

Hi Stella,

Yeh I have been invited to the assessment centre on that day. Which role are you applying for ?

Hi nauo2259

Its the technical scheme.. They shifted it to the previous day..
I cannot attend the dinner :-( however, I will come for the AC on 25th.. What abt urs? Did they shift?

yeh they shifted mine aswell. good thing I didnt book the tickets before. I am applying to the technical scheme aswell.

So are you preparing for the technical questions?
I was told that they will ask in the interview.. Any idea---???

Hey Stella1,

                      Thanks a ton for your interview questions to BT. They were exactly the same questions that were asked to me..and I think I did well..fingers crossed regarding the outcome.,Good luck for your AC!!

Hoping to get some nice feedback on that!!

Jack

Hi there,

   They will soon start calling for their technical interview stage...Does anyone know what kind of questions they ask during this stage?

Armani.

Hi Guys...

Good to see so many brains bringing in their ideas and sharing experiences. Can somebody guide me what kind of questions can I expect for BT team manager post in Contact centre. I am through from the first round and tomorrow I have 2nd round which is Hypothetical situations & competency based questions round.

Your help is highly appreciated.

Hi Stella,

I am through from first round and I see from the blog that you have recently attended AC. Could you share your experience and pour some ideas for people like us. Any information you provide is really gr8.

Hello Vamsi

Yep I recently attended AC but dint get thru.

One suggestion I can give you is to research about BT in and out and in depth. This is what they are looking for. They want you to know lots n lots abt BT.

Make sure your presentation reflects this. You need to ensure that you have covered everything they are looking for in the presentation.

This was the biggest mistake I made.. I guess this is useful... Other tips are the same as everyone else tells you.

The day is highly organised.. They are really nice people. Good luck to you!!!

Cheers
Stella

Thank you very much Stella.

But I couldn't make it that far...Yesterday evening manpower came back to me saying my profile is matching and I did perform well compared with others however they couldn't proceed it because I don't have people management experience in UK. Though I have enough management experience abroad BT didnt want to consider it seems. Apart from that everything was positive. Unfortunately I have to believe her words no matter if it is correct or if she is just making it up.

I truly appreciate your time in giving me this piece of information.

So, currently r u working or on job trials ?

I am doing my Masters now.. Parallelly looking for jobs as well!!!