GSK telephone interview - IT graduate scheme

I don't have specific experience of the GlaxoSmithKlein interview - but telephone interviews are almost always competency based.

• Prepare for competency questions (in particular, look at the competencies the company state they want to see from candidates - usually found on company websites - and prepare answers for questions on these specifically),
• Read and re-read your CV so you know it like the back of your hand,
• Swot up on current commercial awareness issues.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes!

I had mine recently. They'll ask competency questions, i.e "What is your greatest achievement" etc.

A question that caught me off guard was "Why GSK?". While I'd prepared for this question with facts and figures relevant to my scheme, the interviewer will expect you to REALLY know about the organisation, more so than many other grad schemes I've experienced. From an IT point of view, try and find specific project methodologies, software's the company utilises, or any technological advances relevant to the company.

Remember, the IT is essentially there to support the production of pharmaceuiticals, so talk about the impact an IT failure would have on drug production, and how the shortage could cause people to get ill or worse.

Thank you both!

To Reg:
-What do you mean by : " the interviewer will expect you to REALLY know about the organisation"? What excactly do u think that he/she expected from your answer? I have researched about the products, the different departments, the strategy etc. but I'm not sure how to present them in my answer. Did the interviewer insist by asking you to tell more about GSK?

-For which department have applied for?

Thanks very much!

Foteini,

I was asked "Why GSK?". I answered with a 2-3 minute pitch about why I prferred GSK above 1) The other pharmaceuticals (Pfizer, AstraZeneca etc.), and 2) Any other finance scheme.

Following my answer, she rephrased the question, but I'd used all my facts and figures so it forced me to improvise an answer about how I'd be helping to drive company growth, and how I enjoy financial modelling etc. etc.

Thanks Reg for telling me about the "impact an IT failure would have on drug production", it was really helpful!

Actually the rectuiter was very polite but impersonal.. She asked me two questions about GSK:
-Why IT in GSK?
-What are the challenges of IT in GSK?

The rest three were competency based:
-time when I took initiative
-time I had to persuade somebody about sth
-exampe of how I react under pressure

The interview didn't last more than 16 minutes (it was supposed to last for 20 min). It's the first telephone interview that I ever had that lasted less than it was expected and I am not sure if this is good. How long did your interview last?

Hi! I've got my phone interview with GSK on Monday (for the microbio programme) and was wondering how technical the technical knowledge questions are (ie. will they be asking specific questions about microbiology?).

Any help or advice or example interview questions will be much appreciated!!

Thx

Hi Emyxvs!

Actually the interview (for graduates) is not technical at all,it is competency based. I was asked the questions above. I think that they want to find out that you are the right person to work for GSK,not only the person with the right skills. I believe that the most important question that you should prepare is "Why GSK?". Also,try to find out the challenges in microbiology and what GSK has done in this domain.

I hope this helps!
Good Luck!!!
Foteini

Thanks for the info foteini! had my phone interview on monday and i'm not too sure how i did (lot of background noise which the inetrviewer commented on :S )

Any idea on how long it takes until they get back to you?

Thanks,

hi Emyxvs!

My interview was on Friday and they contacted me via email on Tuesday to invite me at the assessment centre!
I wish you GOOD LUCK with yours!

Anyone know the starting salary for GSK grads? "Competitive" doesn't really mean anything as far as I'm concerned.

Hey.. does anyone know what the assessment day is like at GSK ? Do they include numerical/verbal reasoning tests on that day at all ?

thnx..

About the GSK AC:
There were 5 exercises:
1) Analytical reasoning test
2) Role playing
3) Presentation
4) Group exercise
5) Interview

In detail:
1) About the analytical reasoning test please see my previous post.
2) The role playing was really exciting! I had to read a paragraph about a situation and respond to it. My role was a manager and the role of the recruiter was an employee. The scenario had to do with the will of the employee to leave the company. I had to decide whether to let him go or persuade him to stay. In order to decide, I had to ask him A LOT of questions that I thought relevant. The final goal of the exercise was to identify the reason that the employee wanted to leave and EXPLAIN why I made these questions to him. So, ASK HOW,WHY,WHEN,WHO....EVERYTHING!

3) In order to do the group exercise and the presentation we were given a booklet the day before the ac. It included information about a virtual pharma company and the different departments and business units. We had to read it and understand the way the company worked. Not difficult. The next day we were given 5 different solutions to invest in, one to each candidate. The goal of the exercise was to present our investment solution according to the information given and the information in the booklet. The presentation was made in front of 2 recruiters and the other team members. We had ONLY 5 minutes each.

4) After the presentation, we had to do a “meeting” and decide which of the solutions presented was the most important to invest in. We were given some instructions to follow and we could use the information in the booklet as well. It was not difficult and the recruiters didn’t care about the result but about the way we communicated.

5) The interview was a typical competency based interview, like the one the phone…

The key competencies that they are looking for throughout the day (as they told me when I called for feedback) are:
- information gathering and search
- identify advanced business solutions
- developing people
- selling ideas and under-leading people
- communication
- achieving change (taking responsibility)
- customer focus
- measure success(improve)

As a general consumption of my experience, they want you to have 3/5 in every competency. They do not care if you are the best (5/5) in communication if you have 1/5 in customer focus, for example. So, you do not have to be the best in the group. You just have to be good enough to all the competencies above.

I have been to three AC so far and it was my best experience! Good Luck to everyone and enjoy it!

Repeating the question above - anyone knows the starting salary?

Sorry, I don't...

It is £22,500 starting. But there may be a sign on bonus (depending on your location). Plus there are other benefits such as bonus schemes, private health care, free gym and other club memberships etc so they normally put competitive as its hard to quantify. Hope this answers your question.

Yes it does, thank you!

Do GSK offer the ACA?

.

22.5k is pretty low in comparison with the majority of other schemes of the same calibre. Is that just for IT, or all divisions?

It is for all divisions in the graduate scheme. Sorry I forgot to add that you get a car allowance and a laptop as well which also helps. Most schemes pay higher, but I think GSK's benefits balances out the equation. Most graduates make the mistake of only focusing on the salary, forgetting about benefits such as paid holiday, private health insurance and car allowance which even if you may not need now, you will inevitably need later, especially if you intend starting a family, etc. £22,500 if fair, because even if you got paid twice that, most of it would get taxed away anyway; But quantifying all the benefits, its worth somewhere around £30,000 (depending on your situation).

Some schemes also offer professional qualifications as well.

just my two cents here, i was recently offered a graduate engineering position (at GSK), and the package they offered me is actually well into the 30s i.e (pay+bonus+relocation allowance) health care benfits etc are on top of that, i dunno if the same aplies to IT roles, hope this helps

I want to know too! got one coming up!

Can anyone help on the competency interview - questions asked. This will be much appreciated thanks in advance

Hey, I just had my telephone interview... not bad at all, if u prepare well on the competencies they state in the email they send you are gna be safe - as for the technical questions, there is absolutely nothing you can do to prepare for them, its general knowledge nothing too difficult....

THANKS - I too gad had interview. It Was ok . Hope goes well for both of us

Kaz which scheme did u apply for? I am applying for the chemical engineering one.... do u have any idea of how many ppl they are looking for and when they might get bak to us?

Hi,
Could you give me some info on the phone interview for the engineering scheme please? I opted for biopharmaceuticals. Any ancillary information will be of utmost help.
Thanks

Hi - I applied for IT position. I t was question like working in team, had i done leadership role, why GSK nothing too complex. I have been offered placement
hope this helps

Hi - I applied for IT position. I t was question like working in team, had i done leadership role, why GSK nothing too complex. what do i know about company.

 I have been offered placement 

Hi Taio, please have you been sent any feedback yet regarding your telephone interview? This friday would make it 3 weeks since i had mine and no feedback.

Hi - received reply with 7 days. Maybe you you phone them

Hi

I used to read this topic at human resources box of about.com.

You can use Google to search them.

Rgs
nenupharvn

Hi mate with regards to What are the challenges of IT in GSK, how did you answer this question?

Has anyone done the telephone interview in recent times? Is it largely similar to what this post has described?

I've applied to the Finance grad scheme.

Has anyone had a interview for the technology placement at GSK? Not a telephone one

Has anyone had a interview for the technology placement at GSK? Not a telephone one

yeah I've got finance coming up next week too, when's yours?

Hi, I just had my telephone interview with GSK and thought that I would share my ideas and views, as I have found this forum to be really helpful. I applied for the Sales and Marketing Programme.

The interview began by asking the Admin questions like Can you Work in UK?
When can you start, are you mobile??

Competency based questions were as follows:

1)Tell me about some thing that motivates you and what have you done a sa consequence of that??

2) Describe a success I have had in applying an innovative solution to a complex problem

3) Describe a time when I took the initiative to make a change in order to ensure that the task was successfully completed??

4) Describe a time when you had to work with some one whom you find it difficult to work with and how did you build the relationship??

And finally some information pertaining to GSK which I have found to be useful and hope that this is useful for other also:

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK), often abbreviated to GSK, is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's third largest pharmaceutical company measured by revenues (after Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer).[3] It has a portfolio of products for major disease areas including asthma, cancer, virus control, infections, mental health, diabetes and digestive conditions.[4] It also has a large consumer healthcare division which produces and markets oral healthcare products, nutritional drinks and over-the-counter medicines, including Sensodyne, Horlicks and Gaviscon.[4]
Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
As the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world, based on net income, the company had sales of £22.7 billion and made a profit of £7.8 billion in 2007.[10] It employs over 90,000 people worldwide, according to their website(2009)[11], including over 40,000 in sales and marketing. Its global headquarters are GSK House in Brentford, London, United Kingdom, with its United States headquarters based in Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina[12] and its consumer products division based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The research and development division has major headquarters in South East England, Philadelphia and Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina.
The company's stock is listed on the London stock exchange and ADRs are listed on the NYSE. The single largest market is in the United States (approximately 45% of revenue), although the company has a presence in almost 70 countries.
In November 2009 GlaxoSmithKline formed a joint venture with Pfizer to create ViiV Healthcare. Viiv Healthcare received all of Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline's HIV assets. [13] ViiV Healthcare is 85% owned by GlaxoSmithKline and 15% owned by Pfizer.
laxo SmithKline has been active in a global alliance to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.[14] Jean-Pierre (JP) Garnier, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline has said, “The Egyptian data shows that we can now eliminate a disease that has plagued the world for centuries. We remain committed to donating as much albendazole as required to eliminate this disabling disease, but ultimate success will depend on continued long-term commitments by all partners across the globe.”
In addition Glaxo has been short-listed for awards such as the Worldaware Business Award for its work to eliminate malaria in Kenya.[15]
GlaxoSmithKline recently donated money to the British flood appeal, and was ranked first on the 2006 UK Corporate Citizenship Index for donations.[16]

GSK at a glance
• Our mission is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer
• We are a research-based pharmaceutical company
• We are committed to tackling the three "priority" diseases identified by the World Health Organization: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
• Our business employs around 99,000 people in over 100 countries
• Around 12,800 people work in our research teams to discover new medicines
• We screen about 65 million compounds every year in our search for new medicines
• Our vaccines are included in immunisation campaigns in 182 countries worldwide
• We delivered 1.4 billion vaccine doses in 2009, of which nearly 1 billion were shipped for use in developing countries
• In November 2009, we launched ViiV Healthcare, a global specialist HIV company established by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to deliver advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV
• In July 2009 we acquired Stiefel Laboratories, the world’s largest independent dermatology company
• January 2008 marked the tenth anniversary of our programme to help eliminate lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). Since the start of this programme we have donated more than 1.4 billion albendazole tablets to countries affected by LF
• In 2007 we marked 15 years of the Positive Action programme that helps communities living with HIV/AIDS. Positive Action is today a programme supported by ViiV Healthcare
• In the developing world, we provide certain medicines at preferential prices ensuring that the poorest can still benefit from our treatments and vaccines
• Many of our consumer brands are household names: alli, Ribena, Horlicks, Lucozade, Aquafresh, Sensodyne, Panadol, Tums

heyy ,, has anybody had interview for the Health outcomes programmee ...??? I have an interview in 3 days and would like to get some tipsssssssss pleaseeeee .. I really want this position ........ :):) DO they ask the same questions for each programmee ??

Thanks: )

Hi - I had interview last year for IT analyst internship and was successfull . It was the same questions as above - competency type as above. Just have situations to talk about ready.

Hi, I have mine at 4.30pm today for Health outcomes! I'm assuming yours would be done by then, I believe the Health outcomes programme is fairly new which is why I couldn't find any forums specific to this programme. Let me know how you do!

Hi, I have mine at 4.30pm today for Health outcomes! I'm assuming yours would be done by then, I believe the Health outcomes programme is fairly new which is why I couldn't find any forums specific to this programme. Let me know how you do!

How was the interviewwww ???

It wasn't too bad, shorter than I had anticipated...these were the questions:
1. What has motivated you and what have you done as a consequence?
2. Describe when you came up with an innovative solution for a problem. If you were put in the same situation what would you do differently?
3. Describe how you changed something about yourself as a result of someone's feedback.
4. Describe a situation where you worked with someone who you found difficult working with and how did you build a relationship? If you were put in the same situation what would you do differently?
5. Describe a situation where you have used your initiative to successfully complete a task. If you were put in the same situation what would you do differently?

These were the main competency based questions....other questions were more administrative type e.g. are you willing to relocate etc

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Has anyone ever had an interview for a placement in the science sector for GSK, if so what kind of questions do they ask?

Hi, a couple of years ago I did an industrial placement year in the Neurosciences CEDD. The interview for that was really informal, expect all the usual questions, why gsk? why this role in particular? Also the usual competencies, if you have a look on their website they have a 'what we look for' section. Additionally as I was going for a science role there were a few science based questions, my advice would be research the area that you're going into, if you can find the names of the people interviewing you beforehand then run their names through PubMed and read the abstracts of any recent papers they have published.

Hi
Can anybody please advise on assessment day? What type of case do they offer? What else do they ask? Im taking part in sales and marketing program.

Many thanks to all of you!!!

did anyone have their telephone interviews for AstraZeneca Operations and Supply Chain graduate scheme.. I have mine on the 21st would love some help..