Sungard Graduate Program Interviews

@agordon - haven been invited to the interview??? if so when? - from what I know, the interviews are SunGard are completely competency based. nothing technical at all!

I have been invited to interview within the next week.

You say they wont ask technical questions, but then what kinda of stuff do they talk to you about to get competency???

Where did you learn this from?

Competency based are examples of situations you've been on based on different skills like teamwork, comms, leaderships etc. Just the normal. When is your interview?

the 27th.

thanks for the tip! I did a little more research after I posted here. Couldnt find anything specific about sungard but turned up alot about competency based interviews. Basically a get to know you kinda thing I guess.

yeah.... when I had my interview with Sungard last year, I had three comptency based interviews back-to-back. each were 1hr long! they didnt even ask why SunGard! they just asked questions about me.... leadership, teamwork,....etc.etc..

.

hi
I attended Sunguard Interview on 27Oct. I havent heard from them after that. Did any one, who attended interview, hear from them?

they called me on 30th for final round

Apart from finding their website I have no handle on how Sungard place as a company to work for. Are they well-known? Do they have a good reputation for business? for their graduate scheme and training? I haven't been able to find much about them at all which could give me a vibe.
I'd appreciate any input!

Anybody done the online test? Was it numerical and verbal?

also, anybody know what their start dates are??

Cheers!

Just did the online test yday.... How long before they get back to you about passing or failing it??

Thanks

Hi agordon sunnymet,
I am going to take my online tests from SunGard.
What's does SunGard 1st round interview about? what kinds of comptency based questions did they ask? I can't find any info from their website..

To wooow, how about the final round then? Hope good news for u.

thanks to all in advanced.

I had my final round assessment centre with Sungard last week and it was kinda relaxed compared to the RBS AC I went for. The format is exactly as stated on their website: 3 competency-based questions, a case study (You have about 90 mins for this) , a 10-minute presentation on the case study and a group exercise based on the case study material.

The interviewers were all friendly and I thought it went well though I haven't heard from them.

If anyone needs more information, I'll try to recall the exact questions.

Dexymine, how many round of interviews have you had with Sungard? How long was the gap between the interviews? Care to share?

I would love to know the questions that you were asked especially on the case study.

Had two interviews. A month between the two.The were both general competency-based interviews.

Tell me about a time:

1.When you showed initiative
2.When you worked in a team
3.When you set goals
4.When you displayed ethical considerations and fairness (that one threw me off)

Pretty straightforward questions, really.

The Case Study was on a hypothetical company and we had to read through it and do a short presentation on it which lasted for ten minutes. The case study was 5 pages, easy to understand and we had to identify the risks associated with the business.

Cheers! When did you know that you passed the first interview? How long did they took to inform you that you have passed the first one?

It was about a week or so.

I wonder the point of having you to attend 2 interviews if they are similar to each other. Seems like pointless to me

The interviews at the AC are done by much more senior people- I guess that's the catch. They probably want to be sure they're making the right decision.

Hey Dex2009, have you heard back yet? I had my AC this week, still waiting to hear back...

Hey TheBeast,

Had mine last week - no word yet. I think they probably want to finish the ACs before they start handing out offers.
How did yours go?

I thought it pretty went well, pretty average on the technical exercise though. How about you?

Twas ok, I think...Missed some calculations on the technical exercise as well. Guess it shouldn't matter since they'll consider the overall performance...

how technical were the exercises? any tips? what were the questions?

Mine was a business scenario where I had to read some information, analyze it and determine if the company would make profit or not. You would also be required to identify the risks and benefits associated with the business venture. I didn't have any technical stuff but then again, the question you get may depend on what you applied for...

I am going for the 1st round interview session and was informed that it will be a short one. I'll just prepare for it with some competency based questions&answers. Hope it will be of a help.

Yep 1st round is very structured and competency based. They asked me a lot of examples for problem solving and creativity. Hope that helps. Good luck.

hello,

I just gave the logical online test for SUNGARD. They have not got back to me yet. Also the system does not list any more tasks for me. Could you tell me how many tests you had to do.

Thanks a lot. I hope your interviews are going good.

Pritam

only the logical test. Is this for full time or internship?

Hi TheBeast,

Thanks a lot for your reply. Its for the fulltime graduate position.

Pritam

as anyone who had been to an interview last week heard back from them? It's a week already and there is still no word :(

Does anybody know the starting salary for the graduate program?

he i had my interview about a week or so ago. How and when do you know the result of the interview.

Hey,
just to share my experience with you guys: on December, I had my first interviews, which I passed. A week later I was invited to an assessment centre. I thought it went quite well, and we were told that a decision would be made within a week. I didn't find out for nearly three months (and neither did the other candidates). After a month or so had passed, I started calling them weekly to ask if they had any updates, and I was told that their head recruiter would get in touch shortly. In addition, they have yet to reimburse me for my travel costs! That's four months later. Apparently, their accounting team was too busy setting up a new payment scheme...

Eventually, I was rejected on what I think were fairly weak reasons, but that's not for me to judge. In any case, even if I had been offered a place, I would not have taken it unless I was absolutely desperate for a job. It seems to me that Sungard is completely disorganised. I would advise against applying.
All the best,
A.

Linhmai & djVix - they will call you to tell you the result of your interview (whenever they think they have the result which I think SHOULD NOT HAVE taken them that long considering that they only have 2 interviewers who could have just sit down and discussed with themselves immediately after the interview and give result the following day to candidates). Why they require a week++ is a mystery to me.

My experience with Sungard recruitment was also not that good, meaning I wasn't impressed with they way they handle potential employees. The HR dept, to me, was not efficient and fairly slow in doing things (compared to HR of other companies that I have been invited to interviews). I didn't make it through the 1st round of interview, but I know I did my best. The competency based questions that they asked me, I have used the same answers to ALL competency based questions that I have been asked for all of the jobs interviews that I have applied for, and I always passed those 1st stages. Like AristidisC, I think I was rejected on a fairly weak reason - but maybe to them that reason was strong enough not to invite me for the 2nd stage. Not sure how high Sungard put the bar for the candidates applying for the position.

Anyway, reading your comment AristidisC, I would not put my hopes high on receiving the reimbursement of my travel costs (not that it was expensive), I guess I should wait 1 month or 2 before I receive it.

Well, to others, all the best! If you have been accepted, do share your experience of working with Sungard.

It's not a matter of whether it is expensive or not - it's a matter of principle. I've been invited to other interviews where it was clear from the start that I would not be reimbursed. Sungard however did claim that they would pay for travel costs, so I expect them to make good of that promise.
A.

I have had the same experience as AristidisC and mustnap. I still havent been reimbuirsed and their HR is probably is probably the worst organised of them all. I attended a final round interview and was told of the outcome 2 weeks later. I know for a fact that i ahd performed well above what they were looking for so i was surprised by the feedback i got. Regarding the case study i was told that I didnt elaborate on my numbers clearly enough in my 2 page report. When i questioned them about this they mentioned that they wanted me to work out all the numbers i.e. addition subtraction multi etc the lot.... on that report. That doesnt make sense... how am i supposed to show all the working out, carry out an analysis and come to a conclusion within 2 pages. So what i'm trying to say is their feedback is complete BS!! I have been to a few other assessment centers and have been succesful with special mention given to the case study analysis. Sungard in my opinion dont really look for people who are actually interested in the job, their company and have the relevant skills. This was confirmed earlier this week when i found out that one of the candidates who seemed least interested, didnt know what he was applying for and didnt even finish the case study and presentation, got an offer. This really pissed me off, what in hell are they looking for. Clearly they dont want a good candidate, they want a Project. if anyone wants any help with the assessment day PM me, i can give you a few pointers. If you dont know what you want in a job/career then please apply to Sungard, as they clealry like those kind of people.

Hi TheBeast,

Sorry about your experience. What a shame...But I must confess I'm going through a similar experience.
My AC was over 3 weeks ago and I haven't heard a single word from them. To think they've started handing out offers already!
It may be bad news already, only God knows.
Hang in there bro and let's hope for better days. If you didn't get in, you probably don't wanna work there, anyway.

Took the inductive reasoning test for the full time graduate programme with sungard on 15 March 2010. I still have not received any feedback. Is that normal? Or should i take it that i didn't make it. The status of my account online is considering.

Their HR staff must be very poor. It is also shocking to read comments about this employer.

QuantWannaBee: just wait a month. If by a month you do not hear anything from them, assume they are not interested to process your application. The Inductive Reasoning test was an easy one for me (I asked them my result and they said I got 99th percentile ^_^ )

Just so you know the timeline for me:

18th December - I applied for the position, got a response from them that they will process my application after new year

5th January - I was asked to do the online Inductive reasoning test and I did it immediately. I informed them that I have completed the test.

8th January - Received acknowledgement that I have completed the test.

1st February - sent an email to the HR rep asking about the status of my application

9th February - finally got a reply from their HR rep telling me that I have passed the test and they will contact me when they have an interview date for me

1st March - I contacted them again asking about my application

2nd March - they gave the same reply as above

8th March - finally they invited me for a competency based interview at their London office.

You could assume the duration that you have to wait for any feedbacks from them to be similar to mine.

Maybe they need to hire more HR rep to do their recruitment, as to my knowledge, I think they only have a few people that currently doing the job.

After reading the posts, am not putting my hopes high as I have not studied any finance. Studied engineering so after reading the comments regarding case studies and the rest. I have no chance! So what do all these stupid interviews have to do with the Jobs, e.g stochastic calculus, ito process, option pricing, programming which is the kind of things am interested in doing! How does anyone become a Quant?

-(

Has anyone here applied for the summer internship? I applied over two months ago and have yet to have heard any correspondance at all. I sent an email to the generic emea recruiting address and all they were able to confirm was that my application had been received. I did not receive a reply to my second email. A friend of mine who applied on the same day as me is in the same position too.

My experience combined with the above comments seem to suggest that HR are a little disorganised.
By any chance does anyone have a telephone number for Sungard's Recruitment department or is it outsourced?

hi there, did anyone have an Assessment centre with Sungard? How did it goes? Would appreciate if you could share your experience..

THanks..

Hi,

I have been invited for assessment centre next week. Can you remind your experience and share with me . I will be very thankful

Cheers

Hi,

I have been invited for a first round interview next week - could anyone who has been through this please give me some pointers and tips?

Many thanks!

Hello,

How did ur first round interview go? Can u share?
Anyone applying for software developer positions??

Thanks

Hi TheBeast,

From this thread they dont sound like a great company but it wont hurt to have it as a back up.

Have the assessment centre coming up,

Just wandering if you can give me some info and tips on it, especially how you go about analysing a case study (e.g. frameworks)

Many thanks

R