Ford Purchashing Graduate Programme

I got a response regarding the HR scheme this morning so I presume their starting to look at all of their schemes. 3 days to sit the test! ah! Best of luck!

That's great! I'm guessing the test for the HR scheme will be the same for purchasing. Let me know how the test goes. If anybody knows anything about the testing or other schemes, let us know!!

Hello buyer 713, I have applied to the purchasing scheme and have my phone interview for it tomorrow. I was never told that I got beyond the application form - I received no email, or anything telling me about the status of my application. I was carrying out a routine check on my account at the Ford Graduate portal, and was informed that I had been invited to do the tests - there was no email. I recommend you do the same, check your account and see where you stand. Good luck

Hey anyone from Sales and marketing heard anything yet? I just did my inductive reasoning and now my application is blank does this mean i have failed? I was wondering if the other test was meant to pop up straight after or not? xthanx

I have my telephone interview tomorrow, with Ford. I applied in the sales and marketing programme, so I am waitng if any one can provide any feed back on that.... Really appreciate it...

flearoy17, i wish i saw your comment earlier than this. I sat the tests earlier also. After the inductive test it would appear that your done but you have to log in again, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you would see 'begin numerical test.' Its only by chance I went in again and noticed it. It's a very shady system. I really hope you discovered it in the end, other wise your application is void because you didn't sit both elements.

Hi,

Just had my telephone interview for Sales and Marketing Programme and I thought would share the following information and the questions which were asked to me by FORD...

• Knowledge of Ford and the function to which you are applying • Working effectively with other people • Results Focus • Customer Focus

Here are the tips that I got form the website and would recommend them to any candidate for the interview:

• Be specific – describe exactly what you did or said • Talk about your contribution (not what other people have done) • Give examples of the skills that you demonstrated in the particular situation • You can choose examples from work / college / voluntary work / out of work activities. • Make sure you take some time to find out about Ford and the area to which you are applying

And finally to make life easier for persons, as I have gained immensely form this Forum, information about FORD is also posted for the benefit. It would obviously change so please update accordingly:

The Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008. In 2010 Ford sold Volvo to Geely Automobile.[5] Ford will discontinue the Mercury brand at the end of 2010. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.

Ford is currently the second largest automaker in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world based on number of vehicles sold annually, directly behind Volkswagen Group.[6] In 2007, Ford fell from second to third in US annual vehicle sales for the first time in 56 years, behind only General Motors and Toyota. However, Ford occasionally outsells Toyota in shorter periods (most recently, during the summer months of 2009). By the end of 2009, Ford was the third largest automaker in Europe (behind Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroën).[7]

Ford is the seventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2008 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2008 of $146.3 billion.[8] In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles[9] and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide. During the automotive crisis, Ford's worldwide unit volume dropped to 4.817 million in 2009. Despite the adverse conditions, Ford ended 2009 with a net profit of $2.7 billion.[10] Starting in 2007, Ford received more initial quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than any other automaker. Five of Ford's vehicles ranked at the top of their categories[11] and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three.[12]

Hope this all helps, as there is no single thread on the telephone interview about FORD..

Regards,

HJMK007

I'm just wondering if anyone has heard bk yet from the result of their telephone interview and if so how long was it before u heard back?

1

so weird, i haven't heard anything... not even a refusal... in the my account area it just says current account application status... it's blank...

At Differentfrogs: 1 what?? lol

At Buyer713: I'm in the same boat as you then, it's blank on my account aswell... did they tell u in the telephone interview how long until u hear? they said to me could be up to 2 weeks!

Yes, sorry I wrote a comment before my interview asking for advice off hjmk007. But he didn't reply and I've had my interview now, so I just deleted it to save him the hassle of getting back to me. Buyer713 have you had your tests/phone interview yet? If not then it might not be good news because I applied 3 weeks ago or so and I have already had my tests and phone interview. If you have then I guess they're still going through them so just be patient!

I have applied to the purchasing scheme, and I was invited to do the test this week. I did the inductive reasoning test , but when i am logging in to my account to do the numerical one, it is showing me that I am taking a test at the moment. does anyone know what to do in this situation?

Anyone been to the AC for the Sales/Marketing Scheme yet or been invited?

I have been to an AC and I can tell you that for the interview it's basically the telephone interview version 2.0. Just re-prepare for that and treat it as the first contact with the company and don't worry about repeating telephone interview comments/examples.

And the roleplay, group exercise and in-tray are all quite basic and don't actually require knowledge of ford or the industry. All you need is to actually be good at / have experience in the day to day roles. All the information needed for every exercise is given to you so any research you do before hand is either pointless or a small bonus.

My only tip is to brush up on your skim reading, as sometimes only 50% of the information given is useful and reading it all means you have little time to do the tasks.

Also don't message me asking for further help. I haven't had a single reply when asking for help myself, and the times I've given help I haven't even had a thank you. So I'm not going to bother anymore.

Thanks for your post. My best wishes for you to get selected :)

Thank you differentfrogs that is much appreciated. I pray we all get the job especially yourself for the information you have given. :)

Thanks, you too. Just practice time keeping and make sure you're sharp and alert on the day and you should all be okay. They go out of their way to make you all feel relaxed and comfortable so that you perform to your best ability and then if you're good enough, you get an offer!

Could I just ask...did you do any In-try excersizes. And if so what they were on? I'd appreciate if you didn't want to say but would be extremely grateful! :)

An In-try Excersize?

Learn to spell before the AC is my tip. (esp' as everything is written and not typed with the help of a spell-checker)

I don't think I should be too specific or give details as it will give an unfair advantage to the ones who read wikijob vs ones who don't. And as I said, it doesn't actually matter if I tell you exactly what it's about anyway.

They're really not hard or tricky and you can't actually prepare for them in a short space of time. Only real way to prepare for an in-tray exercise is to actually have work experience or have good common sense so you know how to prioritise etc..

Is there a numerical reasoning test or some sort as part of the In-"Tray" excersize at all?

no, and you're spelling exercise wrong :(

Any idea when they will let you know of the outcome?

I only spelt it incorrectly to see if you would notice lol strange how numerical reasoning didnt form part of the In-Tray exercise. I'm sure I read that the numerical tests we had to do before were going to be verified by retaking them. Oh well...thanks for the info once again.

Hi,

I have finished telephonic interview with Ford recently for purchasing graduate scheme. I would like to know what might be the competency questions in the interview? Also I will be grateful if any body who have attended the AC like Mr.different frogs could throw some light on what actually happened there..? It will be highly helpful for me, if somebody could help as this will be my first AC if i get one. Look forward to receive some reply from somebody regarding this. Thank you.

Dear Mr.Different Frogs,

I have recently completed my telephonic interview and I hope I have done it well. I would like to ask you if you could help me to know what actually happened in the AC. It will be a great help for me as it is going to be my first ever AC. Looking forward to hear from you soon. Thanks in advance.

Hey guys,

I was wondering if there was anyone who actually got the purchasing role with role? I attended an assessment centre around 2 weeks ago and I have been in contact with many purchasing candidates yet no one has heard anything.

Can you please share your knowledge regarding this issue. Cheers!!

Hi Grad_2010...I wish you all the best. Would you kindly help me and let me know what activities you were required to do as part of the In-Tray exercise and wether or not there were any numerical reasoning tests? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

When is your assessment centre?

There won't be any numerical tests.

Does any have have any assessment centre for sales and marketing on the 13 of December at CEME and any help would be appreciated pls

I hope you've heard good news back from Ford, bcos you just gave their AC away, and I dont know how'll they feel about it, bcos you've just made thier job more difficult now that everyone who reads this blog knows what to expect. in other words, you've made it a whole lot more competitive for prospective candidates going to the AC. Lets hope they dont get wind of this and change the questions.

I haven't actually written anything that gives anything away, as I said before you can't do any prep for it, its all common sense. And I received so many PMs from people asking me the process even though I've clearly said no prep is needed that I thought why not.

Anyway from what I've seen on this website they gave deadlines for the ford jobs in october, then reopened them in november and they haven't gotten back to any of the people they've interviewed from the october deadline, and that's not too nice on their part is it? grad__2010 has been waiting nearly 3 weeks for an answer and said that no one else from purchasing has heard anything, and then reading on here that the purchasing position he/she applied to has re opened and they're interviewing new people without getting back to him / her.

And the same applies to the ford area I've applied to, they've re opened the position and haven't got back to me despite saying they'll reply within 5 days - it's been 4 weeks.

ac consists of the following:

interview: role play: in-tray exercise: group exercise:

Well I applied when the deadline was october, I have gone through the whole application process and I have gotten a response from them, and I am resuming in January. So everyone has a different experience.

As per not giving anything away, yes you did, bcos i attended the AC too, although on a different scheme, ad I did exactly what you said. Helping others is fine, bcos I gained a lot from this blog, but no one and you can check other schemes, blurted it all out like you did. Ford will like to hire the best candidates, and the best way to achieve that is if no one has even a general idea of the questions asked. That is what an interivew is all about. Thinking fast on your feet and answering the questions put b4 you.

Just like you I have been bombarded with private messages, but I am not under an obligation to answer explicitly. I attended the first AC of my scheme, so I had no help and I still got an offer.

If they've re-opened the job, that only means that they havent gotten the candidates that they would like and they would like to see what else is out there before they start sending out offers. Like I said earlier, a company wants the best, adn there is no room in HR for sentiment. A company's success rides on the quality of its employees.

So you have an offer from them and you're bumming their techniques, if you had got a rejection you'd be looking at this forum for help on other ACs and begging for exact details of them, and if you had your ford AC coming up you'd be sending PMs for the exact details..

At the end of the day, thinking on your feet isn't a part of every day life at Ford / 99% of companies. You always have time to think, others to talk to, people to go to for help, and not only that you get trained on how to react to situations. I personally think being prepared for what you get and then showing off your skills is better than someone who can bullshit and blag on the day.

And as for getting back to you but not anyone else, that's fine, congrats etc.. but why promise a 5 day turnaround and then not even send an email telling the candidates they need more time? As I said, no one has heard back from my area, or from purchasing (as far as I know), which means that the speech they gave at the beginning of the AC saying "you're not in competition with each other" was also not the truth, because they're now looking for more people to see how they compare to the current batch.

I may be able 2 cast some light on the delay. Assessment centres are still going on. I have mine on Wednesday (for purchasing). Ford are pretty crappy at keeping people informed. I have never been emailed upadtes on my application - i have had 2 check the account 2 find out my progress.I hope this message helps you. In relation 2 what has been posted in regards 2 the assessment centres content, I just wanted 2 say thank you for all those who have contributed. It has been really helpful.

Good luck to all

Have to agree with differentfrogs here.

Also heard the same "Your not in competition with each other" rubbish at my Ford AC. It didn't actually make any sense because we knew that there would be at LEAST 24 candidates battling it out for around 10 positions in our area.

So if everyone did meet their requirements at the AC what would they do? Hire everyone? I think not... what they would have done would be to raise the standard = even more competition.

Frankly, I believe that a firm which promises a 5 day turnaround and does not fulfill that promise is highly unprofessional.

For all those who would like to contact the Ford Graduate Team, there number is 01635279813. I called anonymously in order to try and understand where they were in terms of progress.

Wingy, Exactly my point. Why offer such a quick turnaround, then give no contact at all when those 5 days have passed? It's been 4 weeks, not 6/7 days.

Oliver, It doesn't matter that ACs are going on, or even if they want to send me a rejection. What matters is a promise of 5 days (when really they could have just not promised anything at all) and then no contact. I don't mind if a firm needs a long time to assess a lot of individuals, its understandable. I just don't like what Ford are doing.

You really cant compare everyday working pressure to an AC do you. An AC is supposed to be intense, that is the idea. I attended an AC at Morgan Stanley before Ford, and I will say Ford's was a piece of cake compared to MS. I found a lot of help on this site, but not help that was explicit, or rather as direct as yours, bcos finding explicit help can sometimes be detrimental to your performance, as the best work a lot of times comes when you are under pressure thinking on your feet. When u hv an idea of the questions, it gives u a false sense of confidence, and when you face questions u werent expecting it throws you off balance, and you start to blubber rubbish. That is what I meant, not that I was acting all high and mighty bcos I got an offer.

If i can advice you, it isnt wise to give explicit details when u havent heard back from them bcos it gives the candidates you help an unfair advantage over you, bcos if they do much better it reduces your chances.

P.S I got a response within 5 working days, and I was always informed about updates on my application. I even got a phone call inviting me to the AC, adn I was told an email will be sent later, of which I got an email in less than 5 mins after i hung up.

I agree with most of the above comments; it's very inefficient and unprofessional, from Ford, not to abide by what they promised. Either Ford have a lot cash and time or they really can’t find good candidates thus far.

@ employee2010 Did you apply for purchasing? I'm just wondering because different departments probably will have different people hence the slow response for purchasing applicants, unless you got an offer for purchasing.

Also I don't think differentfrogs explicitly described the AC; it was very vague and besides even if you know what to expect I don't think you can prepare for it because the interviews are more like a conversation rather testing what you have memorised, the in tray exercise and group work are difficult to prepare for. However he may have given too much away for the role play one but I really don't think it will significantly boost an applicant’s performance.

I didnt apply to purchasing, sorry. about Ford being inefficient i'm afraid i dont have that experience. They got back to me within 5 working days, and sent my employment contract this week. Maybe its the HR people handling my scheme that they are efficient, I dont know but I would advise that you all be a little patient. At this point, no news can be good news because at least its not a rejection.

I will share my experience of the assessment centre, which was held at CEME at Rainham Esexx on 13 December... The day consists of the following activities:

1) interview: same as telephone interview, its all competency based as prepare all examples which were asked to you .... Do research on Ford and also on the issues facing the automotive sector....

role play: An imaginary company, Regal Motors and Regal Finance exist and the objective is to merge two databases and come up with a presentataion on a flip chart within 25 minutes and after that present it to the person...

The assessor asks you questions which are pertinent to the scenario and also they ask u very different questions so u need to be preoared, as it can be v difficult..., and your job is to convince them as they don't want to merge.

in-tray exercise: same imaginary company and your manager has an accident so you need to fill in for them. you are then given 10-15 emails/memos that you need to prioritise and write down how you would react.. Its to do witha luanch of a car and you are interacting with different departments on behalf of your manager....

You also have a massive rescheduling news that basically turns everything into an emergency so you just need to know which areas need most attention etc.. its all common sense as all the information is there. if someone write "tell me by next week" then its more urgent that if someone writes "I need to know in the next 6 weeks" etc..

group exercise: you are given the same info on RM and RF to read about a relocation of offices between different departments...

There are objectives which you need to classify as a short term, medium and long term , have a discussion with candidates... also come up with different issues highlighted in the case and focus on having a close look on the time also.. which is very crucial..

You have to write down notes about prioritising, then sit with other candidates and discuss the options.

Hope this helps all persons and Ford was an excellent experience, so best of luck... The objective is to help any 1 and if some 1 is destined to get a job offer, they will get it and if they read thousands of forums, and if it is not in their fate, they will not get it... That's my perspective.....

Hi,

How did your assessment centre go? Have you heard anything back from them yet? I have mine in 2 weeks for Purchasing. I would just like to ask was it what you expected, and now having attended yours, is there any advice you could give in relation to how I should prepare for the assessment centre? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks!

Hi

can i ask anyone who has actually been to the assessment centre if they know anything about what the program entails??

thanks

are the offers made completely based on score over the 4 tasks or are there other affecting factors?!

Hi all, has anyone else from the assessment centre that took place on 13th jan heard any news?

HEY STAR21 I recieved a phone call a few days ago with an offer, From what i was told, the HR department are working through a huge backlog of candidates, fingers crossed!!

ISH

Hi ISH,

Congratulations! Where will u be based and when do you start? I start in just under 3 weeks. Can't wait!

Star21.

I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me info regarding the Ford assessment centre for the Marketing programme 2011, if you have been to it already, or any Ford graduate assessment would really be appreciated,

Cheers,

Maddy.

Hey HJMK007,

I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me info regarding the Ford assessment centre for the Marketing programme 2011, if you have been to it already, or any Ford graduate assessment would really be appreciated,

Cheers,

Maddy.