Shell Graduate Scheme Interview Questions

Graduate Scheme Application and Interview Process

The student and graduate recruitment process at Shell can take between two and six months. Prospective applicants should apply as early as possible. The recruitment process consists of the following:

• Online application
• Interview / Telephone interview
• Assessment day
• Compatibility meeting

Online Application

Graduate candidates must complete the Global Graduate Application Form found on the Shell careers website to apply for a graduate scheme. This must be sent, together with a candidate's CV to Shell’s human resources department.

Applicants may also be asked to complete two online questionnaires as part of their application.

Interview

If successful at the initial screening stage, candidates will be invited for an interview. This will either be a face-to-face or telephone interview if a candidate cannot make it to the proposed interview location. A Shell assessor or trained business manager will conduct the interview.

It is very important to prepare well before this interview. Find out as much as you can about the work Shell do, the history of the company and their plans for the future. Think about how your skills and experiences would be of use to Shell, so that you can sell yourself in the interview.

Candidates should expect the following CV based and competency based questions:

• Why have you applied to us?
• What do you know of our business?
• What qualities/skills do you have which make you suitable?
• Tell me about your extracurricular activities.
• Give an example of when you worked in a team/led a team?
• Describe a time when you were under great pressure.
  • How did you cope?
  • What was the outcome?

Assessment Day

If an applicant does well in their first stage interview they will be invited to the final selection stage, the assessment day, which takes place at an assessment centre either in London or in The Hague in the Netherlands. A Shell assessment day typically lasts from 7am to 6pm.

The assessment day is divided into four main sections, with a break for lunch in the middle:

• Presentation
• Role play
• Lunch
• Group exercise
• Individual interview

During the interview and assessment process your academic credentials and results will play almost no part in determining whether you're a suitable employee for Shell. These are only really important for getting past the online application stage. During the interview and assessment stages your assessors will predominantly focus on analysing your: personality, inter-personal skills, presentation skills, communication skills, ability to influence other people, maturity and ability to work in a team.

Presentations

The first interview session at Shell assesses candidate's presentation skills, by asking them to give a short talk on a general issue. The candidate group will be given a sheet of paper that consists of information about several related issues, e.g. the environment, the state of education, employment, fuel prices, etc. Each candidate in your group will need to pick a different subject to present on, and then you will all be given about 20 minutes to prepare. After this time your group will be told to stop writing, and you will take turns to deliver your presentations. The presentation session will be attended by two assessors, and last about one hour.

Role Play

The second interview session will involve a role play session between candidates and two different assessors. These assessors are managers and executives normally picked by the HR department from different areas of the company, e.g. finance, HR, off shore operation, sales and trading or procurement.

Candidates will be assigned a role to play (e.g. the CEO of Shell) while the two assessors act as your right hand people (e.g. VP Sales and VP Operations). Your task is to attend to problems raised by the two assessors, make decisions and advise them. For example, your VP Sales may tell you that a group of people are planning to stage a nationwide protest against oil companies, and as the CEO you will need to advise them what to do.

Lunch

Although your lunch hour will not be officially assessed, you will almost certainly spend it dining in the company of your assessors. Use this opportunity to ask questions you may have about the firm, your training and the specifics of the job you have applied for.

Group Exercise

For this session, each member of your candidate group will be given a different location and asked to individually analyse if it would be a suitable location for mining activity. After this, the candidate group will work together, as a team. The group will be asked to discuss each member's location in turn and discuss each member's primary individual analysis. The team must finally come up what they believe to be the best location in which to start mining.

This task is used to determine which candidate had the best skills in terms of leadership, communication and teamwork. It is important that you try to lead the discussion, offer intelligent input all the way through the discussion and defend your opinions if criticised by another candidate.

About five assessors will observe this group exercise and group discussion.

Individual Interview

The final interview session is an individual face-to-face interview that lasts approximately one hour. This will include several competency based questions, general CV based questions and questions about the assessment day itself.

Compatibility Meeting

Following the assessment day, successful candidates are invited to a attend a more informal meeting with a relevant business manager to find out if their personality is suitable for the particular department of the company they have applied for. If the meeting is successful, a formal offer will be made.