There were 3 interviews and the process took around 2 months. The first 2 were with a third party company that provided the psychological & health test, also the english proficiency tests. After initial assessment from them the passing candidates are contacted by ExxonMobil Human Resources for an interview.
For the final interview I went to the EM offices for which 2 employees (usually supervisors) assess you during a 45 minute interview with 5 core questions: 5 minutes of icebreaker, 30 to ask 5 questions and make notes on your answers and actions and 10 final minutes for wrap up and questions the candidate may have. If you ask any question they will make a note about it.
Candidates are assessed based on: 1) Job Fit 2) Analytical capability 3) Initiating action 4) interpersonal effectiveness 5) drive and perseverance 6) computer skills 7) communication skills (these are based on how you express yourself throughout the interview)
Job Fit: the questions depends on weather you have experience or not (the question will be based on work or on school) they will ask to know about current work experience in accounting and to describe what satisfies your (or not) about it. They will also ask about following process and procedures (EM is all about process & procedures, very burocratic company). Use the words like, enjoy & satisfying. Avoid using the word hate.
Analytical Capability: they will ask to describe a situation when you had to analyze complex financial information to solve a problem (like variances a cost center). Also they may ask about a new procedure or idea implemented by you. Explain the alternatives in both cases and how you decided which was the right action. It's a good idea to mention how you involved or reached to others so as to show you are a team player.
Initiating Action: they will ask to describe a situation when you identified a problem or opportunity and describe how you took action for it and the outcome. They will ask whom you involved and why you decided to act on it.
Interpersonal effectiveness: here they will check how you work with others and how you react to difficult people. They will ask how you would influence or motivate a co worker that is not cooperative, what was the issue and what did you do to obtain a positive outcome. Why was the person difficult? how did you choose the best approach? They will use this to see you ability to build relationships.
Drive and perseverance; they will ask to describe a time when you had to prioritize different tasks in order to meet a deadline. What was the situation, how you acted and the outcome. What criteria did you use to set the priority criteria, how did you feel with the pressure to meet your goals with little time, strategies used to meat your goals and what did you do if you could not meet them. Show positive attitude and ability to prioritize. Also how you involved other people that was affected by it.
Computer skills: describe a challenge you had with a business problem using excel. What features did you use? mention pivot tables, v look up, concatenate, sum, graphs, text to columns, filters, sort, subtotals. Mention if you imported / exported information. If you developed a macro in excel. Mention using other applications like access or powerpoint. If you have experience with SAP this is a good moment to mention that.
Communication skills: there is no question here, but the interviewers are listening to how you communicate yourself, how you enunciate, how you articulate, if your answers are clear and concise, if you are confident or get stuck .Try to be warm when you talk, do not be to loud or strong. You can use humor and definately give examples.
If you get stuck with a word (maybe techincal word) you can explain the meaning so the interviewers can tell it to you (they like that) Be carefull with your grammar, do not be arrogant or unprofessional.
After you are contacted and offered a job there´s a drug and alcohol test.
