Rolls-Royce Project Manager (12 Month Placement) interview questions

The assessment centre consists of six parts: 1) At the beginning of the day you will have a chance to have a tea/coffee with interviewers and fellow candidates. It is important that you talk to both of them; the former to break the ice even before the interview and having some conversation with other candidates might help you for the group exercise. 2) Competency based interview: they will first go through your CV and ask you what kind of skills you acquired during your previous work experience. The they will ask two or three questions on skills that Rolls Royce feels important. And finally, questions about Rolls Royce. 3) Group exercise: you are divided in two groups. In my case we had to move some marbles from one side of the table without touching them using plastic cups and paper. I was quite surprised that this was a practical task and not, for example a case study. This is probably the most important part of the assessment centre. Unless you do really badly in the other steps of the process, if you shine in this you will get the job. Remember its not about the task (I was told that nobody actually managed to complete successfully the task), but about how you relate to others. You need to show your leadership and persuasion skills. They also greatly value if you take the first few minutes planning your tasks. Planning is what project management is about. Time keeping is also essential. It would be a good idea if you brought a stopwatch with you (no phones). 4) Buffet lunch with interviewers and candidates. 5) Psychometric test: these are paper based and similar the ones you did online. Nobody ever manages to finish all questions in the set time but the vast majority manages to pass the threshold. Questions have a similar format to the online tests. Questions are negatively marked so don't answer questions that you are not sure about. 6) Competency based interview: this is the interview you need to seriously prepare for. Get a book on essentials of project management from your university library and learn the principles. They will give you 8 pre-set questions. An example question could be: You are a product manager and the main suppliers are located in France, Poland and Israel?. However questions change all the time so there is no point listing them. The best way to prepare is to study a book about project management principles. Overall this assessment centre was challenging but very well organized. Everyone was really friendly and the interviewers try to prompt you and help you during the interview. Even if you don't get the job this assessment centre is a great learning experience.