Application Process & Interviews at Fonterra

Phone interview then half day assessment centre and then onboarding. A few hurdles to get through but run well and make the most of the time booked

Assessment were great. very tiring and a fairly long process however i think this is necessary to get the right people. I have met many people who were involved in our hiring process. This made it great to form connections early and almost a familiar face when starting out.

It was a reasonably long and extensive process with numerous interviews and assessments. But it was also enjoyable.

Candidates go through online pre-recorded interviews, then online personality and aptitude tests, then an in-person assessment centre for half a day, including an in-person interview.

If your application is successful there are first some assessments and videos to complete. This involves some tests for numerical and logical abilities and some traits and drivers assessments. The video montage consists of some prompts you must record an answer for. Next came the assessment center which involved an hour phone call where I had 45 minutes to read about a scenario and come up with a solution to present and take questions on for the following 15 minutes. Next was an the in person stage where the same scenario was revisited and a solution was discussed as a group with some curveballs thrown in. Interviews followed this activity.

For the graduate program we had to submit an application, undertake a series of online psychological, personality and logical reasoning tests, complete a short phone interview, then a 6 hour assessment center, then another phone call before meeting in person to accept a contract. For first roles off the program, we were given a list of roles, then had to rank our top three and have a casual chat with the hiring team for our top three choices before we were placed in a role. This process was very rushed and unorganised.

Multiple interviews and assessments. It was alot of work, definitely more intense than other recruitment options.

The process was good, we had initial video montages and Physico metric testing and then we had the assessment center. The process did seem to take a while but I think thats just because of the scale they are working at. The interview was a case study and then an interview section but it was all online and individual. The date of this was pushed back a couple of times and went from being in person to being online.

Quite long like alot of large companies - phone interview + assessment centre + psychometric tests

Standard interview process. Interesting seeing Dairy Island being used as an assessment tool

Rigorous application process, well managed and clear communication throughout.

It was quite long and included a whole morning of online assessments - the preparation for which took me 15 hours. This was very stressful on top of my uni work, especially since there was no guarantee of success.

I had a 5-minute phone interview after the initial application and then progressed to a virtual assessment day on Teams, which took about 5 hours or so. It involved learning a bit about Fonterra from leaders, a business case presentation, some teamwork and then an interview.

Getting into FGTP was very stressful. Recruitment occurred at a difficult time - mid semester during a very busy period. It was overly extensive with multiple interviews, presentations, tests, and assessment centers. It needs to be made more concise and timed to align with semester breaks. The current hiring process for first roles post program is also slightly worrying. A major objective for this process is to retain as many FGTPs as possible (understandably). I am worried this means FGTP's with very little flex in roles/locations are more likely to get their first role preference, while people with more flex will be assigned lower preferences in the instance of conflicting preferences. It could disregard development reasons and result in a role-FGTP allocation that does not align with candidates for the right reasons. Very difficult as you want everyone to be happy.

multiple stages of interviews, assessments and workshops - seemed reasonable

FGTP 2nd round 2023

I think it was the right strenuous interview process, but maybe a bit too extreme for the end result of the type of work that we end of being involved with. Definitely saw that with the interview process when presenting about strategy as it required multiple weeks of prep and research to present which was very intense period.

Very in-depth interview with multiple stages. Phone screen, psychometric test, group assessment day, two individual interviews with key stakeholders.

Testing - psychometric, reading, writing, math's - online question response video submissions - assessment center with inter view and group activities

Had a psychometric test, a 1-way recorded interview type thing, and then a big assessment day activity with others as well as an interview

Typical questions for a graduate

When you've made a mistake and how you fixed it.

I cant remember the exact questions we were asked but it covered the typical areas such as finding out more about us, our background and our interests. They asked more technical questions and allowed us to share any previous work history. There was extensive effort put into finding out more about the behavioral and competency aspect. Also time for a question and answer section which allows for a more informal conversation.

Lots of behavioral-type questions.

Questions about my background and experience and "tell me about a time when" type questions

For the grad program: Tell us about a time you make a mistake and how you worked to solve it. Tell us about a time you had group conflict and what you did about it. And other such classic interview questions. For the first role off program it was very much a casual chat about ourselves, the role and why we thought we would suit that role.

STAR questions and some about what I wanted to do with my career and some about my experiences.

Why do you want to join the program?

Standard interview questions.

Cannot remember - pretty generic i.e reasons for joining Fonterra etc, give me an example when...

Can't remember sorry

Lots

Don't really remember, but it was primarily around how you work in teams and specific work scenarios.

It was quite awhile ago so I'm not sure sorry. possibly like examples of times I had to show leadership, or teamwork

Why did you apply for Fonterra? What are your values that align with the Co-op? More situational questions about demonstrating when you work in a team and to provide examples and solutions to problems in the past. And to talk about yourself.

Typical questions - can't remember anything unexpected

Generic behavioural questions, how do you stand out, what makes you different, etc.

Normal questions

Questions around strengths, challenges, adaptability, and progression career wise.

Background, Interests within the industry and in my personal life. Why did I want to work for this company. What would my dream role be, provide examples for a difficult work situation, positive interactions, success story etc.

Need to be flexible and prepared to work for a large corporate with several locations, prepared to potentially move to a new location

Learn lots about fonterra and the company structure - why there are a co-op and how does this help them. Understand how different dairy industries around the world work.

Be prepared to use lots of examples and stories to help provide insight into your answers.

Learn about the business and come prepared with questions about the role to help seem interested and enthusiastic. Prepare answers for the "tell me about a time when" type questions by googling those types of questions and writing down answers for practice.

Understand that the whole company philosophy is about returning the best value to the farmers.

Prepare for generic interview questions. For the assessment just make sure to discuss your thoughts with your team and have a reason to support your reasonings.

Prepare some STAR answers beforehand and write down some scenarios you want to talk about otherwise you can get overwhelmed and forget.

Research the company values and what the company does

Do your research about the company and the role you are going for

Know the company, how it works and strategy.

Be honest and personable in the interviews. Don't spend too long on assessment center presentations, use them as example to show how you can simplify problems are make logical decisions and communicate your reasonings. Getting a perfect pitch/solution is not necessary.

Research about the Co-op and what makes Fonterra different to our competitors

Know the values of the company you are applying for and think of answers to generic interview questions

I think the main advice would to be really understand the global picture and how working within Fonterra might benefit both the company and your own career journey/trajectory. Best prepare by understanding the business and what makes it tick. How does it make money? What areas will you be of fit to the co-op?

Be yourself. Make sure to show leadership in group assessments. Very important to talk to past experience and learning from that.

Know the company you're applying for, be yourself and be sociable, honest and friendly

Research the values and ensure they align with yours, bring your whole self - we want to see who you are, what you value, and what your hobbies are, be prepared and practice interview-style questions and settings beforehand

Read up about the company, quite a bit of things you could refer to that you are interested in or relate your experiences too. But otherwise just be keen to learn, whether you stay in the same job or change role you will always need to be agile to learn.

Talk to someone from the co-op or past graduates for advice. Get involved in the company, ask to come to the office and see what it's like. Ask more questions about the graduate program structure.

Even if you might be wrong, say it honestly and with confidence, not arrogance. Be yourself and if you can, research your interviewees and the company itself to death.