Vodafone Grad Scheme 2017

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This is really appreciated! Although I don't know about anyone else but my AC is in the Newbury Head Office and it's a full day one....

No worries! Oh okay, I can't imagine it'll be any different to the AC I had! Are you applying to finance?

Hi guys sorry for the late reply.

So i'll tell you about my experience for the finance graduate scheme assessment centre in London I had this early this month. I was invited via email and had to choose whether I wanted to attend the morning or afternoon session. I decided to choose the morning because you want to be the first to shine haha. So onto the actual assessment centre day - it was to last from 8.30am to 12.30pm, however we didn't really start until 9.00am and we finished early. Until 9am, all the candidates (about 18 of us) were gathered in the seating area just chatting and getting to know each other. Chatting to everyone definitely helped calm my nerves. A current grad later came to join us for a quick chat and to answer any questions.

At 9 we had our photos taken and given name badges, then we were taken to a large meeting room for a company presentation. I highly suggest using this company presentation to your advantage by remembering additional key points about Vodafone such as its values and charitable work - you can use this information to help you in the tasks and make you look even more knowledgable about the company. After the company presentation we were split into 3 groups of about 5/6 for the assessment tasks. I was put into a group of 5 for my first task which was the group exercise.

The group exercise was one of the least stressful that I have experienced. For the task we had to discuss a new business idea Vodafone could venture into, discussing 5 main points that were given. The task takes 45mins, 20mins to read the relevant material alone which included graphs, tables and articles, 20 mins to discuss as a team and share your ideas, then 5 mins to present (as a team you have to decide who will present). I have some important advice here. For this task you must speak up and give your opinion, do not stay quiet and barely contribute, I can't stress this enough. Share your ideas in a confident and convincing manner, making sure you regularly contribute. However, do not interrupt others or dismiss someone's ideas, listen to everyone and respect their ideas, you do not want to come across as overbearing. After the discussion you must nominate someone to present. In my case, everyone wanted to present which is understandable. However it got to the point where we were taking too long to decide who to pick. At this point, instead of just nominating myself to present, I kindly asked one of the candidates if he wanted to go ahead and present seeing that he was keen, to which he agreed. I personally think this played to my advantage as it showed I was willing to let someone else present, even though I wanted to myself. The chosen person then stands up and presents the group's ideas to the assessors and gives our overall decision.

The next task was the individual presentation where you are put in a room with your team again and each given material to read for the presentation. For this you had to present a sort of business idea you think Vodafone should invest in and explain why. Again, you had to cover the 5-6 discussion points given to you. You get about 25 mins to read the materials and write up notes. After this you are taken to a seating area to present your ideas to an assessor. Although this sounds a little scary (believe me I was very nervous about this particular task) it wasn't that bad! You sit down opposite the assessor and have 10mins to give your case and present your ideas. Again, just make sure you are confident and present your ideas clearly. Use information in the materials to support your case and tie in the Vodafone brand and culture to your points. After 10mins the assessor asks you around 6 follow up questions about your ideas and conclusions. To me, the presentation seemed more like a formal conversation which made it less daunting, especially as I didn't have to stand up or use a whiteboard.

After this is the interview, which I was nervous about too. Luckily I had my interview with a lady from HR so I wasn't asked any specific finance-y questions. However even if you do get someone from finance they might just stick to asking the 5 questions. She introduced herself then asked me to introduce myself, then she went on to ask me 5 standard competency questions to do with team work, creativity, innovation, customer service and problem solving. I think she also asked me why I believe Vodafone should choose me (along those lines). After answering a competency question the interviewer may ask you follow up questions if they are not sure you have completely answered the question or want some more detail. This happened to me a couple times so its nothing to worry about. I would suggest using the STAR method when answering each question so your answers are clear and structured. The interview was actually quite short and lasted about 25 mins.

After the interview you and your group are given a quick online tour of the Newbury office and have the oppurtunity to ask any more questions. Then thats it! We were told we would get a call on Monday to tell us if we were successful, which thank God I was. All in all don't let your nerves hinder your confidence. Let your personality shine, contribute interesting and creative ideas and show a passion for Vodafone and its culture!

Sorry for the long post but I hope this will help. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Yes, Finance and Analytics On a side note, was the presentation based on a case study you had to do? That's the thing I'm most nervous about lol, especially the interrogation afterwards haha

Thank you so much it has got so much info. It has given me an idea of what will go on rather than me wondering and imagining the situation Atleast now I know what I need to focus on and prepare for


Thank you so much

No we didn't have a case study beforehand in advance or anything like that, just literally given the information on the day about 30mins before you give your presenation

And the questions the assessors asked you afterwards, were they quite probing/challenging?

Hi guys sorry for the late reply.

So i'll tell you about my experience for the finance graduate scheme assessment centre in London I had this early this month. I was invited via email and had to choose whether I wanted to attend the morning or afternoon session. I decided to choose the morning because you want to be the first to shine haha. So onto the actual assessment centre day - it was to last from 8.30am to 12.30pm, however we didn't really start until 9.00am and we finished early. Until 9am, all the candidates (about 18 of us) were gathered in the seating area just chatting and getting to know each other. Chatting to everyone definitely helped calm my nerves. A current grad later came to join us for a quick chat and to answer any questions.

At 9 we had our photos taken and given name badges, then we were taken to a large meeting room for a company presentation. I highly suggest using this company presentation to your advantage by remembering additional key points about Vodafone such as its values and charitable work - you can use this information to help you in the tasks and make you look even more knowledgable about the company. After the company presentation we were split into 3 groups of about 5/6 for the assessment tasks. I was put into a group of 5 for my first task which was the group exercise.

The group exercise was one of the least stressful that I have experienced. For the task we had to discuss a new business idea Vodafone could venture into, discussing 5 main points that were given. The task takes 45mins, 20mins to read the relevant material alone which included graphs, tables and articles, 20 mins to discuss as a team and share your ideas, then 5 mins to present (as a team you have to decide who will present). I have some important advice here. For this task you must speak up and give your opinion, do not stay quiet and barely contribute, I can't stress this enough. Share your ideas in a confident and convincing manner, making sure you regularly contribute. However, do not interrupt others or dismiss someone's ideas, listen to everyone and respect their ideas, you do not want to come across as overbearing. After the discussion you must nominate someone to present. In my case, everyone wanted to present which is understandable. However it got to the point where we were taking too long to decide who to pick. At this point, instead of just nominating myself to present, I kindly asked one of the candidates if he wanted to go ahead and present seeing that he was keen, to which he agreed. I personally think this played to my advantage as it showed I was willing to let someone else present, even though I wanted to myself. The chosen person then stands up and presents the group's ideas to the assessors and gives our overall decision.

The next task was the individual presentation where you are put in a room with your team again and each given material to read for the presentation. For this you had to present a sort of business idea you think Vodafone should invest in and explain why. Again, you had to cover the 5-6 discussion points given to you. You get about 25 mins to read the materials and write up notes. After this you are taken to a seating area to present your ideas to an assessor. Although this sounds a little scary (believe me I was very nervous about this particular task) it wasn't that bad! You sit down opposite the assessor and have 10mins to give your case and present your ideas. Again, just make sure you are confident and present your ideas clearly. Use information in the materials to support your case and tie in the Vodafone brand and culture to your points. After 10mins the assessor asks you around 6 follow up questions about your ideas and conclusions. To me, the presentation seemed more like a formal conversation which made it less daunting, especially as I didn't have to stand up or use a whiteboard.

After this is the interview, which I was nervous about too. Luckily I had my interview with a lady from HR so I wasn't asked any specific finance-y questions. However even if you do get someone from finance they might just stick to asking the 5 questions. She introduced herself then asked me to introduce myself, then she went on to ask me 5 standard competency questions to do with team work, creativity, innovation, customer service and problem solving. I think she also asked me why I believe Vodafone should choose me (along those lines). After answering a competency question the interviewer may ask you follow up questions if they are not sure you have completely answered the question or want some more detail. This happened to me a couple times so its nothing to worry about. I would suggest using the STAR method when answering each question so your answers are clear and structured. The interview was actually quite short and lasted about 25 mins.

After the interview you and your group are given a quick online tour of the Newbury office and have the oppurtunity to ask any more questions. Then thats it! We were told we would get a call on Monday to tell us if we were successful, which thank God I was. All in all don't let your nerves hinder your confidence. Let your personality shine, contribute interesting and creative ideas and show a passion for Vodafone and its culture!

Sorry for the long post but I hope this will help. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Sounds like a good experience Congrats for being successful!

Hi guys sorry for the late reply.

So i'll tell you about my experience for the finance graduate scheme assessment centre in London I had this early this month. I was invited via email and had to choose whether I wanted to attend the morning or afternoon session. I decided to choose the morning because you want to be the first to shine haha. So onto the actual assessment centre day - it was to last from 8.30am to 12.30pm, however we didn't really start until 9.00am and we finished early. Until 9am, all the candidates (about 18 of us) were gathered in the seating area just chatting and getting to know each other. Chatting to everyone definitely helped calm my nerves. A current grad later came to join us for a quick chat and to answer any questions.

At 9 we had our photos taken and given name badges, then we were taken to a large meeting room for a company presentation. I highly suggest using this company presentation to your advantage by remembering additional key points about Vodafone such as its values and charitable work - you can use this information to help you in the tasks and make you look even more knowledgable about the company. After the company presentation we were split into 3 groups of about 5/6 for the assessment tasks. I was put into a group of 5 for my first task which was the group exercise.

The group exercise was one of the least stressful that I have experienced. For the task we had to discuss a new business idea Vodafone could venture into, discussing 5 main points that were given. The task takes 45mins, 20mins to read the relevant material alone which included graphs, tables and articles, 20 mins to discuss as a team and share your ideas, then 5 mins to present (as a team you have to decide who will present). I have some important advice here. For this task you must speak up and give your opinion, do not stay quiet and barely contribute, I can't stress this enough. Share your ideas in a confident and convincing manner, making sure you regularly contribute. However, do not interrupt others or dismiss someone's ideas, listen to everyone and respect their ideas, you do not want to come across as overbearing. After the discussion you must nominate someone to present. In my case, everyone wanted to present which is understandable. However it got to the point where we were taking too long to decide who to pick. At this point, instead of just nominating myself to present, I kindly asked one of the candidates if he wanted to go ahead and present seeing that he was keen, to which he agreed. I personally think this played to my advantage as it showed I was willing to let someone else present, even though I wanted to myself. The chosen person then stands up and presents the group's ideas to the assessors and gives our overall decision.

The next task was the individual presentation where you are put in a room with your team again and each given material to read for the presentation. For this you had to present a sort of business idea you think Vodafone should invest in and explain why. Again, you had to cover the 5-6 discussion points given to you. You get about 25 mins to read the materials and write up notes. After this you are taken to a seating area to present your ideas to an assessor. Although this sounds a little scary (believe me I was very nervous about this particular task) it wasn't that bad! You sit down opposite the assessor and have 10mins to give your case and present your ideas. Again, just make sure you are confident and present your ideas clearly. Use information in the materials to support your case and tie in the Vodafone brand and culture to your points. After 10mins the assessor asks you around 6 follow up questions about your ideas and conclusions. To me, the presentation seemed more like a formal conversation which made it less daunting, especially as I didn't have to stand up or use a whiteboard.

After this is the interview, which I was nervous about too. Luckily I had my interview with a lady from HR so I wasn't asked any specific finance-y questions. However even if you do get someone from finance they might just stick to asking the 5 questions. She introduced herself then asked me to introduce myself, then she went on to ask me 5 standard competency questions to do with team work, creativity, innovation, customer service and problem solving. I think she also asked me why I believe Vodafone should choose me (along those lines). After answering a competency question the interviewer may ask you follow up questions if they are not sure you have completely answered the question or want some more detail. This happened to me a couple times so its nothing to worry about. I would suggest using the STAR method when answering each question so your answers are clear and structured. The interview was actually quite short and lasted about 25 mins.

After the interview you and your group are given a quick online tour of the Newbury office and have the oppurtunity to ask any more questions. Then thats it! We were told we would get a call on Monday to tell us if we were successful, which thank God I was. All in all don't let your nerves hinder your confidence. Let your personality shine, contribute interesting and creative ideas and show a passion for Vodafone and its culture!

Sorry for the long post but I hope this will help. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Hey guys!

Let me ask you one thing: are any of you applying from outside the UK? I applied to the Finance Graduate Program from Brazil (I'm eligible to work in the UK), i went all the way until the video interview with Hirevue, and in late December I received an e-mail telling me that I've been successful on that stage, and that I should wait a few weeks until they scheduled the assessment centers, assuring me not to worry with the delay because I would be booked in one of the days.
In late January I sent Vodafone an e-mail asking about the status of the process, and they replied me telling me that they were still scheduling the slots, however I should be advised that not all of the applicants who were sucessful in the video interview would be invited to the AC due to limited spaces (that disappointed me a little, to be honest), and they would send me an update when they have it.
Today is the 14th of February and nothing has come to me yet. Do you know if this is normal? If the process can take that long for foreigners?

Thank you in advance.

Hi there,

Did Vodafone confirm that you had passed the video interview and you were definitely going to an assessment centre?

The message I first received was the following:
"Thank you for taking the time to apply for the position of Discover Graduate Programme - Group Finance with Vodafone, and recently completing the video interview. We are pleased to tell you that you have been successful in this stage of the recruitment process. We will be in touch with you shortly to book you onto one of our Discovery Days (an Assessment Centre). All our Discovery Days will take place in the New Year, so you may not hear from us for a few weeks, but please be assured we will update you as soon as we can."

By the second sentence, I understood that I would be going to the assessment centre, since they told me they would get in touch to book me. Doesn't it seem like it?

One month later, when I contacted them asking about the status, I received this: "Following to our previous communication, we wanted to let you know that an interest in our Finance Graduate Discovery programme has been very high. Unfortunately, due to limited places at the Assessment Centre, we will not be able to invite all candidates. Should you be selected to be invited, we will be in contact with you. We would like to reassure you that your application is being considered and we will be in contact as soon as any update is available.".

That last e-mail was what left me a little disappointed, since I understood, from the first e-mail, that I would definitely go to the AC.

Hmm the second email made me doubtful because the first email sounded like you got into the assessment centre. Not everyone gets the first email, some only get the second. It may be the case where you actually have got into the assessment centre and the second email was just a general one sent to everyone. However, it may also be the case that they are quickly running out of spaces and you have actually been put in the "maybe" pile so to speak.
Either way I suggest keeping in contact with them because communication with them isn't great

Yes... from the first e-mail I was certain that I would go to the AC, but the second e-mail made me doubtful. I will keep in touch with them to acknowledge my situation, however they should be clearer in their communication, right? Living in Brazil, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I was very happy when I received the first e-mail on 13/12. I hope they send me an update soon.

Yes definitely keep in contact, Vodafone are known to be very bad with communicating with its applicants, especially as things are very busy at the moment. I completely understand your situation, it must be frustrating. Best of luck though, hopefully you'll hear some good news soon. Let us know how it goes