I applied through university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Sard Verbinnen & Co. (Nanjing, Jiangsu) in May 2019
Interview
The process began with an interview to gage interest and understanding of the position. Then there was a written test in which you are given information on a company and you have to prepare a press release. Since this position was in China there was also a Chinese writing test which was basically a translation and summary exercise.
The test was rather difficult as it had little guidance, but the part that really threw me was that there were spelling errors on it and the instructions were unclear. When I was informed that I didn't get the position I was told that I was not selected for the "internship" which I thought was a bit insulting considering I applied for a full time position.
Several meetings are conducted with various levels of leadership, the final interview is typically with the head of the regional office you are applying to. Expect to speak to junior members of staff first and then the head of HR.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you prioritize tasks?
What have you seen in the news lately that could have been handled better?
I applied online. I interviewed at Sard Verbinnen & Co. in June 2021
Interview
After sending in my CV and cover letter, I was invited to two initial interviews, an assessment task (at home) and an HR interview. (The total process took about 1.5months.) And then I didn't hear back for 2 weeks. When I wrote an email to ask about my application, I received a short email saying they found someone else for the role. I didn't get any feedback in between the interviews or afterwards. Really bad communication, not a great way to treat applicants.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why strategic comms?
Why SVC?
Pretty standard questions
The assessment task consisted of writing a press release, a grammar test and writing a summary of a text.