I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at BASF (Ghent)
Interview
I applied online for a position in Ghent, Belgium and was invited for an interview. The interview was online with the HR person and the Hiring Manager. I was told I would hear back from them in 1 month. I was called by HR 2 weeks later to tell me I was not selected. It was nice that they called. I did not ask for feedback. Still, they decided to give it to me anyhow in a very unpleasant tone: "We are looking for someone who will be the driver of innovation, you know, really drive the innovation, and we just don't see that in you...I mean you are just, you know, just "like that", more like an ordinary employee"—very condescending attitude when delivering this feedback. Profound employee disrespect, since every employee, no matter how "ordinary", deserves respect - this might drive innovation much more than anyone thinks. Finally, real leaders are usually hidden where you don't expect to find them, but this might be too high of a psychology for some.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Most questions focused on trying to deduce my personality in a way too basic for someone with multiple years of experience and a PhD in STEM:
- describe the time when you solved a problem
- where do you see yourself in 5 years (really?!)
There was no talk about the science nor what would be my actual job there.
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at BASF in Feb 2011
Interview
Standard day-long interview, with a 1:1 interview on the hour every hour. Also 1 hour lunch (non-interview) and 1 hour presentation. Presentation questions were fair and basic. Interview questions were fair, but some tended to be very technical. There was no phone interview prior to the on-site. Other than scientific knowledge, two things they value are safety consciousness and entrepreneurialism. Very nice people though. Being asked deeply technical questions are fine, but I felt that a couple questions were not very valuable, because you could easily look up the answer in wikipedia in 3 seconds.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you pursued an idea that other people didn't agree with, but you pursued it anyway, and then the people conformed to your idea.
