Dear All,

I am having an upcoming interview at Novartis for an HR (recruiting) position. Any advice on the types on questions I should prepare?

Thanks in advance.

Well.. good luck and all that.. but can't help notice the irony.. you're interviewing for a job which involves interviewing people and you're asking a bunch of strangers for help with how to handle an interview....

'Is the sole purpose of you hiring me is that I tell the other 1000's they no longer have a job?'

'Once I have done that, do I also need to tell myself that as well?'

If I was invited to interview as a RECRUITER for a company that just made headlines for laying off thousands of employees... I'd be asking myself if I really wanted to be part of a recruitment and retention team for a company that obviously doesn't value its human capital.

Remember to ask pointedly about accomodation options in the Nyon area

Yes; look elsewhere...

Unfortunately we can't all work for churches or other goody-goody organizations. Most people just need the money a job pays.

Good luck in your interview, poster.

Hi ipoddle,

Yes, you are right, interviewing is a part of my job description and what I do on a daily basis.

As I have a long experience in the area, I know that interviews can be really different and no matter how good you are and how many questions you have prepared the answers to, you are always in for surprises.

The reason why I asked for advice was because I thought that someone could have a hint from previous experiences with Novartis. This will help me work better on the direction of my preparation. I have done too many interviews to not know that preparation, or more importantly, the RIGHT preparation, is what gets you the job. It is NOT how good you are in reality and what you have achieved so far. Sad but true.

Regards

This will definitely not get me the job, don't you think so? But I DO understand the well-deserved sarcasm in it.

Thanks for that!
And, yes, you are right! I do need the money and the job! Call me crazy, but I even think I could contribute to making things better for the people working in Novartis! (some day)

Hi PaddyG,

Are you still working in Crucell? How is it working there for you?

WTF?

Any tips?
........ "don't think long term"

Nope, I've moved on since then. Now working for another Pharma company in Bern.

good on you! I heard they are facing some tough times at the moment

As far as I can tell, the J&J takeover has provided a lot of investment capital, but quite a bit of insecurity at the same time. I left about 6 months before it all happened anyway.

It seems that as it it goes in any take-over, the "old" employees do not seem to be valued as much and are quickly "shown the door". I am now having a lot of people contacting me wanting to leave their jobs.

Hi All,

I think I should have been more specific with my questions? Could anyone give me examples of the Competency Based Questions that they were asked in a Novartis interview? For those, who are not familiar with the term CBQ, please check: http://www.interview-skills.co.uk/co...nterviews.aspx

Thanks for your help. My interview date is just around the corner

I wish you good luck in your interview. I cant help but notice though that people who have never worked for NVS are dying to do so, thy think it is a dream job...maybe for some...

I'd rather throw myself in the hippopatomus pen at the zoo than work at Novartis.

but I do like their Ritalin.

even working for the church poses moral problems regarding how they handle kids.