Sollicitatievragen bij Rabobank

De sollicitatieprocedure duurde 2 weken waarbij ik twee keer heb gesproken met een recruiter en één keer met iemand die werkt bij de RABO Bank. Ik moest ook twee e-assessments afleggen (cognitieve vaardigheden en taalvaardigheden). De tijd die je krijgt voor cognitieve vaardigheden is erg kort, namelijk 12 minuten voor 50 vragen. De vragen zijn niet zo moeilijk als de oefentesten die je online kan vinden, maar wel uitdagend. De taalvaardigheden toets is te doen. Je moet weten wanneer je d, t, of dt moet plaatsen, of je hen, zij of hun in een zin moet gebruiken en de betekenis van woorden. Een voorbeeld is of de woorden ONTVLAMBAAR en VLAMBAAR dezelfde betekenis hebben, tegenstelde betekenis of niet verwant. Na de test volgt er een laatste gesprek waarbij je een aantal vragen krijgt. Let op dat je altijd je antwoord motiveert. Als je zegt dat je doelgericht bent en een doorzetter, geef dan voorbeelden uit je eigen leven. Wees ook op de hoogte van de laatste nieuws rondom RABO bank (bijvoorbeeld op het gebied van innovatie) en waar ze voor staan. Ze willen vooral weten of jij past bij de RABO bank dus wees open, spreek duidelijk en niet onzeker, lach af en toe en kleed je ook netjes aan.

There were 2 rounds. 1 HR round and 1 technical interview. The technical interview was about previous experience and motivation to join the company. A few database questions were asked

Gesprek via Teams. Gesprekspartners deden uit de hoogte. Mag wel iets vriendelijker gezien de krapte op de arbeidsmarkt. Daarnaast duurde de procedure langer dan gemiddeld bij andere bedrijven voor sollicitatiegesprekken.

Applied via website. Had a talk with recruitment office via phone, followed by a Teams call with department manager. Feedback was given by department manager as well. Overall company was very flexible and courteous.

Straightforward interview process for the summer internship. CV and skills review, then in-person technical and non-technical interview with different members of the team/office. Warm community, encouraging one to make the best of the work experience opportunity.

Muito eficiente, fizeram perguntas fechadas e focadas na área, a pessoa que me entrevistou demonstrou conhecimento da área técnica, ainda que sua área seja o departamento pessoal e recrutamento. Depois da primeira etapa de entrevista, vieram as provas de idioma, raciocínio lógico e psicotécnico, na terceira etapa veio a prova prática de conhecimento técnico em programação com tema de desenvolvimento livre.

1. motivation and behavioral questions (20 min) 2. test(20 min): - basic Excel test - problem-solving skills : provide some background information and introduction to system, then show you a rejection from regulators and ask you how to understand the rejection and how do you think to solve it

Had 2 interviews with 2 different departments simultaneously. Department 1: interview with 1 IT lead and 1 HR. Highly disappointing, IT lead attitude was too arrogant. He was crossing his arms most of the time. At his level, he should realize that he’s also the company’s ambassador on an interview process. He questioned my experience with different technologies in a condescending tone, as if he didn’t believe what I mentioned. Why didn’t he just ask a more technical question then if he wanted to test? His questions were vague. He also seemed to not be interested from the beginning of the interview because he was distracted and basically listening to someone else in the room! (I assumed he was in a public work area because i can hear people chatting since he forgot to mute his headset and at some point he take his headset off one ear). When it was my turn to ask questions, I ask questions about the team because the job posting was basically too vague. Even his team’s department was in abbreviation. He immediately became defensive and answered “why didnt you google that?”. Well I’m very sure HE didnt, because there are tons of things with that abbreviation. Honestly, I cant believe this guy is on a managerial level. He definitely needs trainings! If he really didn’t want to interview me from the beginning, he should have not invited me for an interview. Or if he’s being forced to by the recruiter, dont project his annoyance on me. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. I immediately withdrew my application after. No way I’m going to have him as my manager. No thank you. Department 2: A bit better. The first interview was with an IT lead and a Scrum Master. Honestly this one went very well. Great attitude and professionalism from both people. I had a good feeling and, at least for Rabobank, these people neutralized the impression I had from Dept 1 and gave me a good impression of the company/company’s culture (“oh, maybe it’s just Dept 1 that has people with bad attitude”… or so I thought). I received second interview from Dept 2, this time with a different Scrum Master and a Product Owner. Boy oh boy was this a 180 degree different from the first interview. The first question was of course the legendary “Why do you want to leave your current company?”. I’m not even exaggerating that they drilled me for just that one question. Like having a 5 whys just on this topic. Smh. Dont these guys read the news? They work in a bank. There’s a high inflation. People are looking for a better opportunity to tackle it. I kept my ground though. Staying professional, but in my head my impression is decreasing. This time around, the scrum master just all talk and didn’t listen to my answer. Honestly, already a huge red flag. I was so frustrated by the know-it-all scrum master because he just doesnt understand IT processes or good engineering practice (well he did say in the beginning of the interview he only cares about functional stuffs not the IT stuffs). The whole interview was like an interrogation. Like they didnt believe my answers. (Again, this can be tackled by technical questions in my opinion). Compared to Dept 1,I think Scrum Master just over acted his attitude. Product Owner’s attitude was much more professional. His face was in horror when he heard his scrum master colleague said a swear word in the beginning of the interview. Poor guy, he tried to defuse his colleague’s out of line attitude a few times. In the end Product Owner even tried to ask questions that are hinting that they like me (or their IT colleagues at least). But in the end of the interview I already made up my mind. My impression was not good. Too bad though, i really liked the the people from the first interview. So in the end, I withdrew my application again. Feedback from my side to Rabobank: train your employees on how to give interviews. Job interviews go both ways. It also gives a huge impression on the company and the management.

Applied online. Two weeks later I receive an email scheduling the interview online with the Head of the Department and an Associate. It was a great experience, with very friendly people and simple questions.

1. First interview with the Product Owner. The description said that the job salary is a scale of 7, around 3300 - 4000ish gross per month, so I expect this is a junior position. During the interview, the person said they wanted a mid-senior person for this position.