I recently had the misfortune of being part of the National Grid Interview process. I was contacted about a month after I applied. My resume was outdated by the time they reached out to me. Upon first impression, it seemed like they were serious about finding a good candidate. The first round interview was about 45 minutes, with three interviewers reading questions from a script and taking notes. A lot of the interview felt like an interrogation session towards the middle. I didn't think I did too well. I had trouble hearing the interviewers' questions and responses throughout the meeting. A lot of questions during the first round interview involved telling me a trait about the company / role, and asking me how I can contribute.
I was invited to the second round interview through email. A 20-30ish minute round with an individual who held a higher position within the company. I chose an interview time, and the confirmation that was sent back to me didn't show the same time that I selected on the slot. It's a good thing I looked at the time and date carefully. They silently scheduled the interview for a time I didn't select. Was this some sort of technical test to see if I paid attention to detail? I'm not sure.
The interviewer was late to the interview. I can't say I was surprised. There weren't really any technical questions, the exact opposite of what was stated in my interview confirmation. No excel assessment as far as I was aware. Both rounds were mostly behavioral questions, such as "tell me about a time you did ___". There was one single technical question towards the end of the second interview, and from the wording of their question, the interviewer didn't seem to believe I would be able to answer it properly. I gave my response, and got a nod of approval that you get when something is answered correctly. The interviewer also at one point, cut me off while I was answering one of their questions. I'm not sure what the point of that was. Why be a part of the interview if you aren't going to put your best foot forward to find a candidate? During the interview, that individual stated that the company hires internally and promotes a diverse set of employees. Yea, I didn't really get that impression.
I received a follow up email about a week later. If you receive an interview invite or offer from this company, I would tread carefully, with lots of caution. Good luck!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you want to work for our company in particular?
Tell me about yourself / introduce yourself?
How have you implemented / used financial ratios in your previous role?
How would you say your excel skills are?
What would you say is a strength?
What would you say is a weakness?
How do you handle feedback in the workplace?
Tell me about a time you had to handle multiple tasks at once?
Why do you believe diversity is a good thing in the workplace?
Walk me through your resume.
The whole process felt like a sham and they needed to tick a box. Recruiter who reached out had the title of Recruiter Manager, but treated the whole interview like a joke, and constantly butted in. Advanced me to the second round in person, and they couldn't even get the analytics manager on the call. Instead they had me go in person, and the whole time they were reading the questions and filing in a packet. Couldn't feel more blatantly like they were ticking a box with a candidate to meet certain requirmenets. If you decide to try to work for national grid, watch your back
Thorough. Robust. Friendly interviewers. Humanistic. It was very back and forth. They were not intimidating and open to debate. I met the HR manager first then the hiring manager. I was not keen on the position but it was a great experience.
They sent over a virtual interview portal with some basic questions, such as tell me about yourself and why do you want work here. I also had to do some games to test IQ and memory.