A two-way process

Interview & Assessment

Interviews and assessments are led by our Talent Acquisition team in close cooperation with the hiring manager.

Remember that an interview is always a two-way process: The interview allows us to find out about your skills and experiences, but also for you to get to know Arla and the job in order to be able to decide if Arla is the right place for you to grow and develop.

Your initial meeting with us will most likely be with the recruiter via phone, and the second interview with the hiring manager on site. For specialist and manager roles, you will also be invited to a third interview. At this interview you meet both the recruiter and the manager, and often you will be asked to complete some tests beforehand on which you will receive feedback at the meeting.

We focus on diversity and inclusion in the recruitment process, and all our recruiters are trained to support our managers in recruiting a diverse team of colleagues so that they drive the growth of their department.

Below you find more detailed information on our interview process which usually consists of three different steps. However, the interview process can vary according to the respective position and country.

Interview process

First interview

Selected candidates are invited to an initial interview. Typically, one of our recruiters will simply just give you a call by phone. All our recruiters have deep insight into the specific function and business area within Arla and you will always get a thorough introduction to both the role and department.

During the telephone interview, the recruiter will ask you to elaborate on your application and maybe ask a few questions to make sure that there is a match between your expectations and the position before moving on to the next step of the process.

In some recruitments we also use on-demand video interview, which in short means that if you made it through the first process step, you will receive an invite to do a video recording. During the video interview you will be asked 5-7 questions relative to your experience and motivation for the role. All that is needed to do the video interview is quiet place for 15 minutes, a pc with a camera or a smart phone. A video interview may seem a bit intimidating to some, but you should see this as an invitation to add more aspects to your resume and application. You will of course get more information in case you are invited to a video interview.

Second interview

At the second interview you will meet the hiring manager. This will most often be a face to face meeting where the hiring manager will give you a thorough description of the job and you will be able to present yourself – both your professional competencies and you as a person. In some occasions this meeting is an online meeting, however regardless of format, this meeting will give you the opportunity to ask all the questions you may have regarding the job so you to get the best possible understanding of “what it is like”.

And remember, if you get the job you will always be a big influence yourself – depending on your strengths and competencies you will shape the job in a direction that no other candidate would. That is the opportunity for both you and your hiring manager.

Third interview

Following the second interview, for leadership and specialist positions, we invite 2-3 candidates for a third interview.

At this interview we will continue the in-depth discussions about the job and your individual and professional qualifications. Typically, the hiring manager, as well as the recruiter that you met during the first interview, will participate in the interview. Sometime the hiring manager will also invite a team member to join part of the meeting to give the candidate the best possible insight into the specific work area. We will often use cases in this part of the process. In practice this means that you will either have been asked to prepare something beforehand, or we will present you with this at the meeting. You will of course always be informed so you know what to expect.

To ensure that we gain a complete representation of you and therefore, the best possible foundation for the final selection process, we use assessment tools to assess skills relevant to the particular role. You will be asked to com-plete an online personality questionnaire that reviews your behavior and preferred working styles and you will also be asked to complete a cognitive assessment. You will receive thorough feedback on both tests during the interview.

We believe that a thorough recruitment process is crucial to ensure that we hire the right person for the job, the team and Arla.

Be yourself and remember that everyone has competencies to further develop – and do not forget to tell us what makes you unique and what motivates you.