Applications for Cerillion’s 2020 Graduate Consultant intake have opened. Olivia Rothnie-Jones gives a rundown on who we are looking for and what to expect from the recruitment process.
Finding the right people to join our teams is one of the most important challenges we face, and something we at Cerillion think is worth investing the time in to get right.
Our teams are full of intelligent people who are passionate about cutting edge technology. We have staff across the globe, in our own offices and on client sites.
At the Graduate Consultant level, we are looking for bright people at the start of their careers who will become the leaders of tomorrow.
We recruit from any educational and professional background. Our priority is finding curious, creative people with a passion to learn. So we don’t insist you have a background in Computer Science. Past candidates have come from Law, International Business, Quantum Physics, Politics, Engineering, Economics – you name it.
Our recruitment process is a short one. We don’t go in for multiple stages spread over months, we try to get one concentrated day with you so we can learn about you in a range of settings. This also gives you the chance to meet us, see the office and learn about us in our natural setting.
The process is:
1. Application: CV, cover letter and short answer (400 words) to application question
2. Call for brief chat and invitation to assessment day
3. Assessment day
4. Offer
Assessment days
We think they are fun. And it’s not just us; past candidates have fed back that they have enjoyed the days too, with the opportunity to meet so many of the Cerillion team, and the fact that it has meant they recognise some friendly faces when they join.
They are intimate. There will usually be about 6 of you, though quite a few of us: we like to introduce you to people from across the business.
Assessment days are conducted by a mixture of people from HR and from within the teams you will be working with – your future managers, project managers, solution architects, etc.
The day involves a range of activities, including individual and group tasks, a comprehension test and an interview. The individual and group tasks are designed to reflect the type of work you will do at Cerillion.
You will also hear a couple of presentations from us, so you can learn about the business and how we will support your growth and career development.
The day includes lunch with our current Graduate Consultants. This is your opportunity to get it from the horse’s mouth: the assessors won’t be in the room so you can ask those questions you might have been shy to ask in the interview. They can tell you about their experiences, the type of work they do, what they think of the company culture, etc.
It is however a long day. We start with pastries for breakfast, on the terrace if it’s warm enough. And there will be plenty of opportunities to make yourself a tea or coffee in the kitchen. But you will be “on” all day, and you will be tired by the end of it, especially if you’ve travelled in from out of London.
Offers and starting
We are flexible as to how many graduates we will take in a given year. Cerillion is growing quickly and our goal is to find the right people, so we will make offers to as many people as we think are right for us. This means you’re not competing against your fellow attendees; in fact at our most recent assessment day we made an offer to everybody! We have not yet had a day where we didn’t make at least one offer.
We also make offers quickly. Our current record is on the same day! But it is usually within a week or two. And whether you are successful or not, if you attended an assessment day you will always hear from us.
When it comes to starting work at Cerillion, we like you to start together. It is not always possible, but we try to strike the balance between being flexible to your availability – people often have exams, dissertations or notice periods – and grouping start dates so you have other new joiner pals.
Like the sound of it? Applications for our 2020 intake are currently being taken, so please get in touch. Apply by visiting
https://www.cerillion.com/about-us/Careers or email your questions to us at
graduate.recruitment@cerillion.com.