Interview & selection day: content, schedule, selection criteria

What’s important to us and why we conduct interviews, assessment center and selection days

Using our application process, we want to find out whether you fit into the team not only in terms of your technical expertise, but also personally. In our interviews, we’ll ask you various questions which you should answer using specific examples if possible. Ideally, these are examples from your own career, but you can also use other situations for this. What we want is to get to know you as a person so that we can make an assessment.

Group of women and men in a meeting room

Example questions

What values generally guide you?
How do you approach complex topics?
How do you respond to challenges and difficulties?
How do you go about dealing with other people?
In what form do you take responsibility?
And how do you deal with self-reflection?

We also want to know what compliance and integrity mean to you personally, how you uphold them, and how you make sure that others uphold them.

About the Code of Conduct

Interview & Assessment Center
^{(PhD programme, experienced professionals)}

If you apply for the PhD programme or a job for experienced professionals and we like your application, we invite you to our interview or assessment center day so that we can get to know you a little better. Depending on the entry level, this may involve the Talent Selection Interview, the Selection Day for Professionals, or the Individual Assessment Center Management.

Brief overview

Our first meeting with you includes an interdisciplinary interview and various exercises depending on the entry level, such as being asked to give a presentation. An online test must be completed in advance.

The interview or assessment center usually takes place online using the Teams programme

Language: German or English

Online interview: tips & hints

Preparation
We invite you to our interview or assessment center in good time so that you can get ready for it.
If your assessment center includes a presentation task, that task will be described in your invitation.
Otherwise, we recommend that you take another look at Volkswagen as a company, what makes us special and what our corporate values are.
Technical requirements
Because the interview or assessment center usually takes place online, you should make sure in advance that you have a quiet, undisturbed place to talk. You also need a computer, smartphone or tablet with a microphone and webcam, optionally a headset with integrated microphone – and a reliable internet connection.
In case of a presentation task, make sure you know how to share the presentation from your device.
In case you have technical issues for whatever reason, the invitation includes a dial-in phone number in addition to the dial-in link.
More about the online interview: Tips and hints
What matters
We want to use the interview or assessment center to get to know you better so that we can assess how well you fit into our team and Volkswagen.
It may sound obvious, but just be yourself. When you talk to us, show us who you are, what’s important to you, the values you live by and how you tackle challenges and complex situations. Use specific examples if possible, ideally from your working environment and/or studies. The best way to do this is to put yourself in our place and think about what we need to know about you.
Who takes part
Usually, three observers take part in the interview or assessment center:
a representative of the relevant department or a closely related one
a representative from HR
a moderator (if necessary)
In an assessment center, the moderator guides everyone through the session, presents the tasks and question areas, and explains the selection criteria. The other two observers usually just listen, but may ask questions in between.
Acceptance or "rejection"
After the interview or assessment center, you will receive personal, criteria-oriented feedback from us and find out whether you have passed. If you have, we usually give a commitment straight away, subject to any signatures that need to be obtained, and go through the next steps with you up to onboarding.
Learn more about the onboarding

Good to know

Interview for an Internship or Bachelor's or Master's thesis

If you have applied for an internship or a dissertation (Bachelor's / Master's thesis) and impressed us, we will invite you to an interview. This will be organised and conducted by the respective department, which means that the interview may differ from those for the PhD programme or for experienced professionals. The interview usually lasts between 30 and 60 minutes and can take place either online or in person on site.

Selection Day
^{(vocational training, dual study programme)}

If you apply for one of our entry opportunities for those at school (such as vocational trainings) and we like your application, the department invites you to a selection day to get to know each other.

On the selection day, you get to meet us in person — and we get to know you. On site, you will complete an additional online test. Furthermore you take part in an interview in which we would like to learn more about you. After the interview, you will receive brief feedback straight away.

What happens during the interview?
Your interviewers will come from the department for which you are applying or from the recruiting team.
Usually, you will begin by introducing yourself and taking us through your background — you will have around five minutes for this.
Afterwards, we will take a closer look at your experiences.
We would also like to understand how motivated you are to learn new things and develop further, how you contribute within a team, and where your strengths and areas for development lie.
It is not about perfection, but about recognising your potential and growing together with you.
What is the online test?

German or English?

Which language is actually spoken during the interview, assessment center or selection day?

The interviews and assessment centers are conducted in German or English, depending on your native language and the requirements of the respective department. Switching between German and English during an interview or assessment center usually does not take place.

Interviews for vocational trainings and dual study programmes are conducted exclusively in German.