Bertelsmann Interview Questions
& Process

I had a video screening with HR that was under 30 minutes. Then, I was invited to a video chat with the hiring manager, which lasted about 45 minutes. It was pretty conversational and unstructured, with no formal competency questions, mostly just talking about my background and the role. It wasn't a bad interview, but it was frustrating because the hiring manager kept insisting on previous publishing experience, even though the advert and HR hadn't mentioned it. Since it was clear from my CV that I didn't have publishing experience, and I'd prepped a lot for the interviews, it felt like a waste of time being interviewed at all. But hey, all interview experience is good practice.

We had a 30-min chat with HR about the company, the interviewers, and then I introduced myself, talked about my motivation, leadership skills, company values, and asked my own questions. Then, a 120-min session with the Hiring Manager where they introduced themselves, I introduced myself, discussed my motivation, whether I'm a good fit personality-wise and skill-wise, did a case study, and asked my own questions. There were always two or more people in the interviews.

The interview process kicked off with HR interviews on campus during my MBA program. After that, I had a second round with senior executives at Bertelsmann's corporate HQ in Germany. The final round was with the CEO of Bertelsmann. Most of the interviews were about cultural fit and my thoughts on the industry, my background, and my BEP plans. They were pretty open-ended and conversational. However, one of the execs surprised me with a traditional consultancy-style business case. I managed to get through it and made the final cut! It was a fun process overall, and I enjoyed meeting a variety of people.

I applied online, then had a phone interview about a week later. After that, I was invited for an in-person interview. This involved meeting one person initially, followed by a panel of three, and then another panel of four. I felt like I was being asked the same questions repeatedly, which made the whole process exhausting and unengaging. At one point during a panel interview, three of the interviewers seemed to be waiting for each other to come up with questions on the spot, and it was so bad I almost wanted to leave because it was clear the questions weren't well-thought-out.