Centrica Graduate Program Interview Questions
& Process

The initial process was an online screening, which consisted of a 5 minutes presentation about why you are a good fit and the rest are standard interview questions. The next step was an assessment centre, which was also not difficult but the attitudes of everyone working there really put me off. Everything consisted of group work, another standard interview (prepare yourself for behavioural questions, they really do not care how passionate you are about the energy industry and how much you know about it, really embarrassing honestly), and a case study. The case study is a joke, you’ll only have about 2 sentences on your paper and the interviewer will roll their eyes if you try to be a bit creative with your answer. Really bad experience, but at the same time, given that the assessment centre was in person at least you get a glimpse of how (bad) it is to work there.

After applying, the whole thing was pretty fast, took about 2 weeks. First up was a phone interview at the end of October. Then, the Assessment Centre (AC) at the start of November, which had 3 parts. The first part was a group exercise. You really need to have dug into their website beforehand, otherwise, you'll struggle with the technical stuff. Be sure to speak up and be clear, share your ideas, but also really pay attention to what others in your group are saying. The next part was an individual presentation about a technical project you did. Make sure you cover not just the tech details but also the broader perspective, like potential challenges down the road and shorter-term issues. Finally, there were 3 one-on-one interviews. The first one had typical competency questions, so have examples ready that show you align with their values, using the STAR method. The second was a technical interview; it's more about seeing how you approach problems than whether you know the exact answer, so talk through your thought process. The third was a motivations interview, asking about why you're interested in this role and your future aspirations. Everyone there is super nice. Before the AC, they give you a heads-up on what to expect, so definitely follow their advice because that's what they're assessing you on – like using STAR for competency questions and understanding industry challenges. I got feedback that I didn't quite nail the technical challenges part (long vs. short term) in my presentation.

Sent in an online application and got rejected after a few weeks. Then, they called to say they'd set up a telephone interview for the very next day (the only slot available). I was told it would be 15 minutes, not specific to the programme, and like an SJT based on their values. But it turned out to be totally about the specific programme, was meant to be around 45 mins, and included competencies. I obviously didn't get through since I prepped for the wrong things.