Ecolab Field / Application Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process included describing cooling towers and boilers and their working principles. Then, there was a discussion about the internship and a project. HR questions followed, focusing on how to manage an organization. There was also a group activity where ideas needed to be considered, and a final decision made on which idea to pursue.

It's a pretty long process - 4 interviews: 1) interview with a manager, 2) interview with a manager + his manager, 3) field day, 4) interview with an executive. Initially I applied for one district but was eliminated in the first step. Then I was forwarded to another smaller district. I went through the entire process and was given an offer. The interviews are pretty conversational. The management and executives were great people and easy to talk to. They want to figure out who you are as a person and how well you'll do in the role and company. Use the interviews to figure out if you're compatible. Overall, the process was too long, although I understand why they have it structured the way they do. What I learned: the managers are awesome, the job is 100% on the road (no office), expect to be in dirty environments/get dirty, expect to be in the job for 5-10 years, there is no pressure, the benefits are outstanding. As a final note, I got the impression each district has unique management style/personality. I really liked the manager at the district I got the offer in.

This was a phone interview. It felt like a typical HR screening aimed at finding reasons to reject candidates. I didn't get why HR seems to prefer candidates who were laid off or are currently employed, as if they're looking for the bottom 10% or dating married people. I explained why I was let go, but it felt like there was no effort to understand. The HR person seemed to want 'worker bee' types who were completely devoted to the company, which is unrealistic given the lack of reciprocity from companies. What's worse, she seemed to violate executive order 13665 by saying my previous salary was too high and that she was excluding me because of it. Just short-sighted HR focusing on reasons to disqualify people.