General Cable Interview Questions
& Process

I applied after the career fair and had an interview at my university. About a week later, I was invited to the final onsite interview which was scheduled for a few months out. The onsite days were a blast and were the reason I accepted my offer. This was the first company that let me be myself. The second round interviews were super laid back. Some interviewers just talked about anything, I had a great conversation about golf after discussing my qualifications. I never felt judged. In the second round, they just want to know who you are. Outside of the interviews, there were plant tours and dinners. VPs interacted with candidates and it was a lot of fun. It's a work hard, play hard culture. Everyone is friends with everyone. My advice for the first round: use your experiences to answer questions. My advice for the second round: you've made it past hundreds of people and they see potential in you, so show them who you are, how social you are, and how you work. What sold me was the honesty, they weren't afraid to say what was good and bad about the position, which was refreshing. The second round interviews were with friendly, accepting people. The second round events were so much fun, especially the dinners and tours since I'm social. The culture has intense goals, and working hard towards them is rewarded with fun. The honesty and hearing the not-so-great parts showed they want people who aren't afraid of what the job entails.

The interview process had four steps. First, a short phone chat to go over the job and department. Then, about a week later, I had my first in-person interview, which was a panel interview with three managers from different departments. They asked common interview questions like 'What are your weaknesses?' and 'Why GC?'. I felt good about it and asked about the timeline for a decision. They said soon and mentioned they had many open positions. I followed up, but didn't hear back for a month. Then, they invited me for another panel interview, followed by a meeting with the HR director. Everything seemed to go well. I wasn't hired, and I suspect it might have been due to my salary expectations (around 45k at the time), which was a shame because I thought it would have been a good fit. The company culture seemed positive.

It was a pretty standard manufacturing manager interview process. After the initial interviews, there was a long questionnaire to complete. They kept emphasizing the need for 'high energy.' The people were nice, though. My main issue was the company flew me out for the interview but I had to cover my own rental car and hotel costs. They promised reimbursement for everything, but three weeks later and only after several emails did I get a partial refund. This experience made me seriously reconsider working there.

First I got a call from HR for an initial phone screen. Then General Cable flew me in for an interview the night before, which was great because I was relaxed for my meetings at their offices. After that, there were multiple interviews (one after another) at corporate offices near Cincinnati, OH. It was pretty intense. I met with HR, product managers, and sales managers. Definitely wear comfortable shoes!