Nestlé USA Brand Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was quite unusual. It began with a recruiter inviting me for a 30-minute chat. However, before that, I had to complete a lengthy 'job training' assessment which was a mix of a personality test, some financial calculations, and a video interview. Research indicated this test scores competency and retention risk, and apparently, Nestle can reject candidates based on it. While I didn't get rejected, I felt I did well on the competency part during the recruiter call, but a 'red flag' on retention surfaced because the recruiter heavily focused on my job changes. I tried explaining that changing jobs is typical for digital marketers in smaller, less stable companies and due to layoffs, but I'm not sure it was understood. It's been almost a month since the call, and despite multiple follow-ups, I've heard nothing back, essentially being ghosted. It's frustrating because while a company like Nestle and even my business school would value accelerating my career to get a foot in the door, they then penalize me for job hopping every 1.5-2 years for advancement. Instead of seeing the hustle and overcoming past difficulties as a positive, it's viewed as a negative, which is a Catch 22 that those with privileged, linear career paths don't face. This might explain why companies struggle with diversity of thought.

I was interviewed as part of a MBA career conference. First, I was screened by a recruiting firm, then I met with two Brand Managers at the conference. I made it past that point and was asked to fly to their offices for final round interviews. Onsite, I had three 1-on-1 interviews with different Brand Managers and Executives.

An executive recruiter reached out to me. I skipped the phone interview and went straight to an in-person onsite interview. I met with 7 different people, each for about half an hour, with no breaks in between. The people I met ranged from friendly to very terse, including the VP of Marketing who was on the terse end. The questions really dug into my analytical skills, especially my forecasting experience, asking for a lot of detail. They also tried to get into every little detail of my past experience.