Thames Water Graduate Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was a bit of a mess. First, the booking system messed up and let me book an interview for a day the interviewer was off, and they didn't notice for two weeks, then asked me to reschedule. After that, I did an online assessment center, which was okay, with an individual presentation and a group task. But since then, I've heard nothing, even after trying to contact people to follow up. I guess I didn't get it, but for the final stage, you'd expect some kind of feedback or result. They also made us talk about Thames Water's sustainability and environmental stuff and why it's so great, only for them to get fined £112m for pollution the week after.

After filling out the application form, which asked about my motivations for joining the Thames Water Graduate Programme, my interest in engineering, potential challenges in the industry, a project demonstrating positivity, and managing extracurriculars alongside my degree, I had a video interview. This video interview used the Sonru application. I was presented with 7 random questions on screen, with a time limit to answer each one. My advice is to do your research and practise.

The interview process started great, but ended up being awful. After passing everything and getting to the assessment centre, I had a really good feeling about the Thames Water Recruitment Team. The assessment centre went like this: A 30 minute group exercise with 3 other people. You get more info after 15 mins and they see how you react. Then, a 45 minute interview with the Head of Operations and Head of Civil Engineering, with 8 competency-based questions. Finally, a 30 minute presentation about a business case I got two weeks prior. I presented for 15 minutes and had a 15 minute Q&A. But what happened next was really shady. I didn't hear back from Thames Water for two weeks, even though they said within a week. When I called, they said I didn't get the job but were so impressed they wanted to offer me the Junior Process Engineer role that comes after the grad program. They said my performance was "next-level". I kept calling for more info, and they gave it to me bit by bit. When I asked for feedback on how to improve, they got weird. They called back saying they were really interested and to wait. The feedback they gave was all positive, nothing negative, which felt fake. If I was so great, why no offer? It didn't add up. So I pulled out. It was a huge letdown because I was so excited after the assessment centre, loved the people I met, and they seemed genuinely interested in me.