Marathon Petroleum Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Findlay, OH (took 2 days)

The interview process started off with an evening of a candidate dinner before the day of the interviews. You are grouped up with several other students who came from several different universities in the midwest and south (don't know why someone would move from the south to Ohio!). You are being sized up by several Marathoners who are around your age (to relate to you), and are given a LONG presentation about what seemed like EVERYTHING (types of products, location of refineries, projects, why pick Marathon). One person even told us the salary, which I was pretty surprised they would reveal it the night before.

There was a mix of folks who work at Marathon that liked/disliked Findlay, Ohio. This made me feel very uncertain whether or not I wanted to spend lots of time there working, living, since the people who sat at dinner had a tough time coming up with activities that they do "for fun" outside of work. The evening was good, but it was long. There are some tables that had high, energetic Marathon representatives that carried on conversations, while there were others who just didn't have the personality to successfully lead the group conversations... needless to say there were many awkward silences.

Just be sure you're on your best behavior because these folks would give feedback to the hiring folks whether or not it carries much weight.

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There was a series of three interviews, all with different managers of different groups within marketing. I was a little uneasy on the fact that if you are hired you won't know until 3-4 weeks after you are hired where you will be placed geographically. This makes me think that they really don't have their ducks in a line. Either that or they don't make decisions quickly.

All three interviews were very easy. Just basic behavioral type questions, "tell me about a time" questions. There was an odd question asked by one of the managers on what I thought about him after looking at his office. The test was really to see if I could read/interpret his personality from what he had in his office (awards, pictures, etc.. and where they are placed). I heard from another candidate who also got hired that she was asked to sell a pen to the interviewer.

They are just testing how you think, problem solving skills, and how quick your thought process is. Other than that, they are just basic interview questions.

You are being led by a Marathon representative whom you may have met the evening before, just so you feel comfortable, I suppose. Awkward walks in between the yellow hallways (old buildings), but it was better than finding the interview rooms on your own.

Some common interview questions that they used was, "Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond"... "Tell me about a time that you ran into a problem with a team member, how did you resolve it".

The offer came in a phone call a couple weeks later (I think). The salary is good, however, I think it is high so that they can incentivize young people to move to Findlay. From the conversations I had with the young Marathoners, I could tell that they try not to look like they are lying when they say it's a good place to live. Some of them were very honest and told the truth about how they felt... even some of the managers I talked to just responded with, "it's a good place to raise a family."

All in all, I accepted the offer because of the pay. I didn't like how I didn't know which area I am going to work in or where I will be located until later. I know all that stuff happens behind the scenes, but it would be nice to know so to plan ahead and not live in limbo in hotel rooms, out of your car, etc, until Marathon's Marketing management decides your fate.