Post a Salary or Review

Advanced

Nestlé Purina PetCare Interview Questions & Reviews

Post an Interview

Web: www.purina.com | HQ: Saint Louis, MO

Connections

Updated May 9, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 31 ratings

3.1

“Average” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 31 ratings

Positive	58%
Neutral	35%
Negative	6%

Nestlé Purina PetCare has 1,758 connections on Glassdoor

See Who You Know

Hide Filters

21–30 of 31 Nestlé Purina PetCare Interviews

Sort by

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Feb 2011 (took 3 weeks)

An in-house recruiter called me for phone interview and asked a lot of behavioral questions. I was called back for face to face interview 2 weeks later. I interviewed in one day with 3 individuals separately. I am an experienced individual and over 35. It because completely apparent to me immediately that I was too old for them. The other candidates were 10-15 years younger and I could see their interviews lasting a lot longer than mine. The interviewers asked the same behavioral questions which were preprinted from a corporate interview guide. It was impersonal and cold. The interviewers spend all of their time face down writing verbatim what I was telling them. I recognized that Purina is a "good place to start a career" meaning they want young employees. I have never faced age discrimination and always get the jobs I interview for. Not this time. I could feel the discrimination from each interviewer. One of the interviewers asked me in a sneaky way if I would be willing to move somewhere else for a position which in the CPG world is a way for them to build reason not to hire someone. Just be warned if you are over 30 that your age is going to be a factor here. One of the interviewers was a Regional Manager overseeing multiple states and he was only about 27-28. The unfortunate truth here is that CPG companies don't want older experienced employees....and I'm not even 40 and could tell what was happening. As for the culture, I think it's your typical large CPG organization that is very structured and full of policy and rules. In all honesty this was the WORST interview process I'd ever gone through just because they interviewers were so bad at it and didn't make the effort to "connect" with the candidate which is much more important than writing down verbatim what someone is saying about a behavioral situation.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a time that you had to work to accomplish a goal and what was the result? This question was asked over and over again about 9 times between 3 interviewers.

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2011 (took a day)

Lots of behavioral questions and the recruiter seemed really laid back. Definitely seems like a good place to work at. Be sure to research the company thoroughly as they do ask some about the company. Be prepared to talk about your accomplishments and how the accomplishments made an impact on your life.

Interview Questions

Describe a time when you had to complete a project that didn't meet your desired expectations

Answer Question

Describe a time when you had to do something you didn't think you could do, but finished successfully

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2010 in Saint Louis, MO (took 2 weeks)

I first put my application in on the NPPC website and then was contacted for a phone interview which I was subsequently invited to St. Louis for the interview with 3 directors in sales/supply chain. They were very accommodating and they were very professional. The culture there was very laid back with people bringing their dogs to work and everyone I spoke with really enjoyed the organizational culture.

Interview Questions

All the questions in the second interview were behavior based and the one that caught me up the most was a question about the biggest risk I ever took and how I handled it.

Answer Question

Negotiation Details

I was hoping to get an internship in a specific city and then they changed the cities around which made me rethink about taking the offer but eventually took it.

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Apr 2009 (took a day)

It was a good one on one interview that asked challenging questions, most of which were behavioral. The people conducting the interviews were very professional. There were a few other people being interviewed, so there was a little wait.

Interview Questions

What was the most difficult experience you have encountered with a customer?

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Apr 2010 (took a day)

After applying online, I received a call from HR to schedule a phone interview. This took about 20 minutes and consisted of discussing work experience, career goals, and a couple behavioral type interview questions. These notes are then communicated to the hiring manager and then I was contacted for an on-site interview. The process was four, one-hour interviews, each with two individuals. They do behavioral interviews (tell me about a time when...what was the outcome, etc). One session has a few technical questions (how would you audit the internal controls of a company). This is a traditional audit department with very conservative individuals, so I had to keep my outgoing personality in check. Domestic auditors get an office (if available) and lead auditors usually have a window office. International auditors are given cubicles since they will only be working out of STL for about a year.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a time when you were not able to make a deadline.

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

I tried to negotiate the salary because of the additional work and travel compared to my current position (they were only offering what I was currently making). They said that they had discussed it with HR and $49k was the highest they could offer. I accepted the position because of the better career opportunities that I will have in the future.

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Drug Test and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Feb 2010 (took a day)

I wanted a job selling cat food, but they wanted me to sell dog toys. I'm not interested in dog toys, and they didn't have any openings in cat food, so that was that. They were very friendly and competent sounding. I would have liked to work with them if they had the right position available.

Interview Questions

How many years have you been in selling dog toys?

View Answers (1)

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Saint Louis, MO (took 4 weeks)

Applied online, conducted a phone screen, flew to corporate office to interview with three marketing managers, received offer, flew to corporate office for presentation and tour, accepted offer.

Interview Questions

Name a time when you had to work with someone difficult.

Answer Question

Negotiation Details

There was no negotiation phase.

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Drug Test and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Aug 2009 in Saint Louis, MO (took 2 weeks)

Phone Interview - Basic, screening to choose a very few candidates for face to face interviews. Three Behavior based questions (Tell me about at time....)

Three 1:1 interviews, lasted about 1 hour each. Getting to know personality and asks three behavior based questions each that are extremely similar. Be sure to add why you would add to the company.

Interview Questions

How are you with cats?

View Answers (1)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Sep 2009 (took a day)

Received a very nice phone call asking for a phone interview. Scheduled for them to call me. Call was on time, HR rep was very polite. The interview was a straight credentials interview with someone from HR, not from Marketing, so there was little room for real talk about experience, etc. only talk about years worked and some accomplishments, but not much room to talk about uniqueness of the position. Otherwise, wonderful interview that made me feel appreciated and respected.

Interview Questions

When is a time that you were forced to make a difficult decision about [job] and why did you react the way you did?

View Answers (1)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Saint Louis, MO (took 2 days)

I learned about the position through a fraternity alumni who worked as a recruiter for Nestle Purina Petcare (Purina). After applying through nestlepurinacareers.com I was asked to participate in a phone interview. The interview consisted of mostly behavioral questions and touched on my knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (nothing too difficult). After the 30 minute conversation, I was asked to fly to St. Louis to interview at their corporate headquarters.

In St. Louis, I was put in a wonderful hotel (with a direct view of the Gateway Arch out my window). In the morning I arrived at the headquarters. I got there about an hour early and observed people getting into the office. Two things amazed me: 1.) Those videos you see with everyone bringing their pet to work with them... it's true! 2.) Almost everyone going into the office was smiling and seemed happy to start another day at work.

The interview process lasted throughout the morning (8:30-12:00) which seemed long for an intern position. The personnel interviewing me were employees with 20-26 years experience and they each had about 45 minutes with me to ask behavioral questions. Some questions were good but most were repetitive. For example: "Name a situation when you had to convince a reluctant group to see things your way." "Describe a situation when you encountered resistance from a group to accept your view." There were at least 4-5 questions along that same line. When you are asked to not repeat any answers, this can be an annoying part of the process. Ultimately, the people interviewing me seemed to really enjoy the company and treated me very respectfully throughout the process.