PepsiCo Interview Questions & Reviews in Chicago, IL

Interview Details – My interview was setup through a recruiting firm, but it was conducted by the department head and (essentially) the assistant department head.. After going through my job history and background, basic questions were asked (nothing out of the ordinary). About 2 days later, the recruiting firm called asking me if I would accept the position.

Interview Details – The whole thing was an awful experience. They rushed me in as if there was a fire - and then I never heard anything from them in 4 months...not even a rejection. My first interview was with some HR person on a serious power trip who was grilling me beyond any possible necessity - particularly since she didn't really even understand my background (based on her questions, I am not even sure if she understood my resume) or knew what the role entailed. Her canned behavioral interview questions were banal and revealed nothing about my background that my resume did not. Then, my "escort" got lost and managed to royally screw up a phone interview I had with someone in the NYC office (there was no phone for him to call me on). So, after I dialed the Pepsi operator and got his number, I called him from my cell phone. Then, he went on for like 40 minutes longer than his allotted time, leaving my would-be manager without an office because I was using her office to talk to him while she was in a meeting. Could it get any more messy? My would-be manager seemed nice enough, and I suppose I would have liked working for her - but I've since heard she is pretty flaky and fake.

Pepsi's global nutrition group strategy is a mess & will probably end up in the CEO being fired. This was the group in which I was supposed to work. They could not even explain the value of realigning the company to me this way in my interview (nor could anyone who worked there). All the people who interviewed me seemed bitter, worn out, angry, or depressed - and they all have pristine LinkedIn profiles (so they are all on their way out of this mess themselves). I heard Pepsi pays a lot, so that's one reason to stay.

One interesting thing is that they are selecting for "risk takers" (I was asked a few times about when I took a risk) - which is lovely - apparently nobody there has read the book by Babiak and Hare about what happens when you select for this trait...

In the end, my friend who works for the company said nobody was even hired in this role. It was just an awful experience and waste of time.

Interview Details – This was one of the most seriously flawed interview processes that I have ever endured. My last tally of interviews (phone, live, and green) was about 15. 15 different people and interviews!!! It started with phone interviews and a really good communication process. I got feedback and kept moving to the next phase. I flew to Chicago and did a day of interviews that went extremely well. They told me they would have a decision the next week. I heard nothing so I called the recruiter (internal Pepsi recruiter). She said that I now needed to interview with their president of marketing via a video interview. I did that and they said they would have a decision the next week. I never heard a word so called. Now, I was supposedly tied with another candidate and a new internal posting and we needed another round of interviews. So I was set up with more 'green' video interviews. I was told this was it and the decision would come early the next week. Nothing!!! I called. They said they neeeded another green interview. I did it. Nothing!!!!! I called to follow up ....no return calls. Weeks go by and the president called me and said they chose the other person. TERRIBLE PROCESS. Disrespectful of both people and time.

Interview Details – Interview was set up through a recruiter, 20 minute interview, and heard back within 2 days.

Interview Details – Behavioural questions

Negotiation Details – Salary and Hiring Bonus

Interview Details – This was through MBA recruiting, so I submitted a cover letter and resume and was able to "bid" to interview (a separate group was selected by the company, but this seemed not to have a huge influence on who was offered a job). It was a 2:1 interview with of case-based and behavioral questions

Negotiation Details – There was no negotiation, and I wouldn't recommend it generally for an internship offer. Hopefully negotiation happens next year!

Interview Details – Started with one 2:1 interview with Senior Finance Manager and a member of HR. Asked basic behavioral questions, walk me through your resume, why Pepsi, etc. Nothing unexpected. Made it to the second round, they flew me out to Chicago, put me up in a hotel. The process was under 24 hours but there was an orientation the night before interviews. Much more informal, got to know the company a little more. Second round consisted of two 1:1 interviews getting more into finance type things, also was behavioral, seeing if I was the right fit.

Interview Details – First round was a phone interview with an HR contractor they use. This was mostly a resume walk and a why PepsiCo session.

Second round was with a Finance Manager who asked about interests and I did another resume walk. She also asked if I would be comfortable reporting to someone similar in age/class year.

Final round was three one on ones. The first was with a Finance Manager who asked for a resume walk and did Q&A. The next person was with a divsional CFO who asked me to walk through my resume (and stopped at certain points to ask questions about different roles I had), talk about interests, and concluded by asking me what I scored on the GMAT. The final person was a Senior Finance Manager with whom I did a resume walk during which we stopped on certain roles to talk more in depth about things I did.

My advice is to score high on the GMAT because I was told that my GMAT wasn't high enough.

Interview Details – The first interview was on campus. It consisted of questions from 3 interviews. The questions were all about my previous project experience. For example, tell me about a time where you were facing a deadline you knew you couldn't make. What did you do? How did people react? There were about 15 questions of this nature. I was contacted by email for a video conference interview which consisted of the same questions from the original interview.