Symantec New College Graduate Program Interview

Interviewed Feb 2010 in Mountain View, CA (took 6 weeks)

I first heard of Symantec's New College Graduate Program in September of 2009. I was set to graduate in December of 2009, and a friend of mine within the company brought to my attention Symantec's NCG Program, which they offer specifically for both their Human Resources and Finance departments. My degree is in Business Administration, however it is not specifically a finance degree. I was extremely interested in the position because I knew I was interested in finance, however I was not entirely sure what specific function within the finance realm would be a proper fit for me. Another friend of mine within the company, who actually works in the finance department, was able to put my resume on the desk of the person in charge of the NCG Program for finance. Within roughly three weeks, I received a call from a Symantec recruiter requesting an initial phone interview. This phone interview was fairly casual, and I believe this interview had the objective of gauging my overall interest in the program, and where I would see myself long-term after the program was completed. Basically, the program lasts two years and has two rotations; a participant in the program works in one specific function under finance for one year, than rotates to another function the following year. The general idea is that the program member uses this time to build connections within the department, and learns what financial function they feel is the best fit for them.
After I completed the initial phone interview, within a week I received an email from the recruiter I spoke with, requesting an in-person interview at Symantec's headquarters in Mountain View, CA, within two weeks.
This second interview I participated in included seven other possible candidates. After a brief introduction by the program director, the eight of us were split into separate private rooms, where each of us were to be interviewed by six different managers in the finance department, for thirty minute periods. Going into this interview, all candidates were informed two days prior of their interview schedule, i.e., what manager we would speak with and at what time. The process lasted a little more than three hours; each of the candidates received a fifteen minute break at the halfway point of the interview process.
Each of the six managers were responsible for focusing their interview on specific attributes. I can't remember exactly what these attributes were, but they were along the lines of team building skills, analytical abilities, personal strengths, etc. However, most of the managers I interviewed with did not focus heavily on the attributes they were assigned to gauge. In fact, three of the managers I interviewed with started the conversation with asking if I had any questions for them, which caught me a little off guard. However, it made the interview process far more comfortable. After five to ten minutes speaking with each of these managers, our interviews began to feel more like informal conversations.
The best advice I can offer if you're preparing for this interview, is to not over think what you may be asked. Focus on the simple, generic questions that are typically asked in an interview. For example, one of the questions that I was asked was,"why you instead of the person in the other room?" I went into this interview memorizing every critical financial figure, every key ratio, that I could get my hands on. I memorized their mission statement, and learned as much as I could about Symantec's current business strategy. In the end, I did not discuss even one of these key figures. Ultimately, what I feel these managers are looking for is simply someone who is going to be a good fit for Symantec's culture; from what I understand, it can get relatively "cliquey" at Symantec, and they clearly want someone who can navigate through the politics of it all. All of the candidates, including myself, were well qualified for the position; it really boils down to character attributes and personality traits.
Overall, I liked all of the managers I interviewed with; real intelligent people that, for the most part, had good senses of humor. Unfortunately, I did not receive an offer for the position. The position was to be awarded to only one of the eight candidates, so it was fairly competitive. It only took about twenty-four hours for them to let me know their decision.