Thermo Fisher Scientific FLDP Interview

Interviewed Oct 2011 in Boston, MA (took 2+ weeks)

First round was on campus, fairly straightforward. Behavioral and resume-based questions, some very basic accounting stuff. Final round was onsite, 2-day process. Three 1-on-1 interviews (in a room with 10 other people interviewing at the same time, kind of odd). No accounting/finance questions (with the exception of one or two candidates), each interviewer had to follow a strict script from HR, completely useless. A waste of getting high-level people involved with the interviews when they don't have time to ask the questions they want (which they communicated to me as a candidate). HR needs to cede some control of the interview process. Following the 1-on-1's and lunch, split off for a 5-candidate group exercise; nothing resembling a case study and a bit of a waste of everyone's time given the laughable subject matter, though it did require speaking in front of a group audience.

One positive aspect of the superday structure is that in between interviews, candidates wait in a room with people currently in the program, and a lot of candid and helpful interaction is possible.

While there certainly seem to be imperfect aspects of the actual FLDP, the interview process does convey that it is a really solid place to start a career (even to someone not really interested in the position), particularly as the CFO is highly involved with the program.