Hey guys! My name is Alricha Janeliz, and I am an incoming
marketing placement at Johnson & Johnson beginning in June 2023. With over
100 brands, Johnson & Johnson has been awarded as one of the World’s most
admired companies and no.1 in the pharmaceutical industry by Fortunes 2023.
Moving on, here are my top tips on what
steps you can take to successfully secure your dream placement!
Before we begin, I’d like to share a brief
overview of my recruitment process at J&J.
Based on the above overview and my personal
experience, here are the following steps you can take:
1.
BE PROACTIVE AND ENGAGE
AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!
·
Get involved in volunteering
work, become a society member at university, or just take up a part-time job. Doing
this will give you more stories, skills, and experiences to add value to your
CV and talk about in your interviews!
·
Be passionate about gaining
knowledge and experience in your desired industry.
For example: If you desire a placement in the marketing
industry, you can take up free online marketing courses to sharpen your
knowledge. (Google’s fundamentals of Digital Marketing is a great course which
involves free certification as well).Further, make yourself
familiar with some marketing tools: Even if you don’t have any experience in marketing,
you can always start a social media page of your own, try selling your old
clothes online, try designing a logo/website on Canva or any such ideas!
·
Avail the benefit of career
events: ensure that you attend, engage
and network with YIB students during YIB events. This can help you gain loads
of insights into a particular company,
its recruitment process and in gathering referrals!
2.
DO YOUR RESEARCH!
·
Make sure you research the
company, its values, its mission etc, and specifically the role you are
applying for. Now, carefully tailor everything you learnt and every experience
you gained into your CV and cover letter to match the company & the role
you are applying for and send out that application!
(Make them feel like the role was made for you)
3.
EFFICIENTLY MANAGE YOUR
TIME
·
Imagine you make it to the 3rd
stage for a company and your application gets rejected only because you missed
the deadline to complete your online interview….., now that’s something you’d definitely
want to avoid!!
Keep
in mind that each company has about 4-5 stages on an average during an entire recruitment
process, thus creating and maintaining an excel sheet to keep a note of your
applications and deadlines per stage will help you in efficiently allotting your
time to each.
4.
PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
PRACTICE!
·
If the 2nd or 3rd
stage involves any sort of online tests or a hire Vue interview, practice is
the name of the game for you.
·
ONLINE TESTS: Watch YouTube videos to understand how to tackle various kinds of
online tests. Next, apply this knowledge into answering free tests online, as
well as the online psychometric tests available on RHUL careers portal.
·
HIREVUE INTERVIEW: Practice answering some common interview questions in the STAR
format. Additionally, make sure you dress appropriately, have good lighting,
and look into the camera while speaking confidently!
5.
ASSESSMENT CENTRE DAY
·
Getting to the last stage of
the process can be equally nerve-wrecking as exciting, but don’t worry I got
you covered!
·
INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION: Depending upon the company, you might have to create a presentation
based on the role you’re applying for. This is a great opportunity for you to
show them everything you learnt about the relevant industry in step 1.
·
GROUP ASSIGNMENT: Be a team player!!! Be confident, listen and consider everyone’s
opinions, but at the same time don’t be afraid to voice your own opinions too.
·
INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW: This is a great chance to show off everything you’ve learnt and
gained in steps 1, 2 & 4. Ensure you reflect upon your self-growth and show
them that you are always willing to learn and grow.
·
REMEMBER: Assessment centre is the perfect opportunity for you to STAND
OUT. Just be
CONFIDENT, AUTHENTIC, FRIENDLY and share a “VIBE” with the people there.
TOP TIP:
Lastly and most importantly, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! I don’t mean to sound cliché
but believing in yourself is so crucial. Don’t be afraid to aim for the big
fish, I took the shot and I’m so grateful I did.
I hope all the above steps and tips help
you in securing your dream placement, and I wish you nothing but the very best!
Please feel free to drop me a text if you have any questions or need any
assistance, I’m happy to help. ( LinkedIn: alrichajaneliz , Instagram:
alrichajaneliz )
