Tips and tricks for your graduate application

Dear all,

The application deadline is now approaching and assuming that many of you readers are interested in applying, I let some of my fellow graduates from the Corporate Finance team share some tips and tricks with you.

Anders Kjær Christensen
Background: MSc. Logistics & Supply Chain Management at Aarhus Business School
Current rotation: Product Supply, Strategic Sourcing 

• To ensure an interesting and motivating cover/motivational letter, one should look for what the Finance programme is looking for in a candidate. To do this, read the information on the graduate site, the blogs, and if necessary contact a current graduate for clarifying questions.

• In the phone interview, be prepared and relaxed at the same time. I believe, that if you are prepared it is also easier to be relaxed and answer questions both with consideration and upfront.

Doing these two things will, everything else being equal, increase the likelihood of making it through to the recruitment center!

Jane Sehested Løjkner
Background: Msc. Economics and Management at Aarhus University
Current rotation: Risk Office

• I think it is important for the person applying to highlight how the person can contribute to Novo Nordisk and the finance graduate programme. A common mistake is that people only focus on why they want the position and their own benefits, and forget to put emphasis on how they can contribute to/create value for the company.

• Furthermore, if the person applying have a genuine interest in the pharma industry, I think it is worth mentioning as well.

• Have a well-structured CV. It should as a minimum include education, work experience and others skills/merits/volunteer work. Another “rule of thumb” is to make sure that the CV does not exceed 2 pages (longer CVs are only “allowed” for people with a longer work life experience). It can also be quite effective to include a good quote from one of the attached letters of recommendation, describing one/a few of the applicant’s excellent skill(s).

• Applicants should attach all the letters of recommendation they have (assuming they are good :-)).

Sophie-Emilie Vase Pedersen

Background: MSc. Economics at Copenhagen University
Current rotation: Finance Projects

• If possible, try to write the cover letter (your motivation for applying) some time in advance. This allows you to put the cover letter away for a few days (or at least hours) and reread it with fresh eyes before submission. The process often helps me assess whether my points come across the way I intended.

• During the phone interview, be careful not to rush the interview. Do not be afraid to take a few seconds after each question to collect your thoughts. This helps you structure your answers and avoid filler words such as “um” and “uh”. 

• On a more practical note, I recommend using a headset for the phone interview. Thereby your hands are free to take notes during the interview.

Michal Hulín
Background: CEMS at University of Economics, Prague
Current rotation: Product Supply, Financial Planning

• Applicants often write just one universal cover letter and then change the name of the company and desired position. Such a cover letter is usually easy to recognize and leaves a bad first impression on the recruiter. So avoid wasting making this common mistake and take your time to write a high quality & personalized cover letter. First, conduct a research about a desired company and learn about its business, culture, and values. If you feel that the job and culture would fit your demands wishes, do brainstorming and try to match the company values with your experience. This might help you identify your achievements and skills, which are relevant for the company, and prioritize/emphasize them in the cover letter.

  Now you are ready for the writing of your cover letter. There are many different styles structures, I personally prefer to give some short introduction about yourself following by academic and working achievements. Then explaining why the industry, company and program I am applying for.

• During writing, you should always keep in mind that you should
  - show how you could contribute to company
  - be honest about yourself – lies are often revealed in the assessment centre
  - show your motivation and genuine interest in the company.

Finally I would recommend you to show your personality in both the resume and cover letter, to give an impression of who you are and how you would fit with the company.

Best of luck with your application - and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Kind regards,
Hanna

If You are interested in reading more blogs from graduates at Novo Nordisk, a few are posted below:

My career in corporate finance so far

Highlights from the first three months as a Corporate Finance Graduate

Read more about the programme here