Novartis Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - They give more importance to values abs behaviour so focus on situation related answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be confident and clear the reason correctly for changing the company either monetary or promotion reason etc

Round: Test
Experience: Aptitude, market research

Round: Test
Experience: Technical written test

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Short list is purely based on how you connecting with recruiter through LinkedIn or Through email

General Tips: Talk about what you know. Don’t try to be over smart

Skills: , Communication, Problem Solving, Analytical Skills, Leadership, Time Management, Decision Making Skills
Duration: 1-4 weeks

Round: Test
Experience: The first round was an aptitude test consisting of 30 questions that had to be done in 60 mins.There was a negative one-third marking.
Tips: CAT preparation is sufficient to clear the test. I had solved 26 out of 30 questions completely and still had 4 minutes left.
Duration: 1 hour
Total Questions: 30

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: This was like any other standard GD.
Tips: Stay actively engaged in the discussion and make valid points and you should be fine.
Duration: 10 minutes

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Everyone would be given the same case study to solve in 45 minutes.After that you will be called for the interview wherein you would have to explain your thought process. I was also asked one guesstimate and 2 puzzles
Tips: If you are familiar with Victor Cheng's videos or Case Interviews Cracked you will do just fine.Also, don't panic if you're unable to solve the puzzles, just think out loud(I was unable to solve both the puzzles)

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I was asked questions primarily about my extra-curricular activities apart from the standard "Why Novartis","Why analyst" etc.
Tips: Just know your resume well and prepare standard HR questions.

Round: Technical + HR Interview
Experience: This was basically a mixture of the standard HR questions and a test of my knowledge of the current trends in the industry.I was also given a mini case study where I had to analyze the rise and fall in drug prices
Tips: Keep up with the news coming out of the pharmaceutical industry.As for the mini case study, there is really no way to prepare for it.It can done if you have a good presence of mind

Skills: Communication And Confidence
College Name: BITS Pilani

Round: Test
Experience: It was quite easy and the time given for all these sections was infact surplus.
Tips: One can clear the aptitude test easily if he/she has some practice.
Duration: 60 minutes
Total Questions: 30

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The GD topics given to us were quite simple and many of us din't find any difficulty in clearing the Group Discussion round.All you need is to be clear and confident in expressing your stand and maintain dignity during the discussion.
Tips: If you can initiate or conclude the group discussion , it would be fetch you extra points.

Round: Problem Statement
Experience: The problem statement given to us involved many statistical data and the names given to the reports,products were also quite confusing.There were two options for us to analyze the situation.I performed the qualitative analysis and few of my friends calculated numerically the profitability and other parameters.The interviewer's do not expect the correct answer from us , they just look at the approach we followed to make our point.
Tips: Read the problem statement carefully without missing any data and eliminate the unwanted information so that you can focus on the objective.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I started writing the code for the given program but I lost the continuity in the middle of the program.So I requested the interviewers to understand my logic and condone the syntax errors.They were very much convinced and asked me few questions like Why Novartis? Why Management? etc...
Tips: The interviewer expects the confident answer from you rather than the correct answer.If you don't know the answer to a particular question , you can admit it deliberately.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I told them that I would ask the manager for buffer time of 2 months wherein I will put all my efforts and accomplish the work assigned to me in a satisfactory manner.If at all , the manager seems unconvinced after my wholehearted performance , then I would quit the job because expecting work from me is the primary responsibility of any employer when they are paying me such a huge compensation.Probably , this may not be the case with me as I would learn from my colleagues and definitely live up to the expectations of my manager.
Tips: Always make sure that your candidature and experiences you have in the past like internships,trainings complement your profile for the position they are looking for.

General Tips: Be yourself.
Skill Tips: Be cool , confident and think logically without being in a haste while answering the interviewers.
Skills: Quantitative Skills, Communication Skills, Analytical Skills, Spontaneity
College Name: National Institute of Technology , Warangal
Motivation: It is located in Hyderabad and offering good payscale.
Funny Moments: Not many during my selection process.