We spoke with Ashlee from TDC to hear more about their 100% retention rate graduate programme

Ashlee started her career at TDC roughly a year ago and has been focusing on developing TDC’s graduate program together with her colleague Marianne. When she is not working on creating the best graduate program in Denmark, she is studying a Master Degree in Corporate Communications at Aarhus Business School and the plan is for her to work fulltime on the graduate program from summer 2020 when she graduates from university. 

 

Ashlee and the team at TDC are behind one of the most successful graduate programs with a 100% retention rate (that means that all of the graduates transition into full-time roles afterwards!). This year TDC are offering 12 tracks which can be found here.

 

 

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What are the skills you are looking for in your next batch of graduates?

 

“A major difference between TDC’s graduate program, and most other graduate programs is that we look for specialists to join the programme. We will define our critical competences which we gather through analysing our organisation and understand what kind of profiles we need to close immediate gaps, but also what we will need the next 5 years”. 

 

Overall Ashlee highlights that the below 4 are key skills for graduates joining TDC:

 

• A specific area of interest or an expert in a certain area (specialist vs generalist)
• Very curious by nature
• A teamplayer
• Excited to be a part of shaping ‘The Digital Denmark’

 

How do you make a good application for the TDC Group Graduate Programme?

 

“I don’t think there is a recipe to make a good application, but a key thing for our programme is to make sure that you are very specific and deliberate around the role you apply for. As all of our tracks are specialist tracks, you need to make sure that you match your own competences to the role. We want to see how your experiences from your education and experience matches the track you are applying for.”

 

Ashlee also highlights the importance of ensuring that the graduate programme is the right career step. 

 

“Graduate programs can be very challenging and you need to be interested in exploring different roles and will have a dynamic time as a graduate. It requires someone who is very curious by nature and someone who has an exploratory mindset I would say”.

 

 

How do you create a CV that stands out?

 

“Similarly to the application I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer, but my personal preference would be a short CV of 1-2 pages (ideally just 1 page). I prefer when applicants are just name-dropping companies and positions – I want to understand what projects and tasks they have actually completed. So make sure to focus on the what in the application.” 

 

“I also think it’s important that you tailor the CV to the role/track you are applying for – the experience has to be relevant to the tasks you will be managing. I think it’s okay to tailor the formatting of the CV according to the role and the applicants background i.e. I would expect a certain style if you have a creative background vs a computer science background”.

 

Finally then Ashlee believes that there should be a picture of the applicant on the CV, but not on the application. 

 

What is the process for the lucky ones who makes it through the CV/Application screen?

 

Roughly 70 applicants will make it through to the assessment days

 

The recruitment process consists of the following elements:

 

1. 1. Video Recording: Prior to the assessment center you will be asked to do a video interview where you record yourself and answer a specific set of questions (e.g. why this track etc.)
   2. Praise and PLI Test: This is unique to TDC. It’s a 360 review of the candidate. We require the candidate to share the test with their network so we can see all the feedback. In addition there is a cognitive (PLI test). 

 

• Assessment center: Based on the video recording and the 360 personal review the interviewers will review the material and use it during the assessment center. The applicant will have a 1 hour interview with their new potential manager – this interview is very traditional. In addition then we have a teambuilding test where the applicants will be divided into groups and required to work in teams. This is important to test out as their roles will be very specialised. 

 

 

What kind of questions should the applicants expect for the interview?

 

“The interviews are pretty straight forward. So just prepare as you would normally do and be ready to explain your experience and desire to work for TDC Group. For some of the tracks there will be a case as well. In relation to the case then you get it in advance and therefore have the chance to prepare for it. In general, then I would say that when you make it to the later stages, it’s a lot more about if you are a match with the company.”

 

 

What’s your advice to students that want to apply?

 

We summarised two of Ashlee’s top pieces of advice for potential applicants: 

 

1. Ensure that a specialist graduate program is the right choice for you (vs a generalist program)
2. Spend time understanding how the competencies you have acquired throughout your education and via work experience makes you relevant to the specific track in the programme.

 

“The other day I was talking to a potential applicant who wanted to know more about the TDC graduate program – I love that he reached out. I highly encourage reaching out to us and I would advise that you show up for our graduate days where we have several TDC representatives ready to answer your questions.” 

 

More detail about the days here for the session in Aarhus on the  11/02 and the session in Copenhagen 13/02 here.

 

Are there any common traits that you see in the applicants that makes it all the way through?

“People who really want it, people who are curious to learn more and people who wants to develop themselves’. 

 

If you want to find more insights on TDC, why not read our company information page, which you find below.

TDC