I applied online. I interviewed at Lonza (Manchester, England) in Aug 2017
Interview
Submitted my CV through company web page.
Was called for a phone interview by Lonza talent management, however, seemingly forward to some external recruitment partner. The girl was definitely not working for Lonza as her email addy was a 3rd party consultancy provider. All in all quite an inexperienced recruiter with little experience how to drive a
professional conversation.
That talent sourcer asked for 30 min, however, the call lasted >60min going back and forth about my CV .
She pitched about the great new SSC in Manchester and that they dearly need a certain language incl. local GAAP experience (working knowledge, not just theory).
Quite at the end her salary question. I gave her my range and she request my absolute minimum salary requirement. On top of that she ask me for any benefits that my previous employer would grand.
Very odd to ask sth. like this and I immediately got the feeling of a low-balling employer .
Funny enough my salary band was quite (industry) market standard.
I tried to touch base with her the next week, however rather the silent treatment.
I would have gotten the job If I would have went for an entry level/ recent graduate salary
Did not even want to talk to hiring manager if Lonza is not willing to budget a fair salary for the job they ask to do.
in a nutshell: Request for Senior Accountant experience at entry level pay
Very sad experience!
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Lonza (Manchester, England) in Mar 2025
Interview
Pretty extensive interview process with an initial screening interview at the start of the procedure. I managed to get through to the second stage interview but fell short on some aspects of the role. However, I was in talks with three internal recruiters which made it harder for me to gauge on building the relationship with them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me 3 questions on double entry. One question was about double entry on an over credit on a supplier, one question was the correct double entry for depreciation on an asset and another question was about prepayment on an expense.
Potential scheme to get information about your current salary! After less than 5 minutes of submitting my application, I received the confirmation that my application was rejected. Because I have good qualifications for the position, I was astonished. However, I did find some red flag questions on the application. In order to complete the application, it is mandatory to provide CURRENT salary. I wonder if this is a scheme to get such information. So, in conclusion, the recruitment process of this company does not seem to be trustworthy!
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Lonza (Manchester, England) in May 2020
Interview
I was contacted by one of their recruiters. After I expressed interest in the role, I had a brief phone call to go through the job in more detail and to discuss what I was looking for. 4 weeks later I was contacted to arrange a video interview. The interview was an hour long and focused on my experience followed by several technical and competency based questions.
