Every year in Italy thousands of young graduates send their CVs to Pirelli, with such high expectations of being chosen for a six-month Internship. Their dream is to start building a career path within a company whose traditions are known at a worldwide level.
The selection process is tough but fair and accurate. In 2016, more than 100 new graduates started making their first career moves within Pirelli and building a “toolbox” of both technical and soft skills.
After an online application, and two structured interviews, one on the phone and the other one as a video interview, candidates are invited to the Pirelli Assessment Center. Assessments take place every Wednesday in the historical Room 31 at Piero Pirelli Institute. In this occasion around ten graduates are invited to interact with each other being assessed by Human Resources and Line Managers. Room 31 is famous for being the ultimate expression of Pirelli environment: high-performance products are displayed and a wall painted is depicting the detailed formula and key steps for the tyre production. Moreover, every candidate is given a tablet which shows a Formula 1® circuit in order to sum up all the key moments of the session, including a series of attitudinal and technical tests.
Candidates, who come from all over the world, are just over their twenties and have an impressive background, with at least one overseas experience and full English language proficiency.
Sessions are held in both Italian and English: after a short Company overview and its portfolio of growth opportunities, candidates are asked to run a self-introduction speech and to complete a series of individual tasks and workgroups. This is a key moment to test problem solving skills, stress management and prioritization. “We are looking for outstanding and ambitious candidates, fast learners with a strong passion for the tyre product” explains Elisabetta Ramponi, Pirelli Recruiting Manager – Italy. "Recruitment brings new graduates to an initial internship period: our strong procedures allow us to maximize the hiring process integrating graduates in the Pirelli context and culture straight forward. We are pleased to say that one intern out of three is hired by the department where they completed their internship.”
Pirelli receives in Italy over 5,000 CVs for each internship and in 2016, 800 candidates reached the assessment phase: “But beside numbers we focus more and more on the candidate experience. What we strongly believe in is to let our candidates live a memorable day while discover our world even if, this do not turn into a job offer. This is essential to us. We are therefore working on new graduates engagement proposal both in Italy and abroad through any social platforms”, says Felice Valente, Global Head of People Development and Sourcing.
Internship opportunities are mainly in finance, research & development, supply chain and marketing sectors. A position opens up in relation to real business needs, giving graduates the chance to effectively contribute to the success of their team.
But what's next? Once the six months internship is concluded the best performing interns are confirmed and they participate in our “warming up” program, a two-years training course that strengthen employees' technical skills. They can further join the Growithus development platform, a cutting-edge internal mobility system that provides access to our job posting all around the world: this is a way to spread our transparent and meritocratic culture as well as to increase the international mindset of our employees. Pirelli Internship Assessment process is a success story ready to be introduced in other countries where graduates recruitment is a priority.
