I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Allstate Northern Ireland (Belfast, Northern Ireland) in Sept 2016
Interview
4 days after applying online (shortly before the deadline), I was sent a form to fill out detailing degree modules undertaken as well as marks, the document also provided a list of degrees which were grouped according to preference, i.e. a degree in computer science is more valuable to them than say business.
3 days later I was invited for a first round interview, no information was provided prior to the interview on structure. There were approx. 40 other graduates or soon to be graduates there, we were split into a number of groups, with around 6 in each, and given a task to design an app for Allstate NI which would be an extension of their Embrace program. Embrace aims to provide a support network for LGBT employees. This spanned everything from the basic features to how it could be promoted, looking at the value of the app, any pitfalls it may have as well as the SDLC that could be used to develop it.
They only took one day to get back and invite me to the second and final interview which was scheduled for the week after. This involved being interviewed by 2 employees and there were around 6 questions asked (the ones I can remember are given), all fairly basic and as the interview was the same for all IT roles it didn't really delve into anything deeply technical.
One week later I was offered a job. Overall the hiring process seemed to be very quick and efficient though this could also have been down to me applying shortly before the deadline, meaning I didn't have to wait around too long for a response.
Interview questions [5]
Question 1
What is your favourite open source software? (As well as questions based around this and open source software in general)