I was told that I was successful after the EDS assessment centre way back in February but I still have not received a firm start date, location or really any information at all. Phone messages to EDS go unanswered and emails are not personally replied to, if replied to at all. Is this normal for EDS? How long does one normally wait from passing the assessment centre to actually starting work? Does EDS actually just let everybody pass the assessment centre and then forget about them amongst the pile of applications? I only have one other job offer but I think I'd prefer the EDS job. Should I keep waiting or forget it and really start looking for another job?

I'm surprised, EDS is normally good at this sort of thing. Are you applying to the consulting group?

Although I don't know EDS in depth, I would be wary of taking up a job with a company that seems to be so lacking in organisation.

Even it happend with me in EDS Consulting, out of the blue one fine day i got a call from EDS refering my success in assessment after 5 months. However joined after 2 months wait in current job and had informed them of their strong candidate relationship management & effective / short recruiting timelines. I have decided to stick to current job.

I wouldn't worry too much about it - EDS are consistently very slow to confirm graduate offers and placements. There are similar posts on here and the doctorjob forum every year.

Here's a few things: First off I'm surprised no one has answered the phone/emails - could be bad timing when you call, or they're on leave, in meetings, recruitment events but I'd expect them to have set up an alternative number. All I can suggest is to keep trying.Who is the person you are trying to reach? Don't give me the full name. I will nudge appropriate people.With regards to placing you.. Your CV and skills are sat in a pool of resources. It depends on what area you want to go into. Your CV will go to projects that raise a resource request for whatever area you are keen on, your geographic preferences count here too. You won't hear about any of that unless the project likes you at which point you come down to meet them. If you want to be a programmer (information analyst) in the city you could be waiting a long time, if a business analyst in the SE and defence then you'll be considered quite often. They could do better to keep in touch with candidates and let them know what they have been put forward for, or whether they should look at changing preferences.

I probably have a biased opinion on EDS but i wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I was offered a grad scheme place a few years ago (2003) and i readily accepted. 1 week before i was due to start they sent letters out saying they had reviewed their resource needs and wouldn't be taking on graduates that year - i had accepted in good faith 6 months prior and had stop looking for other placements. This put my whole life on hold for a year as i had to start again with the 2004 uptake. Needless to say my recommendation would be to look elsewhere if they're messing around with offer letters etc, or atleast have a back-up if they pull the plug.

Would anyone mind sharing their experience of the assessment centers at EDS? I have one coming up in May and was hoping someone could shed a little more light on it.they have led me to believe that I am interviewing for all 3 of the grad schemes (business analyst, project analyst and information analyst) so I am a little confused as to what they will be expecting from me. Before the standard abuse follows, i have of course contacted them in hope of a little more clarification and hope to hear back shortly. But in the mean time if anyone could add anything else it would be hugely appreciated.Many thanks.

Not a problem.They are recruiting for all three, all streams follow the same assessment tasks and your scores/competancies are noted. You may well score high enough on to take your pick, or your scores may direct you towards a particular stream. After the assessment your details go into a 'pool' and they attempt to match you up against a particular project.

After about three months of silence following the assessment day, I was invited to one of the EDS offices for an "informal discussion". It wasn't like a regular interview where I was asked lots of competency-based questions, but rather it was a sort of description of what work they do there. At the end no one actually offered me a job but just told me that someone would be in touch with me "fairly quickly". I thought I was going down there to be offered a job so I don't really understand what the next step is. I really liked the people I met there and the work they were doing but I have no idea what will happen next. I assume someone will formally offer me a job there, but is there a chance they won't? And if they don't, does that mean that I'm off the EDS system or do I just go back into the pool?

Hi Butters,Did you not ask for more clarity on that when you were there? Perhaps you could call the recruiting bods.The day was, more likely, to be to show you the potential role and to see the team etc. They will then decide if they want you on the team (you were being assessed even if it wasn't competancy based). You will likely hear rather quickly. If not successful you will go back into 'the pool'.

To 'Word of warning'I agree disappointing that you had an offer withdrawn but, as I'm sure you were well aware at the time, in 2003 EDS went into a complete melt down, share price crashed, profits down, rumours of take overs and CEO fired. Not a typical year. These things happen in many comanies from time to time. Things are going well now.

I'm an experienced project and programme manager (12 years), Prince2 practitioner, currently working for an MC firm in London. I keep getting pinged with a programme management role at EDS Hook from one of my job search agents.I'm interested in the role but although I have extensive experience of PPM, little of this has been on IT focussed assignment. Would this be a problem in applying for a position with EDS?

To EDSer:"Disappointing" wasn't the word i was using at the time! An offer for 6 months and then withdrawn 4 days before start date - the recruitment process was managed badly and messed a lot of people around. Ah well, it worked out for the best - it cost me a year but i did secure a place at a top tier firm so c'est la vie.

Hi all,I have an interview with EDS in the next few days for a grad role and I'm having a last minute panic!I've spent a while now preparing and was feeling fairly good about it all but the last few days I've heard horror stories from my friends about getting completely the wrong end of the stick at assessment days. This will be my first assessment centre so i was hoping someone could fill me in a little on what to expect/how best to prepare, specifically for EDS if anyone has experience. Any help would be hugely appreciated.Many thanks.

Hi all,I have an interview with EDS in the next few days for a grad role and I'm having a last minute panic!I've spent a while now preparing and was feeling fairly good about it all but the last few days I've heard horror stories from my friends about getting completely the wrong end of the stick at assessment days. This will be my first assessment centre so i was hoping someone could fill me in a little on what to expect/how best to prepare, specifically for EDS if anyone has experience. Any help would be hugely appreciated.Many thanks.

There's nothing really to worry about. There is a group exercise and an individual exercise but neither have anything to do with EDS specifically. If you have some business grounding and common sense then you'll be fine. Just be professional, courteous and genuinely enthusiastic. The only thing I'd worry about is the fact that success at the assessment day does not mean a job offer. They really try to hammer this in on the day and it's definitely true. I had my assessment day over three months ago and still do not have a job. I even had one of those "informal chats" with an EDS office about a specific position almost a month ago and still do not have a concrete job. The waiting is driving me insane!!!

thanks anonanonanon,the other thing that worries me is what questions to ask them. I could literally come up with hundreds about the HP situation but obviously that would be a waste of my time and i probably wouldn't gain much from the answers.I expect they will give me forum to ask 3-4 questions max. Does this sound right?Thanks again

The EDS assessment centre was a joke - when i sat the grad assessment a few ywars ago we had a quick psycholmetric test (simple logic questions) followed by a ten minute group exercise and a chat/ interview, a simpleton could pass. Ask a few questions about the role, placements on offer, tell them what you're interested in and ask which areas would best cater for you etc. Ask about HP and if this will have an impact on jobs.

What Bloggsy said is not true of EDS assessment centres today. It's a full day with plenty of long exercises. In the introduction they ask you to save all questions to the end of the day but by this time, in my case, everyone seemed too tired to ask anything. You will have two one-on-one interviews, one formal and one informal, where you have additional opportunity to ask questions. If you're looking to impress than do this during the one-on-one formal interview. Good luck!