Valero is a global energy and oil company responsible for manufacturing fuel for transportation. Listed in the top 30 of Forbes Fortune 500 companies and rated by their employees as an exceptional workplace, Valero is a highly sought-after place of employment. They categorize their areas of employment by function with three broad fields:
Corporate
Ethanol Operations
Refinery Operations
Each of these areas has its own, more specialized career choices. Valero currently employs over ten thousand people in dozens of countries all over the world.
Valero’s brands: Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Beacon, Shamrock, and Texaco.
What Is the Valero Hiring Process?
Valero is considered to have both an informal and competitive hiring process. With four different screening stages, the Valero hiring process takes about four or more weeks. Their recruitment rounds include:
Application
Online Assessment
Telephone Interview
Final Interview
Application
The application serves as Valero’s initial screening. Here they will be introduced to the candidate, their education, their experience, and other qualifications. It’s important to distinguish yourself in your application. This can be achieved by including unique interests, community service, or past projects in your application.
Valero Assessment Tests
After Valero has reviewed the application and verified that all of the qualifications have been met, they will send one or more online assessments to the candidate. The tests will be sent via email and must be completed within a week.
The general idea of online assessments is to provide Valero with neutral insight into the candidate’s general intelligence, competency, and behavior. They use these scores to shrink the candidate pool before they begin conducting interviews.
Valero’s online assessments are tailored to the broad field of the candidate. This means that someone in refinery operations will have a different series of assessments than someone in corporate. The online assessments for those applying to corporate positions include:
Numerical Reasoning The numerical reasoning exam will cover algebra, statistics, ratios, and more. Valero administers the numerical reasoning test to ensure that candidates can interpret numerical data, graphs, and charts using a business context. The assessment is timed, and calculators are permitted during the test. The test is formatted so that a graph or table is presented followed by a series of questions about the data. There will usually be about three to five questions per figure.
Verbal Reasoning The verbal reasoning aptitude test demonstrates a candidate’s understanding of written correspondence, documents and statements. Being able to infer using context clues and drawing conclusions from observations are key during the verbal reasoning test. The format closely follows that of the numerical reasoning test. There will be a short passage of information with a handful of follow-up statements. These follow-up statements will have three answer choices: “True”, “False”, and “Cannot Say”. The candidate’s job is to read the passage, then the statements and, finally, evaluate the relationship between the two.
Abstract Reasoning The abstract reasoning test is unique from all of the others because it only uses shapes and will only ask one question: “Which object best completes this sequence?”. Provided a matrix depicting a common pattern, the candidate must choose which shape follows the pattern depicted in the sequence. This pattern could be represented by a change in movement, frequency, shape, or color. The abstract reasoning test examines the ability to comprehend novel concepts with ambiguous data. It is timed and multiple-choice.
If you are a candidate for a position with ethanol or refinery operations, you will most likely be taking what is called the Valero Process Operator Battery Test, also known as the Valero Process Operator Aptitude Test. This test can be compartmentalized into three total sections including:
Personality Tests The personality portion of the Valero Process Battery Operator test helps the company know whether or not the candidate would be a good fit for the environment. The test will also provide Valero with an insight into the candidate’s workplace behavior and general values. The test will tell Valero crucial details like if the candidate is a team player, how they approach conflicts, and if they can assume a leadership position.
Mechanical Comprehension The mechanical comprehension is necessary for anyone applying for engineering positions or a role that requires knowledge of machinery. The test probes at the principles of mechanics and basic tools. Many of the questions will include figures or images illustrating a motion made by a gear, lever, or pulley. The test is timed, and all of the questions are multiple-choice.
Reading Comprehension The reading comprehension section assures Valero that the candidate can follow written instructions and can understand the direction being given to them. The questions will ask the candidate to use the context clues to finish a sentence or find the meaning of a word. It will also describe an arbitrary statement or scenario which the test taker must analyze to find a plausible solution.
Telephone Interview
The telephone interview will be scheduled about a week or two after the online assessments. It will begin with a brief walkthrough of the resume. Valero is interested in what sets you apart and why. Then, they will begin to ask what you know about the company and why you applied. Lastly, there will be competency-based questions loosely associated with the position you have applied for. For example, if the job includes interactions with clients or customers, Valero may ask, “When was a time you went above and beyond for a customer?”
Final Interview
The final interview is a panel interview with multiple hiring managers and a few team members. This interview will be more technical than the telephone one. The panel will present you with a hypothetical problem that may arise on the job and ask you to solve it aloud. They will also ask you to describe the job you have applied for and its responsibilities. All in all, the final interview will take about an hour or two.
Sample Interview Questions
Give an example of a time you relegated responsibilities, so the work was completed effectively and efficiently.
Would your friends and colleagues describe you as honest and reliable?
Describe an instance where you were the only one willing to defend something.
Have you ever done more than was required or expected of you at work?
Share a past experience where you overcame challenges at work.
In what areas do you hope to grow from your time at Valero?
How to Prepare for Valero’s Online Assessments?
The online assessments are a significant step during Valero’s interview process. In this stage, they typically cut about fifty percent of the applicants.
With the stakes this high, this makes preparing for the online assessments that much more crucial for your success. Most candidates find practice tests to be a helpful resource. They come in short versions or full versions and mock the conditions of the genuine assessment. The questions will be just as difficult, and the time limit will be just as challenging. Another bonus is that you will be able to see your score. Your score will help you map out how much more time you should spend studying and the areas you should focus on. Before you take the real test, you can also take one of the short versions as a refresher to keep your mind sharp.
Interview Tips for Valero
Your final face-to-face interview is what is going to stick with Valero while they make their decision. It is important to make a good impression. Preparing for your interview should be largely centered around how you are going to answer their questions.
Most questions are behavioral, and competency-based. Along with questions about past experiences, they will also ask how you relate to the following qualities:
Accountability
Communities
Doing the Right Thing
Excellence
Safety
Teamwork
Prepare a short answer about a personal or professional time you have exuded these characteristics. Valero will ask more than once about these particular traits because they are the company values.
Overall, it is important to be articulate and confident. Valero enjoys when the candidate expresses a genuine interest in the company and asks them questions, too. Best of luck!
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