1. Tell me about yourself.

I was raised in a Southeast Asian culture, native Vietnamese and now living as an
international student in the Netherlands. I am currently in the final stage of my academic
journey, and I am set to graduate in 2024. My academic pursuits have equipped me a solid
foundation in Supply Chain and Logistics, my minor Lean Six Sigma Green Belt reflects my
master in understanding the streamlined global supply chain operations. I have a keen focus
on this sector and choose it as my long-term career path, so I built up my knowledge when I
was the first- and second-year student. In the third year, I worked as a Supply Chain intern at
West Coast Supply Group and in my first semester of final year, I was doing the Customer
Data Intern role.

With a deep enthusiasm for procurement, I am dedicated to enhancing my skills by

making incremental improvements to my tactical and analytical abilities. Collaborating
with cross-functional teams including legal, procurement, marketing, I empower the
organization by implementing data-driven strategies to consolidate and standardize
purchasing orders, as well as selecting suppliers through a rigorous tender process, to
contribute to final saving and value add.

 Implementing tender (bidding) process from end-to-end for Chocomel

marcom: build and standardize RFQ, RFI, RFP; use SAP Ariba or Coupa
to send out, manage, and analyze supplier capability.
• Working with global and regional procurement managers and other
internal stakeholders across all business units to track sourcing
demand, propose strategic and consolidated sourcing plan.
• Supporting in global suppliers relationship management (SRM)
including communicating, negotiating, and performance review.
• Analyze global and regional data on marcom category expenditure
and formulate sourcing strategy by optimizing a number of suppliers,
and shortlisting strategic suppliers.
• Standardize the rate-card format including specifications for APAC
and EMEA procurement to improve order efficiency and user
experience.

o Skills: Tender SAP Ariba RFQ RFI · Supplier Relationship Management ·

Contract Management · Spend Analysis

2. Types of interview question formats:

- Behavioural (mostly)
e.g.: tell me about your strength and weaknesses.
Tips: using situation, action and results (sar)
- Situational (Star method)
+ you begin your answer and outline the situation
+ you then give brief details about the task you needed your attention
+ next, you give details about the action you took to complete the task
+ finally, finish your answer with the results following your actions.
 - Resume
3. Tell me about your strengths.
Tips: based on the job description, align your skills (focus on the top three competencies)
and then choose examples that support those strengths.

- Supply chain management (Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Negotiation)

- Data analysis
- Microsoft Excel
As you saw on my resume, my proficiency in supply chain management, data analysis and
Microsoft Excel stands as a robust foundation for success in this role. With the keen
understanding of supply chain process which I demonstrated the ability to improve the
process during my last two internships and ability to enhance efficiency as well as navigate
the complexities of logistics.
My expertise in data analysis empowers me to extract meaningful insights from vast
datasets, enabling informed decision-making and strategic planning.
Additionally, my competency in Microsoft Excel and SAP production environment enhances
my capacity to organise, analyse and run the smooth process, contributing to streamlined
operations and effective communication.
Those skills collectively position me as a valuable asset, ensuring that I am well-equipped to
tackle the various challenges of the business and contribute significantly to the success of
team as well as organisation.

4. Tell me about your weaknesses.

As you mentioned in the job description, I am not able to use the…….., but I am able to pick
up this technology quite quickly with the help with colleague and by taking a course. And I
don’t have much experience working on ….industry but I do have a variety of training and
development and I find that the definition of buying, logistics are pretty similar across
industries. However, I do think that technical training are important and that’s why it is so
important to have somebody to train with the company system at the beginning. I am
proactive to learn about it and cannot wait to see how the system & process really works at
the company.

5. Why are you interested in our company? (how you see yourself contributing to the
position?)
== What do you like about the position?
Why are you interested in this position?
How did you hear about this position?
Their goals:
1. Evaluate your interest.
2. See if you understand the position.
3. Understand your long-term goals.

Tips: research company through the website, news release and Linked In profile.
I am interested in the company because it will allow me to use my focus on supply chain
management, inventory management and apply into the real situation, to a growing company. In my
research, it was nice to see a company focused on expanding its offerings to customers. The company
shows the growing opportunities for its current staff. According to my research, the company culture
are very supportive and cooperative.

Time:matter
I am looking forward to growing my expertise within the company. It is a great opportunity to not
only build my career but also to help organisations maximize their brands. I really like the culture of
the company believing in empowering employees to take ownership & decisions. The company work
environment is characterized by collaboration and teamwork. The company also value diversity and
promote an inclusive environment where every individual has the opportunity to reach their full
potential.
Solutions: same day air, same day rail, spare parts logistics (SPL); next flight out with various
industries: automative logistics, aviation, cell & gene therapy, high-tech & semicon.

Cotty
When I decided to join Coty, I am first excited by the famous brands and products in the Coty
portfolio. But what really solidified my decision was the outstanding culture which empowers other
employees to grow & develop, helping them succeed along the way. In my research, it was nice to
see a company focused on sustainability which are classified into beauty of company’s product,
beauty of our planet, and beauty of our product. For example, for the beauty of planet, it reduces
absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50% from a calendar year 2019 base year. The company
increases annual sourcing of renewable electricity from 5% in calendar year 2019 to 100%.
For the beauty of people, it rolls out diversity, equity, and inclusions training for all associates and
95% of a associates to complete annual compliance training by 2025.

Procurement
+Global direct category team (packaging, raw materials, external manufacturing)
+Global indirect category
+EMEA Procurement teams (media, digital, marketing, business, logistics)

6. Tell me about a successful project you are worked on.

During the third year at School, I was free to choose the project that I would like to work for
one semester. Since I am interested in Sustainability, I picked the project “set up the
sustainable tool for Vadain” which helps the company calculate the Carbon footprint during
the operations process. I actively collaborated with purchasing managers during the data
collection and engaged with their suppliers to collect the needed data.
Finally, I developed a dashboard that company can import data and get the results of the
number of Carbon Footprint that they produce for a specific year. Based on that, I offered
some solutions that can reduce or compensate their environmental impact.
Through this project, I also gained more insight into the procurement of the company during
the data collection phase, and I am excited to bring my experience and commitment to the
company, contributing to their goal of redefining sustainability in the fashion industry too.
7. Describe yourself in 3 words.
I would describe myself as passionate, trustworthy, and quick learner. I am passionate,
meaning I will get more work completed than the average person. You can always rely on
me to do the great job. And I am always happy to provide the added value to the team.
Finally, I am knowledgeable, meaning I can come to this role, learn fast and have an
immediate impact on the team.
What makes you interesting?
- Show your excitement for their brand/products or service that connects to mission.
- Submitting the work on time

8. What I did as an intern at West Coast Supply Group? (try to be same as the JD)
In my last role, I played a crucial part in streamlining the purchasing process, ensuring the
stock levels and on-time delivery to meet key performance indicators such as availability,
delivery time. In details, I placed orders to SAP system, completed the process from
 purchase order creation to order confirmation to advanced shipping notification and finished
goods receipts. In the stock side, I collaborated with warehouse employee to confirm the in-
coming goods and the capacity of the warehouse as well as the inbound checking from
warehouse for sufficient goods. In term of handling the logistics side, I collaborated with
multinational transporters and carriers to arrange the transports, ensuring the seamless flow
of goods. In addition, in the end of my internship I took care of update training materials
related to purchasing processes and procurement which helps the newcomers with easy
onboarding.
9. What I did as a Customer Master Data intern at Idexx?
In this role, I took on diverse responsibilities to ensure accurate and up-to-date records
within the ERP system of the company. This included updating suppliers ‘cost, volume and
inventory’s balance in Excel and SAP Production. A significant part of my role involved
meticulous maintenance of customers data in SAP, encompassing updates bank information,
VAT and IBAN numbers as well as payment terms and methods. I actively created and
maintained accounts in SAP for EMEA regions such as France, Germany, Netherlands,
Belgium & Asia Region such as Korean, Thai and Singapore in different lines of business of
the company.

I also collaborated closely with Transportation and Procurement team since I played a key
role in updating the serial numbers of goods and transportation zones for EMEA and Asia in
SAP. This collaboration contributed to streamlined logistics and procurement process.

Moreover, I took responsibilities related to E-commerce maintenance and troubleshooting

specifically for EMEA within the SAP environment. This involved addressing and resolving
issues promptly, ensuring the smooth functioning of E-commerce activities. Overall, my role
encompassed a broad spectrum of tasks, highlighting my proficiency in managing data
accuracy, system maintenance, and collaborative efforts with cross-functional teams.
10. What would you like to accomplish in the first 90 days?
What would you like to achieve in this position?
How do you see yourself being successful?
What would success look like?
Tips: - Highlight what’s good about the organisation – show how your skills can improve it –
make clear recommendations and admit that these could change.

I want to work with an important team and the colleagues that understand the needs and
the objective of the organisation, and knowing how to build on strategies and the vision and
so that would ultilize the knowledge of my courses and my previous internship experience.
11. When have you gone and beyond at work?
= Give me an example of where you were proactive in your last position?
= Tell me about the time you exceeded your team’s expectations.

I have several examples, but I think the most relevant is the time I helped my team.
gets the orders from suppliers on time before the holidays seasons that will not let
the sales’ figure drop.
Types of motivation:
- Achievement (tend to seek positions that allow you to advance, have a sense of
accomplishment, and receive feedback)
- Authority (lead others or heard by others)
- Affiliation (you are driven by social interactions and helping others)
12. Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
Tips: research their culture
 - Informational interviews
- New articles
- Website
The company decided to have training documentations and had a tight deadline. I let my manager
know it would take extra training due to lack of staff and I asked for support. I also reached out to a
team member that had already known about the process (2 seniors in my team). With their help, I
realised the timeline was too tight and talked to my manager about extending it. Although we
weren’t able to extend the deadline, we were able to collaborate as a team. I have since learned to
stay on top of departmental changes outside of my unit to anticipate to the company’s
documentation process and how to better negotiate timelines.

I am working with a couple of team members at our school, and we ended up working on a great
project. Unfortunately, they all weren’t able to meet the deadline and so I had to pitch in for some of
the students. They were able to get this work done with my help but it could have been a lot better. I,
for myself, being a team leader, know that I need to check in more with these students for better
experience.
13. Questions to ask the company.
Could you tell me a little bit about the team?
What is an ideal candidate for this role?
What is the company culture?
What is the next step after this interview?
What is the best thing about working for this company?
Which team am I going to work with? (direct procurement or indirect procurement)

14. What do you think makes a good co-worker?

Several things make a good co-worker. Good co-workers should be pleasant to work with,
good to be around, and positive whenever they encounter difficult challenges.
Good co-workers are supportive, treat others with respect, and offer to help with tasks if
someone in the team is struggling.
They will also embrace change with a positive mindset, try out new initiatives and encourage
others to do the same.
A good co-worker will be open-minded, listen to others’ ideas, and respect people’s views,
opinions and needs.
Finally, a good co-worker will volunteer to assist in the training and development of new
team members who join the company.
15. How do you handle setbacks at work?
I handle setbacks with a positive attitude, resilience, and a focus on the end goal. Whenever I
encounter a setback, I assess my options, quickly create a new plan and set to work. Setbacks
are normal in the workplace, but how you respond to them is important.
For example, in a previous job, we lost two team members due to sickness, which had the
potential to delay the project we were working on.
Instead of accepting a delayed deadline, we created a new list of tasks left to complete,
delegated them to the remaining team members, and outsourced any complex and technical
tasks to online contractors.

By being positive, forward-thinking, and not dwelling on the setback, we created a new
action plan and went all out to get the project done.

16. How do you prioritize tasks while under pressure?

When under pressure, I prioritize tasks by writing down my team’s or employer’s objectives
and then create a list of jobs I must complete to achieve them. I will always color-code each
 job in order of priority. Red tasks require my immediate attention. Yellow tasks come second,
and green tasks can be left when I have more time. Whenever under pressure, I remain calm
and focused block out all distractions, and focus intently on my work.
17. Tell me about the time when a co-worker was failing to do their work properly? What did
you say or do?
In my last job, a co-worker was constantly late producing his work. His lateness had the
potential to impact the team’s ability to complete projects on time, so I decided to speak to
him. I approached him, tactfully said I was concerned about his performance, and asked
whether he was experiencing any issues. He told me he had split from his partner and was
finding things difficult. I emphasized with his situation and suggested he work alongside me
while he was going to through this difficult period. He agreed this was a good idea. As soon
as he began working alongside me, his motivation for work improved, and he never missed a
deadline again.
18. Tell me the last occasion you asked for direct feedback from your manager and why?

In my last internship, I took my ownership of my training progress and I constantly asked for
the feedback from the manager as well as from my colleague. For some skills that I was
lacking, he suggested I enrolled in some courses through Udemy. After completing several
courses, my Excel skill increased significantly empowering me to add more value to the
company.
19. How would you communicate with your manager?
I would communicate with my manager both by email and in person in a respectful,
professional and productive manner.

I would keep my manager updated on my progress periodically, inform them of any training
needs I had, potential problems I could see, and opportunities I felt we could capitalize on in
the business.
20. Tell me about a time when you had to deliver bad news to someone. What did you
consider and how did you deliver the message?
I conducted a review of our company suppliers and found one that was not providing value
for money. After presenting my findings to my manager and giving her a list of cost-effective
alternative suppliers, she tasked me with informing the current supplier we no longer
needed their services.
Before speaking to them, I wrote down what I wanted to say and considered how I would say
it. I also pre-emptied some of the questions they might ask. When I spoke to them, I was
calm, confident, and direct and gave a simple reason for the company not to work with them
anymore. They thanked me for my honesty, and we moved on to the new supplier.
21. Talk about a situation when you had to work with a difficult co-worker. How did you
handle the interaction between you?
When I first started work in my last job, a senior member of the team was dismissing my
ideas and suggestions during the team meetings. Whenever I asked him for help or advice,
he said he was too busy. I was determined to build good relationships with him, so I spoke to
some of my colleagues to learn about his background and what he enjoyed doing outside of
work. I established we supported the topic, and during a work break, I talked to him about
our common interest. His interest instantly piqued, and we discussed the team and how it
was performing for several minutes. Then, when I next asked him for help or advice, he
cooperated. I am good at building relationships with everyone and will do utmost to fit into
my team for the company’s benefit.
22. Tell me about a time when you had to embrace a new process, system or technology.
A new team leader took over the running of our office. The team was performing well, and
we had just achieved the best performance for a department in the company. However, the
new team leader wanted to try new ways of working and introduce new technology to
monitor our performance. Some team members objected, but I encouraged them to
embrace the changes and support the new team leader because we needed to stay ahead of
the competition.
If we stood still, we could fall behind. Several months after the new working practices and
technology were implemented, the team performed even better, and everyone agreed the
change was positive.