ACIPCO Job Application Guide

The American Cast Iron Pipe Company, known more commonly as ACIPCO for short, is one of the most popular places for job applications. Renowned for looking after its employees, ACIPCO offers recruitment opportunities in several different divisions, and also offers apprenticeship chances too.

To give a clearer idea of what ACIPCO does, it runs one of the world’s largest ductile iron pipe casting plants, and has manufacturing plants in several states, including Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. It runs its headquarters from Birmingham, AL, where there are management, supervisory, and Human Resources job opportunities on offer.

The main divisions where employment opportunities exist are:

• Engineering
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Manufacturing, including entry level jobs, killed crafts, apprenticeshps, and supervisory positions, and at the various plants across the USA
• Sales
• Supply Chain Management
• Technical

The scope for earning is large, and ranges from an apprenticeship level wage, all the way up to the $40,000 levels for management positions. ACIPCO also offers a range of benefits for its employees, including:

• Bonuses paid out four times a year
• Medical and dental insurance provided
• Paid vacation time yearly
• Wellness opportunities, including the Eagan Center for Wellness
• Eagan College on-site trainig program, whic provides reimbursement of tuition fees, allowing employees to learn on the job

Whilst all of this certainly sounds good, carving out a career at ACIPCO requires you to apply for a position in the first place. So, how do you do that?

How to Apply to ACIPCO

Current job opportunities at ACIPCO can be found on the careers section of their website – http://www.american-usa.com/careers.html. The online portal will require you to register your details, and from there it will remember your profile for future applications.

The online application isn’t difficult to complete, and questions are clear. Most of the questions are centered around your skills, qualifications and experience. Be honest at this point, as ACIPCO are renowned for checking out candidates’ details. Qualifications for technical jobs, such as those in the engineering field, are most important, however managerial positions will require you to demonstrate experience as well as qualifications to back up your application. or apprenticeship and developmental posts, it is more about your personality and approach, which you must demonstrate on the application, and at the interview stage.

Interviews at ACIPCO

ACIPCO interviews are very broad-ranging, and it totally depends on the job you’re going for as to how many interview call backs you will need to go through before being offered a position. A managerial position may require up to four in person interviews, in front of a panel, before a successful offer is made.

Interviews are held both regionally and at Head Office, however for those aforementioned managerial positions, or a post within HR, you will be asked to attend Head Office, most likely. Engineering or manufacturing position interviews can be held at any of the plants across the country, depending on the location of candidate pools.

For every position, candidates should dress smartly and ensure personal hygiene. With ACIPCO, appearance says a lot about your work ethic and the way you present yourself to the world, and this is part of the candidate tick-list at interview. For men, this would mean a suit, tie, and dress shoes, and for women, this would mean either pants or a skirt, a smart blouse, and a jacket.

Potential Interview Questions at ACIPCO

There are two areas which ACIPCO hold very closely to their company ethics, and they are teamwork, and safety. You should always demonstrate that you are able to work as part of a team, and that you understand the importance of pulling together to achieve a common aim. Due to the technical and sometimes dangerous nature of working in manufacturing, safety is also something you should mention several time during your interview.

A few common interview questions include:

• Why do you want to work for ACIPCO?
• What development opportunities are you keen to access?
• Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
• What is more important to you, getting the job done, or succeeding as part of a team?
• How would you help a colleague who appeared to be struggling?
• What do you consider to be your main weakness?

There is a reason that the interview questions often asked at ACIPCO interviews are quite generic. This is because they are looking for candidates who can put an individual spin on their answers, instead of being generic right back. Of course, more technical jobs, such as those in the engineering field, will require you to put a more specific spin on your answers, and you should give examples of your past experience to back up your replies. For managerial positions, and for HR jobs, there are likely to be a lot of opportunities to talk abut team work, and this is of very high importance with ACIPCO. This is a company who focus almost entirely on teams, so be sure to mention team work and managing teams (if applicable) several times over.

Hearing Back from ACIPCO

A decision on who is successful is usually made up to a week after the final interview, and the successful candidate will be informed by telephone. if you do not hear back within that time, you should assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. it is a good idea to send an email or telephone the HR Department for feedback, as this will stand you in very good stead for any future applications you make within the company.

ACIPCO overall is a very good company to work for, and with a large range of different job opportunities on offer, it certainly isn’t just about the technical manufacturing side of things. The company also look after their employees very well, and they place a high amount of importance on development. Mentioning your desire to continue learning and to develop your existing skills is something that is expected of you, and if you are successful, you will be offered the chance to continue learning as part of the Eagan College on-site training program, run by the company itself.