What it does:
Chemical manufacturing, ranging from plastics and performance products to oil and gas.
Best known for:
Being the largest chemical producer in the entire world, with over 122,400 employees
Financials:
BASF recently earned US $69 billion in sales, yielding a net income of $5.1 billion. Recent trends show significant decline in EBIT from previous years. Their assets are valued at over US $95 billion.
The good:
Famously efficient German work culture. Strong learning environment with solid work-life balance.
The not so good:
Highly process-oriented; slow career growth.
Hiring grads with degrees in:
The company began when Friedrich Engelhorn, the owner of an oil and gas company, realised the potential for using coal tar in dyes. He began producing the components for red dye using this technique in 1861, soon coming to the realisation he could found a company dedicated entirely to the production of dye. He decided to start from the fundamental components, all the way through the production chain to the final output. In 1965, he founded his new company dedicated to this process, known as “Badische Anilin- & Sodafabrik”, or BASF for short.
Unfortunately, the dyes produced weren’t as vibrant or effective as expected. So chemist Heinrich Caro was hired to improve the process in 1968. After bringing more professors on board, they managed to synthesise their first natural dye, which quickly became the company’s first international success.
They managed to build an entire colony with the proceeds, designed for employees to live and work and was equipped with 400 apartments. They later gave employees health insurance as part of an ongoing worker’s rights movement in 1875.
The decades to come saw the creation of new patents for different dyes and their methods of creation. New laboratories came into being and critical mergers occurred. By 1900 they had begun research into far more than just dye, including the synthesis of nitrogen and hydrogen. New pension plans and leisure rooms for workers were added at factories during this same period. Even when Germany lost two world wars and inflation was astronomical, the company persisted for the sake of its workers.
Today, BASF has thrived and diversified, despite the extensive economic damage Germany has incurred in modern history. As the world’s largest chemical producer, it’s able to share its vision with employees and stakeholders in 80 countries and keeps reaching for more.
According to the company, ‘creating chemistry’ doesn’t just refer to their business! Work-life balance is prized at BASF, with some employees reporting it feels like they’re in a government job. Being a large company, not every manager is entirely supportive, leading to some employees walking away bitter, but for the most part mentoring, coaching and camaraderie are common.
BASF’s mission is to “provide innovative, clean and efficient energy solutions”. Their vision has been to operate in all major markets and meet stakeholder expectations. They feel they have just one purpose despite this ambition: to “create chemistry for a sustainable future”. They have six core values:
Whether applying through the Grow program or a standard trainee position, applicants must go to their country and site of interest and submit an online application. From there, the questions you’ll face in the job interview will vary substantially depending on your specialisation. The only feature common to each of them is a HR interview at some point, which will consist of general interview questions. For instance, they’ll likely ask why you chose the company and position.
To learn more about the recruitment process for a specific position relevant to your degree program, we recommend looking through their open positions on our site.
In India, a trainee fresh out of university can expect to start on roughly ₹5,30,000 p/a regardless of specialisation.
There are a huge number of graduate opportunities at BASF in every country it operates in. Initiatives like the Grow Graduate Program in India and much of South-East Asia are cross-disciplinary work opportunities for university graduates in many fields, from marketing to chemical engineering; finance and accounting to human resources. Outside this, graduate trainee programs in many fields persist all year round. It’s overall an excellent way to gain exposure to many components of an international business in a short time period.
While an excellent starting point, current and previous employees generally report slow career growth. The sheer size and scale of the company lends itself to high levels of bureaucracy. While the high levels of process resolve much of the ambiguity that would otherwise be present, it does limit each employee’s ability to distinguish themselves through creativity or innovation. Weigh how much you value diverse opportunities against slow career growth to decide how long you stay.