ALDI Retail Assistant interview questions

Applied through Seek and 2 days later I got an email inviting me to a group interview. This was meant to happen within a week but it got delayed a further 1.5 weeks due to a 3 day lockdown. GROUP INTERVIEW The group interview was held at the store and ran for an hour. There was approx. 12 people and we got taken to the warehouse at the back of the store by the area manager. We all had to stand in a circle and one by one we had to address the group, answering the following questions: 1. Why do you want to work for Aldi? 2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 3. What is your hobby? After everyone had finished we went back around the group in the opposite direction and one by one we had to answer this question: 1. What is something you know about Aldi? - after each person answered, the area manager would correct and/ or expand on what each person had said so we got to also learn more about the company. After this the area manager spent a lot of time giving us further information about the company and the role, they really reiterate that working for Aldi isn't for everyone and the point of the group interview is so we can go away and decide if working for Aldi is really for us. Throughout this part of the group interview the following additional questions were asked for anyone to respond to if they knew the answer: 1. Where do Aldi’s products come from? 2. What is something different about Aldi’s cash registers? It is worth noting that how the job was advertised felt misleading compared to the information that was given during this interview. It was advertised as 15 hours per week @ $25.75 per hour and he told us it was purposely advertised to entice students (generally who don't have full availability). However, during the group interview he told us that unless we have availability to work our 15 hours across any day of the week we would be put on a "limited contract" which is less pay than what was advertised, but he couldn't tell us what the lower pay rate was? In addition, if you're on a limited contract you will never be given more than 30 hours per fortnight. They also have a strange policy where regardless of if you are on a "full" or "limited" contract they pay you for 30 hours a fortnight, even if you work less hours or more hours. If you work less, you then owe them hours and have to make them up and if you work more you do not get paid for them but you go into credit and can bank the hours as leave. At the end of the interview we each then had to speak to the area manager one by one and answer the 3 following additional questions: 1. What do you define as a good job? 2. What contract would you want to be on? and can you work 30 hours a fortnight? 3. What do you think you will find a challenge if you get the job? Overall the group interview was really casual, it is not hard to stand out if you have researched the company and prepared potential answers to questions. Most people had not done this and copied other people's answers. A day after the group interview I got an email inviting me to a one-on-one interview which wasn't for another 1.5 weeks and in the meantime I had to book in/ attend a medical assessment at a local physiotherapist. You are also sent a background check, privacy form and injury/ disease disclosure form that you have to hand in if you are offered the job. MEDICAL ASSESSMENT Before the medical you get sent a survey that requires you to answer questions about your mental health and any pre-existing injuries/ ongoing pain. The appointment at the physio lasted 15-20 minutes and involved: -Weight -Height -Ask you to do different stretches and ask you if you have any pain -They ask you to lay down and put your legs into particular positions and take measurements with a ruler to measure your mobility -Kneeling -Squatting -Lift 10 & 15kg in a box 3 times off the ground -Sit in and out of a chair as many times are you can for 30 seconds -Hand grip strength -Then they then run through your answers to the survey questions Another misleading thing to note here is, in the original application they get you to agree that you will pay for the medical assessment but this is not true, Aldi pay for it. I assume they do this to weed out people who aren't that serious. ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW This interview was held back at the store with the same area manager that ran the group interview, it lasted approximately 20 minutes. The whole process was extremely lengthy for a part-time retail job and it was very impersonal. I recommend you continue applying for other jobs while you're waiting! You are never contacted by phone, the only time you speak to someone is when you arrive at the store the rest was all done by email where you are sent a link and book your interview times/ medical online. After dedicating all this time to the process they send you a rejection letter, written off a template and they refuse to give any feedback as to why.