Firstly I applied to work for Tesco using their online application process. I was asked to input personal information and upload my passport for the usual 'right-to-work checks'. I was then given an online questionnaire after applying for a specific role, which took around 10 minutes to complete. The questions were similar to: "A customer approaches you asking for Corn Flakes, they are out of stock. Do you..?", and were all multiple choice.
After completing the questionnaire I was informed I had passed it, and moved on to the next stage of the process. It took around 8 days from clicking apply, to being invited to an interview, which I was notified of by email. I booked the interview for three days time, and was informed it would be a "competency-based interview."
I arrived at the store for the interview and was taken into the back of the store and told to wait in the employee canteen. I noticed other individuals in the canteen were wearing suits, and found out shortly after that it was a group interview. I was not informed of this but happy with it anyway.
After waiting for around 10 minutes a group of five of us were called into the meeting room and greeted by the HR/Recruitment manager, and a payroll assistant. The individual conducting the interview did not seem interested at all and was very monotonous and seemed to read everything off of a sheet, and I could tell he was very disinterested.
First of all, we were asked to fill out health forms which asked us to note down any disabilities/illnesses which would cause us difficulty during the role, for example: "Do you have issues standing up for long periods of time?". After this we were asked to fill out an availability form, which required us to tick the boxes of when we could work. These were days and hours between midnight and 11 pm.
After looking on Glassdoor prior to my interview, I knew which sorts of questions we would be asked, and they did come up. We were all asked in turn specific questions (noted below) and took it in turns to answer. I tuned my answers to the role and used the S.T.A.R method, which was a great way to structure the answers.
Once completed we were informed of procedures at the store and our hourly rate. After all of this we were given a 'team-building/group exercise', which was an activity to see how we would rate the importance of items in a particular scenario, and then asked to talk with the group on how we would rate them, being carefully watched by both interviewers.
Finally we were told we would be "helping with colleagues on the checkouts" and were assigned a checkout to be positioned at for around 10 minutes. We were not told what we should do, so I decided to greet customers and offer to pack their shopping for them, being as courteous as possible. After around 10 minutes we were all called back into the room and asked if we had any questions. The interview took around one hour and we were told successful candidates would be notified within 7 days if they had the job.
After 7 days I did not hear anything, so I emailed the interviewer just to say I am still interested in the role and would love to work at Tesco.
After 15 days Tesco withdrew my application.