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sparkysmum

Waitrose group interview! Accepted position!!

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Hi :D Have been really unhappy and stressed in the work that I have been doing so I applied to work in Waitrose. Its only 12 hrs /week temporary contract. To my astonishment I have been invited to a group interview later this week.

Help! I have no idea what to expect, can anyone help/ give me some advice. I am pretty chuffed about this as I kinda thought every company was a bit ageist and and happy that Waitrose is perhaps looking for a balanced workforce.

Oh ideas on what to wear would be good too.

 

Am I right in thinking Cinnamon might work in a retail organisation?

 

Looking forward to hearing from anyone who has some pearls of wisdom. Ax

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Only what I've been told but I believe for Sainsburys anyway it involved role play type things and puzzles to be solved together but I can't remember exactly what. The person attending found it patronising and a little soul destroying but not difficult. He didn't get offered the job, I suspect they could see what he was thinking so definitely wear a positive expression. :lol:

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When I worked for Asda, they were looking for "people" people. People that can chat easily to others and are able and willing to help them. Genuine warmth, a willingness to listen and a bit of enthusiasm (my acting skills must be a lot better than I thought :lol:!). Flexibility over days and hours helped too.

 

Asda actually liked more mature people as they believed they had a better work ethic - less likely to ring in sick with a hangover - and that customers found them more approachable. Also, we were much more likely to push our sleeves up and get the problems sorted, than to stand there having a panic attack :shock: .

 

I would suggest smart work wear for the interview - trousers, jacket, top. It's not a Dior and pearls moment, but always better to be too smart than too casual. Black or navy tends to be good, if you've got it.

 

Try to enjoy it and we're sending you lots of very positive Omlet vibes for a good outcome :pray:

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DD went to a group interview. I think it seems to be who's loudest and like their own voices seem to get the job. She said she had the ideas, showed the people how to do something, got the group praise for making the highest tower in their history of interviews, but the gobby girl claimed the fame and gave no credit to DD. I told DD she should have behaved more like she did at home. Argue everything!!! :lol:

 

Recently a neighbour's daughter went on a group interview for uni and she said it was very difficult to interject as two people were monopolising everything. Until at one point when question flummoxed them and she blurted out a name which then lead to her saying ahh now I have your attention, let me explain . . . which went down very well!

 

Good luck.

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Interesting information about the Asda recruitment process, because we have always commented on how lovely the staff are in our local Asda. I wonder if the ones in Iceland are recruited in a similar way, because they are also very efficient and friendly.

 

I would say, stay calm, focused and be yourself. A warm smile goes a long way in life too. No further advice or experience, but enjoy and best of luck :D

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Hi there,

yes I do work for Waitrose....have done for almost 5 years now, & I really enjoy it too.

I am 49, & depending on the role, they love to employ people of all ages, especially us more mature ones as we can ring alcohol through the tills unsupervised.

 

I will pm you some interview specifics tomorrow (ironically I am off sick today!), but for now think about where in the shop you might like to work. Counters may not suit a veggie for instance. I am on checkouts, which I love, but it doesn't suit everyone. I only do 12 hours a week ..... the bare minimum to get my benefits.

Think if retail will suit you. You will probably work Christmas & so forth!

Try to work a Monday because you will get bank holidays off paid.

The JLP are great to work for with many more benefits than our discounts to consider!

 

I wore black trousers & a plainish top if I remember. Keep jewellery minimal & make up very natural. No nail varnish either.

I am naturally shy but I forced myself to chirp up first to the group questions, & tried to be warm, friendly & chatty.

It was almost my first job after 16 years of raising children & working from home, so I needed to put myself out of my comfort zone a bit.

 

I will pm you some of the more detailed aspects of the group interview asap.....I believe I have given advice to 3 other successful candidates!

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Wow, thank you for all this help! ANH for alerting Cinnamon to my post and esp to Cinnamon for reply. I have a big worry, I discovered today that I have to give 4 wks notice to my employers. If I was successful in group interview, would they not be looking for immediate start? I cant imagine that they would want to wait whilst "one" works their notice. Argh, what to do! Lap of gods I guess :lol: Thanks again :!: Ax

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Do you work part time in your current job? Maybe you could start your new one whilst still working in your old one. Would be a hard few weeks but potentially worth it? Or do you have any annual leave owing to you that could reduce your notice period?

 

My sister has just done this, and ended up only needing to work 2 weeks instead of 4 weeks.

 

I've had two group interviews in my time, and my advice is they are still watching you when they give you breaks between sessions. :P

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Asda actually liked more mature people as they believed they had a better work ethic - less likely to ring in sick with a hangover

Bit of a sweeping statement that...

Sorry if I caused any offence :oops:. I did say it was what "they" (my store management) believed and what they said outright at times, thought the colleague that was most frequently off sick, didn't drink! I made no comment about my colleague, the grandad, who used to show up for most shifts reeking of alcohol :roll: - but I suppose he did show up.

 

My advancing years however did appear to work in my favour in the selection process, rather than being a detriment :D .

 

Employers will know that people have to work their notice period, so that should not be an issue. You could always suggest you could do one day a week for that period, just to get you into the job before you can start properly. I know it's not what you would want to do, but it shows you've given it thought and are willing to find a solution.

 

Wishing you all the very best and let us know how you get on :D

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The group interview is usually the first step.

It would be followed by a one on one interview with the Section manager or ASM of the department you would be working in. Notice is discussed then, along with days & hours of work.

There are several weeks of training sessions too, before you are let lose on the wonderful general public, so maybe these could be squeezed in alongside your notice period?

 

Good luck....they are a great company to work for.

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Most people currently in employment will have to give notice, and if they think that you are right for the job then they are not going to be put off by having to wait for four weeks. I don't think you need to worry about that aspect of it. Good luck with the interview.

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Judging from the really elderly lady on our local counter I don't think age is an issue at all. In fact a fair few must be in excess of 70. I'm sure one must - if she isn't already - in her 80's and she looks older than my mum who is 86! We all have to find another till because she is exceedingly slow. Very sweet, but if you are racing home with frozen stuff then forget it! :lol: She has been off ill a lot too. Ironically it's the youngsters that seem to be having hip ops done! I do wonder how she bypassed the group test! :lol:

 

Hang in there. My boy is having an interview today - pressure off as he already has a job but needs a change. And today my neighbour's daughter is having a group interview at Northampton university. So yes definitely you'll be fine and no worrying about your age.

 

We definitely need a hug smiley. This has been missing for years!!!!

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Good luck - you will be fine!

 

Don't panic if you don't hear back right away. If they like you but feel you are not quite right for the position you have applied for, they will call you up when something else becomes available.

 

What position is it, by the way - did it name a department or anything?

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Ahhhhhh thank you everyone for your good wishes! Well it was a really interesting experience! Ist of all were 1:1 interviews which I think went really well! The young man who was section head kept saying encouraging things like "perfect answer" and " " thats just what I'm looking for" then the group interview. Oh dear :(

 

We each had a summary of different sections of a secret shopper report. We had 20 mins to read it and discuss with the others how the store could do better. Then present an action plan, showing the long term benefits of our proposals. :shock:

 

None of us remembered any of this but for 20 mins we discussed what the problems were and how to remedy them. Mmmm not impressive. Dont think the assessors were impressed either! One of them very kindly asked us if we thought we had covered any of the points we should have addressed. Clearly we had failed totally!

 

Big lesson here, read your brief and remember it!

 

Guess no job :oops: Still I wont let it put me off, instead I will be more prepared next time. :D

 

Thanks again for all your helpfulness and best wishes, esp Cinnamon for all your help. :D Axx

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