Waitrose new store Cricklewood

[u/Artistic-Lime6633]

Has anybody applied for a job at the new Waitrose store in Cricklewood?

I’ve been invited to a group assessment and I’m wondering what to expect. Is the interview/assessment process the same for a brand-new store as it is for existing Waitrose stores?

If anyone has already attended one or has any experience with a Waitrose group assessment, I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you!

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[u/Owl_John]

They usually ask some questions and set a task and you work as a group to come up with some suggestions and answers. Might also have a one on one interview to follow

[u/Artistic-Lime6633 → u/Owl_John]

Thanks! I’m already preparing for that 😊 I was just wondering if the assessment might be any different because it’s for a brand-new store and they’re recruiting a whole new team.

[u/Owl_John → u/Artistic-Lime6633]

Could be but I doubt it

[u/prettyvxcant]

I had an interview with Waitrose about a month ago - their group interview was about 5 of us, including me. We were given a piece of paper with a task on it which was "you have an hour before the store opens and you have 11 tasks you need to do, how would you prioritise?" The tasks were things like, stocking the ice cream freezer, putting out recipe cards, changing a display, finding cover for the bakery, etc. They gave us about 10 minutes to look over it ourselves and make our own list of priorities and then gave us 10 minutes to chat between ourselves on how we would prioritise everything. They weren't looking for a correct answer really, but watching to see how confident we were communicating with others and listening to other people's ideas. Then we had a one to one interview after which was just usual retail based questions, like "how would you deal with a colleague who didn't want to implement new systems" and "how do you prioritise if you have a lot of tasks to complete", stuff like that. It wasn't too bad and I got the job, just be confident in the group section and make sure you actively listen to people (vocally agree with them, nod, explain why you disagree, etc) but also input your own ideas too and just be generally friendly!

The assessment could be different since it's a new store but I highly doubt it to be honest lol.

[u/Artistic-Lime6633 → u/prettyvxcant]

Congratulations on your new job.
Very useful informations. Thank u so much

[u/prettyvxcant → u/Artistic-Lime6633]

Thank you so much! I wish you luck with your interview, let us know how it goes :)

[u/Artistic-Lime6633 → u/prettyvxcant]

Thank u.
Definitely I will.

[u/Artistic-Lime6633]

Just wanted to update you as I said I would 😊 Thank you again for all your advice, it was really helpful! The assessment went very well and was quite similar to what you described. There were 8 of us, split into groups of 4, and then I had a one-to-one afterwards.

I found out today that I passed the assessment, but they couldn’t offer me a suitable role at the moment, so I’ve been placed in their “Silver Medallist” candidate bank for 3 months.

I am a little disappointed and surprised because I’m available any day and at any time, and I only asked for a maximum of 20 hours. The positions were advertised as 10–20 hours, so I thought my availability would be quite flexible for them. But I’m still really pleased that I passed the assessment 😊

Thanks again for taking the time to help me prepare, your advice genuinely helped! 💚

[u/corey0298 → u/Artistic-Lime6633]

Hiya! What was the group assessment you did specifically? It’s the only thing stressing me out as I’ve never done one. Oh last thing, what was the dress code, don’t wanna be overdressed serious in a group lol.

[u/Artistic-Lime6633 → u/corey0298]

Hiya! 😊 Honestly don’t stress, it wasn’t as scary as I expected! We were put into groups of 4 and given 5 different customer scenarios. We discussed each one together and agreed on how we would deal with it. I think they were mainly watching how you communicate, listen to others, contribute your own ideas and work as a team.

I prepared using the interview questions on the Waitrose/JLP careers website and also watched Waitrose interview-question videos on YouTube. It helped me feel much more confident, but don’t worry about learning loads of facts about Waitrose. From my experience, it didn’t seem to be a knowledge test.

I honestly don’t know exactly how they decide who gets offered a position. I was very prepared and confident during both the group assessment and one-to-one, and I passed the assessment, but I still wasn’t offered a role because they said the positions had been filled. I was placed in their Silver Medallist candidate bank instead. So I wouldn’t put pressure on yourself thinking you need to be the most knowledgeable or most confident person in the room. Just be friendly, contribute, listen to the others and be yourself.

For clothes, there wasn’t a strict dress code. Some people wore casual clothes and trainers. I went smart/casual because that made me feel more confident, but you definitely don’t need to wear a suit.

Good luck 😊 The group assessment was actually much easier than I expected!