How not to do a Tesco interview!

loisa

Hi just thought I would share my experience of a Tesco group interview in case anyone else has one.

Ten people were being interviewed at the same time in a small room. The first half of the interview involved introductions followed by a few typical "What would you do if...?" questions.

All 10 people had to answer at the same time which was a bit confusing because it was hard to get a word in. Often a couple of people answered and everyone else nodded in agreement and the interviewer quickly moved on to the next question.

I think to do well in this task you must say something for every question. I thought this was a warm up task but then I looked around and realised that answers were being graded for everyone (duh!).
I only answered about 3 of the 5 questions and think this is probably why I didn't get a job. There were a good few people who didn't say a word the whole way through. I felt a bit sorry for them because they were very young and shy and I would have been the same a few years ago.

The group was then split in to two. Half went to the shopfloor to tidy some shelves and pack bags. The rest had a one to one which was basically to find out what you were and weren't willing to do, hours of work etc.

I think the second half was basically a formality and everyone had either passed or failed by then...Two days later a letter in the post saying I was unsuccessful.

I guess if I'm honest my face just didn't fit. I've never done anything like that before. It was probably a bit obvious that I was only there because I'm desperate for a job. Not answering all the questions certainly didn't help me though!

simpywimpy

Sorry you weren't successful but at least next time you will know what to expect from a group interview. They can be very daunting but I think they do look for people that stand out. Asda also do group interviews (or certainly used to do)

Good luck in your search x

OrangeProse

I always used to hate interviews like this. Airlines do this kind of thing for flight attendant roles. I had to write and perform a song for one airline in under an hour - I kid you not!

Anyway, there's a little bit of psychology that you can employ if you're ever in that kind of situation again, and here it is - when they ask the first question, make sure it's you who gets your answer in there first.

The reason for this is that at the beginning, everyone's a bit nervous and when the interviewers ask the first question, everyone will naturally hesitate a bit and will wait to see who answers first (you may have noticed this at the Tesco interview). Once someone answers that first question, everyone else in the room relaxes a tiny bit because they feel (subconsciously) that the heat's off them. Once that's happened, whoever answered that first question first should 'own the room' and will usually be the first to answer subsequent questions too.

The reason for this is that the other people in the room will naturally (and subconsciously) defer to the person who answers first with each new question, because they know that they answered the previous one. It's a kind of self-protection thing. Also, the more you answer first in, the more you rule the room.

It's a weird little piece of psychology that I can't really explain without going into loads of detail about group dynamics but trust me, it works. I'm not the most naturally confident bloke around most of the time but when I made sure I was 'fastest finger first' with the initial question the room was mine for the rest of the interview.

Hope this helps.

Comyface

OrangeProse wrote: »

I always used to hate interviews like this. Airlines do this kind of thing for flight attendant roles. I had to write and perform a song for one airline in under an hour - I kid you not!

.

Love it! Care to share the song with us?

I'm actually intrigued! Did the song have to have a theme? Such as 'Why I'd be a good employee for XYZ airways'?

And did you get that job?:)

loisa

OrangeProse - What you said rings so true! Once the others started to speak it just felt like I had no control and the words wouldn't come out of my mouth.
There was one girl who said a lot and seemed really friendly and bubbly but when I spoke to her alone later she was the complete opposite- fake! Incidentally she was studying for a psychology degree, I told her that I had graduated from the exact same course three years ago and she gave me a really shocked "what the hell are you doing here?" look - that's a good question actually!

loisa

I wish I had learnt something useful on my course! I would love to see how these application forms and interviews are put together. Shame I never got to learn about the 'Tesco values' which are probably the same as every other company's.

montyrebel

asda still do them only now they are called magic sessions and it involves the interview part and then building bits and pieces with pipe cleaners, decks of cards etc. absolute nightmare

Purse_String

I had a group interview once for the RBS, what items would you take with you if you had to leave your broken down vehicle in the desert! Followed by a role play exercise. I really rehearsed for this bit, but nerves got the better of me and lost out. I agree that the more pushy candidates do get noticed first.