John Lewis seasonal work (Christmas)

Sponge

My wife recently applied for a temporary position at John Lewis, over the Christmas period.

Today she got an email saying she's passed the assessment centre and is now on hold until suitable hours match her availability and that they'll be in touch as soon as a position becomes available.

I know there are many variables and I'm not expecting anyone to tell me exactly what is going to happen in her case, but I am wondering if anyone has been in a similar position and how long, if at all, it was before they were actually offered a post.

I'd have thought if there were vacancies and her availability suited, they'd have sent a different email. But then, is this just a step in the process and everyone gets such an email.

I'm wondering if it's worth her calling them tomorrow to ask if they can divulge what is available and if she can accommodate the hours. (We're flexible.) Or to leave it a few days and see what happens. We're hoping it'll be a foot-in-the-door to something more permanent, so we'll (try to) move mountains...

We're both excited, but I'm starting to worry that it's one of those situations whereby they've said 'yes' to lots of people, more than they need and there are actually only a handful of positions and the odds of actually getting a job are remote.

the_donchichio

Sponge wrote: »

Today she got an email saying she's passed the assessment centre and is now on hold until suitable hours match her availability and that they'll be in touch as soon as a position becomes available.

I suppose it all depends on the employers processes in place and how they recruit although I am not overwhelmed by the above, particularly the whole "hold until suitable hours match" & "position available"...surely a position was available when your wife applied and her availability was known by the company prior to the interview no??...hopefully she gets the job

BeckyCrawshaw

Hello!
I recently went to the assessment centre for JL and received the same email as your wife recieved yesterday. I'm hoping that it's the usual email they send when you have passed the assessment- I put free all the time except Monday and Thursday due to university. So she's not alone in receiving the email! I was thinking of ringing them around the two week mark after the assessment to maybe ask them when I would know if I could get any hours? Hopefully we would receive an email before then though,
Well done to your wife!
Rebecca

dotdash79

It will be that the budget for the extra staff becomes available at different times. I.E. they only need 2 extra staff in October but 30 extra in December.

Sncjw

I applied for a job before deciding what I wanted to focus on looking for. I got sent email to arrange interview but I never did. The other day I got a similar email even though I didn't attend interview.

TELLIT01

It may simply be a holding letter until they finalise the requirements, and start dates, for additional staff. It can't hurt to call and simply ask if they can clarify likely timescales.

Sponge

She called them and it's a good job she did. It would appear they interview more people than they require and put the extras into a 'waiting list' (my words). Some of the slots have already been filled (the hours she would have jumped at) and the ones remaining weren't suitable for her. She was in tears. She was so looking forward to starting there.

So it's now a waiting game; hopefully more hours will become available as we approach Christmas.

They appear to grade their successful applicants gold, silver and bronze and offer positions accordingly. (Wife is in silver.)

Applying for JL has given her the confidence to apply elsewhere, e.g. Next, M&S, Boots, etc. She applied for a position at Debenhams Monday, had the telephone interview this afternoon (passed) and has a face-to-face interview this Saturday.