Morrisons competency interview, what to expect?

The_Goob

Does anyone know how a competency interview works and what type of questions i should expect?

I have been without secure employment for over 2 years only gaining short term work at the cricket club and in a warehouse. I have no experience in customer service and was completely suprised to discover i had passed the the assessment and personality tests. I then passed the telephone interview with a company called manpower who do the recruiting for morrisons. Now i have an interview on monday at 10am and i'm not sure what to expect.

If anyone does know this it would be a great help. Those assessment and personality tests, what do they tell an employer? The assessment test was just a choice between a question say *999-9,9 *99-,99 and you just had to tick identical or not identical. I answered around 12 in the time limit of a possible 31. The personality test was just are you outgoing etc and you chose between characteristic or not characteristic.

Sorry to post this here. I did post in employment but nobody has responded to me and seeing as there are more people viewing this section i took a punt at someone reading this knowing how these interviews works and what morrisons look for. The interview is monday morning and i'm nervous as hell. I have never had a customer service job before.

TBeckett100

You need to answer what they need to hear

1) hard worker
2) brilliant customer service
3) helping colleagues
4) flexible with your time to meet demand
5) can get to work with no issues
6) find what skills you have used previously and how it can transpose to this job. Cricket = team player

Don't chew gum, turn up slightly early, look smart, clean shoes, nice hands, not sweaty hands, no limp hand shake, tidy face, confident straight seating position and never cross your arms or legs

Good eye contact as well and smile

TBeckett100

They don't want to hear you need to run off dead on 6pm to wipe baby's bottom and bed time with the kids.

When you get the job, you can then be the real you

dancingfairy

O.K When have you expereienced customer service? Either good or bad? What happened and what made it good or bad ? What would you have done differently?
In terms of competencies they will likely be assessing you on qualities related to the role so honesty, hard working, able to follow instructions etc etc. Dig out the job description/person specification and highlight the qualities they have asked for.
For each quality think of a time you have demonstrated this quality. Think outside the box. For example for customer service you may not have interacted with the general public but you may have been providing customer service to someone in your organisation. Was there a rush on in the warehouse? Did you have to take orders on the phone and provide customer service in that way? Even if you had no contact with any other human beings in any of your previous jobs (which is pretty unlikely) then you would say you gave good customer service by picking the item accurately, on time, packing it correctly ,addressed it correctly etc etc so that it minimised the problems for the end customer (ie you still had the end customer in mind). Don't forget other places you may have shown your skills- any volunteering, any clubs/socieities you are involved with etc etc.
Generally people advise using the STAR method (google it). So you would describe the situation, what the task was, what action YOU took (ie what you did, not what somebody else did) and what the result was (Were you happy with the result, what would you have done differently etc).
Be confident. They clearly are not expecting rocket scientists, just be confident and present yourself well in a positive light.
df

Armorica

^^ STAR method

Essentially, they don't asked closed questions like - are you good at working in a team? (Yes or no)

Instead the questions are, tell me about a time you worked as part of a team?

(And with follow ups a la STAR e.g. what was your role, how did you deal with difficult team member, what could have gone better etc.)

The_Goob

Thanks for the advice i will think carefully about a STAR method to deliver in the interview. I was asked during the telephone interview to think of a moment where i experienced good customer service so i presume they wont ask me that in a personal interview.

Things i'm worried about is my level of experience. I was hoping someone had worked with morrisons and could tell me if they employ people new to customer service? I do want this job and i think this is why i'm over thinking things too much.

KiKi

Don't overthink it! They will ask you for *specific* examples of things you've done. As the previous poster said, look at the job description because they questions will be focused around this. I'd imagine the competencies they are looking for will be things like customer focus, teamwork, communication, problem solving etc.

In short, think of times when you have demonstrated those competencies. Keep your examples concise. Tell them a bit about the situation - keep it brief. They don't need a whole backstory. Then what you did and how you did it (that's the main part, so say "I did x, then I did y" - talk about what you did, use the word "I", not "we"), and what the outcome was.

Try not to get caught up in thinking "did I cover S, T, A R" etc - the interviewer's job is to make sure you answer anything they didn't hear about. Also, sometimes people can over-prepare for competency based interviews. I've often seen people who've clearly prepared an example of customer service, but it wasn't relevant to the question I asked. So make sure you answer the actual question. (Eg, if you're asked about a time you've solved an immediate problem for a customer, don't tell them about a time when you've identified a way to improve customer service, just because that's the example you prepared.)

Also - don't assume that they won't ask you the same things in the face to face interview. The telephone interview was to sift out people using the absolute essentials. They may well ask for further examples in the interview, or a slightly different take on that competency.

And yes, Morrisons do take people without customer service experience - but I'd bet you already have some. Don't think of customers as the general public. In a shop, the customer is the general public, yes, but in your warehouse, you would have contributed to customer service, no matter what you were doing. If you were loading lorries, for example, your customers were the drivers - you were making sure things were ready for them to do their job. Your customer is whoever benefits from your work - and sometimes that's more than one person. It could be the driver *and* the general public...ie, the lorries were loaded correctly, so the driver did a better job, and the end customer got their package. Hope that makes sense.

Good luck!

Tire

Manpower, ugh. Seriously, get out why you can. They are an absolutely terrible agency. They'll (£10 bet) mess your wages up week in week out, regardless of the fact you've spoon fed them the correct information 77 times.

They'll mug you off with your hours. If you can't at the drop of a hat cover shifts they need, expect your p45 for not being suitable / passing some made up course.

Never expect to be taken on permanently, even after 12 months.

Never expect a pay rise, even if your contract says your entitled to one.

I could go on, but the test will be a cake walk, they always are. It's just an excuse for them to see what you look like, how you present yourself and how you manage.

Just be confident, but apply like crazy for anything else with anyone else.

Poppops

A competency based interview is all about giving examples to illustrate your skills and experience.

Did they tell you which competencies they will be testing. I guess not or expect you would have mentioned them.

I would try and think of examples of things like

When you've worked as part of a team
When you've had a problem you couldn't solve (answer is always to ask for help)
When you've had to manage your time, work to deadlines etc
When you've had to deal with a difficult customer
When you've had to prioritise a task

I would also be prepared for strengths, weaknesses etc.

It's ok to be nervous but you do need to show the nervousness wearing off as the interview goes on. I would be prepared for the usual strengths and weaknesses questions also.

Remember it's fine to ask for a minute to have a think. It's difficult for the interviewer if you waffle, so they would much rather you had a think and provided a well structured answer.

It's all about preparedness. I always know a few facts about the company and try and get across how much and why I really want the job

Good luck

MadDogWoman_2

My husband has just been through this. The assessment session lasted about 2.5 hours. There were practical tests, build a tower using certain number of colours. A written assessment and another on testing manual dexterity.


It took approx. 2 months from initial application to starting the job.


Impressed with them to be honest not many employers would hire a 50+ dyslexic man.


Manpower are just doing the recruitment process, you will be employed by Morrisons.


Morrisons use a different agency to supply temp staff.

The_Goob

MadDogWoman wrote: »

My husband has just been through this. The assessment session lasted about 2.5 hours. There were practical tests, build a tower using certain number of colours. A written assessment and another on testing manual dexterity.


It took approx. 2 months from initial application to starting the job.


Impressed with them to be honest not many employers would hire a 50+ dyslexic man.


Manpower are just doing the recruitment process, you will be employed by Morrisons.


Morrisons use a different agency to supply temp staff.

That sounds different to mine. On the email it says 45 minutes duration. Did your husband take an application form with him? I have only filled out the info for manpower and at the bottom of the email it has a link to morrisons application form. It doesn't say i need 1 but i was thinking of being thorough and having a completed 1 for them.