John Lewis recruitment experience and requests for your thoughts

jacalan113

I’m wishing to write about my recent John Lewis application experience really in order for me to understand what has happened and also to get other peoples feedback about the process. 

I applied online for John Lewis Selling Partner positions on their website after being placed in their Candidate Pool after being unsuccessfully placed as a Supermarket Assistant in their Waitrose stores. As this new role was for John Lewis and not Waitrose, I went through the process again. I filled out the online application form and then was requested to complete an online test where I was required to respond to a variety of situations and state how I was most likely to respond. This process took about an hour. 

I was then invited to an online interview where an employee of John Lewis asked me about my experience and why I was interested in the role. The interview went well and I was pleased when the person interviewing said I had answered the questions well and if I were to be invited to the next stage of my application I should complete it quickly. Having been unemployed for a few months, I was pleased and excited at this feedback.

An email came through shortly after the interview asking for me to take my Right to Work documents into John Lewis. Heeding the advice, I cycled to the store the next day and gave them my passport which was copied. They also asked me to sign a form and state which shift pattern I was most interested in and if I had any holiday forthcoming that I would like to tell them about. The parting words were ‘We’ll be in touch’.

It was a surprise when a day later I received an email to say I had been unsuccessful and that I’d be placed in a candidate pool if another suitable vacancy arose. Having gone through all these hoops this was upsetting it was also a duplicate of my experience with Waitrose. Having visited the store with my passport I felt that this was a sign of something positive. 

I emailed to ask for feedback and I was informed that priority had been given to those candidates who’d stated they had 100% availability. Therefore when I stated that I’d had a holiday booked this information had gone against my application. I wasn’t informed that this would reflect negatively when I filled out the form. Had I known this I would have said I was 100% available and foregone my holiday. If I’m honest, it seems a little unfair to be taken all the way through this process only to be considered unsuccessful in answering ‘Yes’ to the question, ‘Do you have any holidays booked?’

It would like to hear what other people think about this experience.  

Many thanks

Diamandis

If you have holidays that interfere with when they plan to do inductions, training or even just early on in employment that can definitely get in the way. If you were willing to cancel your holiday I'd have put that you were available all the days.

It was always frustrating when I was recruiting to find a great candidate but they weren't available for the second week of training or something.

lincroft1710

Can't see that there is anything untoward in your experience. Unfortunate but not a complete write off. JL may require people for the next few months who will not be absent for a week or two. Business needs rule. Best policy in such situations is to move on and don't dwell or have negative thoughts.

Marcon

jacalan113 said:

I’m wishing to write about my recent John Lewis application experience really in order for me to understand what has happened and also to get other peoples feedback about the process. 

I applied online for John Lewis Selling Partner positions on their website after being placed in their Candidate Pool after being unsuccessfully placed as a Supermarket Assistant in their Waitrose stores. As this new role was for John Lewis and not Waitrose, I went through the process again. I filled out the online application form and then was requested to complete an online test where I was required to respond to a variety of situations and state how I was most likely to respond. This process took about an hour. 

I was then invited to an online interview where an employee of John Lewis asked me about my experience and why I was interested in the role. The interview went well and I was pleased when the person interviewing said I had answered the questions well and if I were to be invited to the next stage of my application I should complete it quickly. Having been unemployed for a few months, I was pleased and excited at this feedback.

An email came through shortly after the interview asking for me to take my Right to Work documents into John Lewis. Heeding the advice, I cycled to the store the next day and gave them my passport which was copied. They also asked me to sign a form and state which shift pattern I was most interested in and if I had any holiday forthcoming that I would like to tell them about. The parting words were ‘We’ll be in touch’.

It was a surprise when a day later I received an email to say I had been unsuccessful and that I’d be placed in a candidate pool if another suitable vacancy arose. Having gone through all these hoops this was upsetting it was also a duplicate of my experience with Waitrose. Having visited the store with my passport I felt that this was a sign of something positive. 

I emailed to ask for feedback and I was informed that priority had been given to those candidates who’d stated they had 100% availability. Therefore when I stated that I’d had a holiday booked this information had gone against my application. I wasn’t informed that this would reflect negatively when I filled out the form. Had I known this I would have said I was 100% available and foregone my holiday. If I’m honest, it seems a little unfair to be taken all the way through this process only to be considered unsuccessful in answering ‘Yes’ to the question, ‘Do you have any holidays booked?’

It would like to hear what other people think about this experience.  

Many thanks

I feel extremely sorry for you and in your shoes I'd feel much the same. Unhappily, there's nothing you can do except 'learn' from the experience - there will be a massive number of candidates applying for any role and a potential employer simply weeds them out on basic information. TIck (or don't tick) the box and you're off the list.

I hope your next application succeeds.