Sainsburys

How did it go?

I have one next week!

I also have an assessment centre next week..Jimmy and bigwheel please give me some insight on your experience

hi guys....i hope its not too late...I have got a phone interview with Sainsburys very soon, any idea what they might be asking???

Cheers!! x

Hi Cricket girl,

How has your application process gone?

I started with the online form, and received an email saying I had passed, but there were other people whose skills better matched mine and they could not guarantee that my application would be progressed. Then I was asked to complete the online applications, which I have passed, but they said they would now be comparing my application to their benchmark and would be in touch. Does your experiences reflect this? How was the phone interview?

hi leeds uni girl....

i have passed all the tests, and gone to online test straight away and then got a phone call allocating me an interview time so none of your experience had happened to me,

but my interiview didnt go well so I was rejected. the phone interview really focus on retailing, i know sainsburys is a retaillig business, but i was applying to a scheme not related to retailing so i thought i just need to know about my scheme and a bit about sainsburys, But i was wrong and thats why i didnt pass my interview. thats my advise, treat the interview as if you are applying to their retailing scheme, really do know a lot about sainsburys and their retailing environmnt. hope that helps and hope they wll get back to you soon!

cheers.

hi leeds uni girl....

i have passed all the tests, and gone to online test straight away and then got a phone call allocating me an interview time so none of your experience had happened to me,

but my interiview didnt go well so I was rejected. the phone interview really focus on retailing, i know sainsburys is a retaillig business, but i was applying to a scheme not related to retailing so i thought i just need to know about my scheme and a bit about sainsburys, But i was wrong and thats why i didnt pass my interview. thats my advise, treat the interview as if you are applying to their retailing scheme, really do know a lot about sainsburys and their retailing environmnt. hope that helps and hope they wll get back to you soon!

cheers.

Hi,
I've just completed the personality questionnaire, which you are required to do if you're successful at the telephone interview stage.

I can't provide a detailed account as to what it is looking for (in this test), as I literally just completed it and have not received any feedback from Sainsbury's yet. When I do, I'll return on here and post.

Up until this point in the recruitment process however, I'm going to provide some general advice for the application process. (I'm going to skip the Situational Judgement Test etc.; these are down to personality and I think it would be quite silly to presume I could shed any light on the competencies they require)

Firstly-The Online Application
You really need to draw out the skills you've learnt from the activities you taken part in. Don't just say what the situation you worked in was, talk about what you did, how you helped and I think-very importantly-the skills you developed/strengthened/maintained through this activity. They are basing their first judgement of character on this, so you have to make a good impression!

Past this competency section, you need to identify why you want to work for Sainsbury's. Don't just bore them, and ramble on with things that your grandma that shops in Sainsbury’s could speak about! Really focus on what it is about Sainsbury’s/The Leaders Programme that really makes YOU want to be a part of it. If you have to lie about the reasons, or you can't think of any, I always think that the company-if you gained employment-isn't for you anyway. So research them and know why you want to work there!

Second Stage-The Online Tests
These are SHL numerical and verbal reasoning tests. A good resource for the numerical tests is here 'http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/mathstest2.htm'. Don't look at the questions in despair, really try and figure out what they're trying to ask you. It will only ever feature one-or two at most-calculations, I think the main thing that is tested is how you manipulate relevant data presented to you alongside irrelevant data, to reach a desired result.

Verbal tests are quite straightforward! Just follow the passage, and don't infer anything!!

Third Stage-The Telephone Interview
Prepare, prepare, prepare! I'm going to go into the least detail here, but give the best advice I think I can. Simply know yourself, Sainsbury’s, their competitors/market, future trends, why you want to work for them, work in retail and the scheme (amongst anything else you can think of) inside out! Examples of relevant experience prove so key to passing these competency interviews! I didn't used to prepare adequately; I never used to succeed. Now through good prep, I'm faring a lot better!

This is just my personal experience and advice I feel-well hope-will be helpful to you!