Boots Interview Questions & Answers

The interview was done as part of the assessment centre. The lady who conducted the interview was lovely, but unfortunately I don't feel that enough questions were actually asked in order to show fully the skills I have which would have made me an ideal graduate on their programme.

When have you had to change your approach?

Be yourself, and try to be as confident as possible.

The assessment centre was mostly enjoyable, despite the obvious nervousness that most candidates will feel. The staff were friendly and offered advice and assistance and were happy to answer any questions we had.

I find it difficult being put up against other candidates, as I feel I need to be slightly competitive, but not show off.

The first task we had to imagine we were a store manager and prioritise certain tasks, then there was a one on one interview, followed by a role play and finally a group exercise.

It was a test online to get through to the assessment centre then once passed there were various tasks on the assessment day. Only about 9 people on my course started with a quick presentation and then given two booklets one for answering the other with scenarios.
The booklet had rota questions numerical questions, personality questions, competency questions and customer care questions. The task was to prioritise and only do so many tasks that were required.
Then everybody took turns in different scenarios, one was like an interview on to one and then a role play with customers and then a team task.

The numerical questions and the rota questions, if you haven't done Rita's for a large number before. You had to be quick and think of boots expectations constantly.

Be prepared and know about boots and be really really critical of their stores when going in as pre-work to see what you think
I did get offered role as an assistant manager though.

Great day was put off by how many of the guys on my day already worked for boots

There was an online application which asked several questions like "Why do you want to work here" and some comptency based questions too. You also had to include a cover letter and CV.

After that application there was a numerical reasoning test. You get to do some practice questions before hand, then the test is timed, and you have to complete as many questions as you can (correctly) in the allotted time. I didn't answer all the questions, but I got through - so just do your best to answer well and do the proper working out!

Then there was a telephone interview. It only lasts about 15 minutes because you only get 4 questions. They were quite similar to the online application and included, why would you be a good addition to Boots, and competency based questions.

This one was difficult because I wasn't expecting it (at the assessment centre) -
Describe a time, when you were part of a team, and you actively helped aq member of your team to grow.

Make sure you do your research on the company and the job role. You need to be able to say what you can bring to the role and the company as an individual.

The hardest parts are the unknowns - like the role play - so just try and use your initiative and stay calm. During the interview, make sure you give good examples, but don't talk too much or give more than one for each questions, because you get asked a lot of different things.

The best advice is to be prepared and then you can try and enjoy it on the day!

In the assessment centre there was an introductory presentation to start the day. This is a good chance to settle into the day, so try to enjoy it and listen well.

Then we went into individual interviews. These were one on one with one of the assessors. It was mainly comptency based questions, and there were a lot of them. The interview lasted for around 40 minutes. Several of the questions were based around teamwork, but different aspects (leading a team, part of a successful team, helping team to grow) so try to come up with different examples for each one, otherwise it will get very repetitive! The assessor had my CV in front of them, so the initial questions were asking you about things you have done and why you have done them. If you've done something unrelated to retail, make sure you can show how the skills you learnt are useful and will help you on the scheme.

After the interview we had a group task. There were 5 Assistant Managers profiles, and you had to decide who was the most impressive and the least impressive. You were given 10 minutes to read the information individually and make a decision. Then you got taken into a room with the assessors and had to discuss your ideas as a group. At the end of the task, you had to explain how you got to your group decision and why. Then they asked you questions about the task like, what do you think you did well on as a team? what would you have done differently? These questions were asked to the whole group, so make sure you answer something and don't let the others do all the talking. Show how you can be reflective of the group and be honest - if you think it went bad then tell them, and explain why and what you could do to improve.

Then we had a presentation, which we had to prepare before the day. These were individual, just in front of the assessors. You had 10 minutes to talk about how No. 7 could appeal (or currently does) to a younger audience. Do your research, visit multiple stores and really engage with the products. There is time for them to ask questions afterwards. Some candidates got asked things about their content, some got asked about the stores, or to give more information on a particular part of your presentation. We didn't get asked the same questions - so be prepared to talk about anything you say, or any questions they might come up about how you could improve.

Finally we had a role play task. This was also individual. You were taken into a room with one assessor who would be taking notes. Then another assessor knocked on the door and they were the angry customer. You were the store manager at Boots. They basically came to you with a problem about a product and the customer service they has received and you had to solve it. Stay calm and just react appropriately. Don't try and impress them with what you think they want, they want to see how you deal with things as an individual. Its quite intense, so just try and go with the flow as best you can.