Pendragon Interview Questions & Answers

After completing the initial online application, I was invited to take part in a video interview. Comparing it to phone interviews, it was much scarier. I am not someone who struggles to communicate but I found myself struggling to get my words out, panicking and getting my words mixed up. Luckily, there was a practice sitting which you could complete as many times as you wanted. Once you clicked go, however, you had one minute to read your question, 30 seconds to prepare and one minute to record an answer. After that the programme automatically moved you on, whether you were ready or not. Luckily it was very short, only 5 questions, I also liked the fact that there was not an interviewer there, as it is only the first round of interviews, this made it less pressurising. At the assessment centre, the day was split into 4 sections: role play, case study, role play and the interview. The first consisted of attempting to sell a pair of glasses with a certain criteria, as laid out in the information pack provided. The second involved being the manager of a shop, who had to choose which stocking fillers to sell in the shop approaching christmas. You then had to place them within the shop and give a presentation explaining your choices, the finance and the shop layout. Questions were asked at the end by the assessors in which you had to justify your choices.
After the first two, some candidates were unsuccessful and were sent home. There were only 5 of us left in the afternoon compared to 14 earlier on. The third section involved you being a manager and the assessor being a lazy, unhelpful and unhappy sales advisor. After a number of customer complaints, as the manger you had to sit down and have a disciplinary with him. Next was the interview. This was the part of the day I was most nervous for as I had never had an interview before. The questions were about myself rather than the knowledge I had of the company or industry. Questions such as "what do you see yourself doing in 5 years time" and "why did you apply for this role" were put to me. Some questions that I didn't expect such as "how would you feel if you were 27 and earning 'x amount'". The interview went better than I expected, all I had to do was answer the questions as honestly as possible and to the best of my ability. It felt much more informal than I thought it was going to be, I was imagining something out of the apprentice! But it did feel much more like a chat about myself and where I see myself in life and in the future.

"How would you feel if you were 27 and earning 'x amount'?"
"So you've said where you see yourself in 5 years time, but what about after that? Where do you see yourself in 7 or 8 years time?"

Although I can understand the nerves, and often nerves are a good thing, I would say just relax. The thing with applying for sales (particularly cars) is that the ability to sell is based on your personality. Good interpersonal skills, good rapport and a likeable nature are all necessities in sales. One could be the cleverest person around but if they can't connect with their customer, they won't sell. This is portrayed in the interview, Pendragon are not looking for the cleverest or smartest, they're looking for those with a personality.

At the assessment centre, the day was split into 4 sections: role play, case study, role play and the interview. The first consisted of attempting to sell a pair of glasses with a certain criteria, as laid out in the information pack provided. The second involved being the manager of a shop, who had to choose which stocking fillers to sell in the shop approaching christmas. You then had to place them within the shop and give a presentation explaining your choices, the finance and the shop layout. Questions were asked at the end by the assessors in which you had to justify your choices.
After the first two, some candidates were unsuccessful and were sent home. There were only 5 of us left in the afternoon compared to 14 earlier on. The third section involved you being a manager and the assessor being a lazy, unhelpful and unhappy sales advisor. After a number of customer complaints, as the manger you had to sit down and have a disciplinary with him. Next was the interview. This was the part of the day I was most nervous for as I had never had an interview before. The questions were about myself rather than the knowledge I had of the company or industry.