Tesco Stores Ltd Interview Questions & Answers

My Interview was very relaxed and was entirely competency based. It was very similar to the telephone interview and lasted about half an hour. The questions I was asked were the ones you would expect in a competency based interview e.g. why Tesco? why the scheme? tell me a time when. . .This was quite easy for me as I had done many of these before. Nothing to worry about just be yourself!

One of the more difficult questions was tell me a time when you have had to change your course of action due to unforeseen circumstances. This wasn't as easy for me as I hadn't prepared an answer for this so had to make it up on the spot.

Try to Relax and listen carefully to the questions asked.

The assessment centre was a good experience and very professional but the main problem was Tesco made candidates share a room with another candidate the night before the assessment day. They say it is to 'get to know your potential future colleagues' but to me it was about saving money. It doesn't help you relax before the big day!

The application process began with an array of competency questions which judged what I would do in given situations. The next step was an online testing platform which included numerical, pyschometric and verbal reasoning tests. The following stage was a telephone interview, this involved the interviewer getting an idea of my motivations as well as an understanding of what knowledge i had gained on the company. Other factors were tested including competency questions including what best motivates myself and give a situation where leadership and other qualities were expressed.
The next and final stage was a two day assessment centre. The first day was an opportunity to meet the other candidates and was not assessed. We were greeted by our recruitment manager who took us through a presentation on the company successes and what would be featured in the roles that we had applied for.

Get to know the organisation, how they operate, where and how. Search the internet for environmental influences and threats in their market as this was one area that i was recommended to look up after my telephone interview.

Be positive, confident and address each person you are presenting to and keep your presentation to the point and factual.

Try to contain your nerves, it helped to be relaxed in almost all of the exercises and I found taking an mp3 player while preparing for each exercise to be useful which was advised prior to the assessment day by the organisation.

try and think up as many potential questions as possible and think of answers, so you are prepared as much as you can be.

The assessment centre was an extremely pressurised experience. It involved 4 exercises including a face to face interview, a presentation which i had 45 minutes to absorb a large amount of information and then present for 20 minutes relating to it, I had a role play where I was required to adopt the role of a member of staff at the organisation convincing another colleague who was difficult to influence to adopt new practices and then a group exercise at the end of the day.

It was an intense experience where i had to draw on many capabilities that i have gained and put into practise while at university and I was particularly tested on my communication ability.

The first phone interview was pretty standard as far as I can tell. The usual competency questions about various achievements you have had so far and what skills and lessons you had learnt on the way. After this there was an preliminary assessment centre where Tesco Finance Management gave presentations on why it was such a good place to work and what you could expect from the programme. The day was ended with a one to one interview, similar to the phone one, but more in depth. This focussed a lot on what your motivations where for applying for this role and what you hoped to achieve. The final assessment centre started with a dinner the night before and followed by a day of group exorcises as well as individual ones, testing problem solving, team work, general initiative, logic and presentation skills. This ended with an interview with two people which was more a feedback session for you to give your views on the day.

What has been your biggest failing? Are there any ways you have tried to overcome this?

They are looking for people that match there world view. Make sure you have researched the company's position on various issues.

Generally a reasonably fun day, but at the same time quite draining. The day was divided into six sections with an activity in each. These mostly consisted of working in a group, discussing some information presented to you along with a problem you had to solve. The group would then have to present its decisions to the assessors. There was also individual presentation tasks which followed a similar pattern, but you presented your ideas on a one to one basis.