Marks and Spencer phone interview

nikolaitr

I have just done a Marks and Spencer phone interview which comprised of questions which had multiple choice answers and example of which would be


Q: A disabled person calls you at M&S to complain about road works outside the shop which prevents them from shopping there as there is no car park facilities available....how would you reply



1: Tell them a location of another car park, and give them directions

2: Offer to call a taxi for them to and from M&S

3: Offer to call them back when the road works have finished apologising for the inconvenience.



Well i choose 3, and I passed overall...They had 20-something overall. And all the multiple choice answers seemed right e.g none of them were straight forward



I was just wondering, is it actually a test to see what job in M&S on would be best for or if the person is suitable for M&S in general. Bear in mind I was applying for a basic job...not management

Gillo

I would have said 2, but yeah 3 is good also.

without seeing all the questions it's hard to say, but I'd say it was to see how you deal with customers, and solve problems.

BuffyBot

I was just wondering, is it actually a test to see what job in M&S on would be best for or if the person is suitable for M&S in general.

A bit of both, most likely along side your creative thinking skills and customer focus.

nikolaitr

Another question was

Q: What kind of boss would you prefer

1: One who gives praise when good work is done

2: One who gives simples clear cut instructions

3: One who shows how you to do your job properly




Any HR people know about these kind of questionairres?? I´m just curoius at this stage

Suaimhneach

I did an interview once like that, for data input, so I thought those questions were weird, considering the position.

It was really random questions though like : What do you think it is better to be as a person? Understanding, Strong, Argumentative, Confident.

I was like, em... all of the above depending... really ambiguous questions.

Least to say they never rang me back...

m*pp*t

Just out of curiousity nikolaitr how did you get the phone interview? Had you answered an ad or did you just walk into a shop with a CV? I'm going back to college next year doing the Dip and I'm trying to sort out getting part time work for next year ('cause finding sumnmer work so far has been a complete wash out).

nikolaitr

I just spread my CV´s far and wide. I must have handed out 50 and that was my only call back. Its getting really hard to find a job for us student types....

Dave!

Hey folks,

I'm gonna ring up M&S in a few hours and I presume I'm gonna be given this phone interview.

Just a couple of questions--

Is it automated? ie. the questions are pre-recorded and you press a button on the phone for your answer? If it's automated then that's alot less taxing than live.......

And does anyone remember any more questions they asked? It'd be good to have a heads up.

easyontheeye

i did that phone interview before for a part time job while in college...i couldn't believe at the end of the interview she said i didnt pass!! :eek:

I felt dumb...but then i realised it was only a poxy interview anyway...all customer interaction scenario based etc

Dave!

Just a couple of questions--

Is it automated? ie. the questions are pre-recorded and you press a button on the phone for your answer? If it's automated then that's alot less taxing than live.......

And does anyone remember any more questions they asked? It'd be good to have a heads up.

Oh and how many do I need to get right to pass?

mathie

nikolaitr wrote:

I just spread my CV´s far and wide. I must have handed out 50 and that was my only call back. Its getting really hard to find a job for us student types....

I remeber beign told by a recruitment agent (ugh I know, I feel so dirty) that it was a bad idea to put your CV around too many places as it reflects badly on yourself.

WTF?!

pow wow

I always fail the M&S one. ALWAYS. lol.

Dave!

mathie wrote:

I remeber beign told by a recruitment agent (ugh I know, I feel so dirty) that it was a bad idea to put your CV around too many places as it reflects badly on yourself.

WTF?!

Sounds like bullsh*t to me... How would it reflect badly on you? Do the various employers get together for a conference and make fun of the people who sent in CVs? They wouldn't even know that you sent it to another store!!!

Seems like the agency wants to be the only one distributing your CV.

Stench Blossoms

I did that phone interview a few years ago. They told me that i wasn't suitable for Blanchardstown (where i had applied) but i was suitable for Mary St. Weirdos.

Doctor DooM

This sounds like psychometric testing. Theres no real wrong or right answers, but apparently overall they get an image of how your mind works.

Dudess

mathie wrote:

I remeber beign told by a recruitment agent (ugh I know, I feel so dirty) that it was a bad idea to put your CV around too many places as it reflects badly on yourself.

WTF?!

Tee hee! That's one of the best ones I've heard in a long time!

Dave!

I rang them up and they took my number and rang back later. There was no real interview over the phone though, she just wanted to see what days I could work, etc.

Interview on Wednesday including role-play... any tips?

Mrs. MacGyver

My fella works in M&S (i won't name the section) he's not management or anything, but they pride themselves on super customer service. Ever notice how they are never sarky/passive or moody when you go in? He didn't do an aptitude test just an ordinary interview. He familiarised himself really weel with their webside.

THe following links may be of use:

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070926060105AA7oyPO

http://www.marygober.com/

eth0_

Mrs. MacGyver wrote:

My fella works in M&S (i won't name the section) he's not management or anything, but they pride themselves on super customer service. Ever notice how they are never sarky/passive or moody when you go in?

Yep, their staff are awesome. I've never once encountered a rude or unhelpful member of staff in M&S, which is why I usually shop there and avoid Tesco.

ferdi

Worked for S&M ( ) a year ago in a bog standard backstores/floor position.

OP, never mind the phone test, wait til the stupid little roleplay they make you do in their recuitment place up in Smithfield. Total nonsense, with a little laminated cards with photos of various mark's foods and products in place of actual items....they give you a page with the outline for a scenario and you have to play it out with a long suffering recuitment office girl who is obviously on the point of suicide as your the 237th person she has had to carry out this sharade with this week. Its completely pointless, cringeworthy and degrading to all concerned. Of course i passed their tests without the slightest effort (you'd honestly have to be a moron not to.)

The bit that really annoyed me was when i went to the training days in town, just to be told about company practice, standards, health and safety etc. We had to watch all the usual videos about this and that. One of these videos was basically an attempt to intimidate and threaten staff into not robbing/defrauding the company. Fair enough. But it was just the tone and air of the message in the video which angered me. In the video the young girl who had been fiddling the till (or whatever it was) was jailed and her parents lost their home. Of course the company has to make it clear that theft is not tolerated, it was just the way in which the message was puit across that I found uncalled for and unwelcoming. I said it to our instructor who said she would pass the message along.:rolleyes: lol.

Dave!

"Mary thought it was a good idea to steal from the tills at M&S..."

*cut to scene of Mary locked into a guillotine*

"...She was wrong."

*chop*

Thanks for the post ferdi!

I read that some people had to do this thing where they were sent down to the shop floor and had to talk to customers about something Did you hear anything about that? It might be an old method of recruitment.

What kind of questions do they ask in the interview? Any curve-balls? Or just the usual "what can you bring to M&S... why would you be a good candidate... etc" ???

Anything else that might help?

Cheers

Dave!

Had the interview today... 17 questions, 15 minutes. She kept rushing me cos of the time, when it was actually her that was taking all the time with her bloody writing! She had to write down every answer.

There was no role play or test or anything, just the interview.

The questions were all abstract (but required examples), and she didn't even look at my CV. I guess they have faith that those questions tell them all they need to know... The questions were pretty difficult though, relatively speaking of course.

Anyways, I passed the interview and they'll ring me if a spot opens up in the branch I'm looking for

dilemma

This is a long shot but is there anyone online who could tell me where in Smithfield M&S do the interviews? I have one tomorrow and ca't find my precious piece of paper with directions

bellton

chief o'neills, but its been renamed now.
only saw this today...but you could probably ring up and tell them that you were
in hospital.

Dave!

how did you get on, dilemma?

Glowing

It was only yesterday after dealing with a muppet in PC World that I said "The only place you'll get good CS these days is M&S!"

Dave!

CS = CounterStrike...? lol

dilemma

I passed the interview too, just a matter of waiting for them to call with a position I imagine with Christmas coming up, I won't be too long waiting... have they gotten back to you yet DaveMcG?

Dave!

Nope I'm afraid I'm running out of options (and money!), so gonna have to work in Dunnes I think

How f*cking sh*tty of them to interview me and then have me wait weeks. Xtravision did the same thing (after me passing the interview and being told I have a job), only to tell me months later that all the vacancies have been filled.

Ugh.

dilemma

Are ya serious?? That's kinda weird alright, why tell someone you have a job for them and then not give them one?? Was it just Sales Assistant you applied for? I would have thought they'll be hiring for Christmas in the next few weeks, you may well get a job then... i thought you would have been called by now, i might lash an application into Dunnes just in case...

Dave!

Think I just applied for any job really... wasn't anything managerial or nothin.

Don't know why they did it this way... think they just want a pool of people to pick from as employees are needed. They could well have a job for me soon, but I can't really wait around for them any longer. I've learned my lesson from Xtravision :rolleyes:

dilemma

Bah humbug, pooh to that! thought i had my ticket outta my crappy hole job i'll have to keep applying so....

Dave!

At least you have a feckin job to moan about!

dilemma

har har! i see your point.... but believe me if you knew what my current job was you'd understand why i have something to moan about and why, honestly, unemployment is the preferable option at this stage...