First step was applying online which I did in September. A few days after I was sent a link to do a maths test which was 20 minutes long and a few percentages and ratio questions, not too difficult. 5 days after I was invited to do a video interview. First of all you had to confirm you were happy with the salary (20k) and the fact you could be placed with any brand. The implication was if you did not agree the interview process would terminate. The video interview was fairly straight forward, asked for examples showing your organisation skills, why you were suited for the role and then where you thought the retail market is going. I did not hear back until 20 days after doing the video interview confirming that they would like to see me for an assessment day. After choosing a date you can attend they wait to send you details about what you are doing until the week before. I was told I had to prepare a PEST analysis and they give you a handout to fill in for this.
The assessment centre day was 2-3 hours long and there were 4 other people interviewing with me in a rotational process. We were meant to have a group exercise but this was cancelled. I had a competency based interview first with a member from the Dorothy Perkins team - each interview stage was run by a different member of staff from a different brand. They asked for examples of organisation, coping with deadlines and multiple tasks, and then how you’d deal with situations such as a delivery going to the wrong store or how you’d react if a particular product wasn’t selling well. I then had another numerical test, the questions were pretty much the same as the ones on the previous test. You then had to do a line print exercise which involved finding information on a spreadsheet. Next I had to do a PEST presentation on the current retail market. After presenting I was asked for my recommendations from a merchandising perspective and was asked a few more questions based on my CV and what I though being a merchandiser entailed. Overall the experience was good, all interviewers were very friendly and interested in what you had to say, not intimidating at all.
7 days after I was notified that I had been a successful candidate, however after a call giving me feedback I was told there weren’t actually any roles available at this time so I had been put in their ‘talent pool’ and would be contacted if a position came up. It was a bit frustrating only finding out at this point no role was actually on offer. They asked me to specify which brands I would prefer to work for.
In December I was contacted by another Talent Advisor for a role going at Topshop. After confirming the date they waited a week before to send information about the interview. I had to prepare another presentation, this time a SWOT analysis for Topshop. The interview started with me being left in a room to do a prioritisation task, which I then had to reason to 2 members of staff. The interview was not as good as the assessment day and the interviewers weren’t very friendly. Questions were similar, asking for examples of organisation, numeracy skills, dealing with deadlines, but the interviewers questioned your responses a lot more, wanting specifics from your examples and often asked you to expand on what you were saying. I was nervous so knew my answers probably weren’t up to scratch so I’d recommend preparing as much as possible to tackle any nerves. I then had to present my SWOT analysis and after they asked where and how you gathered your information and what was the main recommendation you’d give to the Topshop team based on your findings. Once it was finished they said they would be in touch in a few weeks regarding whether I had been successful or not with feedback. This was back in December and it’s now February and I’ve heard nothing so I doubt they will come back to me. A bit disappointing to still be waiting on any form of contact and not very convenient for job searching. Shame that the assessment day interviewers had been great and engaging whilst the Topshop interviewers weren’t so interested. They didn’t really sell the role, they said it’d be hard work, long hours and when I asked about opportunities for progression and learning they said these would happen ‘as and when’ and there isn’t much movement. They do make clear that each brand runs in their own way though and do not cross collaborate so maybe other brand interviews would be different. No Topshop staff were present for the assessment day so this may have been why the experience was different.