Harrods Assessment Centre and Interview Preparation

This PrepPack™ offers personality and situational judgement tests, interview preparation, assessment centre exercises, tutorials and guides.

After you have chosen the job which you want to apply for, you will need to fill in an online application form. You will be given a chance to upload your CV onto the system, as well as your past experiences relevant to the job applied for.

This is an important stage where you can sell yourself to the company by showcasing your skills and suitability for the job. Having completed this, you will be contacted within two weeks to see if you have got to the next stage of the application process.

If you have got through the first stage, you will be invited to choose a time for your Harrods video interview. This is the first in a series of interviews and will mainly be focused on going over your CV and expanding on various points and skills with the interviewer.

Take this opportunity to show how your skills are perfectly in line with the job you applied for. Talk about your experience and don’t forget to ask any questions that you may have about the job.

This section only applies to sales associate jobs. If you have applied to work on the floor of the shop then this is for you. However, if you have applied to the head office or as a retail manager, you will not attend the Harrods assessment centre; instead, you will move on to face to face interviews.

You will be in the Harrods assessment centre along with between 5 and 10 other candidates. There are generally three parts to this stage:

In this part of the Harrods assessment centre, you will take part in a fun activity with the other applicants. This could comprise of any number of things, such as building a castle out of Lego or something similar to this. Your ability to interact with the other candidates is being assessed here, not the result.

The assessors are interested in not only your ability to work in a team framework but they are also evaluating your social skills and confidence in a group setting.

Moreover, your ability to take the initiative where you see fit will come into play here. What you are aiming for is to be able to make your opinion heard as well as being able to carry through your decisions.

In this part of the assessment, you will be given some information to read through. After reading through it, you will work towards a solution with a member of the HR team. This is normally along the lines of you having to act as if someone (a member of the HR team) has been given £500 to spend on a friend’s birthday party.

You have to go through the options available to produce something that fits in with their ideas and how they want the party to flow. The assessor will want you to ask pertinent questions to get to know the customer as well as choosing the right things to buy for the party. You have to display your verbal communication and planning skills to get through this test.

This will be the second interview that you will be receiving and is much more oriented towards the job you have applied for. To get through this interview there are a couple of important points to bear in mind.

Harrods are looking to see natural confidence and knowledge of the subject matter so don’t be surprised if you have applied for the cheese department to be asked something like, “name two types of cheese?” The answer is not cheddar and red leister; they want to hear some exotic cheese names such as drunken goat cheese and Charouce cheese.

• Why do you want to work for Harrods?
• What skills do you bring to Harrods?
• What does excellent customer service mean to you?
• Tell me about a time when you showed excellent customer service?
• What drives you?
• Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
• How well do you interact in a group setting?

In this part of the process, it is advisable to give your answers along with an example of that effect. Prepare your answers in the STAR method and you will be able to show yourself off to the fullest.

You may meet with the department manager as well for an informal chat before you get hired to see if they think that you fit well with the rest of the team. In this stage as well just be yourself and show complete confidence in your ability. If you impress them enough you will get offered the job within the next couple of weeks.