Online Application
This will take you around 30 minutes. Here you fill out your personal details, this includes your education and past work experience. This is followed by questions asking you about specific characteristics relating to the role, you have to give detailed examples of when you have shown these. In addition to this, there will also be questions based on motivations for joining the company and the core values.
Example task
One question asked on the online form was “give an example when you have shown leadership before” and “ Why Aldi?”
How to respond for success
One thing Danny ensured he did when applying was doing in-depth research into Aldi. This meant researching future plans, core values and mission. He felt knowing recent news stories and articles helped him as he could reference these in questions. Having a bank of knowledge surrounding the company was key for Danny across the whole application process.
This section included written scenarios with a list of responses. The scenarios mainly focused on workplace and ethical dilemmas along with managing relationships within a team. You respond to these events as if you were the acting store manager. This allows you to show that you would be competent when put in a real-life situation.
Situational judgement test
This section included written scenarios with a list of responses. The scenarios mainly focused on workplace and ethical dilemmas along with managing relationships within a team. You respond to these events as if you were the acting store manager. This allows you to show that you would be competent when put in a real-life situation.
Video Interview
The video interview consisted of 6 questions and will take around 30-45 minutes. You have 30 seconds to prepare for each question and a minute to answer, there is only one opportunity to answer each question. The first few questions are about your own character and personality, whilst the last questions will assess your competence within the role.
Example task
One question that Danny was asked was “What challenges do you think you would come across as an area manager”. Here Danny linked in his research and mentioned the growth strategy being implemented by Aldi at the time.
How to respond for success
Danny suggests that you use your intuition to effectively respond to the questions. As you only have 30 seconds, be clear and to the point with your preparation. Understanding the job role and responsibilities will help you hugely here. Along with this, Danny suggests you be clear with your answers and look directly into the camera.
Video Interview
The video interview consisted of 6 questions and will take around 30-45 minutes. You have 30 seconds to prepare for each question and a minute to answer, there is only one opportunity to answer each question. The first few questions are about your own character and personality, whilst the last questions will assess your competence within the role.
Example task
One question that Danny was asked was “What challenges do you think you would come across as an area manager”. Here Danny linked in his research and mentioned the growth strategy being implemented by Aldi at the time.
How to respond for success
Danny suggests that you use your intuition to effectively respond to the questions. As you only have 30 seconds, be clear and to the point with your preparation. Understanding the job role and responsibilities will help you hugely here. Along with this, Danny suggests you be clear with your answers and look directly into the camera.
Assessment Centre
The assessment centre panel included two regional managers and two HR staff members. The session started with introductions and simple games based around communications.
Presentation
Each of the candidates chose a number between 1-7 and this correlated to a presentation topic ranging across supermarket areas such as customer service or PR. You then have 10 minutes to prepare for the presentation. During this presentation you have to cover key areas around your topic and the presentation has to last a minimum of 10 minutes. Each candidate presented this to the panel and the other candidates.
How to respond for success
What made Danny stand out was linking his topic to theory around management whilst also linking the topic to Aldi. For example, he mentioned the latest brand deal Aldi had with Team GB.
Case study
Candidates got given three sheets of information with details of three companies with a proposal of a “team building day”. Each company had both positive and negatives aspects and as a team candidates had to choose one. You are then required to put a presentation together explaining the company you had chosen. The hiring panel then scrutinise your choice in the form of questions. In addition to this, the team had to read 5 CV’s and pick out strengths and weaknesses, choices were then scrutinised.
How to respond for success
Danny made sure he took responsibility for filling in missing gaps in the presentation and focusing on clear communication. Other candidates rushed to say what they were going to handle rather than ensuring the whole task was being completed. Organising the group makes you look favourable.
Expect a 2-week wait before progressing to the next stage.
Final Interview
In the final stage of the application the hiring managers are very keen to know about your character. Questions were focused around your CV, experiences and background in the aim to find out the suitability of your personality to the role. One thing focused on was the ability to face adversity, remain calm and find solutions. After the interview, 10 minutes is spent on feedback and you can ask questions. Use this opportunity to see if you yourself are right for the role.
Example task
An example from the interview was “when have you faced the most adversity and how did you overcome it?”
How to respond for success
Use previous professional experiences to use as examples of how you faced challenges. Danny gave quantitative examples of how he solved problems on a previous internship. He also said be honest and know your strengths and weaknesses well.
