I applied for Asda’s Retail Degree Apprenticeship scheme at the beginning of the year and successfully passed multiple assessments and video interviews.
Months later, after several follow-up emails chasing for progress, I was invited to an assessment centre in Leeds, 60 miles from my home. The day involved a three-hour assessment and interview, which I felt went extremely well. At that point, I was told I would hear back within two weeks.
Weeks passed with no update. I chased multiple times, often receiving no response from my contact in the Future Talent team. On several occasions, I had to track down other head office employees in the same department just to get any form of communication.
Six weeks after the final stage, I finally received an email (only after copying in their HR team) stating that the Retail team had decided to cancel the scheme altogether due to “business changes.” This was the first I had heard of this, despite the email claiming they had already tried to contact me, which was not true.
When I was called for clarification, I was told I would have been successful, but the scheme would not be going ahead. I also asked for interview feedback and was informed the notes were “at home”, but I never heard back again.
Overall, this process wasted my time, effort, and travel costs, and I feel the same is true for all the other candidates involved. It is unacceptable to put people through an almost year-long recruitment process, completing every stage, only to cancel the scheme at the very end.
I remained polite and professional throughout, yet communication from Asda’s side was slow, inconsistent, and at times, non-existent. This experience has left me with a very poor impression of how Asda treats prospective employees, and I hope they seriously reconsider how they handle future recruitment campaigns.