Lidl interview questions

Small first stage group interview with 3 applicants including myself based at Lutterworth RDC at Magna Park. The hiring process began by introducing ourselves to the district manager and sales operations manager who then in turn introduced themselves and gave a brief background on their role within the company etc. Once we had all settled in, they continued by starting a PowerPoint presentation based on Lidl as a company and what to expect as a member of the Lidl team. To get the ball rolling, the district manager asked the three of us what we knew about the company and the role itself. (This is a good chance for you to stand out from the rest of the candidates if you have bothered to do any research in advance!) The company presentation lasted for around 25 minutes with no group activities or numeracy/literacy tests. After a 5 minute break we were then called into a separate room one at a time for a very brief 5-10 minute interview with the same guys that did the presentation. There were no interview questions whatsoever, they just simply hand you a copy of your CV and ask you to talk them through it. Job history, education, work duties etc. The whole process lasted a little over 1 hour with little to no pressure. If I am called back for a second stage interview, I'm sure that it will be much more thorough and detailed.

There are in total of 4 levels of procedures -CV screening, followed by group interview, individual interview, and then an interview with the CFO. I went with an open mind and curiosity to see myself what the management traineeship entails and what the whole program looks like. The group interview lasted for about 1:30 minutes, and we were with 4 candidates in total, interviewed by a HR manager and presentation by a management trainee herself, who was coming to an end of her traineeship. I found the introduction and presentation of the traineeship interesting and promising, and the insight experience shared by a trainee herself gave us a good feel on what to expect in the program. For the group interview per se, it was split into 3 parts. We began by taking turns to introudce ourselves, and what we knew about LIDL. This we did individually, taking turns to sell ourselves and then share what we knw abt LIDL. Next, we were given a case to work on, and given that we all came from Finance, economics, law and international relations background - the question was abit more HR-oriented, a neutral topic for all of us. We were asked to evaluate and consider how to solve and go about the problem of employee retention in the company. The interviewer and the trainee sat and observed us while we tried to brainstorm and come up with a structure on how to tackle the issues at hand and how we came up with a solution. In the end we took turns to present the different parts of the answer we came up with. I believe the key element of this part is really teamwork and collaboration of ideas between the participants. Finally, we were asked to explain why we would like to do this program, and why should they give us the opportunity to proceed to the next stage of the selection process. Again, we took turns to answer the questions, all in front of each other. I made a mistake by talking abit too long, I think its crucial to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible, bearing in mind we are not alone. Before the session ended, we were allowed to pose questions to them. A tip I read is that, it is always a good idea to ask something to show your keen and genuine interest in the company. Confidence is definitely key in this case, whilst staying calm, composed and relaxed. However, it is not difficult to do this, as the HR manager is very encouraging and down to earth.