Marks & Spencer interview questions

It's basically a role playing exercise with the interviewer being the customer and you being the customer assistant. Beforehand, hey give you a problem written down and they give you separate bits of information for you to work out the solution to the problem in ten minutes. It's pretty easy as I passed it twice without really thinking too hard. You pretty much just connect all the obvious dots that's laid out before you.

The hiring process is purely online. I found a vacancy directly on their website and applied for it (requires registering). This role requires at least 6 months experience in the catering industry. Then you have to fill up your employment history, etc and do a 25 question quiz about general food and beverage knowledge. If you pass this then there's another assessment online in which you choose one out of three possible answers in a given in-store scenario, all related to customer service. If you are successful then you are invited to book an assessment in store. You'll receive an email confirming the interview date and time, and will be asked to bring with you an ID, proof of adress and NI number, original documents and copies. The assessment is usually a group one but in this case I was the only candidate that turned up so it was a one to one interview. The process started with another 25 question general food and beverage knowledge quiz, most of the question had already appeared on the online quiz, some others were new. Then I had the proper interview, in which the manager from M&S Kitchen (the in store restaurant) was called in. The questions were pretty standard regarding customer service, previous experience, current job, and "why do you think you are the best person for this job" kind of thing. A lady was also there taking note of my answers, and another guy was also there observing. It was pretty fast paced and I was asked about 10-12 questions in total. After that, there was a role play in which I was given a scenario (working in a deli counter sort of situation and having to advice a customer who needed to organise a lunch for 6 people). I was given a list of pictures with possible food options and prices as well as special deals. I was judged on how well I assessed the customers specific needs and how well I tried to upsell the products and push the available deals and offers. They went off to consider my written test, interview and role play outcome and came out to tell me I did really well and they'd like to offer me the job, not in the Cafe but in the restaurant where they had more hours. They took my documents and asked for a start date and how much notice I needed to give my current employer. Then they gave me a start date and a 2 week rota with regular hours, saying the contract is to follow.