The sessions at the Next assessment centre tend to last half a day and are based in the Leicestershire head office. It is likely that you will have to do a fifteen minute presentation. You will have time to prepare for it in advance. It is important to make sure that you come across as confident and speak positively about yourself. However, this will depend on the position that you have applied for as some do not have a presentation at all and are told they do not need to prepare.
It is always wise to prepare even if you are told not to. Find out as much as you can about the company and visit some stores to become familiar with the product line. Even if you shop in Next, you should try to look at it again, examining all products, as you may only shop in certain departments and may not look at it from the point of view of a potential employee. Bear in mind that they also have a catalogue and sell online and so it is worth taking a look at that as well, so that you can answer questions or voice an opinion on it.
The hardest questions to answer can be when asked for improvements. It means that you will seemingly have to criticise what they are doing. However, there are ways to answer without doing this. Think about the positives and reasons why they might be doing things the way they are and explain why you think changes should be made and how you feel that will benefit the company and their customers.
It can be nerve racking, visiting an assessment centre. However, it is important to keep calm. A few nerves are expected but you still need to be able to think and behave with a clear head. Therefore make sure that you try some relaxation exercises and are well prepared so that you are more confident.
Next Recruitment Process
If you were successful at the online job application process then there will be 4 more stages waiting for you to complete. The whole recruitment process can take up to 4 months however some schemes like Trainee Buyer may take even longer due to its popularity.
Here are the 4 stages :
Online Ability Testing
The company will send you an email invitation to complete the test. You have 3 weeks to do this test.
Video Interview
If you have been successful at your online test then you will let know by an email and there will also be an invitation for a video interview. This is not a live interview so you have 5 days to record your answers and upload it to Next career site. It will take 4-6 weeks for them to review your videos and get back to you.
Telephone Interview
If you have passed the video interview stage then Next will contact to you arrange a telephone interview. Telephone interviews takes about 30 minutes to complete.
Assessment Centre
And finally if you have been successful at all the previous stages then the last step is Assessment Centre. These Assessment centres takes about half day and take place at Head Office of Next in Leicestershire
Interview Questions
Why Next?
What do you know about Next?
What makes you different than other candidates?
What motivates you?
What are your strenghts?
What is your weakness?
Why should we hire you?
Good luck with your interview.
