The text below provides a full candidate recruitment, assessment and preparation guide and practice for those applying to jobs, internships and graduate programs at Tesco.
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If you are aiming to apply to Tesco or have a Tesco assessment test coming up, our text below is the best place to start.
Not sure if you should practice to prepare for the Tesco assessments? According to research, 60-80% of candidates are rejected based on their aptitude tests results. It is proven that practice increases your chances of getting hired.
A recent study (Bradley et al, 2019) found that candidates who do not practise assessments, tend to fail at the first hurdle of psychometric assessments (54%-84%). This study looked at the Top 100 global employers.
In a nutshell:
How to prepare for Tesco assessment tests and get the job?
Tesco uses a variety of aptitude assessment tests. These may include:
You may get rejected already after your aptitude tests. These tests sift out 50-80% candidates. The only proven way to get to the next round is practice.
You should practice answering questions that typically come up in interviews for retail jobs. Your answers need to flow and be timely. Avoid filler words. Your verbal communication should be convincing, filled with content that presents you in the best way for the job.
Prepare for your telephone interview by running mock interviews answering typical retail interview questions. For Tesco interview practice, use:
Our video interview practice platform contains predefined competency and industry questions for retail and emulates experience you will have in platforms used for employers’ interviews (Hirevue, Pymetrics, Sonru). Always record your answers and watch them to develop your interview technique, time keeping and words used. Repeat recordings until you feel satisfied.
Use the STAR method for your answers and practice each answer several times.
Tesco makes use of a variety of competitive exercises during the assessment center to find the right candidates. Ensure that you practice a variety of exercises including:
Hone your written and spoken communication technique. Research online, prepare and practice presentation of as many business case studies as possible.
Be aware; not many get to this stage. The competition is very fierce.
Prepare for your series of one-on-one interviews with senior managers. Expect and practice for behavioural and competency-based questions. Aim to stand out. They have interviewed dozens or hundreds of candidates at this final stage.
Refine your technique for your final Tesco interview to showcase your:
For your final interviews, use the video interview platform and record yourself answering the retail questions using the STAR method.
Continue reading to get answers to these critical questions:
Looking into assessments with Tesco, simply use your fingertips or click in the table below to practice assessments relevant to your assessment process!
If you decide to apply for Tesco, you can practice online aptitude tests with us to improve your results and get scores above their threshold.
This part of the recruitment process is your first chance to set a good impression and stand out from your competition. The online form will ask you to provide details of your education and any academic results, work experience and may include some motivational questions, depending on the business area you apply to.
Throughout your Online Application you need to refer to the key competencies sought after by Tesco’s recruiters. Make sure your achievements and projects you have worked on reflect these skills or values:
Apply as early as possible as applications are often reviewed on a rolling basis. This way you increase your chances of progression through to the next stage of the recruitment process.
It is very likely that this stage will also include some short essay questions, such as:
In answering these questions remember to be as precise as possible: refer to things that relate to the job role and try to bring in some unique facts about Tesco that motivate you to work there, such as special awards, CSR projects, etc. Crucially, mention the core skills required for this position and how these match both your previous experiences and personal interests.
After you complete the online application form you will find out whether you have progressed to the next stage of the recruitment stage. This will consist of online aptitude tests.Depending on your line of business, these may include Tesco’s:
The difficulty level of the Tesco’s online tests will depend on the business area and position you applied to, so be sure to carefully read all the information in the aptitude test invite email.
Since working at Tesco might require you to use numerical skills and ability to interpret data from tables and charts, the Tesco Numerical Reasoning Test will examine your ability to understand a previously unseen passage – as well as its data. You will be required to perform basic GCSE Maths calculations.
Do not worry if you have not done Maths in a while! The complexity of this does not lie in the knowledge tested but in the time pressure and stress involved. When taking your Numerical Reasoning Test, you will have less than a minute to read the question, analyse the data provided and perform the necessary calculations.
The only way to succeed is to take practice tests beforehand. This way you familiarise yourself with the types of questions and become more confident. Learn how to manage your stress in a safe environment and you will not have to face rejection – just because you were unfamiliar with the process.
Learn more about Numerical Reasoning Tests
For more hints on how to pass a numerical reasoning test, visit our YouTube channel
If you are looking for a Tesco-style Numerical Reasoning Test with answers, worked-solutions and professional score reports including personalised tips based on your performance – then Graduates First has it covered.
Check if you got the correct answer at the bottom of the page.
For more FREE QUESTIONS similar to Tesco’s assessment tests, register with Graduates First and take your FREE Numerical Reasoning Test now!
In the same way the Numerical Reasoning Test examines how confident a candidate is in their numerical calculations, Tesco’s Verbal Reasoning Test strives to identify whether a candidate can accurately extract the relevant information from a previously unseen passage of text to analyse whether subsequent statements are true, false, or impossible to say based on the information contained in the passage of text.
For more hints on how to pass a verbal reasoning test, visit our YouTube channel
Tesco’s Verbal Reasoning Test could be more difficult for people who are not native-speakers in English, but we recommend tackling this by practicing Verbal Reasoning Test questions as much as you can to understand the specific way in whcih the texts are built and questions asked.
Learn more about Verbal Reasoning Tests
Remember, you will have around 45 seconds to answer questions like the following
Got the answer? Check it out at the bottom of the page.
For more FREE QUESTIONS similar to Tesco’s online aptitude tests, register with Graduates First and take your FREE Verbal Reasoning Test now!
Tesco’s Logical Reasoning Test, often referred to as a diagrammatic or inductive test, will expose you to 5 diagrams with varying shapes and ask you to identify the right pattern and indicate what comes next in the sequence.
What makes the Tesco Logical Reasoning Test difficult is that there is no limit to how abstract these patterns and trends can be. They will usually evolve around the size, arrangement, movements and colours of two and three-dimensional shapes.
Some patterns are likely to use more than one of the categories mentioned above, so look carefully!
The only way you can prepare for the Logical Reasoning Test is by practicing the sample questions. By doing so, you will familiarise yourself with some of the most common questions types, become more comfortable and get used to thinking under time pressure.
For more hints on how to pass a logical reasoning test, visit our YouTube channel
If you are looking for a Tesco-style Logical Reasoning Test with answers, worked-solutions and professional score reports including personalised tips based on your performance, then Graduates First has it covered.
Learn more about Logical Reasoning Tests
In the example above you will have ONLY around 45 seconds to notice that:
For more FREE QUESTIONS similar to Tesco’s aptitude tests, register with Graduates First and take your FREE Logical/Inductive Reasoning Test now!
Tesco’s Situational Judgement Test will provide you with a number of scenarios that you are likely to encounter when working at Tesco; it will require you to identify the best and worst courses of actions. You will need to use your common sense, and appreciation of what it takes to excel in a professional environment, to give satisfactory responses.
Tesco’s Situational Judgement Test is written in a way that makes all answers seem desirable. Always bear in mind which response is the most practical and demonstrates the key characteristics of an ideal candidate.
You will only need around 30 minutes to complete this test.
For more hints on how to pass a situational judgement test, visit our YouTube channel
Learn more about Situational Judgement Tests
For more FREE QUESTIONS similar to a Tesco-style Situational Judgment Test, register with Graduates First.
This interview will be competency based, and will be a final chance for you to demonstrate your passion, skills and enthusiasm to work for Tesco.
The interview should last up to 30 minutes. Although it might seem long-winded, remember to refer to specific arguments following the S, T, A, R method: describing the particular situation, the task you were faced with, the action you took to resolve it, concluding with the result of your work.
Tip: Make sure to refer to the Tesco core competencies we covered earlier, when answering each question.
You should prepare some ideas of examples that you can later use during your interview based on the most common types of interview questions.
Here are some types of questions you may be asked:
Want to know what kind of questions could come up in your interview? Graduates First can help with the Question Identifier Tool (QIT). You can find it here.
Congratulations! You’ve almost reached the last stage of Tesco’s recruitment process. Tesco’s Assessment Centre will most likely take place in the company’s headquarters in Hertfordshire, or in a local office if you apply for a store’s management job. This will also be a chance for you to network with professionals working at Tesco, and learn more about the company. It is the perfect time for you to get a better insight into what it is like to work at Tesco.
The exercises you might be expected to take are:
This exercise will examine your ability to work as part of a team. Throughout this task various Tesco employees will observe you and how you solve problems when required to work with others.
It is important that you are confident to share and argue for your ideas, but also be ready to contribute to somebody else’s input. Most importantly, speak clearly and do not interrupt anyone!
Try to persuade others towards your ideas and also ask critical thought-provoking questions, but only do so when it feels natural. You need to appreciate that other people on the team are just as important.
Learn more about Group Exercises
You will be given around 20 minutes to work in a pair and analyse a set of information. You and your partner will then need to prepare your response. In the second part, your interviewer will play the role of a client and you will be representing Tesco. In this task, you will need to demonstrate your negotiation skills, teamwork and analytical thinking.
Learn more about Role Play Exercises
In this exercise you will need to write a response to a previously unseen case study problem in the candidate brief given to you. The top advice we give is to kick off with skimming through all the information and to plan your response quickly. Never answer the question unless you already have a clear idea. Make sure to check your spelling and watch the time – in many cases it might be better to miss one or two arguments in order to finish the task on time.
Learn more about Written Exercises
This exercise will mainly test you on your communication skills. Your assessors will be looking at your body language and tone to see how you would cope with delivering professional presentations, taking part in group discussions and explaining your point of view.
Always stand straight, make regular eye contact with everyone in the audience and do not speak too fast.
Learn more about Presentation Exercises
This stage of the recruitment process will consist of a number of one-on-one interviews with directors or senior managers from the business area you wish to join. They are likely to be a mixture of competency-based, motivational and technical questions.
Be ready to discuss technical details of the role you applied to, as well as details of the wider industry-specific conditions Tesco operate in: including main competitors, recent developments, as well as future structural changes
At the end of interviews, you will be given a chance to ask questions. You must definitely use this opportunity! This is a way of showing that you are interested and motivated, so prepare some thought-provoking and interesting questions beforehand. You can also ask your interviewer about his career path.
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Answers to questions:
Numerical reasoning test: D
Verbal reasoning test: B
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