I had two group interviews for two different ALDI branches. Both were about an hour long.
My first group interview consisted of approximately 8 people, including myself. The hiring manager asked us to each introduce ourselves with a little bit about our past/current work/study history as well as state why we wanted to work for ALDI and an interesting fact about ourselves. Then as a group we were asked what we knew about ALDI which lead to a discussion. For the remainder of the interview, the hiring manager spoke more about the company.
The second interview for a different ALDI store went a little differently. This interview had about 8 people, including myself. First, we were asked to complete some questions from a written "test". This included: Some basic details about yourself, Availability, Your contracted hour preference, Store location preference, Where did ALDI originate?, When was ALDI founded in Australia?, Where do you see yourself in 5 years?, followed by 3 Maths questions relating to calculating change. Afterwards, we were asked to each introduce ourselves and specify what our current occupation was (if any) and state why we wanted to work for ALDI, plus an interesting fact about ourselves. The hiring manager then asked what we knew about ALDI and what makes them different to other retailers, which lead to a group discussion. Afterwards, the hiring manager spoke more about the specifics of the role and the company.
Some important things I learned in this interview process:
- In both group interviews, they were very upfront about the recruitment process and about how the company works, so you know exactly what you'd be getting into and there's no hidden surprises. The recruitment process (at least in this case) is first a group interview, followed by a 1 on 1 interview with the hiring manager, and then another interview with the store manager.
- I was told in one interview that about 1000 people had applied for the position and they narrowed it down to about 100 people for group interviews, and that only 1 or 2 people may end up getting hired at the end. I was also told that they have to be picky about who they select because there's such a large amount of applicants, so the reason for your rejection can be for the smallest of things.
- They were very upfront that the ALDI registers do not calculate change and they do not use calculators to determine change.
- For this position, there were contracted hours, but no contracted days. The more flexibility you have, the more hours you're likely to work.
- Everyone gets paid the same base $25.31 per hour regardless of age and experience, and you are entitled to penalty rates on weekends/late nights.
- ALDI will pay for you to undergo a medical and police check when required, but they will not for a Responsible Serving of Alcohol certificate. All staff need their RSA to be employed by ALDI.
- If you are contracted 30 hours a week and it is very quiet in the ALDI stores, you may be asked to work only 20 hours. You will still be paid for 30 hours, but it means you owe them 10 working hours.
- There are no casual positions at ALDI.
- Staff are timed on everything they do in the store: from scanning items to unloading pallets of stock (which is expected to be done in under 20 minutes). You will receive constant feedback on how to improve your performance.
- They made it very clear that you work extremely hard, that you're constantly on the go and that there's a lot of responsibility on the staff and you should be able to (eventually) hold your own in the store. You're expected to pull your weight and be able to do everything in the store (eventually) just like the rest of the staff.
- If you are offered a position in the store, you're on probation for 30, 60, or 90 days. I was told that if you are under performing to a point where they don't think you're meeting standards and they don't see potential, they will terminate your employment after the probationary period.
- Staff are expected to memorize different ID codes for fresh produce since there are no barcodes for these items. There's over 100 and they are constantly changing each week and staff are expected to keep on top of it.