Waitrose apply the graduate filter

Since the collapse of the banking world retailers’ graduate schemes have become more sought after than ever as those jobseekers who may previously not have considered the sector realise the benefits a career in retail can deliver.

But while retailers may be benefiting from a broader range of candidates, their HR departments can be groaning under the strain.

Competition for places is fiercer too as employers have slashed the number of places up for grabs. Graduate market research company High Fliers Research last year reported a 20% reduction in graduate recruitment targets in the retail sector compared with September 2008, while the Association of Graduate Recruiters says the number of general graduate places fell by a quarter in 2009. Just over a year ago there was an average of 31 applications per vacancy - latest figures suggest this has increased to 49.

At Waitrose the opportunity for successful graduates to become department managers within one to two years has seen a boom in applications; and in 2009 more than 2,500 students applied for 20 graduate places - 125 applicants for each place.

In order to filter down the 2,500 to the 150 who progress to the assessment centre stage Waitrose introduced a new online sifting tool - Graduate Dilemmas from talent management company Assessment and Development Consultants (A&DC) - into its e-recruitment platform, which is supplied by WCN.

Waitrose manager of recruitment services Anglie Johns says the new tool is helping tackle the increased demand for places. “We anticipated an uplift in applicant numbers and therefore wanted to introduce a robust selection tool to our graduate assessment process, to address the growing numbers of applications,” she explains.

The new 30-minute online situational judgement tests present candidates with a series of common work situations that are designed to assess their judgement and decision-making skills and are then scored accordingly.

“For Waitrose in particular, the tool has been tailored to reflect ‘what good looks like’,” says A&DC product development manager Dan Hughes. “Store managers with detailed knowledge about the role were asked to indicate how top candidates should respond to the test and this data was used to create a bespoke scoring key that can be used to filter applicants,” he says.

A&DC managing consultant Natalie Livings says the online sifting tool helps Waitrose find the best people more effectively. “It is essential for Waitrose to ensure it is firstly finding future employees who want to work for the company, rather than just ‘get a job’, and secondly, making sure they have the best possible fit for the available roles,” she says.