Dick Smith Interview Questions
& Process

I initially had a telephone interview. After that, I was invited to a group interview. At the group assessment centre, we were tested on various aspects like our understanding of retail, customers, and customer experience. Our analytical, numerical, and problem-solving capabilities were also put to the test. It was an interactive session with interesting situations and case studies. A panel of 8 people were assigned to make a decision on who was to be hired based on our performance in these assignments. It was a very interesting take on an interview and surprisingly the stress levels were quite low with this one since you had to essentially put forth your views and ideas.

Since I was an internal candidate from another part of the company, I skipped the initial group interview phase, but the rest of the hiring process was pretty much standard for any retail job. We chatted about what I'm good at and not so good at, and I shared some stories about delivering great customer service from my last retail gig. Then I tackled some open-ended questions, like how to prioritize if there's a safety hazard, who to go to if I saw something sketchy, or how to juggle multiple urgent issues at once. Honestly, it felt like a typical retail interview, just making sure I wasn't clueless and wouldn't be a pain to work with.

I had a phone interview first, then a face-to-face with the regional manager. After that, there was another phone interview. I waited two weeks, then had another face-to-face with the State Sales manager and HR. After another three-week wait, I got the final contact. They told me I didn't get the job because I didn't have a good answer to the question "what would you change about the store if you were the manager." My response was that since they had plain cardboard boxes with wide screen HD TVs in the front window display, which lacked visual appeal, I'd take the TVs out of the boxes to showcase the product. Apparently, this wasn't a good enough answer. I actually saw the store two weeks after being rejected, and the TVs were out of their boxes, displayed and turned on, exactly as I'd suggested. It's a clever business strategy, isn't it? Instead of hiring a manager and paying a salary, they just interview experienced managers and get free operational advice. Brilliant!

You start by filling out an application online and attaching your CV. Then, you have to answer around 20 questions covering sales, retail, customer service, and basic safety. A few weeks later, they called to set up an interview. During the interview, they asked some basic questions to get to know you and then a quick task where you had to pick a product from the store and try to sell it to them.