Lyreco Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was very rushed and last minute. The hiring manager was initially kind but seemed unknowing of basic terminology. They became confused when I started referring to accounts when the job is an accounts manager. They even said that the process is fruitless but they have to tick a box being a large bureaucratic company. The talent acquisition manager was also attending but barely present. They made it obvious they didn't want to be there, they were talking to colleagues in the background and not paying attention. Asked me to repeat myself several times because of this. They even rudely asked if I read the job description. When I repeated it from memory they asked if that was it. Either they didn't know what position this was for or they were attempting to play it difficult to see my reaction under pressure. The job description was poorly written. Only consisted of 3 lines outlining the job role, then the same 3 lines in bullet points. And the rest was about benifits and whatnot. When I asked them to go into more detail about the role they repeated the same lines in the job description. They couldn't go into detail how I would get into contact with the new customers or when I am conversing with customers what information I would be going through / presenting / setting up. They called the night before to set up an interview for the next day and then emailed the wrong appointment time with a video they said I had to watch. The video was only about how great the lyreco site is in Telford when I would never visit the site being a remote employee? The worst part was in the beginning of the interview they forced me to reveal my age and judged me following that for being inexperienced. When before mentioning that they were praising me for my work history in similar fields. This is completely illegal. Following this they couldn't even bother to communicate afterwards about acceptance or declining of the job.

After a phone interview and a video call interview, I had an interview with the group's HR Director. The questions asked were quite awkward, with a lot of interest in my ability to adapt to an environment that emphasizes presence in the office, and little flexibility on adjusted working hours. I didn't find the company's mentality open to internal skills development (a concrete example was given of an apprentice who didn't have the required English level and whom they wanted to get rid of, without trying to improve their skills, despite their other qualities because the company 'didn't have time to manage that'). At the end of the interview, I was promised a response, whether positive or negative, within 3 weeks. 4 months later, I'm still waiting for a response, despite following up. In short, a dubious and unprofessional recruitment process.

So I went through a few rounds for this sales job. First, a phone screen, then a bunch of in-person meetings. They really dug into my previous sales wins, how I deal with clients pushing back, and my methods for keeping customers happy long-term. It was tough but fair, and I got to show off my sales smarts and how I work with people. It felt pretty organized, honestly, and I felt like I could really show them what I'm about and how I solve problems.

They give you 3 days to send them a couple of video recorded replies, and ask you for your feedback about the process. Due to my current job I was not able to do this before 22 PM, which rendered me quite exhausted during the automated interview, so basically my chances were low from the very beginning. After asking me to do this round of recruitment, providing my feedback, I believe personalised feedback from Lyreco would be more tasteful. They choose however to have no regard for the applicants, ask them for a lot, and give nothing in return. 2,2 years of average tenure at this company (check linkedin) speaks for itself.