The Midcounties Co-operative Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process felt very professional and organized. It started with an initial phone conversation where they asked me some questions. After that, I had a video call. The final stage was a face-to-face interview held in Warwick. About a week after the F2F, I got an email letting me know I wasn't successful.

It was friendly and welcoming. They explained the role and gave me time to answer questions. You could tell children are important to them by the questions they asked. I liked that I got to do a trial run because I could see what it was like in the rooms with the children and staff.

I was contacted by Emma Sherry from Lord Accounting & Finance about a Chief Marketing Officer position at Coop Energy. She mentioned it was a casual chat and no preparation was needed. However, upon arrival, it turned out to be a formal competency-based interview with a senior HR member and the incumbent of the role. I later found out from a long-time industry peer that this is a common deceptive practice between Lord Accounting & Finance and Coop Energy. He had a similar experience being headhunted by Emma for a senior regulatory role at Coop Energy, expecting an informal chat but facing a formal competency interview. This underhanded tactic feels unfair, and I would not have agreed to the short-notice 'informal chat' if I had known, as I would have prepared properly. I have lost trust in both organizations.

So first you hand in your application or CV, then you get a call from Coop. After that, there's a telephone interview, and some questions asked during an in-store interview. You'll also get a tour around the store. Then there's an induction to training which is a 2-hour lecture about Coop's background, this isn't in-store and isn't paid, but they do provide free tea and coffee. Back in the store, you'll get training on the till and security, including how to handle age-related sales.