I filled in an application online and got an email asking me to come in for a group interview. Went to the group interview with around 30 other people. This was for the new flagship store in Birmingham and they told us at the interview that they were interviewing 3000 people for 400 sales assistant positions (!). We were put into groups of 4 or 5 with an assessor on each table and asked to go around in our groups and answer 3 questions, we had 2 minutes to prepare and then 2 minutes to answer the questions. The assessor would then score you and then they all left the room to "collate their scores" The second task involved being told about a scenario where someone wanted to buy something for an occasion etc with a set amount of money and you would pick items from a list and try and sell it to your assessor in your groups. Finally, we had to draw a person on a big sheet of paper and list 5 things that would make a perfect John Lewis partner and present it in our groups back to the whole room. We were then asked to write our availability and whether we wanted to work full or part time.That was it, no one-on-one interview or any more questions. A few weeks later me and several other people I know who had interviewed were told that we had passed the interview stage and were "on hold until a suitable rota could be assigned" - making me think that I had the job. Another month passed and hearing nothing, I emailed them. They responded saying that they had filled most of their positions, and people were being given positions based on their scores in the group interview. They said they might be able to give me a Christmas temp position, something that I did not apply for. I later got an email saying that all the positions had now been filled, and that a Christmas temp position wasn't guaranteed but I might be in with a chance. I was very unimpressed by this, because the original email saying that I had passed the assessment caused me to think that I had got the full job that I applied for, not that i *might* be in with a chance of a Christmas temp job. It also comes across as lazy on their part, as they obviously couldn't be bothered to interview another lot of people for Christmas temp positions. I declined to further my application.

group interview, happened ages ago so I forgot most of it, I think the interview was at afternoon. after the shop closed. it was a group panel one. we got given I think scenarios and what we'd do, I think there were other things but I can't really remember.