NEXT Merchandising Trainee interview questions

Application consisted of questions on the company and maths questions. Next stage was a psychometric assessment on an app. The following stage entailed recording yourself answering 3 questions on an app as they came onto your screen. You had time to read the question and answer it, with the option to re-do if needed. If successful in these stages, you have a 30 minute interview with a Merchandiser. They asked questions about the merchandising role, your skills and how you think you're suited for the role. The final stage was an hour and half interview where you are given a presentation to plan for the first 30 minutes, which you then present to the Merchandising Manager. You were given 15 menswear t-shirts and had to keep only 12 of them, stating the reasons why. After this I was given maths based questions (percentages, ratios) from an Excel spreadsheet.

The process took around 4 months and was quite laborious. First there is the online application in which is the normal questions but with some added math questions. Second comes a personality/psychometric where you must download the app. This plays like a game with tasks such as blowing up balloons to make money and flipping switches. This goes on for about 45-50 mins. You do get a breakdown of your 'personality' after so there might be some insights in there for you. If that is accepted you then have (in pandemic times) an online video interview which lasts an hour or so. This was slightly strange as they didn't actually know who you are as an applicant so it more questions towards the role and what do you expect. There is also a set of math questions that you must work out and answer with them so you need a calculator. Then after this..... another online interview where mine lasted much much longer than said. This is where you are sent some information before the interview and you must decide what and why these products will do well or badly. There is then a section to look at data and more math questions and how/why/what does it all mean and correlate. Another task is to pick items and talk about where they belong in the sense of core/trend/etc and why would you pick hose items the last task is then looking at 6 work task options that ALL need to be and picking the three that you believe are the most important with reasoning. After this there is then the questioning of a normal interview, why the company, why that role, etc. After completing all these steps and meetings you then hear after two weeks whether you passed or not.