River Island Clothing Mens Department Manager Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Jan 2010 in London, England (United Kingdom) (took 2 weeks)

I initially applied online and was contacted within a few days. HR then discussed with me when it would be the best time to have an interview and liased with the store that day. I was phoned literally an hour later about what was expected of me (interview 'prep') and an email was sent to confirm the details of the interview as well as a comprehensive list of what to research to do. The email detailed that I was to do a presentation to the store manager about the competitors in the area, including a SWOT analysis for each store and a detailed SWOT of the actual river island store in which I had applied to work. I went to the store and shopping complex later the next day in order to make notes and research the area. I completed the presentation within the next few days and had 4 days to spare in order to form a concise, neat presentation. On the day of the interview, I was literally seen at the exact time that I was told to go and proceeded with going through the interview questions. Note: it is worth dressing like the brand in order to make a good impression. Alot of the questions were scenario based and involved questions like:
- Tell us about a time when you had to complete a difficult task? How did you achieve it?;
- what would you bring to the team if you joined?;
- What skills do you have that would benefit the company?
- what is your weakness? (try and turn this into a positive). . . . etc.
Once the interview part was over, I was told to begin the presentation. For this I completed a grid-like table with details on most of the stores in the area for e.g. New Look, Topshop, Topman, Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Next, Gap, Republic. I also went through a store-specific SWOT analysis in order to highlight issues with the actual River Island store. The managers did ask about my salary expectations and luckily I asked for the maximum that they were willing to offer. I new that they would not go any higher than 17k from HR initially which I did not mind at the time as I was on less at my previous company. The whole process took about an hour and a half but once it was over I received a positive send off and waited for a few days till HR rang me with a response. They told me that I had got the interview and also went through some feedback (which was all good, thank god!). I received a contract within a week and started training after my month notice period.