To think people saying “I can’t get a job in a supermarket because I’m over qualified” is bollocks?

[Washyourhands48]

I have a Bsc, my husband has one too.

After years in the Civil Service and a lot of stress, we both took the decision to take voluntary redundancies and have both been very happy in supermarket jobs on a part time basis since. So it really gets my goat when I see ‘this “over qualified” nonsense being quoted on here. Supermarket interviews do not ask you what your PhD is in or anything like that, the fact is that you were hit just right for the job and probably thought it was beneath you which probably cama across at interview.

AIBU?

I don't know if Lidl are the same, but Aldi are pretty much the elite of supermarket jobs. They pay really well for retail, but expect a very high standard of work.

I think people are incredibly snobbish about retail, even on Mumsnet and even on this thread. I've worked in retail/customer services all my life (& yes, I have a degree) and I love it, but some people do treat you as though you are a second class citizen.

As a PP said, most retail recruiters are looking for evidence of strong interpersonal skills, outstanding customer service, hard work ethic and the ability to do extra hours at short notice (and yes, those hours will be evenings & weekends) .... so many people seem to think working weekends is beneath them but still expect to be able to shop at weekends.

so many people seem to think working weekends is beneath them but still expect to be able to shop at weekends.

I don't think weekends are beneath me, but similarly having the option to work a job without that requirement afford choice. Not being able to work short notice isn't really something that shows just willing, it's about circumstance. If you're a single parent for example, or perhaps a carer, doing some part time qualification or other commitments, then it's not feasible.

Obviously you have to be both willing and able. If you have commitments and someone else doesn’t, they will be the better candidate.

If you are a single parent and you can’t get childcare outside of 8-6 weekdays, most retail jobs aren’t going to be suitable for you.

Yes, plenty of people would simply be unable to work weekends and evenings, particularly at short notice. It is not necessarily a choice and can't be assumed to be one. That doesn't mean they aren't able to shop during those hours either, since lack of anyone else to look after your kids at the proposed work time means you can't take a job but doesn't mean you can't go somewhere with them.

When my daughter left university with no job to go to, and no sign of one (it was ten years ago, when jobs were few and far between), she desperately tried to get some supermarket or cleaning work.

She never had the luxury of an interview. Just rejection emails. I didn't realise just how many until she had to print them off in order to apply for unemployment benefit. There were over 100. She'd applied for literally everything. I teared up as she was gathering up all those sheets of paper. But of course these places wanted someone who would stay, rather than a graduate who was obviously waiting for something better, so they'd have to go through the whole advertising and recruitment thing again when she left.

You are lucky, I suspect, because the supermarkets have been desperate for extra staff in the last six months.

So many of the responses on here are from people who want to believe graduates don’t work in retail because:

A. They are a graduate who couldn’t get a retail job and want to believe their degree was the reason rather than them just not being a good applicant.

B. They want to believe retail workers aren’t as clever or experienced as them as justification for how they treat people in service jobs.

My first job was as an office assistant. They were very upfront in wanting overqualified candidates that they expected to piss off once something better came along and they had a year of experience under their belts.

They got someone overqualified for the role and eager to prove themselves, and in return provided quite a versatile range of business skills.

They were solid gold twats in other respects, but it did make a lot of sense as an arrangement.

Actually OP is the epitome of why we can't get any effective social change in this country.
Thinks a 2 person sample can be extrapolated to 66 million.
Shouts down as "bollocks" any real responses.
No wonder we're in a mess.

I refused to work weekends during my write up because the weekends were the only day I got to see DH and I wanted a day off once a week with DH. Wasn't beneath me - I would have worked them if I was single.

@Stripesgalore

So many of the responses on here are from people who want to believe graduates don’t work in retail because:

A. They are a graduate who couldn’t get a retail job and want to believe their degree was the reason rather than them just not being a good applicant.

B. They want to believe retail workers aren’t as clever or experienced as them as justification for how they treat people in service jobs.

Fair points, but a lot of responses were to the obvious shit being posted by the OP who seemed to think anyone can get a retail job if they want one.

I am happy to accept Tesco don't want to employ me because I can't pass their mystical online test.

I treat retail staff with respect and decency at all times but I know there are people who don't.

My DP is 45 and has always worked in finance, now redundant. He's probably not doing very well with the supermarket screening things, because he's thinking as a manager would, and last worked in retail at uni. From the hirer's point of view he is clearly someone looking for a stop-gap post.

Yes, I wasn’t around during the earlier more confrontational part of the thread and understand why posters responded as they did.

Out of interest, what sort of scenarios/questions are involved in the tests you need to pass to work for a supermarket?

People who look down on supermarket workers are just idiots I have no time for stuck up people who think there better than me.

For my job I had to video myself answering questions on:

Health and Safety
What my favourite product was and why.
What values I held as most important.
How to behave in an environmentally sustainable way in the workplace.

For the group interview I had to role play:

Difficult customer and difficult retail worker, then swap roles.
Environmental impacts of a product we were given at random.
Describing a product under five different categories - value, uses, profit margin, materials, environmental.
Role playing a steering group meeting and changes you would make to the store.

For my one to one interview I was asked (don’t remember most questions)
What made me a better candidate than other members of my group.

What commitment I had to equality and diversity.

To explain the relationship between sales and logistics and why it is important.

Further environmental questions.

How I dealt with conflict in teams.

For my grand parenting interview I was asked:

Why I wanted to move from my current job into retail.

Why I wanted to work for this company in particular.

What other roles I might want in the store in the future.

If I had a commitment to the product area I was being placed in.

All of this was for a basic sales position.

I should make it clear that only part two of the process was video. Part one was written application and 2-5 were in person.

It's fascinating reading this thread and seeing all these attitudes or things that seem blatantly obvious to people, some of which wouldn't even occur to me. It's really surprising how bias and discrimination are still massive issues in recruitment, despite all our employment laws. One of the messages I'm getting from this thread is that it confuses employers when you want a job that doesn't fit in with their interpretation of you and your previous work experience and/or qualifications, so you don't have much chance.

Very different from all the threads you see that are encouraging people who haven't worked for years, but are well-educated, and/or sometimes previously held more prestigious jobs to go for it and they have a great chance, as that doesn't seem to fit with my experience and the experiences on this thread.

Anyway, as you all were...

YABU

I’m a lawyer. Who’s going to give me a job stacking shelves when they know I’ll leave as soon as something more suited to my qualifications comes up?

@Vivana

People who look down on supermarket workers are just idiots I have no time for stuck up people who think there better than me.

Agreed. My local supermarket staff are absolutely brilliant. So helpful and kind. Some people talk to them like absolute crap, it’s a disgrace. They should be banned from all of the company’s stores if they abuse staff.

Thanks, @Stripesgalore -- that's pretty comprehensive. ('Grandparenting interview'?)

Grand parenting interview is when a member of the steering group gives you a short interview to make sure the manager is making the right choices. It is more a check of the original interviewer’s abilities than the candidates.

Just because something hasn't happened to you does not invalidate other people's experience.

YABU. Massively so

‘I’m a lawyer. Who’s going to give me a job stacking shelves when they know I’ll leave as soon as something more suited to my qualifications comes up?‘

I work with a former solicitor. She moved to retail after having a baby. She works on the customer service desk- a job I would never apply for as they get the most customer abuse.

@Stripesgalore

Grand parenting interview is when a member of the steering group gives you a short interview to make sure the manager is making the right choices. It is more a check of the original interviewer’s abilities than the candidates.

I've never come across the expression. Thanks, @Stripesgalore. You are an education.

Do these decisions ever in practice get overturned?