Nowadays, almost all job applicants at Aldi have to pass a short video interview. It is the first part of the recruitment process, and you won’t talk with anyone from Aldi yet. You will just record your answers to the questions you see on the screen of your smartphone or laptop. This is how it works:
Please bear in mind that their expectations are no super high at this point of the hiring process. With the video interview they just want to see that you are serious about your application, have a good command of English, and know why you want to work for Aldi. The key is to look motivated yet composed at the same time. Calmly answer their questions, and do force to say something more if you still have 30 seconds left. You say what you want to, and then just calmly sit and wait for the next question.
It is also important to not get distracted by one bad answer. Stay in the moment. Maybe you won’t say exactly what you want while dealing with one of the question. That’s fine though, since (as I’ve already said), their expectations are not super high at this point. Just focus on the next question, keep positive body language, and go through the entire video interview. Let’s have a look at the question now (you may face these 10 questions in both face to face and video interview setting).
What would you do if you did not agree with an opinion of your superior or supervisor?
This a tricky question, one of the few questions about Aldi’s business model and working culture you may have to deal with in the interview. They expect you to respect the line of hierarchy in the supermarket, and follow the directions of the supervisors. On the other hand, Aldi strives to deliver an excellent customer service, and to treat their employees well. If you think that something could be done better, or is not fair at all to the customer or employee, you should share your feedback with someone in the store.
Tell the interviewers that you would talk to a superior. You would explain them your reasoning, share your opinion. And if they were ignorant, you would not mind approaching the store manager. However, at the end, after you shared your feedback and suggestions, you will let them to decide, and you will respect their decision.
Basically you fell obliged to share your opinion (trying to improve things for customers and employees), but at the same time respect your superiors and their responsibility to make decisions.
May also interest you: How to overcome interview nerves.
Why do you want to work for Aldi?
In reality you do not care, and simply want to work in a retail store that pays decent money–which Aldi does. But as you can probably guess, this won’t make for a good interview answer to this question, or to the alternative they commonly use: “What appeals to you about working for Aldi?”
Do your research, and try to find something about Aldi that resonates with you. It can be the emphasis they place on teamwork, excellent training for new hires, employee benefits (for example covering health insurance), or simply their main motto “We exist to offer the best value for our customers.”
You want to work for a chain of supermarkets with such a lofty vision–at least you should say so in an interview. Deep down you know it is nothing original, and most store have similar core values, but you won’t reveals this public secret in an interview with Aldi :).
Another alternative is referring to more prosaic reasons. For example, if the store is just five minutes away from your apartment, it will be easy for you to commute to work. And hence you decided to apply.
What does an excellent customer service mean to you?
For almost every retailer excellent customer service is a top priority, and Aldi is no exception. You can define such a service in various ways. For example, you can say that when a customer feels welcome, respected and attended to, from the moment they enter the supermarket until they leave, we can certainly say that they had a great customer experience.
But you can talk also about other things, such as logical organization of the store and displaying of merchandise (so they can find whatever they need), services they can use (luggage lockers, toilets, information desk, ATM), and similar things.
More than anything else, you should ensure your interviewers that whatever Aldi recognizes as an excellent customer service, you are ready and eager to deliver it, to and each and every customer–once you understand it during the training.
Special Tip: We have a also a separate article, where you can find 7 sample answers to “What is your definition of an outstanding customer service” question. Check it out if you are not sure about your answer.