Asda Jobs

Thursday, June 28th, 2012 - Asda Jobs, Job Application

Asda Jobs

If you have been following this blog for a while, you will have noticed that Thursdays has turned into “how to apply for jobs at (organisation)” day, and today its the turn of Asda Jobs.

When researching blogs, we use Google Adwords Research Tool to pick up on certain phrases, and what interested me in researching this one was that Asda Jobs and Tesco Jobs had equal search terms and volumes, while Sainsburys Jobs lagged around 15% behind. I conclude in part that this reflects the individual stores footprints and market shares, but we will cover the other two in forth coming episodes of this series.

Asda background

One of the things that always amazes me about the least successful jobs seekers, is that they never ever do research on companies that they apply for. Hence each one of the blogs in this series includes a background on the organisation….

Asda started out as a farmers co-operative, Associated Dairies & Farm Stores in 1949 in Leeds. After merging with Asquith, in 1965 the new company became Asda from Asquith and Dairies. After merging with the MFI furniture store in the 1980s, and listing on the London Stock Market, it suffered a series of fincial worries which resulted in the sale of MFI and the dairies business. It was revived under the leadership of future MP Archie Norman, who drove the now retail-focused company southwards from its traditional northern UK base by buying up former Gateway stores, and employing a management team that has gone on to dominate the British retail High Street: Alan Leighton (Post Office). Norman copied the format and style of US giant Wal-Mart instore, so it was no surprise in 1999 while planing a merger with Kingfisher that Wal-Mart outbid them at £6.7Bn, and took on Asda as its UK subsidiary under the leadership of Leighton.

Today, Asda is the second largest supermarket chain in the UK behind Tesco, but has the largest average store footprint (ie: few small/local stores, mostly based around large format retail).

Asda Jobs portal

Asda like many large corporate employers has its own jobs portal, which can be found at http://www.asda.jobs/. Its bright, white and green, and easy to navigate. Right at the top are five focus areas:

• Stores
• George
• Distribution
• Home Office
• Pharmacy & Optical
• Graduates

These headers should tell you a lot about where they are looking to recruit, and where they are not. Each then has a drop-down menu underneath it, which roughly consists of three sections:

• About
• Where can I work/What can I do
• Management

So, there’s lot of information here. But its well organised, so you can’t complain either of information overload. The main page on the occassion that I entered the portal had two main options, which were real employee stories about Jobs at Asda, and Jobs at George. There is also an FAQ section at the bottom of the page, together with the normal legals

Job applicants note: much as though Asda is mainly known for food retail, notice how they give equal footing to the George clothing brand on their jobs portal. It tends to suggest that they are actively seeking job applicants for George, and that it may be easier to get employed on the clothing side of the business.

Asda Jobs Application

Lets now apply for a job. For the purpose of this exercsie I will look at retail jobs, but I found the process equally as easy and well explained which ever one of the five options tabs I choose.

There are four sections here which I really like, and are great for jobs seekers:

• About our roles
• What we’re looking for
• Training & benefits
• Application process

Job applicants note: note the language used here in the website and forms. It’s We’re over We Are – its very open, easy, accessible to all and modern!

The details under each section are clear, open and show a great deal of thought has gone into what is a transparent recruitment process. Again, you couldn’t complain about either lack of information or information overload (Note: good website editing!)

I will pick out the What we’re looking for section here, and quote:

We look for people who have a warm, friendly and approachable personality, enjoy being part of a hard-working team and get a real kick out of providing great service. We’re not frightened of using the words ‘hard work’, because while working at Asda is enormous fun, it’s far from being a doddle. To love the job you’ve got to like the way we do things – putting customers first, thinking fast, giving it your all and keeping a friendly face while being rushed off your feet.

So that’s clear then: customer focused, hard work, friendly, fun! But hang on, anyone see the word team mentioned in that section? No, but the next paragraph mention it:

And when you see a colleague or a customer needing some help, you don’t think twice about lending a hand, no matter how busy you are.

So, team is as much about customer as colleague. It tends to suggest a very equal environment based on ethics – and if they mention energy or hard work again, I am sure the typist will faint!

Asda Jobs Application form

The Application process is outlined as a four-step process:

1. Read the jobs portal
2. View the jobs through the Serach & Apply button
3. Find a job, save it to your jobs basket or apply immediately
4. Get invited to an Asda Magic selection event

I then tried searching for a store job in the Cardiff area:

• The format of the search form is clear, but….
• When they have over 500 stores, and use a drop-down menu to select area, I was glad that I was searching for Cardiff with a C, and not Nottingham with a N! The type was also very small
• I left all other criteria open, but they looked easier to select
• The result was five job openings, all at the Cardiff Bay store
• I selected a Checkout Operators job, and on clicking through I got lots of details that had already been outlined via the main jobs portal. Repetition yes, but its reflects their standards or what they want
• To apply for the job (which I decided not to), you would need to register on Asda’s jobs portal. The userame and password that you create only lasts for around 90days (the main reason that I decided not to register)

Asda Jobs application: summary

The Asda jobs portal greatly reflects the approcah and feeling that you get when you walk into or shop in an Asda store: friendly, open, fresh. There is lots of great information on the jobs portal, more than adequate guidance, yet the website and text is well laidout and edited so that you don’t feel over whelmed.

The only downside that I could find was that horrible drop-down menu to select the geographical area that you wanted to apply in, but apart from that a great jobs portal: 9/10, well done Asda.

Good Luck!

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