HMV, the UKís retailer of music, DVDs and games, is using a retail-specific psychometric assessment to help select candidates for its graduate training programme.
Developed by PSL, the assessment gives HMVís assessors an in- depth understanding of each candidate and it prompts interviewers to ask probing questions about their strengths and weaknesses.
Our graduate programme is crucial to the business because weíre opening 25 new stores per year and we like to promote our store managers from within, said Tony Varchione, HMVís Divisional HR Manager (South). Last year we had 3,500 applications for the programme.
PSLís assessment helps us to find the candidates with the right personal qualities and attributes.
Specifically designed for branch managers in a retail environment,the ëthree-in-oneí assessment - called the Branch Manager Questionnaire - includes verbal and numerical reasoning tests and a personality questionnaire which assesses seven factors including achievement orientation, empathy and influence.
Itís the best on the market, said Tony Varchione. It gives us good quality information to base decisions on and it is easy to administer.
All applicants for the graduate programme apply online. Every six months, HMV conducts around 380 in-store interviews and then invites 90 graduates to day-long assessment centres, where they undergo exercises, a presentation and PSLís psychometric assessment. 30 candidates are then invited for a final interview, from which 25 are appointed onto the graduate programme.
Retail - Specific test helps graduate recruitment at HMV
HMV, the UKís retailer of music, DVDs and games, is using a retail-specific psychometric assessment to help select candidates for its graduate training programme
