Waitrose & John Lewis Interview Process 2026: SJT, 6 Behaviours & Pay

Last updated: November 2026

TL;DR

The Waitrose and John Lewis interview process, run by the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) on jlpjobs.com, goes in this order: an online application in Workday, an online assessment for many roles (a situational judgement test and a personality questionnaire for Customer Assistant and Supermarket Assistant roles), a 1-2-1 interview or a group assessment with hiring managers scored on six Partnership Behaviours, then an offer, pre-employment checks and a 90-day Earning Membership period. Shop-floor hiring usually takes about 2-5 weeks (candidate-reported), and graduate schemes add a video interview and an assessment centre. JLP publishes its own interview questions, so rehearse those out loud in OphyAI Interview Practice, and use OphyAI Interview Copilot for real-time answer suggestions if your interview runs on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.

Quick Answer: Waitrose and John Lewis Interview Process

Stage	What to prepare
Online application (Workday)	Answers to the role questions, a CV and cover letter only where the advert asks, and your shift availability
Online assessment (many roles)	An untimed situational judgement test and personality questionnaire for shop roles; a coding exercise or Excel test for some technical roles
1-2-1 interview or group assessment	STAR examples mapped to the six Partnership Behaviours, plus one clear answer on what being a co-owner means
Graduate extras (reported)	Numerical and verbal tests, a recorded video interview, then an assessment centre with group tasks and a presentation
Offer and checks	Right-to-work documents, a Basic DBS check and employment verification through Zinc
Earning Membership	A 90-day settling-in review with your manager that confirms your membership of the Partnership

Action Plan: Prepare for Waitrose and John Lewis by Round

Round	What JLP tests	What to do before the interview
Application	Fit with the advert’s essential criteria and your availability	Answer every role question with a concrete example; match your hours to the shift pattern in the advert
Situational judgement test	Customer judgement, teamwork and safety in shop scenarios	Practise ranking options with one rule: customer and safety first, then team, then speed; sit it on a laptop in one go
Personality questionnaire	A consistent working style that fits a service role	Answer honestly and consistently; do not try to guess the “ideal” profile
1-2-1 interview	The six Partnership Behaviours and any technical needs of the role	Prepare 6-8 STAR stories, one per Behaviour, using JLP’s own question PDF for your level
Group assessment	How you work with strangers on a shop task	Read the brief twice, speak early, build on other people’s ideas, keep the customer in the answer
Graduate assessment centre (reported)	Leadership, commercial thinking, presentation	Prepare a 10-minute presentation structure and two commercial observations from a Waitrose and a John Lewis visit

With one week, spend two days on STAR stories for the six Behaviours, one on the co-ownership questions, one on situational judgement practice, two on mock interviews aloud, and one visiting both shops.

What Makes the John Lewis Partnership Different

The John Lewis Partnership owns Waitrose, John Lewis department stores and John Lewis Money, and it is employee-owned: everyone who joins becomes a Partner rather than an employee. The Partnership’s careers site calls itself “the UK’s largest employee-owned business” and says Partners “share in its rewards and successes”. The Partnership’s own site puts the number of Partners at 69,000; 2025 and 2026 news coverage of pay and bonus announcements uses about 65,000. In the 53 weeks to 31 January 2026, Partnership sales rose 5% to £13.4bn, with Waitrose at £8.5bn and John Lewis at £4.9bn.

John Spedan Lewis, son of the founder, signed the First Trust Settlement in 1929, the Partnership bought Waitrose in 1937, and the Second Trust Settlement of 1950 handed his remaining control to trustees for the people who work there. The stated purpose today is “to work in partnership for a happier world”.

Four things shape what interviewers look for:

• “Partners”, not staff. Every JLP question bank includes a “Distinctly Partnership” question on how being a Partner differs from being an employee elsewhere.
• Six published Partnership Behaviours. Distinctly Partnership, Absolute Clarity, In this together, Continuous Improvement, Brilliant retailer and Owning It. Prep sites still circulate older value lists; these six are the current wording on jlpjobs.com.
• Published questions. JLP posts question PDFs for five levels (Leading Self, Leading Partners, Leading Leaders, Leading the Partnership, Early Careers), so arriving unprepared is a red flag.
• A shared, unguaranteed bonus and a democratic voice. The Partnership Bonus returned at 2% in March 2026 after years without one, and JLP says it has “a democratic structure in place to ensure every voice is heard”.

If your interview is on video, OphyAI Interview Copilot gives real-time answer suggestions and a live transcript on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. In the desktop app the answer window is excluded from screen sharing and recording, which does not hide it from a webcam or a person in the room.

Interview Process Overview

Stage	Format	Duration	Timeline
Online application	Workday form via the “Apply Now” button on jlpjobs.com	15-30 minutes (estimate)	Day 1; vacancies can close early
Online assessment	Situational judgement test and personality questionnaire (shop roles); technical test for some roles	Untimed, but must be finished in one sitting	Within 2 days of the invitation email
Interview or group assessment	1-2-1 interview or group assessment with hiring managers, in person or virtual	About 30-60 minutes (estimate)	Slots are first come, first served
Offer	Email with an Employment Agreement; some roles also get a call	Not published	Reported 2-5 weeks after applying
Pre-employment checks	Zinc screening: employment verification, Basic DBS, qualifications, right to work	Not published	After you accept
Earning Membership	Week 1, day 30, day 60 and day 90 check-ins with your manager	90 days (can extend by 30)	After you start

JLP publishes the stages and rules; durations marked “estimate” are ours, and the 2-5 week range is candidate-reported on Glassdoor. JLP’s FAQ adds rules that catch people out: a passed score lasts 6 months, a failed assessment cannot be retaken for that role, no individual feedback is given, and Zinc’s digital right-to-work check only accepts in-date UK or Irish passports. Some roles require you to be 18.

The application. You answer role questions in Workday and add a CV or cover letter only if asked. Mirror the advert’s desirable skills with real examples, and draft any cover letter in OphyAI Application Assistant.

The Online Assessment and the Partnership Behaviours Interview

These two stages decide most Waitrose and John Lewis applications. The assessment filters, and the interview is scored against JLP’s six published Behaviours.

The online assessment

JLP says Customer Assistant and Supermarket Assistant roles include a situational judgement test and a personality questionnaire; other roles may get “a coding exercise or an Excel assessment”. The test is untimed, must be done in one go, ideally on a laptop, within two days of the invitation.

What they test: whether your choices put customers, colleagues and safety ahead of speed, and whether your working style fits a team-based service job. For a broader walkthrough of the format, see our situational judgement test guide.

Red flags that fail candidates:

• Rushing an untimed test, or starting it on a phone and losing the session.
• Choosing the fastest option over the customer or a safety check.
• Inconsistent personality answers, such as claiming to love routine and also to dislike repetitive work.
• Missing the two-day window, which can withdraw the application.

How to prepare: practise ranking responses to shop scenarios (a spill, a queue, an out-of-stock item) and say why. For multiple-choice online assessments, OphyAI’s desktop Aptitude Test mode reads each question on screen and shows an answer with a one-line reason in a popup excluded from screen sharing and recording; it is not hidden from a webcam, a person in the room, or proctoring software.

The Partnership Behaviours interview

JLP says interviewers assess you “on the Partnership Behaviours and any technical requirements for the role”. The six Behaviours, as JLP defines them:

Behaviour	JLP’s own definition
Distinctly Partnership	”We’re about co-ownership, democracy, and making a positive impact.”
Absolute Clarity	”Lead with clarity, transparency, and inspiration, setting clear expectations”
In this together	”Work together, serve others, and be true partners”
Continuous Improvement	”Embrace change, challenge the status quo, and innovate at pace”
Brilliant retailer	”Serve our customers with passion and foresight”
Owning It	”Be goal-focused, take action, and empower others to make things happen”

What they test: one real example per Behaviour, told with STAR, which JLP spells Situation, Task, Action and Reflection/Result. JLP asks for examples that are relevant, successful, varied and complex, and says to be yourself.

Red flags that fail candidates:

• No answer to the co-ownership question, or an answer that only mentions the bonus.
• Reusing one story for every Behaviour.
• Hypothetical answers (“I would…”) when the question asks for a time you did something.
• Forcing an irrelevant example or reading from notes; JLP says pausing to find a better example is fine.

How to prepare: download the question PDF for your level from jlpjobs.com, write one STAR story per Behaviour, then answer each question aloud against a timer. Rehearse the full set with follow-up questions in OphyAI Interview Practice, and use our STAR method complete guide to tighten the Reflection step.

Role-Specific Breakdowns

Waitrose Supermarket Assistant and Customer Assistant

The highest-volume route. A November 2026 Stirling advert lists restocking, packing online orders, markdowns, checkouts and Click & Collect, with communication skills as the only essential criterion. Expect the assessment, then a 1-2-1 or group session. Glassdoor reviewers report customer service examples, out-of-stock scenarios and a role play where the interviewer plays a customer (candidate-reported). Rehearse those scenarios aloud in OphyAI Interview Practice.

John Lewis Selling and Customer Service Partner

John Lewis shop roles sit under “Customer Service” on jlpjobs.com. Selling questions lean on Brilliant retailer: reading what a customer needs and finding creative solutions, as in the Leading Self question about meeting someone’s needs “when the usual approach wouldn’t work”. Walk the department you would join and bring one observation. Practise a “help me choose” role play in OphyAI Interview Practice.

Customer Delivery Driver, Warehouse and Distribution

JLP lists warehouse, HGV, customer delivery and fulfilment centre roles, with its own driving academy. A November 2026 Abingdon delivery driver advert asks for age 18+, a manual car licence with no more than 6 points and lifting of about 18kg, at £14.31 an hour. Expect safety and reliability questions: van checks, explaining substitutions, running late. On a live video call, Interview Copilot suggests structured answers from a live transcript.

Team Manager and Branch Management

Roles that lead Partners use the Leading Partners questions, and roles that lead other leaders use Leading Leaders. Leading Partners questions include “Describe a time when you held someone accountable for their performance. How did you balance accountability with support?” and “Describe a time when you have improved your team’s productivity to drive commercial success and profit.” Leading Leaders adds questions on authentic leadership, anticipating customer needs and being “a Champion of change”. A June 2026 Waitrose Team Manager (Twilight) advert listed a full-time salary of £32,000-£45,600. Prepare one people story, one commercial story with numbers (waste, availability, sales) and one change story, and rehearse them in OphyAI Interview Practice.

Head Office and Digital and Tech

John Lewis head office is at Drummond Gate in Pimlico, London, and Waitrose head office is in Bracknell; JLP says these teams work hybrid. Some roles add a coding exercise or Excel test, and JLP lists role play, presenting and group discussions as possible exercises. On a live technical round, OphyAI Coding Copilot (Premium) shows the approach, the code, a dry run and the Big O.

Graduate Programmes and Industrial Placements

JLP runs 24-month Graduate Programmes and 12-month Industrial Placements. Prep sites report SHL-run online tests (numerical, verbal, situational judgement, values questionnaire) before the application form, a recorded video interview of about six questions with one take each, and an assessment centre with group exercises, an interview and a 10-minute presentation (reported; JLP does not publish the format). The Early Careers PDF mixes past-experience questions with scenarios, such as easing tension in a group project. For the recorded stage, the desktop app’s One-way Interview mode reads each question as it appears on screen and suggests an answer in the overlay.

Apprenticeships

JLP lists apprenticeship pathways from retail and distribution to data, HR and finance, with 80% of time on the job and “no upper age limit”. Some schemes are open only to existing Partners. Apprentices get the Early Careers questions. Practise turning a group project into a STAR story in OphyAI Interview Practice.

Common Questions with Frameworks

Questions 1-8 are quoted from JLP’s own interview question PDFs (Leading Self, Leading Partners and Early Careers, versions dated April 2026 and December 2025). The approaches are ours.

1. “From what you know about the John Lewis Partnership, what do you think are the key differences between working here as a Partner compared to being an employee at other companies?” (Distinctly Partnership)

Asked of external candidates at every level. Name three things: co-ownership through a trust, a voice through a democratic structure, and a profit share when the business can afford it. Then say what it changes: you treat waste or a complaint as your problem.

2. “Working within the John Lewis Partnership, how would you demonstrate that you’re thinking and acting like a co-owner of the business rather than just someone who works here?” (Distinctly Partnership)

Give two concrete behaviours, such as rotating stock to cut waste or raising an idea through the right channel, plus a time you already did something similar.

3. “Describe a time when you went above and beyond to help someone (a customer, colleague, or external provider) and exceeded their expectations.” (Brilliant retailer)

Say what the person needed, what the normal response would have been, what you did differently, and how you know they were pleased.

4. “Give me an example of when you chose to work with others to achieve a better outcome than you could yourself.” (In this together)

JLP says this can be a group project or volunteering. Name what you contributed and what the group achieved that you could not alone.

5. “Describe a situation where you had to prioritise multiple competing tasks or demands and explain how you approached this.” (Owning It)

Describe how you ranked a delivery, a queue and a customer question (customer and safety first), what you flagged, and the result.

6. “Give me an example of when you actively sought feedback on your performance and used it to develop your skills or approach.” (Continuous Improvement)

Show that you asked for the feedback, not that it was imposed. State the feedback, the specific change you made and the evidence it worked.

7. “Give me an example of how you had to help others to understand something that was initially confusing or unclear.” (Absolute Clarity)

Explaining a rota change or a new till process works. Say how you checked understanding.

8. “Describe a time when you held someone accountable for their performance. How did you balance accountability with support?” (Leading Partners)

For Team Manager roles. Set out the standard, the gap, the private conversation, the support you offered and the follow-up. Interviewers want firmness and care in the same story.

9. “A customer cannot find a product and it is out of stock. What do you do?” (Situational, candidate-reported)

Apologise, check stock, suggest an alternative or another branch, and confirm they are happy. Walking the customer to an alternative beats pointing.

10. “Why do you want to work for Waitrose or John Lewis?” (Motivation, candidate-reported)

Combine one brand reason with one Partnership reason (co-ownership). Our guide to why do you want to work here has more structures.

Run all ten with follow-up questions in OphyAI Interview Practice, which gives a transcript and per-answer feedback.

Culture Fit: Thinking Like a Co-Owner

Co-ownership. The “Distinctly Partnership” Behaviour is about “co-ownership, democracy, and making a positive impact”. What interviewers screen for: you understand you would be an owner, and you can say what an owner does differently on a normal shift.

Service with foresight. Brilliant retailer means serving customers “with passion and foresight”. What interviewers screen for: you notice what a customer needs before they ask, and you know the shop you are applying to.

Togetherness. In this together means “serve others, and be true partners”. What interviewers screen for: you help colleagues without being asked, and you give credit.

Improvement and voice. Continuous Improvement and JLP’s democratic structure reward Partners who raise ideas. What interviewers screen for: you have suggested a better way of doing something, through the right channel, and followed it through.

Ownership of results. Owning It means being “goal-focused” and taking action. What interviewers screen for: you finish what you start and admit mistakes quickly.

Compensation Overview (2026 Estimates, GBP)

From 1 April 2026, JLP raised shop-floor pay by 6.9% in a £108m investment, worth about £1,600 a year to a typical full-time Partner. The 2025 rates were £12.40, and £13.85 within the M25.

Role	Base Salary	Total Compensation (Base + Bonus + Equity)
Waitrose or John Lewis shop Partner (UK)	£13.25 an hour from April 2026 (one advert shows £13.00, rising to £13.25 after 90 days)	Plus Partnership Bonus when declared (2% in 2026); pension contribution up to 12%; no shares, Partners co-own through a trust
Shop Partner within the M25	£14.80 an hour from April 2026	Same benefits
Specialist or higher-skill Partner	£14.31 an hour (£15.98 within the M25)	Same benefits
Waitrose Customer Delivery Driver (Abingdon advert)	£14.31 an hour, Partnership Level 10	Night premium of £3.75 an hour between 22:00 and 06:00
Waitrose Team Manager, Twilight (June 2026 advert)	£32,000-£45,600 a year	Plus night premium and Partnership Bonus when declared
Waitrose Retail Graduate Trainee (2026 intake)	£31,000-£41,000 (reported in third-party reposts)	2-year fixed-term contract
Head office, tech, placements and apprenticeships	Varies; check the advert	Not published centrally

The Partnership Bonus. All Partners share in profit through a bonus set each March as a percentage of pay. In March 2026, JLP announced a 2% bonus, equal to about one week’s pay and costing about £35m, the first since 2022. Employee Benefits reports that no bonus was paid in 2021 (the first time since 1953), it returned at 3% in 2022, and none was paid from 2023 to 2025; its most generous level was 24%, paid in 1979, 1987 and 1988. Treat the bonus as possible upside, never as part of your base pay.

Other benefits include up to £275 towards development and leisure, subsidised meals, and Partner discount (25% at John Lewis, 20% at Waitrose in one advert) after Earning Membership. For salaried roles, see our salary negotiation guide.

Preparation Timeline: 4-6 Weeks

Week	Focus	Activities
1	Research and application	Visit a Waitrose and a John Lewis; read “Being a Partner” on jlpjobs.com; download the question PDF for your level; apply
2	Online assessment	Practise situational judgement scenarios; set up a laptop and quiet room; complete the test within two days of the invite
3	Behaviour stories	Write one STAR story per Partnership Behaviour plus two co-ownership answers
4	Mock interviews	Answer every question in your PDF aloud in OphyAI Interview Practice; fix the weakest two
5	Group and graduate stages	Practise a group task and, for graduates, a recorded video answer and a 10-minute presentation
6	Final checks	Gather right-to-work documents, prepare two questions for the interviewer, confirm travel or video setup

Shop-floor candidates can compress this into a week or two, because slots are first come, first served and vacancies close early.

Common Mistakes

Ignoring the published questions. JLP posts its interview questions by level. Walking in without having seen them signals low effort.

Treating “Partner” as a job title. If you cannot explain co-ownership in two sentences, the Distinctly Partnership question will expose it.

Leading with the bonus. It is a real benefit, but it was not paid in four of the five years before 2026. Lead with ownership and voice.

Reusing one example. Six Behaviours need varied stories. One great customer story told three times scores worse than three good ones.

Doing the test on a phone. JLP recommends a laptop or desktop and says a failed test cannot be retaken for that role.

Sitting back in the group assessment. Candidates report shop tasks with products and customer profiles (candidate-reported). Read the brief, contribute early and invite quieter people in.

Leaving right-to-work documents late. Anything other than an in-date UK or Irish passport needs an in-person check.

Prepare for Waitrose and John Lewis with OphyAI

JLP publishes its questions, so the edge goes to candidates who have said their answers out loud. Use OphyAI Interview Practice for voice or text mock interviews in behavioral formats, with follow-up questions, a transcript and per-answer feedback on each Behaviour. Use OphyAI Interview Copilot for real-time answer suggestions on live Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet interviews; in the desktop app the window is excluded from screen sharing and recording, though not from a webcam or a person in the room. Graduates can prepare the recorded stage with One-way Interview mode. OphyAI runs on web, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, and pricing is on the OphyAI pricing page. Start practicing →

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Start Your Waitrose or John Lewis Application

Ready to apply? OphyAI can help at every stage:

• Search for open roles at Waitrose, John Lewis and similar employers with AI-powered job matching
• Generate a tailored cover letter that highlights your fit for the role, plus follow-up emails and thank-you notes for after your interviews
• Track your application status alongside every other role you’re pursuing

Pair these with Interview Copilot for structured live interviews, or practise first with OphyAI Interview Practice.

Related company guides

• Sainsbury’s interview guide
• Tesco interview guide
• Aldi UK interview guide
• Lidl UK interview guide

For shop-floor question practice, see our retail interview questions and group interview questions guides, and for UK interview habits in general, our UK interview guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Waitrose interview process?

Waitrose shop roles are hired through jlpjobs.com: an online Workday application, an untimed situational judgement test and personality questionnaire for Customer Assistant and Supermarket Assistant roles, then a 1-2-1 interview or group assessment with hiring managers scored on the six Partnership Behaviours. Offers are followed by Zinc pre-employment checks and a 90-day Earning Membership period.

What questions are asked in a John Lewis interview?

JLP publishes its questions by level on jlpjobs.com. Every level includes a co-ownership question, such as how working as a Partner differs from being an employee elsewhere, plus behaviour questions on clarity, ownership, teamwork, customer service and improvement. Candidates also report situational questions about difficult customers and out-of-stock products.

How long does it take to hear back from Waitrose after an interview?

JLP does not publish a timeline, and all outcomes are sent by email to your candidate portal. Glassdoor reviewers of Waitrose roles report processes of about 2-5 weeks from application to offer, with some graduate and head office processes taking longer. Graduate schemes follow fixed intake dates, so expect months rather than weeks.

Can I retake the Waitrose or John Lewis online assessment?

Not for the same role. JLP’s FAQ says a failed assessment cannot be retaken and no specific feedback is given. A passed score is kept for 6 months on a like-for-like basis, so you only resit it for a different role type or after 6 months. The test is untimed, but once started it must be finished in one go.

How much do Waitrose and John Lewis pay in 2026?

From 1 April 2026, the minimum hourly rate for Partners is £13.25 across the UK and £14.80 within the M25, after a 6.9% rise. Specialist and higher-skill roles pay £14.31, or £15.98 within the M25. A June 2026 Waitrose Team Manager advert listed £32,000-£45,600 a year. Check the live advert for your role.

Do John Lewis Partners still get a bonus?

Yes, when the Partnership can afford it. In March 2026, JLP announced a 2% Partnership Bonus, about one week’s pay, the first since 2022. No bonus was paid in 2021 or from 2023 to 2025, and the 2022 bonus was 3%. The bonus is decided each year, so treat it as upside rather than guaranteed pay.

How does OphyAI work in a Waitrose or John Lewis interview?

Rehearse JLP’s published questions in Interview Practice, with follow-ups, a transcript and per-answer feedback. On live video interviews, Interview Copilot suggests answers in real time on Zoom, Teams or Meet. In the desktop app, Aptitude Test mode handles multiple-choice assessments and One-way Interview mode handles recorded video. Screen-share exclusion does not hide anything from a webcam, a person in the room, or proctoring software.

Sources and verification notes

All sources checked November 2026. Stages, assessment rules, Behaviours, questions and posted pay come from jlpjobs.com, its question PDFs and adverts. Glassdoor and Indeed returned 403 errors, so candidate experiences come from Glassdoor search listings and are labelled candidate-reported; graduate assessment details come from prep sites and are labelled reported. We found no source for a trial shift.

• JLP Jobs, How to apply and FAQs: stages, assessment rules, Behaviours, STAR, Zinc checks, right to work.
• JLP Jobs, Being a Partner and Earning Membership: co-ownership, Behaviour definitions, the 90-day review.
• JLP question PDFs: Leading Self, Leading Partners, Leading Leaders, Early Careers.
• JLP Jobs, Early Careers, Apprenticeships, Distribution and Head Office.
• Adverts: Supermarket Assistant, Stirling, Customer Delivery Driver, Abingdon, and a cached Team Manager Twilight advert on Built In (removed June 2026).
• JLP Jobs, £108m pay investment and Grocery Gazette on 2025 rates.
• JLP Jobs, 2025/26 results and 2% bonus, AJ Bell (about £35m, about 65,000 Partners) and Employee Benefits (bonus history).
• JLP Jobs, History of the Partnership and John Lewis Partnership, Partnership model (69,000 Partners, purpose).
• JobTestPrep and GraduatesFirst: reported graduate tests, video interview, assessment centre.
• Glassdoor, Waitrose interviews: 403; read via search listings. Graduate Trainee pay and terms come from third-party reposts (Work in Charities, 403) and are labelled reported.