Mastering IKEA Assessment & Interview: Key Tips for Success
Do you want to work at IKEA, the scandi furniture store and supplier of all good things for the home?
In order to supply everything the homeowner needs, IKEA has jobs in a range of categories extending from workers and warehouse staff to positions in HR and design. If working at IKEA is your ambition, you will need to undertake one or more interviews — as well as multiple assessments.
Wondering what you will be asked? Continue reading for details on the recruitment process and how to prepare for it.
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IKEA Interviews and How to Prepare for Them
The pre-screening test will be followed by what the company calls a “getting to know you” conversation. The conversation will be conducted via a telephone call or video interview.
This will be followed by an online interview with an HR representative or even your potential future manager. Your test prep pack contains specialised IKEA interview prep. It is your guide to getting through these stages and progressing to the live interview and further testing stages.
Live Interviews
The live interviews will generally take place at an IKEA workplace or during an assessment day. The interview process can be daunting as you can expect the company to be on the lookout for the best employees they can find.
You will be interviewed by HR representatives, potential future managers and even your future manager’s manager.
IKEA Interview Prep
Thorough preparation, however, will help you deal with the process. Before doing any interview or attending an assessment day, it is essential to gather as much information as you can about the company and about the position you have applied for.
A visit to their website will help you find the information and also give you an idea of the type of person they like to employ. You will find, for example, that IKEA likes people who challenge things and who try to find “better ways of making life better for everybody”.
That statement in itself is telling you the company is customer-centric so whatever position you decide to work in, being customer-focused is a skill you will need to show during the interview process.
If, for example, you are applying for a role in design, a look at their range of products will help you envisage the types of home settings they are offering their customers.
One of the strongest statements they make is the value they place on people working together, so you will need to show your teamwork skills. And for IKEA, an ability to take on challenges and responsibility features strongly. Expect the recruiters to look at your willingness to grow and learn while working for the company.
What Will I be Asked at the Live Interview?
An IKEA assessment day will allow the recruiters to decide if you are a good fit for the company. Many questions in your interview will be competency-based. Be prepared, for example, to tell the interviewers how you dealt with a tricky situation in a previous workplace and what led you to take the actions you did.
Brush up on the competencies required for the particular job you applied for and check back over your CV or application. You will need to be prepared for questions on any experiences you have listed there. You may be invited to ask your own questions at the end of the interview. Make sure you have some prepared.
Typical IKEA Interview Questions
1. Tell us about yourself?
2. Why do you want to work at our company?
3. Why would you be a good fit?
4. What do you know about IKEA?
5. What is your biggest strength?
6. And your biggest weakness?
7. How would you deal with a difficult customer?
9. How do you define excellent customer service at IKEA?
10. Give us an example of when you went above and beyond for a customer?
How Does IKEA’s Recruitment Process Work?
The recruitment process is as challenging as you would expect it to be from a company that has very quickly made an imprint on the retail sector.
- Your online application will go to Avature, the recruitment system used by IKEA. With your application stored on the system, IKEA recruiters will be in a position to direct you along the stages of the recruitment process.
- You can expect the pre-employment process to begin immediately after you have submitted your online application and the company has had an opportunity to review it.
- When your application has been accepted by the recruiters, you will undergo a pre-screening process to assess your suitability for the job you have applied for. This pre-screening process comes in the form of an assessment, a PLI test, similar to the one above, which you are required to complete.
What Is a PLI Test?
The PLI test is a cognitive assessment designed to test your cognitive skills and your ability to learn new material. It is a test commonly used by prospective employers to ensure they are selecting the candidates best suited to a role in their company.
The PLI test is considered demanding. It is advised you start preparing for it immediately after you submit your application. This short test contains a variety of tests assessing your verbal, abstract and numerical skills.
From an employer’s perspective, it is a useful tool to discover an applicant’s decision-making abilities and how the candidate will adapt to different roles and situations. From the job applicant’s perspective, it is a challenge that needs to be prepared for.
To get a head start on your preparation, try your hand at the following sample questions from a PLI test.
Numerical Reasoning Question:
1. What would be the next number in the series?
3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 33 | __
83 65 53 35
Verbal Reasoning Question:
Read the following facts and decide if the conclusion drawn is correct based on those facts:
FACTS: If Jason is late to the meeting, Kevin will have to work late. Lois will not cook dinner for Kevin unless Kevin gets home from work on time. If Lois does not cook dinner for Kevin, Kevin will order pizza for dinner. Lois cooked dinner for Kevin.
CONCLUSION: Jason was late to the meeting.
Choose the correct answer:
– The facts prove the conclusion
– The facts disprove the conclusion
– The facts neither prove nor disprove the conclusion
PI Abstract Reasoning Questions
Abstract reasoning questions will examine your ability to mentally rotate images and to analyse and identify visual patterns. These include Visual Series, Visual Analogies and Odd One Out questions. Try the following next in series question.
Study the first row of images. Then from the second row, select the image that follows the pattern in the first row.
The correct answer is C.
Now try working backwards from C. Can you work out how C follows the pattern created in the first row?
Practise Doing the Questions
These tests may appear reasonably easy when you are doing them without time restrictions. In the real test, you can expect to do 50 of these in 12 minutes.
If this is your first experience of PLI testing, you may find the style of questioning strange. The tests are developed by psychologists to assess your mental agility. Working on sample tests will allow you to become familiar with the style of questioning. It will also train you to do the tests within the time allowed.
How Do I Prepare for the IKEA Tests and Interviews?
When preparing for the IKEA recruitment process, it is advisable to use the services of a job test preparation agency. For this, we recommend Job Test Prep, which has more than thirty years of experience in preparing job applicants for pre-employment testing and interviews.
They will provide you with details of the recruitment process and a test prep pack containing all the resources you need to help you ace the assessments and interviews.
Your test prep pack comes complete with interview guides and sample practice tests modelled on the real tests you will get from IKEA. You will also get a useful scoring mechanism to check on your results as you work through the tests.
To get a feel for the types of tests they supply, you will try your hand at the following free sample PLI test.
Working on the sample test will show you how the tests are timed, and the format psychometric testing takes. This particular test gives the employer an indication of your ability to learn new skills and is used to show how well you are likely to perform on the job.
Will I Have to Go to an Assessment Day?
After the live interview, you may be asked to do another interview and then offered a job. In some cases, the company may want applicants to attend an assessment day. This is particularly likely if you are applying for the IKEA graduate scheme
The assessment day may include any or all of the following:
- A group interview
- A personality test
- Further aptitude testing
- Group exercises
- Role-play exercise
To prepare for the assessment day, do the exercises contained in your test prep pack and again review your information on the company.
Group Exercises
If you are asked to do group exercises, remember the value the company places on teamwork. If you and your group are presented with a workplace problem to solve, you will need to express your ideas and reasons for them clearly while at the same time respecting your team members.
Personality Test
The personality test strikes terror in a lot of people. But remember, it is your workplace personality that is being tested. Having a good idea of what IKEA requires from its employees will help you select the answers that will show you as a good fit for the company.
Try your hand at the following free sample personality test.
When finished, sit back and ask yourself what type of personality your answers show and then decide if this personality aligns with that of the ideal IKEA employee. Regular practice on sample personality tests will teach you how to navigate this assessment.
Role-play Exercise
You may be asked to act out a typical workplace scenario with a recruiter. The recruiter may be an irate customer, and you the store manager trying to resolve the problem.
Role plays may sound like fun, but you are revealing how you would behave in this situation in real life. Once again, a good understanding of the company policies and a lot of practice on sample exercises will be your saviour here.
Is the Recruitment Process Hard?
Given their popularity both as a retailer and employer, you can expect stiff competition for any job at IKEA that you set your heart on. Growing as they have done since their foundation, they now employ over 200,000 people globally. You can expect them to look for employees who will help them continue to grow.
When you apply for a job at IKEA, be prepared to embark on a series of assessments and interviews, each bringing its own challenges. And as with all recruitment processes, you need to be aware that you have to successfully ace each stage of the process before moving closer to your goal.
Tips to Prepare
To prepare for the challenges of the IKEA recruitment process, you need to take an organised approach to your preparation.
Try the following pointers:
- Work out how much preparation time you have, then draw up a timetable you know you can stick to.
- If possible, leave the day before assessments and interviews free for any last-minute reviews and to get a rest before the testing process.
- Use good study techniques. Work in short blocks of time, ideally no longer than fifty minutes.
- Take a ten-minute break after every study block.
- Ensure you get adequate rest, nutrition and fresh air while preparing.
Use Your Sample Papers
Your sample papers should be the backbone of every preparation session. This will ensure:
- You are working on material similar to the real tests
- You can monitor your progress from test to test
- You can easily identify areas you need to do more work on
- You learn to manage the time limits of the tests
- You become adept at identifying the questions and what they are asking you to do
Doing the Tests and Interviews
Approach tests and interviews confident you have done the work and deserve this, If you are prone to being nervous, have some stress-busting techniques you can fall back on. Try some breathing exercises, or you may have techniques of your own.
And finally, go in there and give it all you’ve got. If a career with IKEA is on your bucket list, click here for the resources you need to fulfil your ambition.
Written by Elizabeth O Mahony
With 25+ years’ experience as a teacher and state examinations corrector, Elizabeth now writes for the education and careers industry. Her experience preparing students for examinations and running an academy for supplementary education give her invaluable insights into what it takes for job seekers and graduates to succeed in assessments.
Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
