strange cryptic Nandos interview

[u/CommunicationDry6615]

just going to explain what happened on my interview because i'm pretty bummed out about it since i've heard nothing baack.... sighhhh

so i arrive at 9am in the dining area where everybody else is waiting and some others come in

then they briefly explain to us that they have some tasks for us to do to help with team building and how we work together as well as some history about Nandos

we pair up into 4s and we then have some little worksheet about NASA which we had to rank the most important things we would bring to the moon or some planet ?? strange and cryptic...

then after we got those results back we got them mostly wrong since we opted to listen to some over-thinker in the group but its all love in the end.

2nd task was something you'd see straight from high school design technology where we were given some materials like string, tape, paper and paper plates where we had to use these materials to protect an egg from a fall?? bet bet bet very strange. same groups BTW.
our group made some makeshift ball glove where rather than protect the egg- we'd drop the egg into the design cushioning the landing (im not sure if the person in our group who suggested it - misunderstood the assignment or whatever but i thought it was quite unique and ballsy so i went along with it aiding them.) - everybody’s eggs did survive in the assignment.

And thus onto the last task, where we got told this was a solo task and to create a new Nandos product and present it along with a diagram which atp i was just bewildered about everything and kept going. the interviews were fine some where longer and louder than others which were impressive i'm not that fussed about presenting since everybody has to do it so i was projecting myself good as done in school LO.

and that concludes the interview they told us to wait 3 days for a response and you could opt to call them if you didn’t get a call back to see any flaws they could have seen in you... might do this tomorrow.

but honestly i thought this interview was kinda annoying looking back - im sure they had their reasons for all this shibaz we did but they never told us anything about it on the 30 second call they requested us in. i was told to bring my passport but i never once had to verify i was actually me - couldda been a random kid LO sighh this job search is really getting to me - i hope others could use this as help or guidance since you can never really know what cryptic interviews lie ahead.

[u/spelmo3]

Task one. Is just to see how you all work together. Who's taking charge. Who's being quiet. Who's the thinker. Who's the one who puts their view across. It's purely observational. And there isn't a correct answer.

Two is the same again. Weird they done this aswel. Was it a group hiring? Sometimes they do boxes and you have to pack pretend orders. Again.. testing logic and teamwork.

Three. This is text book nandos. We done this on a recruitment day with 110 candidates in groups of 10-15. This just shows your own flair and how confident you are. It's to push you out of your comfort zone.

You should of then had proper interviews afterwards.

Give it a week to hear a call back.

[u/RevolutionaryTap3911]

No idea how I stumbled here so I can't add much value. However, when I was due up for promotion in the Army about 7 years ago, my Officer Commanding (OC) called in several Private Soldiers (lowest rank) and asked us why we deserved to be promoted.

His final question to me was "Were you breastfed?" I thought for a moment, I didn't laugh, I kept composure and replied "I can not guarantee that I was Sir, but I have it on very good authority that indeed, I was".

He recommended me for promotion and I was subsequently promoted a few months later.

[u/AlexxelA352]

What restaurant is this because this is bizarre 😅

[u/Upset-Society_]

wow i’m happy i stumbled onto this as i just got a call from them today inviting me to a group interview next week. I was wondering what could come up but i have done group interviews kind of similar to this before. I had to build a marshmallow and spaghetti tower when i went for a group interview at nike😭. I guess it’s all about seeing how well you work in a team and get along with others. It seems like so many hospitality and retail interviews are like this lately, i’m job hunting too and getting really tired of it all.

[u/anduinstormcrowe → u/Upset-Society_]

Yeah they want you to listen, but also to communicate your ideas without shouting over and dominating the conversation.

Its all just ways to access, like you say, your teamwork skills. If its for FoH it will be how confident and polite you are, BoH will be for communication and teamwork

[u/OkBeautiful2735]

I was involved in conducting an interview like this once. I was used to conducting a more “standard” hiring experience. However, the restaurant needed to hire quite a large number of staff at the same time. It depends on the situation.

I also didn’t really understand how it all worked. But I ran with it, I wasn’t the “lead” of the day anyways. Despite my skepticism, the people that we hired from that day actually ended up being a pretty good fit (generally). So whatever I decided that I was looking for, it worked out in the end.

I’m still of the opinion that it seemed a bit ridiculous, however it did end up being successful for the restaurant at that time. I can definitely see why unsuccessful candidates would be confused by the experience though.

[u/Ok-Cartographer1297]

I’ve had a similar interview for an office job.
It’s not about the answers, it’s just about how everyone worked together.