I applied on the 20th of September and instantly got offered an interview on the 27th of September. I arrived at M&S and signed in. Was collected by a member of staff and set in the canteen to await my assessor(s). First it was role play where I was given a series of sheets detailing my role and the different situations I might come across and how to handle them. After taking notes, my 2 assessors came back, one was going to be the customer that I was on the phone to and the other was scoring me. Fairly easy role play, they give you everything you need to know, it's just up to you to apply what you've just learned and your previous experiences of dealing with customers. Main tip is to always remain calm, be polite and respectful and always try to show understanding, patience and constantly reassure them that you'll do everything you can to help them. They left the room for a bit and gave me a self assessment sheet to fill which was 3 questions, what went well, what was not good, what you would do differently. They came back and said I'd passed on to the next stage which is and interview with the line manager. However manager was on holiday at the time so booked an interview with her 7days after the 27th, so 4th of October I think. When I arrived again, the staff were very friendly and helpful and so was the manager I had the interview with. The interview was about 30 or so minutes, since she was nice it was more informal as there were times where we would make jokes and laugh, this put me at ease. She told me about the role in depth then asked me some questions like, why do you want to work here, why M&S, what do you know about the role, what would be most satisfying about the role, what would be least satisfying, have you had previous retail experience, what makes a good customer service experience. After answering all of the questions she showed me the two positions that were available and what kind of shifts they had. I said I'd prefer the one with more hours but will take the other one if necessary. She then proceeded to say that she has 4 more interviews that day and if she find someone more suitable than me would I be interested in one of the store positions (the store was also hiring). I said yes and she said she would be in touch with me by the end of the day and gave me and FYI that I had done really well and passed the interview stage. Awaiting her call, I had my interview at 11am and she called around 5pm saying that I hadn't got the job primarily because other applicants were able to stay for more than a year whereas I could only stay a year cos of uni the following year. She then kept to her promise and said I should come back to the store the following day to see what vacancies the store has and which one I'd like to go for. Came the next day, signed in and asked for the person she told me to see. Went into this persons office who was also really nice, brought out at big folder containing all the available positions in the store, whether it was menswear, food, women's, kids, it was all there. I chose men's wear and I said I would like full time and then she brought out 4 full time positions and said I could pick any one that I liked, after choosing one, she called the manager of the men's department to tell me more about the role. The manager was very nice, she said I did have to have another interview as it would not be fair so she just asked me if I had any other commitments that would affect my availability, I said no and that was it! She left and the other lady came back and went through all the legal forms and I was done. I now start next week Monday with my induction on Monday and Tuesday. I couldn't be happier because the switchboard positions were part time roles and now I have been given a full time role which is what I had originally wanted! I gave an in depth review because this is what I'd like to read if I was job hunting to put me at ease, I met few applicants during my days at M&S most were nervous as they hadn't been to an interview before. But I can tell you now, you have nothing to worry about, they have nice staff there who will put you at ease. The only thing you need to do is prepare as they generally as the same questions and be confident with your answers. I hope this helps!