Our recruitment process

Once you’ve submitted an application, the Recruitment team will review it and be in touch. We’ll always communicate the outcome of your application, no matter what stage of the process you reach. If you’re successfully shortlisted, next steps will be clearly communicated to you at the time, but you can get an idea of what our recruitment process looks like for most of our roles by scrolling through the tiles below.

New response

Upon submitting your application, you’ll receive an acknowledgment email and expected timeframes for you to hear back from us.

Screening

Your CV and application form will be reviewed based on your skills, experience and suitability to the role you’ve applied for.

Interview

Once successfully shortlisted, interview stage may include an initial telephone interview which, if successful, will then lead to a formal interview with the hiring leader.

Employment agreement

When you’re successful at interview stage, you’ll receive a provisional offer of employment, so that you can review and make sure you’re happy with it.

Offer

Once you’ve confirmed that you’re happy with your Employment Agreement, you’ll be sent a formal offer of employment and begin onboarding.

Background checks

As a company regulated by the FCA, we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal records checks via our trusted third party screening partner.

On boarding

There’ll be a few tasks we need you to complete online to make sure your onboarding process runs as smoothly as possible and we’ll share a guide to help you navigate these activities.

Welcome

We look forward to welcoming you to the team on your first day! If you have any questions prior to this, you can of course reach out to a member of HR or your new line leader.

Preparing for interview

We understand interviews can sometimes be dauting which is why we want to share some insight into our approach during interviews, with some sample questions and guidance on how best to frame your responses.

You may have read about our 4Cs culture here at Hastings. In line with this, we’ve created a bank of behaviour-based interview questions for hiring leaders to use and incorporate into their interviews . Please see below examples of question types you could expect alongside the definitions of each of our 4cs and the behaviours that underpin them.

Colleague

Customer

Company

Community

Introduction

Providing the right environment and tools, we create and inclusive culture where colleagues can build careers, contribute, thrive and be who they are. We recognise and reward achievements, celebrate success and have fun. values for all of our 4Cs.

Authentic, diligent and inclusive

Q. When have you recognised a need for a diverse group of individuals to be involved in something, to ensure a successful outcome to something you may have been working on?

Collaboration and communication

Q. Please share a time when you have needed to share constructive feedback with a stakeholder or peer of yours in order to find a better way of working together.

Accountability and ownership

Q. Please give an example of a time where you have proactively sought either coaching or feedback because you felt you needed to improve in a specific skill or key area of your role.

Driving development

Q. What is the most stretching target you have given yourself and what spurred you on to achieve it?

Introduction

We have a simple approach – to provide our customers with great products and prices and a straightforward experience. We make sure we treat customers like we would want to be treated – fairly, openly and transparently.

Going the extra mile

Q. Give an example of where you have gone above and beyond what was normally expected in order to ensure a positive reflection of the business' brand.

Customer care and respect

Q. Give an example of a time when you dealt with a difficult customer or client situation.

Customer experience

Q. Describe a time when you have used customer feedback (internal or external) in order to enhance the overall customer experience.

Introduction

Our agility, data, technology and digital capability support our future growth and continued success. It’s what makes us stand out and what enables us to operate efficiently and effectively, generating values for all of our 4Cs.

Embracing and driving change

Q. When have you recognised a need for change to a process or way of working, that would make a positive impact to your work or the work of others?

Creative and commercial thinking

Q. Share with us an example of when you have challenged the status quo for the greater good for your team/business?

Making it happen

Q. What achievement are you most proud of in your career?

Team work

Q. Give an example of when whilst working on your own objectives the efforts you made resulted in a positive team impact?

Introduction

We serve our communities by being a good neighbour, supporting our environment and local charities, nurturing home-grown talent and by being an ethical member of the financial services community.

Employer brand

Q. What company values are important to you in the workplace? Can we have an example of when you have best demonstrated these?

Collaboration and communication

Q. Please share a time when you have needed to share constructive feedback with a stakeholder or peer of yours in order to find a better way of working together.

Governance and risk

Q. Can you share an example of a time where you identified a risk that could impact your team, your work or the business?

Community impact

Q. What great examples of community contribution from a local business have you seen or been part of?

During the interview

Role-related questions

Leaders will also ask you some role specific questions and these are typically aligned to the role profile/job description that should be shared with you pre interview. We do this because it’s important to understand what experience you will bring to the role and business, along with the approach and behaviours you demonstrate that will help set you up for success.
Behavioural-based questions

Take time to understand the question – it you would benefit from the leader either repeating or clarifying the question, please do ask, it is absolutely fine and we want you to be in the best position to respond. What is most important about your response is how you frame it, bringing to life the value of your experience and skills for the leader to learn more about.
The STARR technique

We recommend using the STARR technique when framing your answers as it helps your interviewer better understand your response. If your answer is lacking detail you can expect that the interviewer will follow up with questions to help steer your focus.
Situation: Describing the scenario/context “Tell me more about the situation. Why did this come about?”
Task: Describing the approach/task “What was the plan? Did you initiate this? Who else needed to be consulted/involved?”
Action: Describing the action taken and justification for this “What did you specifically do? What gave you confidence that this was the correct course of action?”
Result: Describing the outcome of these efforts “What was the outcome? How did you feel about this?”
Reflection: Describing the learning “What did you learn from this and how have you applied that learning? What would you do differently if you were in the same situation again?”
Your questions

The quality and content of your discussion is what matters most, and remember that this interview is a two-way experience. Do come prepared with questions you might have about the role, our company, the hiring leaders' team and plans, and our culture. It is always useful to do some research before your interview, you can find out more about life at Hastings Direct. If you have any questions along the way, please reach out to a member of our Recruitment team who’ll be happy to support you. Best of luck on the day!

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Agency partnerships

From time to time, Hastings Direct will work with trusted agency partners on our preferred supplier list which is managed by the recruitment team. If you begin your recruitment journey with us via one of our partners, you can expect to be in contact with both your agency consultant, and a member of our internal recruitment team throughout the process to make sure you’re comfortable and well informed as you go along.

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