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Applying
to join us?

We’re committed to giving you a fair experience. And we’ve made applying even easier.

How to apply

You’ll find an overview of our application process on this page. It might be different depending on which job you’re applying for, but it will always involve five key stages.

To explore our available opportunities, click the button below. If you can’t find what you’re looking for right now, you can sign up for job alerts at the bottom of this page.

Explore our opportunities

Need some tips?

We know that applying and interviewing for jobs can be daunting. Here’s some tips to help you make the most out of the experience.

Do your research. Take time to learn about Co-op and the work we do

Access our Career Development Hub to help build your CV and practice interview techniques

Prepare examples. Think about past experiences and how you’ve demonstrated our Co-op behaviours

Practice using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to structure your answers

Our application process

Every application process at Co-op is unique, but you’ll always experience 5 key stages.

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Step 1: Application

If you’re disabled, neurodivergent, or have a long-term health condition, we can make adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We’re committed to reducing the barriers disabled people face when applying for jobs, which is why we’re members of the Disability Confident Scheme. This means we’ll always offer a first stage interview to disabled candidates if they meet the minimum criteria for a job. Click here to find out more about the scheme.

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Step 2: Online assessment

For some roles, as part of your application, you’ll need to complete an online assessment. This measures how well your behaviours, values, and motivations match up to the job you’re applying for.

Depending on which job you’re applying for, this could take between 20 and 50 minutes and will need to be done before you can submit your application.

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Step 3: Screening

Food Retail, Funeralcare or Logistics roles
If your application looks like a good match based on the results of your online assessment, we’ll contact you to arrange an interview. Depending on the job you’ve applied for, we might give you a call to double check you meet the minimum requirements for the role.

Support Centre, Legal Services or Leadership roles
If you pass the online assessment your application will be reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team. If you meet the criteria for the role your CV will be sent through to the Hiring Manager to review.

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Step 4: Interview

For some roles we may conduct a telephone interview call as an additional part of the process.

As part of our standard interview here at the Co-op, we’ll ask you to provide specific examples from your current or previous jobs that demonstrate how you behave in certain situations. This helps us to understand how you’d perform in the job you’ve applied for.

When you interview with us, we’ll send you the behavioural questions beforehand so you can be the best version of you on the day. We’ll also let you know which documents you need to bring to your interview to prove that you’re eligible to work in the UK.

For some roles there may be more than one interview.

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Step 5: Decision

We’ll be in touch after your interview. If you're not moving forward in the process, you're welcome to request feedback to support your future interviews.

If we’d like to offer you the role, we’ll give you a call to talk you through the offer. If you accept, we’ll send you an electronic contract. Once that’s signed, we’ll be able to process your offer and do any necessary pre-employment checks. If you’re joining us in Funeralcare, these checks will include taking a look at your activity on social media. When all the checks are successfully completed, congratulations! You’re ready for your Co-op journey.

Frequently asked questions

You’ve asked. We’ve answered.

We offer Skilled Worker (Tier 2) visa sponsorship for some roles, as specified in the job advert. Sponsorship isn’t available for positions in our stores, funeral homes, or logistics depots, as they don’t meet the UK government’s requirements.

Skilled Worker visa

We’ll send you the behavioural questions we’ll ask during the interview, along with a guide on how to prepare, beforehand. Please read your interview invitation carefully as we’ll specify which behaviours to focus on.

If we invite you to an interview, you’ll be asked to provide us with confirmation of your eligibility to work in the UK.

More information on the kind of documentation we require can be found here: ETW Guidance

We’ll ask whether you need interview and workplace adjustments when we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for one of our jobs.

To find out more, please visit: Interview and workplace adjustments

For any other role, absolutely! A different opportunity may be a better match for you. But if you’d like to apply for the same role again, you’ll need to wait at least 6 months.

AI in our recruitment process

We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process at Co-op. While AI can help create a fairer experience, we know overusing it can reduce authenticity, so we want to be open about how we encourage people to use, or not use, AI when applying.

Learn more

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Help with your application

If you want to be better prepared for the application process, whether you’re applying for a job at Co-op or somewhere else, our Career Development Hub gives you free access to tools that can help.

Build your CV, practice interview techniques and psychometric tests, or take quizzes on ability, motivation, personality and resilience. It’s all designed to help you develop your skills and build your career.

Enter the Hub

Sign up to job alerts

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