Applied online from the Whitbread career site. It had a very childish, pink look to it. Extremely frustrating to apply as it would time out constantly since each questions you had to answer were on different pages. A few days later I got a call from someone in HR who asked if I wanted to come to an assessment centre a few days later. He kept talking about things like I was supposed to have this information already. Then after the phone call I got the email he probably thought I had gotten beforehand. Then a day later I get an email which sounded slightly panicked, about how I had to do the personality fit questionnaire as this was essential to see if I was a fit for the company. The assessment day was a joke! The company aren't looking for the best people to run their hotels, they are looking for the people which they personally like the best. The day started with the candidates presenting a personal item which meant a lot to us. While this is a good icebreaker, I left with the impression that the assessors didn't understand the concept behind it - to understand and evaluate the candidate based on the job requirements. For example, the job entail being able to relocate all over the UK (according to the job description and it did seem important to the assessors too). One candidate talked about how much she loved her family and needed to be close to them. The assessors seemed to like this, but is this someone who is willing to relocate, moving away from her family, friends and boyfriend? I think not! They also seemed to favour people with absolutely no experience in hospitality whatsoever, as long as the assessors really liked them. A relevant degree is not necessary either. They believe they can teach you all you need to know, on a graduate scheme which is one year long and where most of that year is spent working in menial jobs so you get a feel of how it all works. After that you are supposed to move on to lead your own hotel. Also, hospitality has one of the highest turnover rates so hiring people with no experience is risky since many don't know what they are getting themselves into. We then had a group exercise where we had to present our findings. During this I delegated, gave my opinions, challenged the others opinions, and discussed solutions and pros and cons, but I was told later that I apparently behaved in a way that made the assessors unable to assess me to the criteria...whatever that means. Apparently they don't like it when you challenge others too much or have too much of a business sense. It was clear during the presentations that most people had not done their research on the company as they provided solutions which were already in place, and the conclusions were shockingly bad. Then followed a competency-based interview with the assessors (who were area managers, not from HR) and their interviewing skills were terrible. IT was also very different from assessor to assessor, since some actually interviewed you and others sat talking to the candidate about common interests for the full hour it lasted. After we met another assessor and presented a SWOT analysis we had prepared in advance for a Premier Inn in the area we lived. I pinpointed many issues which the assessor agreed to and he basically admitted everything that was wrong with the company and that their biggest cost and concern was their Good Night Guarantee. I was told the SWOT was good, however it doesn't seem like they want you to be aware of their issues. I left the assessment day very disappointed. I got a very bad impression of the company, the people working there and, didn't feel it was up to my standards. I have extensive experience in hospitality, leading teams, managing people and have a very relevant master degree. With my background I felt I was overqualified. Having discussed this with my hospitality lecturers they were shocked to say the least.