How to Apply for a Job at Woolworths

Woolworths operates 995 supermarkets across Australia, employing more than 100,000 people in retail operation roles. These roles include Online Personal Shoppers and Team Members within Fruit & Veg, Grocery and Night Fill crews. To apply for one of these roles at Woolworths, you will need to use www.wowcareers.com.au. This article provides advice for applying for a job at Woolworths, including preparing your resume and submitting your application.

Contents

Minimum Requirements for a Job at Woolworths
Working at Woolworths
Step One: Prepare Your Resume to Apply for a Job at Woolworths
Step Two: Woolworths Online Application
- Candidate Profile
- Apply for a Job at Woolworths
Additional Resources
- Links to check Child Employment Laws in your State
- Related

Minimum Requirements for a Job at Woolworths

Before you begin preparing your resume, check that you meet these minimum requirements:

The Woolworths Group requires all Australian team members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (subject to medical and religious exemptions)
To legally work in Australia, you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, a New Zealand citizen or hold a valid visa with permission to work
To commence work in Australia you must meet the minimum age requirement within your state or territory (links to state and territory employment laws are at the end of this article)

Working at Woolworths

Before you submit your application, you may also like to get a sense of what it is like to work at Woolworths.

If you know someone who works at the store you are applying you can ask for a first-hand account. On the other hand, you can also find valuable insights online.

For example, Woolworths currently has a 3.8 out of 5-star rating on indeed.com with more than four thousand reviews from current and past employees. In addition, you can search by location for store specific insights.

On Seek, Woolworths has received over two thousand reviews. Currently, there are 349 1-star reviews, which provide some guidance to challenges you might experience. For instance, high workloads, toxic work environments, and inequitable shift allocation. In contrast, 482 5-star reviews highlight the flexibility and supportive work environment provided.

You can discover additional reviews at Payscale and Glassdoor.

Step One: Prepare Your Resume to Apply for a Job at Woolworths

You need to provide a resume (Woolworths uses the term CV) when you apply for a job at Woolworths. The file formats accepted are Microsoft Word, PDF, HTML, PPT, XLS, CSV, Image and Text.

Related: What is a CV?

A strong resume will include evidence that confirms you hold the skills and values required by Woolworths. Therefore, for each skill listed below include in your resume an example of when you have performed or demonstrated this skill in the past.

The best way to do this is with an achievement story. The simplest approach for writing an achievement story is: Accomplished (X) by doing (Z). For example:

Resolved a customer complaint and avoided escalation to the Manager by listening to customer concerns and offering a solution aligned with store procedures

Your examples can be from your work, extracurricular activities, student placements, hobbies, sports, volunteer roles, academic studies, and short courses.

Skills & Personal Qualities Required

Several skills in this list have been discussed in more detail in previous articles. Click on the link for guidance and examples of how you can demonstrate these skills on your resume.

Customer Focus
Communication
Problem Solving
Learning Agility
Interpersonal
Technology
Teamwork
Reliability
Initiative
Resilience

If you are applying for a leadership role, be sure to also include examples of your previous success leading a team.

The Right Attitude

According to Woolworths, “the right attitude is everything”. This means first and foremost Woolworths is looking for people with qualities that match their culture and goals. In other words, they are looking for the right mindset rather than a set of technical skills.

Within your resume, you need to convey your interest in food and shopping, a customer-first mindset, team focus, flexibility and adaptability, and reliability.

Simply listing these traits will be insufficient. Instead, think of the ways you show these values and traits. Think broadly and outside of the box.

You can use your resume profile section to mention your interest in food, perhaps your previous experience within the food industry, your interest in growing vegetables, a memorable meal, or the dish that is your speciality. Take a similar approach if shopping is your interest.

Customer experience in-store is important. When have you provided exceptional customer service in the past? Or, when you have helped out a friend? What will be your approach to customer service in-store? Give insight in your resume profile section. For additional advice on demonstrating your customer service, or people skills see: How Do I Prove I am a People Person on My Resume?

Adaptability and flexibility are key skills for any job, but especially the retail sector, as retailers innovate, explore new strategies, new store formats and new technology. On your resume, you need to show that you are comfortable with change. When have you learnt new technology? When have you previously experienced change or uncertainty and remained composed and focused?

Additional Help

For detailed instructions on developing a successful resume, see the Step by Step Guide and Guidelines for a Good Resume.

If you are applying for your first job and have limited work experience, you will find helpful advice and some reassurance here: Resume for First Job with No Work Experience

For additional tips and content suggestions, see: Woolworths Resume Template

Step Two: Woolworths Online Application

Candidate Profile

The first step is to visit www.wowcareers.com.au and create an account. Subsequently, you will complete your candidate profile. Remember this information forms part of your application and so therefore you should be thorough and accurate.

You have the opportunity to upload your resume (Woolworths uses the term CV). The form also provides a space to upload a work sample and link to a personal website. Only use these options if relevant to the position you are applying for and add value to your application.

Related: What is a CV?

Be sure you fill in your education and language skills.

The online form also asks you to do provide your gender and cultural group. Woolworths states this is to allow the organisation to track their progress against their goal of being an inclusive workplace. However, you are not required to provide this information to a potential employer. Therefore, it is acceptable to provide the ‘prefer not to answer’ response.

You will also be asked to consent to a criminal history check.

According to the application process, Woolworths is also currently piloting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to promote career opportunities. You will be asked to join the pilot, or ‘Talent Community’ on your candidate profile. This pilot is part of Woolworth’s much broader application of AI technology. The Talent Community pilot is a partnership with Woolworths and Reejig and will be running until May 2022. At this time, it is optional and you will not be disadvantaged if you choose not to. In addition, a Fact Sheet is provided by Woolworths.

Apply for a Job at Woolworths

The next step is to apply for the role you are interested in.

The information you have provided in your Candidate Profile will be carried over to your application. Also, you will be asked for additional information. Depending on the role this may cover criminal convictions, physical capacity, your availability and commitments, and vaccination status. Again, you should be honest and accurate with your responses.

Woolworths provides a comprehensive Questions and Answers section to help with your application. This is the best resource for clarifying any expectations or resolving technical difficulties.