Keeping Busy.. (May 17 2005)
Yesterday I had my Bath and Body Works interview, which was weird because it was in a group of 5--all of us being interviewed at the same time, taking turns answering questions. Sitting in the last chair, I got to go last for each question, which gave me time to think about my answers and how to make it sound really good. It felt like cheating.
What felt even more like cheating was doing my other Bath and Body Works interview today at 3:00 (at South County), though I did get to meet a nice girl named Kathleen who goes to Mizzou. She's basically in the same situation I am in: home from college, have car payments, must work. She even knew a girl who goes to Rhodes.
To make myself not cheat too much for the first interview, I volunteered to do the first 'demo': where you offer a 'customer' (in my case, Sandy, the Indian woman and fellow applicant for the job) a product to try out. It was a little awkward, but they weren't checking sales technique--just making sure we wouldn't spazz if we had to physically touch another human being. And it's all right because I'm down with that.
I also sort of froze on a question on the interview today: What do you do if a customer becomes upset because, say, their coupon is expired, and they cannot be satisfied with anything I offer or am permitted to do? *Shrug* Apologize and point their attention toward other sales? It seems so obvious now. "Well, you would get a manager, so that they don't try to get away with anything tricky with a more inexperienced sales associate, and so you don't get in trouble", Jenn (the interview-giver and manager) said. And Kathleen had such a good answer, too: "I would just attempt to stay calm, and keep it like a conversation; make sure the customer didn't feel threatened or accused of anything." Sigh. Brilliant.
I'm supposed to hear from both of the South County stores by next Tuesday at the latest, and I also have a Gap interview tomorrow at 2:00. I hope I get one of these three jobs, though I think I would enjoy the Bath and Body Works experience more than the Gap. I guess we'll see what happens.
