Landing A Job

[Aristio]

Well, I am trying to get a job. Not a career mind you, just a simple minimum wage job to hold me over untill I can loose 40 lbs for the military. I applied at Hollywood Video, Henry's Farmer's Market, and Office Depot, which I already have have an interview at Hollywood Video. I'm no movie buff by far, but I still want this job most out of the three, because it is the closest to my home, and is even walkable. I applied last May and didn't get the job, but some of the questions I recall include: "Why do you want to work here?", "What is the normal greeting for customers you handle", "How do you recomend customers certain movies", and the such. I didn't have any real answers, so I bullshitted and failed.

Is there any advice anyone can offer me? Possibly some managers here who ask certain questions, so that I can have time to come up with a response? Any advice would be awesome.

[Qalbert]

I want to work here because, first and foremost, I need a job, and as a lover of movies and long time patron of the store this seemed like a good job, plus it will allow me to recommend movies that other people may enjoy as much as I do. (honesty is always good)

Good (morning/afternoon etc), welcome to Hollywood Video. Anything in particular I can help you with today? (smile etc)

Find out what movies they like, recommend new releases first (i think) mention that you sell used dvds as well if they find one they want to own, and if you can't think of one off the top of your head I would imagine the computer system at least has some tags that you could use for the ones they like to look for others they might enjoy.

[Lbelle]

I'm not a manager and I've never actually been to this store, but like in any other retail job just be really upbeat. Even if you're actually shy in real life or whatever, put on a show for them and be really happy and smile alot. That's what these people look for, people that are outgoing and want to help customers, not people that are gonna be QQing cause they have to work in a not so fun retail environment.

So especially at the interview act like you're extra happy to be there, smile, maybe joke around with them or whatever, and just try to answer the questions to the best of your ability. DON'T mention that you didn't get the job last year though, because it might remind them of you and they won't give it to you again.

Hope it works out, good luck

[Takedown3]

create a business, make a biz plan, get a free government grant for XXXXX$

[The Stig]

Don't focus answering the questions only. While that is important, you must also have some questions to ask, even if it's trivial. Avoid the "sensitive" questions and ask situationally:

How big is the team I'll be working with?
What are the/your customers like?
Any possible future prospects or career paths I can develop working with you?

-- Research the company, if you see something interesting, follow it up:

"I hear this shop hosted YYY Charity event last year, is there a chance for you to host it again this year? It sounded really fun!"

Just some examples really.

[Isiolia]

I would recommend not going to a "preferred" retail type situation like that. Yes, working with movies n' all is nicer than flipping burgers or something. But that's likely not all you'd be doing. You'll more than likely be pushing products the same way that a Gamestop employees do (or Bank of America tellers do, for that matter). If you don't sell those additional services or products, you could get fired, same as your local Game Advisor (or whatever they're called these days).
At least, that's the sort of things that my friend who used to work for (including as a manager) Video Update tells me.


IMO, look for a night stocking job. They're typically easy positions to get because few people want night shift. You may actually get payed more due to working night hours, and you remove the "dealing with customers" angle.
A few years ago, I was looking for an interim job like that too, went into Kohl's ("night shift..sure I guess"), got an interview later that day, and had new employee orientation the next. Was boring as hell, but it wasn't bad pay, low key, little pressure.

[ertyu]

As someone who worked at hollywood for almost 2 years, I feel as though Im qualified to tell you what you need to do. They're going to ask you the STAR questions mostly, if you don't know what STAR is, look it up. I've worked with some of the most stupid fucking people out there that got a job at hollywood. Don't listen to the people that said talk about movies during the interview, whatever you do, DO NOT talk about movies during the interview unless they ask you about them. If they ask why you want the job, say something else, try to avoid the movie thing all together unless necessary.

They don't require a drug test for you to work there, so as you can imagine most of the people there are on some kind of substance. Just go in, be down to earth, and seem professional. On the rare chance that you have a manager who actually cares about his job, just remember STAR for any of the questions they ask you.

Also, I'm not sure if they still do this, but sometimes they'll ask you to sell them something in the interview. On the job, you're expected to sell things like popcorn, candy, soda, Play guard, memberships, etc. SO the job does have something to do with selling. So just keep that in mind.

[Jefe]

create a business, make a biz plan, get a free government grant for XXXXX$

THIS.

[Jefe]

Oh I lost connection and double posted ;x

/flee

[Aristio]

Good Information

What is STAR? I googled it and came up with nothing.

[Jefe]

Special Tactics And Rescue.

Nah, it's like: When you are presented w/ a: situation/task

What: action will you take?

What was the outcome or result?

[Akanei]

Situation: give an example of a situation you were involved in that resulted in a positive outcome
Task: describe the tasks involved in that situation
Action: talk about the various actions involved in the situation’s task
Results: what results directly followed because of your actions


That is what STAR is, nitty gritty.

Edit: Dammit.

[Sythe]

I hate those questions. "describe a situation where you helped someone" uhhh this lady asked for some shit ..so i got it for her.. she said thanks

[Jotaru]

The question I most fear during interviews:

'Describe a problem you had with your last job, or a shortcoming you had, and how you overcame that'

Much like test-taking, I hate preparing in advance... though with interviews I generally do pretty well. I can't stand to sit around before the interview tossing around all potential questions and answers for them, so I generally don't, but I'd be prepared for at least this one. I hate it- you have to say something negative about yourself, so you have to make sure its not too drastic (i.e. a dealbreaker) and, ideally, find a way to make it make you sound good- the recovery is important.

At the end of the day, any company that deals with customers is going to want someone self-sufficient who can talk to the customers freely and not totally clam up. Try to avoid being the stereotypical first-jobber high school student who doesn't know how to talk to people, don't stutter over your words, go slow and know what you want to say- almost more importantly, DON'T say anything unless you know what you'll say next! I hear it all the time, and it shows that some people do NO forward thinking- they'll say something in a rush because they think it sounds great, but its very fake. Example: My sister had to host an expo for her business a few weeks back, selling a product she knew nothing about, so she took the simple approach: "Its much better than XXX brand name product, so why not?" Most of the customers just accepted it, but one finally asked "Why?" and she ate her words- she had nothing to say next.

Be confident, even if its faked confidence, as even that will build your ability to talk in public, to customers / strangers / etc. I'm relatively shy meeting new people (parties and whatnot) but I have no problem going into a new company and just talking to people like they've known me forever- perhaps this is why I've never interviewed and NOT gotten the job. Even at places like McDonald's, they still prefer the employees that are over-the-top, comfortable, and able to get things done, because it makes their job easier. Good luck!

[The Stig]

'Describe a problem you had with your last job, or a shortcoming you had, and how you overcame that'

I answer this question quite well because it was one of the good moments in my work history. As petty as it may seem, I recieved a thank you card at the end of it. This is roughly how I answered it:

A Lotus Notes Database (some really really old 1996 software) that an offsite hospital uses got corrupted. I tried what I can to repair it over a remote desktop connection and dragging the database back to my machine. After roughly 3 hours of attempts I had to give up and ask for additional help.

Luckily the offsite hospital isn't a busy place as it was a pretty unique "area" for what they deal with. So even though they lost the use of their database, they were still able to function via pen and paper in terms of writing appointments down and doctor's notes and such.

I explain to the interviewers that because the hospital was offsite the backup procedures don't apply to them like they do on most onsite computers. Due to that it wasn't just as easy as restoring from a backup.

[Emphasising team work here and good customer care] What I did was worked closely with the 2nd line support team to give them different ideas and to see what we can salvage off the broken database. At the same time, I rang the user at least 3 times a day to keep her updated as to what is going on and what is happening, along with e-mails. After 2 days we were somehow able to open the corrupt database using another version of the Lotus software, salvaged what we can, repaired the database and send it back to the user.

The user was very happy indeed. However, that wasn't enough [Now I show my extra care or drive I have for users]. What then did was spend an hour with the user on the phone and taught her how to manually backup the database each week, and created her a network drive for such purposes as they don't have a connection to our drives.

[Further showing my knowledge of the system and how it can benefit people] I explained to the user that by backing up weekly onto this "T" Drive I created for them, not only will it be backed up as well via our backup system, it will help with recovery next time should it happen and at worst you'll lose no more than 1 day of work.

2 days later I got a thank you card from the user, as all their users over there were happy now it worked and how much time I spent with it.


As I said, it may seem petty, but it's to show I know how to handle people and work with people to get things done. This was quite a perculiar siutation of course so it stuck out in my mind. The interviewers seem to be impressed when I mention the card, although it could be just reactionary/showing a reaction due to boredom.

However, in the UK, you don't generally send people a card unless it's exceptional, so I guess saying a card is a "plus" thing.

[ikariiiii]

aside from the personal interview when/if you get one, always call in to check on the status of your application, or walk in and discuss with the manager- you don't want to be just another piece of paper in their pile of applications, you want to stand out.

[Jotaru]

Stuff

That's great, and I love being able to mention stuff like that in interviews; however, I meant more along the lines of something you had difficulty with, areas where you are lacking, not necessarily fixing a problem for a customer, because usually its a lot easier to find something good to say than find something negative about yourself that doesn't counteract your interview. 'I don't have any problems' won't work.

Something I like to use is that I tend to take work home with me, sometimes too much so, and I get too wrapped up in it. You can follow it up any which way you like, but its technically a negative (workaholic!) but it shows dedication and such. Anyhow, it doesn't much apply.

[The Stig]

Ah, in that instance I normally go on a path of:

I used to be easily distracted. I have learnt now though to focus on my work and get the task at hand done first before getting myself distracted.

or

I used to jump to conclusions too quick which lead to the wrong solution in some cases. Now I am learning to not put down things as quick and make sure I've covered most holes before wrapping it up.

I truely do have difficulty with the above. I.e. Right now I'm distracted by posting here XD

[0ni0n]

Want to work and lose weight? Try Bally or your local gyms.