[ BTW: With the exception of the store name, all names that may appear have been changed. ]
Last night/this morning ( eek ) I set my alarm clock to 8 o'clock so that I could wake up, shower, shave, dress nicely, groom myself appropriately, etc. But I couldn't go to sleep, so I ended up talking with my mom about jobs and her past job experiences which ended up being the perfect thing because it put me right to sleep. CF lol
The only thing is that I woke up two hours before my alarm clock. gonk And I couldn't go back to sleep. So I started to clean my room and do some laundry. I was so nervous and excited about the interview! Gah!
Then I started to get ready for the interview. My dark blue polo shirt from my private school worked fine. My matching, but darker blue, slacks fit well. My Sketchers dress shoes were snazzy and shiny. I was clean shaven and well groomed. I donned the wind breaker jacket and headed off into the roads of Saturday morning with confidence, bringing my license and the (copy of my) social security card to prove that I am who I say I am.
I ended up getting there thirty minutes early because the traffic that I had prophesized to be out roaming the streets was strangely missing. I lurked the mall until ten minutes before ten o'clock. At which point, I stood outside to cool myself down and collect my thoughts before the interview. Five minutes later, I went inside, walked right up to the front desk, and told them I had a job interview with Ms. Marissa. I was told to wait in the café.
I went over to the café, saw J-man working, bought a water bottle (my throat was as dry as Lake Laron), was wished good luck by J-man, drank half of my water, and then, the moment of truth, Ms. Marissa showed up.
I stood up, said hello, shook hands with her (thank goodness my palms weren't sweating). My interview well extremely well.
- Marissa (M): So explain to me why you only put Saturday and Sunday as your availability and none of the weekdays.
Myself (D): I don't own my own car, so I would only be able to get here on my own during the weekends because I would be able to borrow the car or be dropped off here on the weekends. But I know H-berg in the Kid's Section as well as J-man in the café. If I were scheduled during the weekday, I would very much like it if I were scheduled with H-berg or J-man so that I could get a ride to and from here.
M: Ok.
M: Tell me about your work experiences. I see that you have no formal employment listed here, so any school functions and organizations you might be involved in work.
D: Well, for the past four years, I've been in the orchestra. For the past two years, I've been an Orchestra officer: the Secretary of Treasury, which means that I handle money and keep track of who owes what and how much.
D: Not only have I been an officer, I've been part of the stage crew all for years that I've been in the orchestra. I helped set-up the stage for concerts and tear them down after we are done.
D: And over the summer, I worked at my dad's office. My dad is a doctor, and his office is always busy, so his employees sometimes don't have time to file everything that they need, which is where my job came in. I mostly did all the clerical jobs that they weren't able to do within normal working time: getting charts ready, sending test results to the appropriate place, and filing charts away when they were no longer needed. The only reason that I didn't include this on my application is because I was not on the payroll; my dad payed my salary himself.
M: That's understandable. Good.
M: So tell me, what three things do you think are important for a customer of Barnes & Noble.
D: Well, having a welcoming environment is the top on my list because if I feel that no one wants me there, then I shouldn't be spending my money at this place.
D: Secondly, a clean environment. If there's books lying around the place, I, as a customer, would feel like the store didn't care about appearences or even the safety of the customers. Not only that, but if I can't find a book because the store isn't properly taken care of, I wouldn't want to shop at that store any more.
D: I think that the availability of the store clerks is also important. If someone can't find a book and the customer needs help, it's the employee's duty to be available and to help that customer.
M: Ok.
M: Tell me about a time when you were given an assignment, but you weren't able to complete it in time.
D: A while ago, I had this English assignment: an essay which was due on Monday. I'm not so talented with writing essays, but I can work it in increments that are managable for me. But I knew that I was not going to be able to finish it by the deadline, so I emailed my teacher telling her that I wasn't going to finish in time and sent her a copy of all the work I had done. I wanted her to know that even though I wasn't finished, I wasn't just blowing the assignment off.
M: Sometimes a customer comes in not knowing exactly what they want. Sometimes they'll say, "I'm looking for a gift for my husband." What would you respond with?
D: Well, I'd start asking them questions about the person so that I could find out what this person's interests are. If I find out the person is in to gardening, I'd ask, "Does this person enjoy gardening for the beautification of their yard or for growing a vegetable and fruit garden?" Either way, I know that if they say "for beauty" then I can show them books about bonsai trees and such, but if they say "for food" then I can show them books about vegetables and fruit growing tips.
M: Nice.
M: Well that's all I really have for you. I think based on your answers that you would be a good book seller.
M: What we have is a three-shift minmum, so in order to have you work, we might have to have you work during the weekdays as well. It would seem possible for us to schedule you one day with Jessica or Justin so that you can have one of your shifts during the week.
M: I'll talk to my store manager and talk to her about seeing if we can be flexable about the schedule. Right now, she's out of town, but she'll be back on Tuesday, so I'll call you in a couple of days.
M: Do you have any questions?
D: Not right now. Thank you for the interview.
M: No problem. I'll call you when I've got more information.
WOOT YEA!!!
::dances::
Community Member
Tell me how it is working at Barnes and Nobles, I've been thinking about getting a job at one at some point in my life.