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It’s that time of the year – holiday season! Which means I need to hire 3 part-time associates for seasonal positions… Bleh. : /
Finding good people who are okay with making minimum wage and working only seasonal is tough. Of course, there is the possibility that we will keep a seasonal person as a regular PT associate. I actually like this way of getting regular employees (it’s very difficult to fire people in my company). And I really mean it when I tell applicants I may keep them after January.
I find this time of the year stressful, even more so when I’m dealing with trying to hire.
Our applications look like this.
They get turned in written in green gel pen, they don’t have a phone number/email address, they leave the availability box blank or with confusing check marks (I need specific times in these boxes, which I think is obvious), they don’t have any work history, they’re not 18, they’re in high school, they leave the reference section blank (or list their mother), write the word “varried” where it says minimum salary desired (they mean “varied”) … My complaints are endless. ENDLESS.
I also love when the entire second page is left blank. My favorite. <3
When I do get a half decent application and call them, they answer the phone and sound like they’re drunk. Since I’m calling them, they must have a good enough application for me to do so. I typically just continue to ask them if they’re still interested and set up an interview time.
Prior to coming to the interview, I check their references/verify work history. Many people are surprised to hear I ACTUALLY do this. The last company I worked for made this a habit for me. I’m glad I put the effort into checking references, because more than half have misleading/false information listed in their work history. Mostly, they exaggerate the time they were employed at a job. Occasionally, they exaggerate the position. This is all very frustrating. At my last management job I had the exact same issues. I assume these are problems a lot of managers deal with.
I’ve always asked pretty standard interview questions. I hate when the person just talks in circles and doesn’t really answer me. Make eye contact (don’t glare at me or stare me down like a creeper) and try not to talk at a super fast/slow pace. Act HAPPY and NICE.
I understand this is just retail, and I’m hiring mostly college kids (I’m in college too and sometimes younger than the people I hire) so I completely understand where they’re coming from. I don’t expect resumes and professional attire.
For the love of god, just use a ball point pen (black or blue) to fill out your application (neatly) and speak clearly. Don’t come to the interview half naked and be polite. Maybe brush your hair that morning, I don’t know.
There is a section titled “career objective” on our applications. I really enjoy reading the responses people list for the second question “what are some things you didn’t like about jobs you’ve had?”
I LOVE bringing up these responses during the interview. Mostly, applicants write that they didn’t get along with management. During the interview, they usually “change” their answer to this question. I guess it gets awkward, because I want details. And I ask for them. I want to know how unreasonable the applicant is, and what potential issues could arise if I hire them.
Common responses include:
“They made me, like, work hard. Just me.”
“Management was SOOOO mean, everyone thinks they’re mean.”
“There were too many policies and things I was forced to do.”
“I got no hours.” (This one makes me cringe!)
“Seriously, they were so totally unfair. Everything they did was unfair.” (They can never tell you specifics.)
Sigh. Thanks for letting me bitch TL. I have 3 interviews this week and I sincerely hope they go well! I’m a little bitter from dealing with the same hiring and interview issues for so long. However, I truly care about the people I bring on and I really love investing my time into training them. Even if it is just a seasonal job for an 18/19 year old college kid… (I’m only 21, but meh, I’ve been at this for awhile) I understand this is only a small step for them, and I let them know that while this may not seem important now – I WILL help them learn some valuable life skills that will be useful later on. That’s always the goal!
I wish I could attach a small note to every application I hand out that says "please remember to fill out the second page of this application, and don't use pink glitter gel pen."
Ha, I mean, seriously. It's two pages, stapled together!
I am now done complaining. :D
 
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United States9645 Posts
Hey better to do the interviewing than being interviewed its tough out there.
In other words where do i send my resume 
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Funny that you call previous employers - do they even remember them ?
Is it customary in the US to fill out an application form rather than hand in a resume or just for low level jobs?
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On October 25 2011 13:13 Darkdeath3 wrote:Hey better to do the interviewing than being interviewed its tough out there. In other words where do i send my resume
how much do you enjoy kids clothing? lol
On October 25 2011 13:15 icydergosu wrote:Funny that you call previous employers - do they even remember them ? Is it customary in the US to fill out an application form rather than hand in a resume or just for low level jobs?
Yes, for lower level/part time work most employers don't require resumes here. It must be different in other countries?
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United States9645 Posts
On October 25 2011 13:20 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:13 Darkdeath3 wrote:Hey better to do the interviewing than being interviewed its tough out there. In other words where do i send my resume how much do you enjoy kids clothing? lolShow nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:15 icydergosu wrote:Funny that you call previous employers - do they even remember them ? Is it customary in the US to fill out an application form rather than hand in a resume or just for low level jobs? Yes, for lower level/part time work most employers don't require resumes here. It must be different in other countries?
ah oh well
you couldnt afford me anyways.
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On October 25 2011 13:21 Darkdeath3 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:20 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 13:13 Darkdeath3 wrote:Hey better to do the interviewing than being interviewed its tough out there. In other words where do i send my resume how much do you enjoy kids clothing? lolOn October 25 2011 13:15 icydergosu wrote:Funny that you call previous employers - do they even remember them ? Is it customary in the US to fill out an application form rather than hand in a resume or just for low level jobs? Yes, for lower level/part time work most employers don't require resumes here. It must be different in other countries? ah oh well you couldnt afford me anyways.
Oh, darnnn.... But you have such a pleasant attitude.
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Wondering why "not getting enough hours" makes you cringe?
Is it because they were probably a shitty worker so they didn't get many?
I have used this multiple times because there have been jobs where I just didn't get enough hours even if I asked for them because there simply was not enough work to be done. My current job I can go anywhere from full time to 0 hours in a week. (I explained this though and the interviewer generally understands.)
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On October 25 2011 13:24 ii.blitzkrieg wrote:
Wondering why "not getting enough hours" makes you cringe?
Is it because they were probably a shitty worker so they didn't get many?
I have used this multiple times because there have been jobs where I just didn't get enough hours even if I asked for them because there simply was not enough work to be done. My current job I can go anywhere from full time to 0 hours in a week. (I explained this though and the interviewer generally understands.)
That's not what I meant... I understand those situations. Completely.
It makes me cringe when the person I'm interviewing uses horrible grammar and says it obnoxiously, which is how "I got no hours" tends to sound.
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Aha that reminds me of tests or whatever when they're double sided, for some reason I always forget to check the other side of the paper I can understand why not seeing 2 stapled togethered pages would be more frustrating though
BTW i just remembered you were the girl who cut up your TL shirt. Way to go
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Katowice25012 Posts
I had a job where my boss didn't like doing interviews so I would occasionally do it. I thought it was kind of fun, but I never had to train or actually work with most of them so if I fucked up there wouldn't have been any consequences.
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I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak.
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On October 25 2011 13:35 heyoka wrote:
I had a job where my boss didn't like doing interviews so I would occasionally do it. I thought it was kind of fun, but I never had to train or actually work with most of them so if I fucked up there wouldn't have been any consequences.
I know it sounds like I hate the whole process, but I actually don't! I just get annoyed at times haha.
On October 25 2011 13:38 SuperbWingman wrote:
I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak.
Ugh! I hear this SO MUCH too. : / You'd think people would know better. It's common sense, right?!
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They get turned in written in green gel pen, they don’t have a phone number/email address, they leave the availability box blank or with confusing check marks (I need specific times in these boxes, which I think is obvious), they don’t have any work history, they’re not 18, they’re in high school, they leave the reference section blank (or list their mother), write the word “varried” where it says minimum salary desired (they mean “varied”) … My complaints are endless. ENDLESS.
I think this is the biggest hump you need to jump over. Yeah, they do sound like snotty young kids, we all were once, right?
But I also noticed that you didn't put a single thing you were looking for in an applicant. Is it because you're looking for who can spell the word "varied" the fastest or who has the best color pen?
I'm not being condescending, but showing you where you are setting yourself up to be disappointed.
If you don't set what you are looking for, the faults or issues of people will be move obvious and more bothersome. Do you give a shit if someone is immature if they can sell like a beast and do the math fucking fast? I sure as hell wouldn't and you probably don't. Be clear when you set conditions or standards, stuff like: hard-working, diligent, not an immature brat, aren't very good because they're broad or difficult to assess before or even during the job.
What you have is cheap labor: you have desperate kids willing to do tedious jobs for little pay. The best way to keep them working productively is to make the experience less about work and the ends (paycheck) and more about a collaborative effort in improving and making the place awesome.
A job is a job, if they hate it, you can't change that, but you can put less focus on the actual work and more focus on relations with co-workers, lunch/dinner time/breaks, atmosphere/music of the store.
Don't be their friend, but be flexible. Firm, but not bossy. Human, but keep the employee/employer separation confirmed.
You probably know all this since it's your business (duhh), but it doesn't hurt to reaffirm the above, right?
What's easy about your applicants is that they're young and thus easily impressionable. The first week and they either hate or love the job and will live on that guideline or view for a long time (and if they love it, they will continue to act in a way that makes it lovely for others). I mean, look at their complaints, they're so trivial that you can easily fix or assure that it doesn't happen (for most reasonable adolescents, lolol).
You already know you can't change people, but you can change yourself/condition of the environment to influence others to change. I know my old job did an old Dale Carnegie trick where the nighttime shifts and daytime shift people had competitions of who could report the most bugs. There was no prize (oddly), but the sheer amount of desire to beat the shit out of those nighttime shift people who posted taunts and shit next to their tally of bugs reported (this was a QA job) was enough to get us to group together, meet all my co-workers and defeat them and release a rather nice game (Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars).
Hope this helps, correct me on anything please.
edit: rofl advice almost as long as the blog, booyah!
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would love to see the top 3 worst applications you get this time round (with the person's name/personal details blanked out) scanned and posted here. plz make it happen.
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Porcelain: I have only seen it in personal leasing businesses in addition to your resume. (europe)
SuperbWingman: Would you rather they tell you a fairy tale? Or are there really people out there who always wanted to work in a kids clothing store during the busiest season of the year only to get the boot after christmas season is over. 
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On October 25 2011 13:50 Ket wrote:
would love to see the top 3 worst applications you get this time round (with the person's name/personal details blanked out) scanned and posted here. plz make it happen.
LOL. That would be hilarious, I'm so doing this! I'll hide all personal info. That must be legal.
Good idea! I'll update the blog on Wednesday.
On October 25 2011 13:35 keiraknightlee wrote:Aha that reminds me of tests or whatever when they're double sided, for some reason I always forget to check the other side of the paper I can understand why not seeing 2 stapled togethered pages would be more frustrating though BTW i just remembered you were the girl who cut up your TL shirt. Way to go
:D Yep. That was me. Shredded it to bits!
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I'd love to interview future applicants at my company. I know how much of a try-hard I must have sounded like when I did my interview, and I want to laugh at how bad it sounds to the listening side.
Better luck for you than what you've been through, I hope. I honestly wouldn't look for too much besides enthusiasm and clean record (no criminal records). Maybe you should throw a random eSports trivia here and there, you may be in for a pleasant surprise~
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sigh i got two interviews tomorrow and im so fucked T-T
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You are awfully picky about who you hire for a seasonal position in a minimum wage dead end job.
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On October 25 2011 14:08 IronMonocle wrote:
You are awfully picky about who you hire for a seasonal position in a minimum wage dead end job.
All business-owners or managers are because they are worried about the overall health and growth of their business.
You're viewing it from a poor, dismissive and misunderstood position.
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EPT
