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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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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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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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On October 25 2011 13:49 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +
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.
I thought my post implied what I was looking for... someone generally competent, preferably not a minor/in high school, someone who speaks clearly. I look for upbeat personalities, that's why I mentioned acting (at least) happy during an interview. I get a lot applicants who seem like generally depressed people. I can't have that in a kid's clothing store.
Considering your response, I can see why you comprehended my blog this way. I don't know if you fully understand the company I work for, or what it's like to manage a retail store. It's difficult trying to run a business with 17 year old kids who don't care, but kind of want to have a job. Sometimes. It depends on what sort of day they're having, it seems.
I can't expect too much when hiring college kids as associates, but I feel like there are just some common sense things that are being missed entirely. Things I shouldn't have to make completely clear. These are, in my opinion, extremely basic job skills.
You did mention one of flaws. I tend to get into "work mode" and I'm not super personable at times with my associates. Only with customers. I feel like engaging in too much personal conversation with employees is bad. I try to avoid it. I guess it hurts my relationship with them, depending on the type of person they are. I worry they think I don't like them, when really I'm just busy or in work mode.
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On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +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.
Simply put, I'm looking for someone who has basic job/interview skills.
1. Application filled out correctly and neatly.
2. Speaks clearly, is polite.
3. Acts genuine/nice/doesn't show up to the interview naked.
Seriously, I have hired people without any job experience simply because they seemed smart, pleasant, and were eager to learn.
Torte, thanks for defending me! Mean comments make me sad. <3
:B
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What were your previous employees like? Satisfied? Horrified?
Nah, I have no idea what your business is like. You've told tibits, but nothing in full detail or concrete.
(Oh and I never read into implications because it sometimes leads to misunderstandings, so I just go for the obvious and underline what needs to be stated just to be sure ;D!). But now I know it's a kid's clothing store. Way easier to asses what kind of people you want to go for. I can see why you don't want young teenagers at your store; doesn't exactly work with young mothers who deeply care/are sensitive about their children. Appearance is important in this case as well, eh?
So right there, we can set further boundaries: - Upbeat personalities
- Young adults (above the age of 17-18?)
- Caring/reasonable people (this is personal preference, you want sensitive beings who will take an enjoyment with being around kids/understand). I'd personally hire more female-oriented beings given that most children will shop with their mothers than their fathers (at least in westernized societies).
- Impressionable. You want the customers coming back, bla bla bla you know this
That's a good start. What other questions do you throw at them? Do you ever throw a curveball like: "What kind of children do you want if you ever wanted children?". I don't know if that's ethically allowed, but you'd might see things in people/applicants that you didn't see before.
Yeah, values are missed a lot amongst people growing, including myself of course. It just comes in time and some businesses have to suffer or become the parent/society guard and teach them proper ethics. Sucks majorly D:
My two cents, I'm okay with advice, but no, I don't have as much business experience than you (only my father's failed attempts and what I've been exposed/through personal reading).
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On October 25 2011 14:20 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Simply put, I'm looking for someone who has basic job/interview skills. 1. Application filled out correctly and neatly. 2. Speaks clearly, is polite. 3. Acts genuine/nice/doesn't show up to the interview naked. Seriously, I have hired people without any job experience simply because they seemed smart, pleasant, and were eager to learn. Torte, thanks for defending me! Mean comments make me sad. <3 :B
It's more about setting the record straight than defending haha :B
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i don't understand having to fill out applications. so time consuming writing the same crap over and over again. i've landed jobs where i just hand them my resume, they look at it for 10 seconds, and want to do an interview. anyways, i can see why its important at lower level, but even at lower end jobs i've much rather preferred to hand a resume to a hiring manager.
but given how idiotic some low wage workers are, it might be worth it to weed them out with an application like this. haha.
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On October 25 2011 14:23 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:20 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Simply put, I'm looking for someone who has basic job/interview skills. 1. Application filled out correctly and neatly. 2. Speaks clearly, is polite. 3. Acts genuine/nice/doesn't show up to the interview naked. Seriously, I have hired people without any job experience simply because they seemed smart, pleasant, and were eager to learn. Torte, thanks for defending me! Mean comments make me sad. <3 :B It's more about setting the record straight than defending haha :B
You're so humble.
On October 25 2011 14:22 Torte de Lini wrote:What were your previous employees like? Satisfied? Horrified? Nah, I have no idea what your business is like. You've told tibits, but nothing in full detail or concrete. (Oh and I never read into implications because it sometimes leads to misunderstandings, so I just go for the obvious and underline what needs to be stated just to be sure ;D!). But now I know it's a kid's clothing store. Way easier to asses what kind of people you want to go for. I can see why you don't want young teenagers at your store; doesn't exactly work with young mothers who deeply care/are sensitive about their children. Appearance is important in this case as well, eh? So right there, we can set further boundaries: - Upbeat personalities
- Young adults (above the age of 17-18?)
- Caring/reasonable people (this is personal preference, you want sensitive beings who will take an enjoyment with being around kids/understand). I'd personally hire more female-oriented beings given that most children will shop with their mothers than their fathers (at least in westernized societies).
- Impressionable. You want the customers coming back, bla bla bla you know this
That's a good start. What other questions do you throw at them? Do you ever throw a curveball like: "What kind of children do you want if you ever wanted children?". I don't know if that's ethically allowed, but you'd might see things in people/applicants that you didn't see before. Yeah, values are missed a lot amongst people growing, including myself of course. It just comes in time and some businesses have to suffer or become the parent/society guard and teach them proper ethics. Sucks majorly D: My two cents, I'm okay with advice, but no, I don't have as much business experience than you (only my father's failed attempts and what I've been exposed/through personal reading).
I work for Crazy 8, and yes, you almost perfectly identified what I'm looking for when I'm attempting to hire someone. Most of our customers are mothers, and although we don't purposely hire more females, we don't currently have any males on staff. Nor do I ever get applications from males, ever. It's actually kind of weird working with an entirely all female staff. I wouldn't mind mixing it up a little.
I actually get a sense of accomplishment from teaching my younger associates values that they may have missed learning while growing up. I tell them that I don't technically care about Crazy 8, I care about people. Which is why customer service is so important, and why they're so important to me as well.
Your suggestion about asking applicants about children is actually really interesting, it might provide a nice insight on their personality. Although, I'm not sure if it's ethically allowed either. I may have to re-word questions similar to that to make sure it's not too personal. Currently, my only kid related question is about what experience they have with children in general.
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On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +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.
Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability.
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On October 25 2011 14:24 yourwhiteshadow wrote:
i don't understand having to fill out applications. so time consuming writing the same crap over and over again. i've landed jobs where i just hand them my resume, they look at it for 10 seconds, and want to do an interview. anyways, i can see why its important at lower level, but even at lower end jobs i've much rather preferred to hand a resume to a hiring manager.
but given how idiotic some low wage workers are, it might be worth it to weed them out with an application like this. haha.
I sometimes get handed resumes, and I appreciate the effort. So I tend to get back to those people a lot faster.
I do have to hire for supervisor positions too, and I really like when I get resumes for those. Although, it's definitely not required and only helps an applicant look even better.
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I'd work there if 1. I didn't hate all manufacturers of kid's clothing and their overpricing given how long a child can wear it before they grow out of it 2. Can't work around kids because they're too cute, loud, obnoxious or whiny as hell (I hated shoe shopping).
Glad I could reverse my advice and give something slightly more useful :B. In short, just ask questions that are interesting, loosens up the interview to be more of a conversation, but can draw out relevant perspectives from the person and gain a much more fuller grasp than your usual questions.
You might be surprised in what you find out :3
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United States33388 Posts
On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +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.
dude, he just wrote the same thing you did in your post, but did it in 800 less words.
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On October 25 2011 14:41 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:24 yourwhiteshadow wrote:
i don't understand having to fill out applications. so time consuming writing the same crap over and over again. i've landed jobs where i just hand them my resume, they look at it for 10 seconds, and want to do an interview. anyways, i can see why its important at lower level, but even at lower end jobs i've much rather preferred to hand a resume to a hiring manager.
but given how idiotic some low wage workers are, it might be worth it to weed them out with an application like this. haha. I sometimes get handed resumes, and I appreciate the effort. So I tend to get back to those people a lot faster. I do have to hire for supervisor positions too, and I really like when I get resumes for those. Although, it's definitely not required and only helps an applicant look even better.
so, would you be annoyed if you got JUST a resume, no application?
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On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability.
If a business only viewed having a certain amount of availability as a requirement for hiring most would not succeed. They would inevitably fail. You must have very little business knowledge.
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On October 25 2011 14:42 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. dude, he just wrote the same thing you did in your post, but did it in 800 less words.
No? Because not all 800 words are critical or narrow-minded, that's for starters.
Secondly, I gave proper feedback and useful advice to correct or project different views in order to get most out of a situation.
Oh and thirdly, I said that the OP was making vast and large critical statements about the person without having real direction or need to make those assessments. The OP isn't being picky, but just overly-critical about factors that might not matter in the long-term (and we established this by maintaining what the person is looking for in an applicant [personality over proper working ethics because you can teach some personality]).
What you are saying is very generalized and not quite right. It's not fair to say he says the same as me when I say a lot more diverse things than identifying. Even if the third could be the definition of "picky" you are ignoring the first two which, combined, portrayed more effort and interest in repairing the problem than listing the issues.
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On October 25 2011 14:42 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. dude, he just wrote the same thing you did in your post, but did it in 800 less words.
Not really. 
On October 25 2011 14:43 yourwhiteshadow wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:41 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 14:24 yourwhiteshadow wrote:
i don't understand having to fill out applications. so time consuming writing the same crap over and over again. i've landed jobs where i just hand them my resume, they look at it for 10 seconds, and want to do an interview. anyways, i can see why its important at lower level, but even at lower end jobs i've much rather preferred to hand a resume to a hiring manager.
but given how idiotic some low wage workers are, it might be worth it to weed them out with an application like this. haha. I sometimes get handed resumes, and I appreciate the effort. So I tend to get back to those people a lot faster. I do have to hire for supervisor positions too, and I really like when I get resumes for those. Although, it's definitely not required and only helps an applicant look even better. so, would you be annoyed if you got JUST a resume, no application?
Not at all. The resume (probably) has more than enough information to satisfy me, and I can ask any other relevant questions in an interview.
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On October 25 2011 14:45 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability. If a business only viewed having a certain amount of availability as a requirement for hiring most would not succeed. They would inevitably fail. You must have very little business knowledge.
Ah, so I have very little business knowledge. Classic argumentum ad hominem.
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On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability.
That's fairly anecdotal and if you can't do the application properly or the interview, you won't necessarily get any job. You may be great at selling, but if you can't follow proper directions, protocol or procedure, you don't deserve the chance over those who put in the minimum amount of effort. If you want something, doing the mundane and seemingly pointless tasks is a good step in that direction.
The process isn't getting complicated, it's the standard.
On October 25 2011 14:49 IronMonocle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:45 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability. If a business only viewed having a certain amount of availability as a requirement for hiring most would not succeed. They would inevitably fail. You must have very little business knowledge. Ah, so I have very little business knowledge. Classic argumentum ad hominem.
It's the assumption you have little business knowledge given how you couldn't assess the importance of basic procedure and how its valued for certain small or even large corporate businesses.
Now I'm defending, pft :B
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i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job.
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On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job.
What kind of job have you been applying for?
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On October 25 2011 14:49 IronMonocle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:45 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability. If a business only viewed having a certain amount of availability as a requirement for hiring most would not succeed. They would inevitably fail. You must have very little business knowledge. Ah, so I have very little business knowledge. Classic argumentum ad hominem.
Sorry, I had to make the assumption because of your oh-so-silly comment.
And no, I won't eventually hire these "clowns." If I do hire someone from a government job agency, my company gets a tax credit. But I'm in no way forced to hire anyone.... Plus, those aren't the kind of applicants we typically attract.
Also, if you can't fill out a job application properly (they're pretty damn simple) then you're going to have a hell of a time working even the easiest job.
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I find it interesting that you are skeptical of the high school students' working abilities.
In my experience with unskilled labor, it's the 16-18 year-olds that would be generally harder-working than the 20-somethings, mostly because they tend to not have been in the workforce to not be completely jaded about their employment. But that's just my limited experience.
But yeah, I suppose you can't expect much when you're looking to hire for a minimum wage temp job. It's simple supply and demand. The people who can present themselves decently already have better jobs...
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On October 25 2011 13:52 icydergosu wrote:+ Show Spoiler +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.
Dude, I'm not looking for Mr. Type A go-getter personality. All i want to see from the candidate is if they have at the very least some form of feigned interest in the job they are asking me to give them.
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On October 25 2011 14:56 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job. What kind of job have you been applying for?
last one was dish washer at a restaurant, some others include stocking shelves and moving around inventory, as well as cleaning up garbage at an amusement park
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My first job I was actually offered. I didn't even have to apply. Just walked into a Little Caesars and I walked out with a job being one of those guys who flipped signs on a street corner. It was the easiest job, not a bad way to get some job experience. All I had to do was follow basic directions and things went pretty well. After about six months of that they moved me into the store and I couldn't leave fast enough. Working fast food is awful... at least for me.
Fast forward another year and I'm filling out my first application for Best Buy. I was sooooooo nervous for my interview. I thought they would ask really difficult questions. It was really just a walk in the park though. Really basic questions asking how you would handle situations and blah blah blah. I couldn't believe I got so worked up over nothing.
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On October 25 2011 14:52 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability. That's fairly anecdotal and if you can't do the application properly or the interview, you won't necessarily get any job. You may be great at selling, but if you can't follow proper directions, protocol or procedure, you don't deserve the chance over those who put in the minimum amount of effort. If you want something, doing the mundane and seemingly pointless tasks is a good step in that direction. The process isn't getting complicated, it's the standard. Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:49 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:45 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability. If a business only viewed having a certain amount of availability as a requirement for hiring most would not succeed. They would inevitably fail. You must have very little business knowledge. Ah, so I have very little business knowledge. Classic argumentum ad hominem. It's the assumption you have little business knowledge given how you couldn't assess the importance of basic procedure and how its valued for certain small or even large corporate businesses. Now I'm defending, pft :B
Torte, when I read that... I honestly wasn't going to respond because I wanted to wait for you to comment. LOL. :B
On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job.
It must be the types of jobs you're applying for. Perhaps you lack experience? I will hire people with no background in retail as long as they come off as a good fit.
My company only pays minimum wage if you do not have retail experience. But, someone who does not have any experience must make up for it in another way. Which is as easy as being super upbeat and friendly, honestly!
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On October 25 2011 15:03 Roe wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:56 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job. What kind of job have you been applying for? last one was dish washer at a restaurant, some others include stocking shelves and moving around inventory, as well as cleaning up garbage at an amusement park
So basically jobs anyone can apply for.
Sounds like tough competition, what makes you stand out from all the rest?
Torte, when I read that... I honestly wasn't going to respond because I wanted to wait for you to comment. LOL. :B
It's a condition, I swear!
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On October 25 2011 14:57 matjlav wrote:
I find it interesting that you are skeptical of the high school students' working abilities.
In my experience with unskilled labor, it's the 16-18 year-olds that would be generally harder-working than the 20-somethings, mostly because they tend to not have been in the workforce to not be completely jaded about their employment. But that's just my limited experience.
I have two high school kids on staff currently. They're too many work restrictions regarding minors and they're availability tends to be pretty limited.
I do agree though, I have worked with some awesome teens who work harder than your average 20 something. It's too much of a gamble though, and my store manager is against it. (I'm the assistant manager, so it's not entirely up to me.)
On October 25 2011 15:02 SuperbWingman wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:52 icydergosu wrote:+ Show Spoiler +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. Dude, I'm not looking for Mr. Type A go-getter personality. All i want to see from the candidate is if they have at the very least some form of feigned interest in the job they are asking me to give them.
They don't always "get the boot" after Christmas. I would LOVE to have one or two work out for long term employment.
Yes, interest in the job they're applying for is nice.... lol
On October 25 2011 15:05 Crimson wrote:
My first job I was actually offered. I didn't even have to apply. Just walked into a Little Caesars and I walked out with a job being one of those guys who flipped signs on a street corner. It was the easiest job, not a bad way to get some job experience. All I had to do was follow basic directions and things went pretty well. After about six months of that they moved me into the store and I couldn't leave fast enough. Working fast food is awful... at least for me.
Fast forward another year and I'm filling out my first application for Best Buy. I was sooooooo nervous for my interview. I thought they would ask really difficult questions. It was really just a walk in the park though. Really basic questions asking how you would handle situations and blah blah blah. I couldn't believe I got so worked up over nothing.
I can tell when people are nervous, I always give them the benefit of the doubt. I think it shows that they care and really want the job! Most of my interviews are pretty casual and I try to be really friendly so they're comfortable anyway.
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On October 25 2011 15:07 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 15:03 Roe wrote:On October 25 2011 14:56 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job. What kind of job have you been applying for? last one was dish washer at a restaurant, some others include stocking shelves and moving around inventory, as well as cleaning up garbage at an amusement park So basically jobs anyone can apply for. Sounds like tough competition, what makes you stand out from all the rest? Show nested quote +Torte, when I read that... I honestly wasn't going to respond because I wanted to wait for you to comment. LOL. :B It's a condition, I swear!
beyond any generic "i'll work hard through hard times" type stuff, i can't come up with anythign unless diamond level sc2 is something to be proud of, lol.
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On October 25 2011 15:59 Roe wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 15:07 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 15:03 Roe wrote:On October 25 2011 14:56 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job. What kind of job have you been applying for? last one was dish washer at a restaurant, some others include stocking shelves and moving around inventory, as well as cleaning up garbage at an amusement park So basically jobs anyone can apply for. Sounds like tough competition, what makes you stand out from all the rest? Torte, when I read that... I honestly wasn't going to respond because I wanted to wait for you to comment. LOL. :B It's a condition, I swear! beyond any generic "i'll work hard through hard times" type stuff, i can't come up with anythign unless diamond level sc2 is something to be proud of, lol.
Maybe that's something you need to work for.
Unless of course, you feel you don't deserve the job more than others, in which case the outcome is as predicted :B
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Are you interviewing for summer positions already? If so, I need to get on applying at places...
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Why would you cut up a TL shirt? :-(
When you said "associates" I thought you were hiring for some sort of professional firm, and so the green pen and other mistakes seemed weird. Then I was shocked when you said you did the reference check before the interview. But then you mentioned it was for retail and it made sense. :-)
I guess retail is a different world, but it still seems strange to me. Why do you do a reference check before you're sure you want to hire them? I would hesitate to apply to any organisation that conducts reference checks before the interview, but I guess your target workforce aren't in a position to complain, or have too little experience to understand why it's not good for them as candidates.
Wow at those telling Porcelain how to do her job. With 9% unemployment, any business can afford to be picky.
Roe, if you can't get a paying job, do volunteer work if you can afford to. Make a good impression, work hard, get a good reference. Then potential employers will have proof that you're a hard worker.
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I really wish i could do the interviews here. The people that end up getting hired are... well, not the people i would chose. I sometimes feel like the only question they actually care about is "how much do you want to earn?"... if it's higher than minimum wage, they don't get hired.
If the person that get hired for a fulltime programming job "with 5 years programming experience" can't even write a simple "hello world" program and needs 3 weeks for a simple guestbook, you know there must be something wrong in the interviews.
Incompetence can be on both sides of the interviewing table :-/
However, for a seasonal job i can imagine that the applicants are even worse.
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On October 25 2011 14:39 IronMonocle wrote:
Even if I can't fill out an application properly or do an interview properly, I still need a job, and this seasonal minimum wage job is the best i am going to get. Just because i can't do either of these things properly doesn't mean I can not do the job well. Just do YOUR job by training the employees you hire, and everything should work out fine. It is either that or future cheques from government welfare. You will eventually hire these clowns anyways when they get job application help from job agencies and the like. Stop complicating the process. The main thing you should look for when hiring is availability.
Reminds me of this Onion story.
It's above the responsibility of your employer to teach you how to communicate well, you should have learned that from school or your family or your friends or whatever. Considering basically anyone can throw on a fake smile, count inventory and ring in kids' clothes on a cash register, how would you suggest narrowing the field of applicants?
It seems like the OP is following a generally good procedure for narrowing down applicants:
1) Improperly filled out applications immediately ignored.
2) People who lie on their applications (kudos to the OP for following up on references) not interviewed
3) People who answer questions in a dismissive, retarded or overtly hostile way not called back.
4) You still have a lot of non-braindead, able-bodied, minimally articulate folks to choose from!
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On October 25 2011 15:03 Roe wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:56 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 14:55 Roe wrote:
i dont understand the world anymore. i've been going to interviews willing to put up with any hours, be called in at any time, be payed as little as minimum wage, and do my best every single day and yet never get a job. What kind of job have you been applying for? last one was dish washer at a restaurant, some others include stocking shelves and moving around inventory, as well as cleaning up garbage at an amusement park
Maybe your over qualified?
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On October 25 2011 21:29 Inori wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Still, you get what you ask for. Want well written resumes with plenty of good referrals and etc etc? Then make the position interesting for people willing to provide them. It's like buying some cheap chinese smartphone wannabe and then complaining that it aint iphone.
That's not at all the scenario and the analogy furthers your misconstruing o_o
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On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +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?!
While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you."
Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth.
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I've got a serious question. I've had a resume ready and updated every month or so since forever but I cringe everytime there is one of these applications that makes me list all my previous employers. I have them all listed on my resume! I don't like taking the 30 minute to look up each and every address and zip code and phone number of where I worked (I keep a cheat sheet for this now though since it has happened so many times...) Is it ever acceptable to just hand in the application with my resume and write in that section 'see resume?' I have avoided applying to more than one position because I didn't want to spend an hour filling that section out.
Yes I have more than 5 previous jobs and yes = / that section always takes the longest = (
maybe I'm being a whiny bitch here but what is the point of a resume if you have to write all the info twice?
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On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth.
There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself.
The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job?
If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here.
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United States5162 Posts
On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here.
It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'.
I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job.
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I would agree with those who say "why do you want this job" is not a particularly useful question in this circumstance because it's seasonal, minimum-wage retail. That question only becomes important, at a minimum, when it's full-time.
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On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +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. Show nested quote +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?!
It's common sense to think up a detailed and mature response to that question but at the same time you have to recognize how much of a loaded question it is. No one wants to work in retail because it's an intriguing and satisfying experience - they're in it for the money. They know that and you know that and asking them to tell you something different is just worthless.
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On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job.
What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor?
I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job.
Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______.
etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly.
I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid.
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On October 25 2011 21:29 Inori wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote: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. Still, you get what you ask for. Want well written resumes with plenty of good referrals and etc etc? Then make the position interesting for people willing to provide them. It's like buying some cheap chinese smartphone wannabe and then complaining that it aint iphone.
This is very much spot on.
I realize all your merely asking for is an all around respectful individual, but listing what type of job your offering back at them, I wonder how you can be surprised at the applicants applying.
I normally have found HR to be the section that is sub-optimal in a lot of companies. I assume you know it's a two way street here with the interview process. Your my direct first impression of the company that I'm trying to work for. You need good workers to prosper. And if I'm a smart guy and a great worker, I know what I'm worth. If the job description is up to par with my expectations, your the next step. Hence why great employees will likely snicker at the application on the inside and move on. HR should really just be a filter for the slobs interviewing imo, but sometimes I wonder if this is even true.
I'm not saying I think the couch potato who walks in with a mustard stain on his dirty white wife beater top and jeans with holes in the knees is a pretty good representation comparison to the type of job that's on hand (or am I?...) but it's definitely not something that a normal person would go after. Really, its all about getting back what your putting out there.
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I remember how bad some of the applications were when I worked in retail. Some of the ones that I can remember off the top of my head:
- There was one girl who filled out the entire application in pencil. On top of that some of her credentials were exaggerated to say the least. That's okay, I figure I could just potentially erase those off her app since you know, it was written in pencil!
- Another girl turned in an application with the "previous employment" box blank when I pointed that out she responded "Well I worked at McDonalds for like 40 minutes. Do you want me to put that down?" I don't even want to know what it takes to get fired from McDonalds that quickly.
- One guy thought he was being cute and filled out every box like a complete smartass. Desired pay: "One million dollars." Geographical location: "Boston is nice this time of year but I suppose Florida is okay also." Useful skills you have to contribute: "sense of humour." Really now...
- The geographical location question is because there were multiple nearby stores in the chain and sometimes we would send applications to other stores that were hiring. This was lost upon one person who decided to answer this question with "indoors".
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Some of the attitude and excuses in this thread are straight-up laughable. I'm the first person you'll hear birch about how it took me 30 minutes to apply for a job, but I do it anyway. If you aren't willing to give a company that time, why should they expect you to give it day after day? This is all information they need to gauge thundreds of applicants, and if you think you can get away with just handing them your resume, more power to ya - it's worked for me before - but don't be confused if you can't seem to catch a break when you're giving every company a glance and hope they think you're a swell-lookin' guy.
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Love HR especially when it comes to hiring/training people like you describe. A lot of people don't know how to write a proper resume; it's pretty sad. I learned a lot when I was doing that.
Make it a positive experience
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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
Wow I had the exact same thoughts while reading this lol.
Although there are apparently endless amounts of jobs out there selling insurance. When I put my resume up on Monster I began to practically get stalked by insurance recruiters. Learned my lesson though, sticking to Dice.
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Be careful of discrimination, you could be sued for saying that you want 'personable employees' if you can't find a statistical correlation between personability levels and efficiency output, you don't want to accidentally create adverse impact and have a possible lawsuit on your hands.
Also, interviews are only good for two things: measuring interpersonal skills and verbal communication. Make sure that these things are NEEDED for the position your trying to fill before deciding from an interview. Conduct good job analysis and you should be set.
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My first job was a "sandwich artist" at Subway when I was 15-16. People would turn in applications all the time, and if they filled them out like an idiot I would just throw it away.
Some people just have no common sense I guess... Almost all job applications ask you the same questions for entry level jobs and its not rocket science.
I guarantee you could Google a guide on how to look good on a job application...
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I need a greencard. I'll do it.
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On October 26 2011 09:30 Endymion wrote:
Be careful of discrimination, you could be sued for saying that you want 'personable employees' if you can't find a statistical correlation between personability levels and efficiency output, you don't want to accidentally create adverse impact and have a possible lawsuit on your hands.
Also, interviews are only good for two things: measuring interpersonal skills and verbal communication. Make sure that these things are NEEDED for the position your trying to fill before deciding from an interview. Conduct good job analysis and you should be set.
I can actually get a lot more out of people than just that from an interview. I guess that's why I used to do them. =)
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Well I guess a better thing to say is to suggest what kind of questions to ask in your interviews. I'm sure you've seen the google interview questions, like "how many pingpong balls would it take to fill a 747." Personally, I don't like this style, I prefer more personal questions. I.e. "Tell me a time that you were in a team and a teammember messed up, and how you responded to their error." Their response could tell you if they're team oriented, what kind of team they prefer, and their style of contingency planning.
I guess I mean just don't ask "do you think of yourself as personable?" or "do you work well in a team?"
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Can I just say, if you don't have the sense to fill out your application properly you probably won't be very focussed on the job. It's all about attitude.
But now I'm really looking forward to hearing about you receiving applications that have:
REFERRAL SOURCE:
x Web site: Teamliquid.net
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Oh by the way, what OP describes happen in other places too. My English teacher said in class once that she was at an interview session for hiring HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (she wasn't getting interviewed; she was observing someone interviewing other people). A lot of applicants did not have any interview skills whatsoever, including:
Q: Why do you want to become a teacher?
A: I donno. I need a job?
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On October 26 2011 00:21 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job. What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor? I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job. Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______. etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly. I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid.
I disagree with this. It's a minimum wage shit job. I'll be surprised if anyone ever woke up excited going "oh boy I get to count inventory, open boxes and stack shelves today!"
I don't even know how you'd BS for a videogame selling job. "I'm an avid gamer and so I'm interested in selling games"? That makes no sense, being a gamer =/= selling games; it's not even remotely related. "Being a gamer, I can suggest good games that customer might enjoy, feel like I'm helping out fellow gamers etc"? This also makes no sense. This might say why you can do this job better, but not why you'd WANT to do the job. Completely different things.
I fully agree with what Myles wrote about candidates just having common sense, promptness and a good attitude.
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What the hell is gymboree? and you aren't by chance in orange county CA are you? Ive been out of work for so long.
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On October 26 2011 11:42 JeeJee wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2011 00:21 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job. What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor? I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job. Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______. etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly. I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid. I disagree with this. It's a minimum wage shit job. I'll be surprised if anyone ever woke up excited going "oh boy I get to count inventory, open boxes and stack shelves today!" I don't even know how you'd BS for a videogame selling job. "I'm an avid gamer and so I'm interested in selling games"? That makes no sense, being a gamer =/= selling games; it's not even remotely related. "Being a gamer, I can suggest good games that customer might enjoy, feel like I'm helping out fellow gamers etc"? This also makes no sense. This might say why you can do this job better, but not why you'd WANT to do the job. Completely different things. I fully agree with what Myles wrote about candidates just having common sense, promptness and a good attitude.
I like how you assume minimum wage = terrible job. Ends =/= means?
As for selling video-games: "I know quite a bit about video-games given it is a hobby of mine, so selling video-games is something I'm comfortable because I know the materials/products and inform myself on my own accord with the products via gaming blogs and/or trying the game myself"
Difficult, I know. You'd want the job because you're in a space you're comfortable with knowledge-wise and you can relate more with the customer.
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I've gotten the job I applied for every time I've gotten up to the interview part. I don't really think they care a lot about what you say in particular. A good handshake alone will carry you far. I think it's more about them just getting a general view of you, since I've given such bullshit answers to bullshit questions.
Stuff like "What do you think you need to improve in yourself?" and I said told him something along the lines of "Finding the motivation to do stuff I don't want to do." Just thinking about his approving expression and the other guy saying "this guy sure has an answer for everything" makes me cringe so hard.
Still had the employer pretty much ask me, if I want to start tomorrow. Now I work there and it's a pretty cool job with decent pay, even if it's customer service and only part-time.
The hardest part is to get them to call you up for an interview and honestly I can't blame the OP for not hiring people who make horrible applications. How can you trust a guy to sell something, if they can't even sell themselves to you?
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On October 26 2011 11:17 Sufficiency wrote:
Oh by the way, what OP describes happen in other places too. My English teacher said in class once that she was at an interview session for hiring HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (she wasn't getting interviewed; she was observing someone interviewing other people). A lot of applicants did not have any interview skills whatsoever, including:
Q: Why do you want to become a teacher?
A: I donno. I need a job?
I have the opposite problem my interview skills are at least grandmaster but my resume is somewhat lacking.
Hopefully i will get a real job soon.
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There is a lot of questions on the application that don't seem too relevant to be honest.
Obviously hours of avail., Personal Information, Work experiences, references, and education are all important. But when you are hiring for a seasonal position at minimum wage and you are reviewing applications from individuals seeking that position asking them about their career goals, emergency info (are you expecting them to have a medical emergency during the interviewing process?), and information about previous employment by your company (you should already know whether or not you have hired this person, unless you have an obscene employee turnover rate) might be a bit much for just the application. Have you ever decided to interview a person based off their career objectives listed on the application. I sure hope not. I don't even understand how the answer to that question is relevant to getting a position at your business, are you looking for someone to tell you their aspiration is selling shitty products to cheap-ass customers, or that they are passionate about keeping shelves well stocked with product? Or are you looking for someone who shows ambition, "I want to be an astro-physicist". How does that help them to do the job at hand? How does that make them a good candidate for employment in the retail industry? Is there a law that requires you to have emergency contact info prior to an interview(I'm not a lawyer, that would be the only reasonable explanation to have it required on an application)?
I'm writing this as someone who worked in retail for three years, had to deal with countless incompetent co-workers and am wondering how using the same employment techniques as my previous employer can yield any better results. I'm interested in hearing from the manager/owners perspective.
p.s. sorry for the run-on sentence(s) and any grammatical errors(I'm sure there are many).
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On October 27 2011 03:25 Darkdeath3 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2011 11:17 Sufficiency wrote:
Oh by the way, what OP describes happen in other places too. My English teacher said in class once that she was at an interview session for hiring HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (she wasn't getting interviewed; she was observing someone interviewing other people). A lot of applicants did not have any interview skills whatsoever, including:
Q: Why do you want to become a teacher?
A: I donno. I need a job? I have the opposite problem my interview skills are at least grandmaster but my resume is somewhat lacking. Hopefully i will get a real job soon.
I interviewed someone today with a good resume but totally lacked personal/interview skills. She spoke so softly I could barely hear her throughout the interview.
I have to say, even if someone has only a little job experience if they're good at interviewing they're pretty much going to get offered at least a seasonal position.
And both of the people I interviewed today could barely answer basic questions...
Tell me about a time you had a difficult customer you were ultimately unable satisfy, tell me about a time some sort of theft occurred during you shift, what did/could you do to prevent such a loss, describe a person you had difficulty building a good rapport with, tell me about a customer service experience you're most proud of.... basic retail questions. I word them differently during the interview, of course. I have a migraine from work. But those types of questions are essentially what I ask.
Seriously, I'd rather them make something up than say "I don't know, this/that has never happened."
On October 27 2011 04:14 WritersBlock wrote:
There is a lot of questions on the application that don't seem too relevant to be honest.
Obviously hours of avail., Personal Information, Work experiences, references, and education are all important. But when you are hiring for a seasonal position at minimum wage and you are reviewing applications from individuals seeking that position asking them about their career goals, emergency info (are you expecting them to have a medical emergency during the interviewing process?), and information about previous employment by your company (you should already know whether or not you have hired this person, unless you have an obscene employee turnover rate) might be a bit much for just the application. Have you ever decided to interview a person based off their career objectives listed on the application. I sure hope not. I don't even understand how the answer to that question is relevant to getting a position at your business, are you looking for someone to tell you their aspiration is selling shitty products to cheap-ass customers, or that they are passionate about keeping shelves well stocked with product? Or are you looking for someone who shows ambition, "I want to be an astro-physicist". How does that help them to do the job at hand? How does that make them a good candidate for employment in the retail industry? Is there a law that requires you to have emergency contact info prior to an interview(I'm not a lawyer, that would be the only reasonable explanation to have it required on an application)?
I'm writing this as someone who worked in retail for three years, had to deal with countless incompetent co-workers and am wondering how using the same employment techniques as my previous employer can yield any better results. I'm interested in hearing from the manager/owners perspective.
p.s. sorry for the run-on sentence(s) and any grammatical errors(I'm sure there are many).
I work for a corporation. They provide the applications. It's considered policy to always have an emergency contact on file. We have a lot of stores so I consider it very helpful to know whether they've been employed by our company before. Come on - this is obvious.
Btw, my company doesn't have "shitty product." For children's retail, our price points are considered extremely good given the higher quality. This is a very competitive retail market. Think about it, where would you go to buy children's clothing that washes well and will last at least 1-2 seasons? Kids don't grow nearly as fast once they hit a certain age. Kids need clothing that will wash well and look decent after so many washes. There aren't too many specific children retailers. The quality of places like walmart and target aren't that great for the price points they try to hit - especially stores like target.
Honestly, besides department stores, parents aren't left with many choices.
People keep commenting about how this is just some shitty minimum wage job - but it's not.
Do you all think I'm making a career out of this? No, I won't manage this store forever. When I'm done with college I'll leave. However, this a great opportunity for me to have a stable income (granted, I'm not making min. wage) but the people we hire part time absolutely have the opportunity to get promoted. They could become managers, stay a couple of years, just like me. So that's why I have to put some effort into hiring someone who gives a shit.
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On October 26 2011 17:38 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2011 11:42 JeeJee wrote:On October 26 2011 00:21 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote: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?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job. What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor? I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job. Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______. etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly. I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid. I disagree with this. It's a minimum wage shit job. I'll be surprised if anyone ever woke up excited going "oh boy I get to count inventory, open boxes and stack shelves today!" I don't even know how you'd BS for a videogame selling job. "I'm an avid gamer and so I'm interested in selling games"? That makes no sense, being a gamer =/= selling games; it's not even remotely related. "Being a gamer, I can suggest good games that customer might enjoy, feel like I'm helping out fellow gamers etc"? This also makes no sense. This might say why you can do this job better, but not why you'd WANT to do the job. Completely different things. I fully agree with what Myles wrote about candidates just having common sense, promptness and a good attitude. I like how you assume minimum wage = terrible job. Ends =/= means? As for selling video-games: "I know quite a bit about video-games given it is a hobby of mine, so selling video-games is something I'm comfortable because I know the materials/products and inform myself on my own accord with the products via gaming blogs and/or trying the game myself" Difficult, I know. You'd want the job because you're in a space you're comfortable with knowledge-wise and you can relate more with the customer.
I don't assume anything, just stating facts that were given to me. I'm sure there are minimum wage jobs that are great and are a bundle of joy to the employees. Retail is not one of them.
Again, that response shows why you might be able to do the job well, but not why you'd want to do it. Playing videogames and selling videogames are worlds apart. It's like applying to RIM because you have a smartphone; it doesn't mean you are even remotely interested in manufacturing.
Plus, all I really got from that response is that you're afraid to step out of your comfort zone. I'm not saying it's a bad response, but then I wouldn't ask such a question to begin with, so the point is moot.
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Porcelain, if you give us a whole list of screw-ups that you've seen from applicants I would be a huge fan... I for some reason absolutely love reading about the failures of others. Ahhhh what have I become...
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Yeah I'm well aware the corporation supplies the application but that doesn't mean you should read much into the answers for those fields. Does your corporation not maintain a database of employed/previous employed workers at their hr office. Come on - this is obvious.
And Being from Canada were we don't have the company you work for, I can't attest to the quality of your children's clothing, but I would be surprised if it wasn't manufactured in a sweat shop in Asia(as to my knowledge a vast majority of brands are.
I would love to hear the qualities of the job that don't make it shitty, because it is as you have already stated minimum wage(I think the inference is that the fact that it is minimum wage with low chance of promotion makes it a dead end and overall shitty job). That being said I've never been one of the people with the attitude of minimum wage = minimum effort(I've worked with the type before they are a piss off, I'm sure you've hired them before too so you know what I mean).
I don't think anyone was under the impression you were making a career out of it. Some people do make careers of it though so I'm interested in the thought behind the process.
I understand where your coming from, your desire to hire competent employees. What I don't understand is the frustration you get from having shitty applications submitted(on a side note is there a policy against hiring someone under the age of 18?, and do you not hire high school students, it seemed like you were only interested in college students. If your looking for a good long term team member your usually better off finding a hard working motivated high school student, you'll likely have them longer and they will value the job more). Are most of your applicants walk ins, if so do your cashiers use the gel pens(might explain the large number of applications filled in in gel pens, that blew my mind that people would do that). It sounds like you are doing your job very well, but maybe have weird expectations. The position you are searching to fill is one that is searched for by people with little to no work experience(for the most part), but it seems like your expecting the applications to be coming from people with massive experience in applying for jobs and going through the interview process. A final question to you actually believe in your product after working there for a long time, do you hear good reviews from customers? I found that after the first few years I had a pretty good understanding of what was shit and what was good but you still have to fake it and sell the shit(consider hiring good actors/liars =p).
P.S. I'm not trying to be offensive towards you in anyway but it seems like you were on the defensive in your reply(maybe it was the migraine) either way don't read into it the wrong way.
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^ correction: apparently you do have locations in Canada I'm just unfamiliar with them
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EPT
