Group interview?

[Draco]

I have a group interview this evening for a part-time job. I hope I get it since money is so tight and I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

I am used to one-on-one interviews. tonight is a group interview which I've never done before. It's for The Container Store that will be opening in the fall.

What should I expect in a group interview? I'd expect I'd need to be really social to show I am a people person.. but what else?

oh, and vibes please?? Retail part time is hard for me to get since my resume is all career and my last retail job was over 7 years ago!

 

[nerdrock]

I had a group interview once. The Petsmarts around here hold them once a week, you bring in your resume and have the interview at the same time. They basically went over the company, their policies, etc with all of us and asked us a bunch of questions as a group. I think we may have also had to watch a video, but it was a few years ago and I don't quite remember. They did take us out individually through the store and talked to us one on one, asked us questions, etc. The manager pissed me off though and I back talked him (oops, lol) so I didn't get the job. 

 

[Draco]

I guess I should bring a resume? I don't have one, lol. isn't the application enough for retail?

 

[nerdrock]

I would bring your resume too, if you don't have one just done one up quickly and kind of gear it towards retail.... even though you haven't worked in retail in 7 years. Try to think of ways that your career jobs could make a positive impact on a retail job. 

I work two retail jobs - one at a pharmacy and another at a pet store. Applications that don't have a resume attached are immediately thrown away, even though it's a lot of the same information. The same goes if someone writes "see resume" on the application. The job market, at least here, is still extremely competitive for everything, so any little thing you can do to make yourself seem better is a good thing. 

 

[Draco]

Ugh. I'll have to whip one up during lunch today. I totally did not think about it.

 

[nerdrock]

Again, I'm not sure what it's like the states, just what it's like here in Canada. I'm assuming it's about the same, but then again, it may not be. If you have time to whip one up and print it, just bring it with you just in case. 

 

[Draco]

better to be safe than sorry! I'll look for my resume from 4 years ago and just update that a bit.

 

[Draco]

thought I'd post an update and request 2nd job vibes!

I went to the group interview, and it went smoothly. I gave them a resume, though it wasn't asked for, and I was the only one who handed in a resume.

The called me the very next morning for a one on one interview. I went yesterday, and I hope the manager liked me. She liked the fact I was a graphic designer which will help in my job. I hope I get a call back saying I got the position.

Vibes please! I've seen it work for others here!!

 

[rafm]

coming your way! Keep us posted

 

[natalie_ca]

Best of luck!!!
 

If the interview is the same as a "panel interview" which we have for nursing, it's not as bad as the imagination makes it out to be.

For the ones I've done, there were 2 or 3 people interviewing me.  One person, usually the manager, introduces everyone and explains the process.  Each of the interviewers takes a turn asking you a question, which you answer to the best of your ability.

At the end of the interview process when they are ready to decide who gets the job, they get together again and go through the responses. Sometimes they assign a score to each response and add up the total.

The first time you go through one it's rather daunting.  The first one I had was for the job I have now.  For awhile I was actively looking for a job and have since done many more.