The business that I never thought I was going to take part in became a reality. None of my work field, it was in what I once worked. This usually happens, especially when you find yourself in a new city, in this case Dublin. This grey city got me looking for a job everywhere. I was interested in any kind of job, even as a kitchen porter, which I luckily did not get. At some point, I decided to focus my applications on the retail business because compared with other jobs, for instance those outdoors in the streets, the work load was relatively less complicated.
After dropping CVs I got the first call from TK Maxx, a huge retail chain. Despite the fact that I previously investigated the common questions they ask, it did not work well. It was my first job interview in an unknown business for me. Thus, in order to get a better idea on what to answer, I looked up online for effective responses on YouTube. There I found people with vast experience at job interviews. I kept dropping CV´s.
Soon I got two more interviews scheduled for the same day. The first one was to work for a sports´ shop. I got there plenty of confidence since I knew what and how to respond. I confirmed that job interview´s questions in this business were the same with different words: Tell me about yourself. What does it mean a good customer service for you? Give me an example when you delivered a good customer service. What should you do when a customer is mad at you and how do you manage the situation? Which are your weaknesses? After the interview finished I was even more confident that the position was mine and that I only had to wait for the call.
Nevertheless I showed up for the second interview of the day which was in Penneys, known as Primark in the rest of Europe. The questions were the same but one question that I was not expecting - tell me when you did a presentation of a product to an audience - made my brain going blank, though I reminded when I used to present my architectural projects at school and started to creatively improvise. I did not feel that well as in the morning interview since that one was flawless.
Surprisingly, after a week or so I got a call from the Penneys staff to go to an induction day properly dressed up all in black. I was happy and nervous. In my gorgeous CV I had stated that I had “a vast experience for several years” working in chains such as Lacoste, Pepe Jeans London, and 4 more which of course was not true. My experience by that time was in the architecture and urbanism realms.
And there I was in a 3-storey shop as a Sales Assistant sorting out the always-messed shoes department, the never-ending fitting rooms, accessories, cosmetics, hosiery, the ladies fashions, folding jumpers, trousers, knitwear, shirts, jumping on till, resolving customer questions. The place was one of the busiest shops, not only of the clothing retail business but of the entire city due to its low-prices, which really are. I just ended up detesting that damn basement by the way. Anyone that has visited it knows what I mean. I remind well the famous - Penneys O´Connell Street - and think very highly of it.
Download a copy in PDF
Download a copy of the tailored CV. Note: this one is a subsequent CV that I later modified adding the position in Penneys
After dropping CVs I got the first call from TK Maxx, a huge retail chain. Despite the fact that I previously investigated the common questions they ask, it did not work well. It was my first job interview in an unknown business for me. Thus, in order to get a better idea on what to answer, I looked up online for effective responses on YouTube. There I found people with vast experience at job interviews. I kept dropping CV´s.
Soon I got two more interviews scheduled for the same day. The first one was to work for a sports´ shop. I got there plenty of confidence since I knew what and how to respond. I confirmed that job interview´s questions in this business were the same with different words: Tell me about yourself. What does it mean a good customer service for you? Give me an example when you delivered a good customer service. What should you do when a customer is mad at you and how do you manage the situation? Which are your weaknesses? After the interview finished I was even more confident that the position was mine and that I only had to wait for the call.
Nevertheless I showed up for the second interview of the day which was in Penneys, known as Primark in the rest of Europe. The questions were the same but one question that I was not expecting - tell me when you did a presentation of a product to an audience - made my brain going blank, though I reminded when I used to present my architectural projects at school and started to creatively improvise. I did not feel that well as in the morning interview since that one was flawless.
Surprisingly, after a week or so I got a call from the Penneys staff to go to an induction day properly dressed up all in black. I was happy and nervous. In my gorgeous CV I had stated that I had “a vast experience for several years” working in chains such as Lacoste, Pepe Jeans London, and 4 more which of course was not true. My experience by that time was in the architecture and urbanism realms.
And there I was in a 3-storey shop as a Sales Assistant sorting out the always-messed shoes department, the never-ending fitting rooms, accessories, cosmetics, hosiery, the ladies fashions, folding jumpers, trousers, knitwear, shirts, jumping on till, resolving customer questions. The place was one of the busiest shops, not only of the clothing retail business but of the entire city due to its low-prices, which really are. I just ended up detesting that damn basement by the way. Anyone that has visited it knows what I mean. I remind well the famous - Penneys O´Connell Street - and think very highly of it.
Download a copy in PDF
Download a copy of the tailored CV. Note: this one is a subsequent CV that I later modified adding the position in Penneys