Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Job Interview Tuesday Morning
- Thread starter irain
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think abercrombie does group interviews, so don't be surprised if its not just you. And from what i've heard form people who work there, its really a lot based on looks, if you can fold clothes, and say "Hey are you ready for spring break?" to every one who walks in.
Never worked for AF but I did work for one of their competitors for about 6 months. Basically they will either hire you as, what they call a "model," the people that actually work on the floor and sell clothing or as support staff (you'll work in the back or in the shop when there are no customers), they have some name for them too but I can't remember it at the moment. If you want to be a "model" you better be either a fairly ripped guy or a skinny attractive girl. The interview shouldn't be terribly hard, as said previously it may be a group interivew, they will most likely ask you the generic interview questions you can find any where on the web and some questions more geared towards their brand. Just go in looking your best, wearing a dress shirt and slacks, even at an AF interview it could up your chances of getting the job, when I went for applications and I went to American Eagle I got hired right away soley because I dressed up.
On another note, have you ever worked retail before? I personally would advise you against it if you have any other options (other than fast food). It really does suck as much as everyone says. You will work late hours, sometimes you will be required to work overnight, likely they will get away with not paying you overtime (At AE I worked from 7pm to 6am without overtime because the shift was split over 2 days), and you will proably do this close to once a month. The pay stinks, minimum wage usually, opportunities for advancement are few and far between, and you most likely will spend alot of your money on AF clothing because it will be "required" for work (they can't tell you that you have to wear their clothing to work but in reallity you do). I really suggest that you try to get an office job, data entry, or even work as a host/hostess at a local restaurant, I personally have had far better experiences with local small business than I have with big companies.
On another note, have you ever worked retail before? I personally would advise you against it if you have any other options (other than fast food). It really does suck as much as everyone says. You will work late hours, sometimes you will be required to work overnight, likely they will get away with not paying you overtime (At AE I worked from 7pm to 6am without overtime because the shift was split over 2 days), and you will proably do this close to once a month. The pay stinks, minimum wage usually, opportunities for advancement are few and far between, and you most likely will spend alot of your money on AF clothing because it will be "required" for work (they can't tell you that you have to wear their clothing to work but in reallity you do). I really suggest that you try to get an office job, data entry, or even work as a host/hostess at a local restaurant, I personally have had far better experiences with local small business than I have with big companies.
I've never done an interview for retail but I will speculate on it anyway because i have done group interviews and I spent many years a menial teen worker.
Other posters are right; Image is 99% of this interview. Go in dressed trendy, looking as close to one of those massive sized posters on the wall.
Other than that they might ask you a few generic interview questions like what is your biggest accomplishment, or what is your worst quality, things like that.
I would also expect a situational question;
a woman walks in to the store and wants to buy some clothes for her teenage son, how would you help her?
You see a kid from your high school that you're kind of friends with slip a bag into his bag and he smiles/winks at you and asks you to wave him past the security sensors? (loss prevention is also probably a hot button)
A woman comes in with a big bag of clothes and says that her daughter absolutely hated them and she wants to return them and blah blah and is in a bad mood, how do you handle her?
This of more situations that might happen in a retail scenario, they will probably pose questions / scenarios like these and you just have to react.
Oh yeah, look good. Best of luck, if this is the job you really want then hit a home run. Also keep in mind many mall jobs are "on-call" I would doubt there is much of a guarantee of hours and I would assume the manager is kind of a mid 20's punk with nothing better to do so he/she has favorites.
Other posters are right; Image is 99% of this interview. Go in dressed trendy, looking as close to one of those massive sized posters on the wall.
Other than that they might ask you a few generic interview questions like what is your biggest accomplishment, or what is your worst quality, things like that.
I would also expect a situational question;
a woman walks in to the store and wants to buy some clothes for her teenage son, how would you help her?
You see a kid from your high school that you're kind of friends with slip a bag into his bag and he smiles/winks at you and asks you to wave him past the security sensors? (loss prevention is also probably a hot button)
A woman comes in with a big bag of clothes and says that her daughter absolutely hated them and she wants to return them and blah blah and is in a bad mood, how do you handle her?
This of more situations that might happen in a retail scenario, they will probably pose questions / scenarios like these and you just have to react.
Oh yeah, look good. Best of luck, if this is the job you really want then hit a home run. Also keep in mind many mall jobs are "on-call" I would doubt there is much of a guarantee of hours and I would assume the manager is kind of a mid 20's punk with nothing better to do so he/she has favorites.
Oh man, thats the other major bummer about retail. I used to get "call-in" shifts a minimum of twice a week. You won't be able to plan anything for a good portion of the day or evening because you'll have like a 5 hour shift that they may or may not need you for on you schedule. You'll call in and they'll tell you if they need you, around holidays, back to school, etc, expect to get every one of these, but after that you proably will get them very randomly or not at all.
I think the position is called "fugly".
It's really a shame but AF is well known for being biased. To them EOE is one big LOL to them.
Dress up, hope to God you're seriously attractive and have as little skill as possible and you'll be just fine. If in doubt, just be sure you look good.
