Retail Appointment November 2017 TRAP_Nov 2017_DigitalEdition | Page 5
applying for a job
etail recruitment consultants often
complain that so many employer
interviews are cut short when the
first question asked is, “have you been to
one of our stores?” and the answer is
“No”. If you’re going to work for a retail
firm then, quite frankly, not to have visited
a store beforehand is insulting to the em-
ployer. In a straw poll, most consultants
said that about 20% of candidates do not
do this even if they have been advised to
do so by the consultant.
R
to whom they are referring. You will look
foolish if you say, “Who’s Michael?”.
If it’s a public company, then know the
share price. This is easily found online.
You should have some idea about how
the company is performing. If it is not a
public company, then see if there are any
recent announcements concerning per-
formance.
Rule number one when
interviewing at a retailer or
hospitality company: visit at
least one of their sites. If you know who your interviewer is then
you should most certainly research them.
They will almost surely be on some form
of social media and you may find useful
clues that will help you. For example, if
you have a similar hobby or support the
same football team.
Just visiting a site may not be enough.
You should do your own SWOT analysis
of the site you visit. SWOT stands for
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. See our article online by
searching ‘SWOT retail appointment’. Be
sure to focus more on the strengths and
opportunities, for no employer wishes to
be told that their business is weak or
threatened. Whilst talking about social media, check
your own profiles as you can be sure the
employer will research you. If you have
anything remotely controversial or poten-
tially embarrassing on your Facebook ac-
count then make it totally private or
remove it. Facebook probably loses more
job opportunities for people than it helps
find. If you’re on Linkedin, then make sure
your profile is up to date.
The next vital piece of research is to find
out what has been said about them in the
press recently. This is easy. Just do an on-
line Google check on the company’s name
and look for anything that has been said
about them. At interview, focus on the pos-
itives and avoid any scandals if you can. This may sound obvious but check,
double check, and then check again
where you are going for the interview.
Check your journey time so that you are
not late. Being late is forgivable and will
probably not be too damaging. But, being
late will make you flustered and you will
not give your best.
Look at the company’s own website and
see what they say about themselves. You
should spend some time on this and
make sure you know the name of the
CEO. Interviewers often refer to their CEO
by their first name and presume you know
Almost all interviewers invite you to ask
questions. The quality of your questions
may be crucial to your success or failure.
Questions about the company’s expan-
sion plans, most challenging trading areas
and how they beat the competition all go
down well. Questions about any recent
bad press may not help; and questions
about your remuneration, holiday entitle-
ment and the like belong at the end of the
process and not at first interview.
Do have a good idea about who their
competitors are. You will often be asked
this. Be careful not to insult them. For ex-
ample, if you’re interviewing with Cartier
you should not suggest that H Samuel is
their competitor. Sainsbury’s is an obvious
competitor to Tesco; but both may take
umbrage at being compared to Lidl. When
discussing competitors, be sure to posi-
tion the employer positively in comparison
to any competitor.
Finally, be prepared to be asked about
other irons you have in the fire. If you are
interviewing elsewhere there is nothing
wrong with telling the employer this. You
may be asked which would be your pref-
erence.
The only answer that the
employer wants to hear is
that they are the first
choice.
You may expect to be shown the door if
you say that their competitor would be
your first choice.
Whatever you say, you must sound like
you are very keen on their job even if you
are not. Let’s face it, you want to be of-
fered. A job offer boosts your confidence,
and may be good enough that they be-
come your first choice. If you don’t get of-
fered, your confidence is damaged and
you’ve missed an opportunity.
“Facebook probably loses more job
opportunities for people than it helps find.”
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