I applied online. Did the online assessment and was called for an interview. I arrived there about 30 minutes earlier and did a recce to familiarize myself with the store layout. About 5 minutes to the scheduled time, I approached a sales assistant and told her I was there for an interview and she pointed me to another colleague. I was asked to sign myself in and was then taken to a canteen where I was asked to wait. I had to wait for about 1/2 an hour before an assistant manager showed up and said she would be conducting part of my interview.
Following the interview, I was taken to the shop floor and introduced to another assistant manager who asked me to go about talking to customers. I have previous experience, so I was quite confident approaching the customers. The AM then asked me to talk about a product that I liked and then she asked me to try selling it (!!). I had prepared for the first part and spoke about a product for blemish prone skin. But how do you sell that to customers when they are not specifically looking for that sort of product? I mean if I just approached someone with that product it could seem rude, like i was telling them they had blemished skin and required that product. Anyway, i went about speaking to customers and asking them what they were looking for and suggesting some products. There weren't many customers in the skin care section though. When I turned to look at the AM from time to time, she didn't appear to be paying any attention to what I was doing, which was a little discouraging.
Anyway, after I finished the in store assessment, I asked her a couple of questions about the shifts, timings and management. Before I left she told me I would be notified by phone or email if I had made it through. After about a week, I got an email saying I was not successful and that I should try again after 6 months!!I was completely disheartened especially since I had left the store feeling really confident because all the customers I had spoken with seemed satisfied with my assistance.
Anyway, that being said, I did think the questions in my interview this time were a lot tougher than the last time.