Thought I would leave a full on essay since what people wrote on this page helped me so much in my interview! After applying online for a christmas temp position at Metro Centre in Gateshead, and completing the skills test, I got an email the next day saying I had been successful in getting to the next stage and a link to book an interview slot. This was a thursday and I selected for my interview to be the coming monday at 3pm. I was told in my email to give thought to a product that matches my personality for one of the tasks.
I arrived at the store about 25 minutes early and had a wander around to re-familiarise myself with the layout a bit more (it's quite big with two floors). I then told a customer assistant I was there for an interview and she showed me where to sign in and led me to the staff room to wait for the manager. When it was time for my interview a manager led me to an office where she told me not to worry, it's all very informal and relaxed etc. She was really nice and definitely put me at ease. She then asked the usual questions about availability, and if I had any experience in a similar environment. I haven't worked in retail before, but have customer service experience from my time working at Domino's, which I explained my role to her. She seemed pleased with this and said this experience would definitely come in handy in the role. I had looked on this site in preparation for my interview and saw pretty much everyone said they were asked why they wanted to work at boots so I was prepared for her asking me this. She then went on to ask several experience based questions such as 'tell me about a time you felt inexperienced going into a role and how you handled this'- I drew on my time as a project leader for a youth club at university and she seemed to appreciate this.
After these questions we went out onto the shop floor and she asked me a few scenario questions, such as how I would know if a customer did or didn't want help - common sense, here, customers who make eye contact, look a bit unsure, milling around etc. ask if they want help, customers who avoid eye contact with you, make a beeline for an aisle etc. less likely to want/need help. Other questions included things like how would I approach a customer- eye contact, smiling, ask if they are okay, need any help. How do I think a customer should be made to feel - like I am approachable, unafraid to ask for things, not embarrassed etc.
We then went to my chosen product and I was asked to talk to her about it, essentially selling how amazing this product is. I was then supposed to look for actual customers in the store to go up to and offer to help. However around 3pm on a monday afternoon, there was essentially nobody in the store. We wandered around downstairs and upstairs until we gave up and the manager just pretended to be a woman who I had to offer help to. I asked her what she was looking for, who it was for (her niece), the age of the person and if they like any particular brands / products etc. She said she was a beautician so I recommended a gift set of various creams and products as it gives her the chance to try a range of items. Finally we walked through the aisles and she asked how I would make them look ready for customers, and the effect this would have on the store. I said the usual make sure stock is filled up, everything pulled forward, in the right place. And I said this would firstly obviously allow customers to see and find what they want easily, which would mean boots would be selling more things than if it were messy. However I also mentioned that it being tidy would be beneficial to Boots' name, in that when stores are messy they are generally known for this, like primark. This isn't what Boot's want to be known for, instead they want people to associate it with always being a nice and tidy place.
We then went back to the office and she said she would like to offer me a job, and she would go and check which positions were available that would suit me. She came back and offered me a full time position working on the shop floor interacting with customers, which I accepted. Start in November!
A piece of feedback she gave me which could be quite useful if you have an interview is that she liked how in depth most of my answers were. Rather than just giving her an answer to what she asked I generally said why I would do that, and sometimes gave examples of similar situations I'd dealt with in my voluntary role or at Domino's. Hope this helps anyone who has an interview!
