This is a copy and paste from my email that I sent to my Career Planning Seminar teacher. I'm a senior at High School and 17 years old. Here it is...I would like your opinion on the interview.
*****
I just got home from my interview at Staples. It was definitely a unique experience. I came into the store dressed up (I even bought dress shoes an hour before the interview) and I introduced myself and said that I was there for the interview with Mr. Sauchier. I even remembered to ask a fellow worker for the spelling of his name. Umm, one of the workers said he had called 5 people and I was one of the 5. A worker who knew Mr. Norm Sauchier even joked around with me saying "Hey I told him to hire you." I was like "Heh heh...okay." That stranger guy put me on the spot.
I met this one guy, his name was Bruce. I think he was the guy in charge of employement. I shook hands with him but I forgot to tell him my name. This might hurt me in the long run, you'll see why at the end of my story.
He had to take care of some business around the store before the interview so despite me getting there 10 minutes early, I didn't get interviewed until around 4:05pm. The minute I saw him, I shook his hand and told him what position I was seeking. I asked him if he wanted a copy of my resume and reference sheet and explained to him that my references on the application were out of date. He seemed somewhat shocked...kinda like a "wow" expression on his face.
He sat me down and looked over my app. He says the reason my application caught his eye was because of my knowledge. He immediately talks about the store warrenties. He talks about how manufacturer warrenties are bad because the consumer has to ship the broken product to some factory, pay for the shipping and wait a long amount of time until he/she gets the product back (30-60 days).
He goes on rambling about warrenties and how Staples has an in-house warrenty program thing where if the product breaks, the customer can bring the product back into the store and get a new one immediately. Then he talks about how things can easily break because of how manufacturers are using cheaper material and how the failure rate is rising. He then talks about how a Sales Associate needs to talk about store warrenties and add-ons to products that the customer buys (ex: When a customer buys a printer, the associate has to inform the customer about the printer cable, printer cartridges, etc.)
He then brags about how the Staples in Shelton has the best successful warrenty percentile or something wierd like that. He says out of all the states, that Shelton Staples was #1. He asked me what did I think of that, I was like "That's impressive." He talks about how Staples is a big corporation and how Staples owns a stadium in Los Angeles, CA and how there are always Staples commercials during football games.
He moves onto talking about the training program. He says the training program is just the basics. He admits that the training program isn't difficult and that you won't be learning stuff like from the A+ certification program. He then asks me about going up 6-step ladders to stock items. I was like "I can tolerate them but I don't like them too much" or something along those lines. He was like That's normal and workers tend to end up appreciating them.
He then asks me "So do you have any questions?" I asked him "When will you be making your decision?" He said "This weekend, but probably even sooner, probably around Wednesday." I should have asked, "May I call you back if I don't hear from you by Wednesday" but I forgot to. Oops.
He looks over my application again, reads my references and resume and talks about how at the Shelton Staples, they hand-pick people and that they only pick the best of the best, the cream of the crop. They pick intelligent, knowledgable people, etc. and mentions my Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance. He asks how many hours would I want to work in a week. I said 15-20 hours. He says that since I'm still in school, it should always come first. That is the #1 priority and that Staples is only a supplement to school. He goes onto talk about Staples provides the red shirt and how I would have to "wear my nametag and never let anyone catch [me] not wearing one."
He says that as for salary, he says he'll definitely give Bruce my application and that he's just a screener so he can't speak about salary. He says someone with my "extensive knowledge and experience is impressive" and near the end of the interview, he asks me if there are any other questions to ask. I was like "No thank you" and he says "Are you sure?" I was like "Yes" He reiterates how he's going to give Bruce my application and we both said it was a pleasure meeting you and parted our ways. The reason I said earlier that not stating my name will hurt me is because Bruce probably can't associate my name with my face.
The thing I didn't like about the interview was that I did not get to say much. I just nodded and said yes most of the time. It was hard to chime in because the guy rambled the whole time. I didn't need to mention any strengthes or weaknesses. Safe to say, I was caught off-guard at how unique this interview was compared to the stuff in the handouts you gave in class. When driving home, I felt as if there were so much more that I could have said. I didn't mention how I shopped at Staples frequently. I didn't get to mention how I was a team-player because earlier, he mentioned how the workers would get awards for their hard individual and team-work. I did maintain very good eye contact though and I was only a little nervous so that helped.
Anyways, I have a feeling that if I get called back, I'll have to go in and talk to Bruce for a "real" interview. I'm a pessemist but I think he was a *little* disappointed after talking to me in person compared to seeing my application. It's hard to explain how he reacted, from my point of view at least. Looking on the bright side, he was still pretty happy the whole time. I guess I'll have to wait until Wednesday or at the latest, this weekend, to see if they made their decision.
*****
I just got home from my interview at Staples. It was definitely a unique experience. I came into the store dressed up (I even bought dress shoes an hour before the interview) and I introduced myself and said that I was there for the interview with Mr. Sauchier. I even remembered to ask a fellow worker for the spelling of his name. Umm, one of the workers said he had called 5 people and I was one of the 5. A worker who knew Mr. Norm Sauchier even joked around with me saying "Hey I told him to hire you." I was like "Heh heh...okay." That stranger guy put me on the spot.
I met this one guy, his name was Bruce. I think he was the guy in charge of employement. I shook hands with him but I forgot to tell him my name. This might hurt me in the long run, you'll see why at the end of my story.
He had to take care of some business around the store before the interview so despite me getting there 10 minutes early, I didn't get interviewed until around 4:05pm. The minute I saw him, I shook his hand and told him what position I was seeking. I asked him if he wanted a copy of my resume and reference sheet and explained to him that my references on the application were out of date. He seemed somewhat shocked...kinda like a "wow" expression on his face.
He sat me down and looked over my app. He says the reason my application caught his eye was because of my knowledge. He immediately talks about the store warrenties. He talks about how manufacturer warrenties are bad because the consumer has to ship the broken product to some factory, pay for the shipping and wait a long amount of time until he/she gets the product back (30-60 days).
He goes on rambling about warrenties and how Staples has an in-house warrenty program thing where if the product breaks, the customer can bring the product back into the store and get a new one immediately. Then he talks about how things can easily break because of how manufacturers are using cheaper material and how the failure rate is rising. He then talks about how a Sales Associate needs to talk about store warrenties and add-ons to products that the customer buys (ex: When a customer buys a printer, the associate has to inform the customer about the printer cable, printer cartridges, etc.)
He then brags about how the Staples in Shelton has the best successful warrenty percentile or something wierd like that. He says out of all the states, that Shelton Staples was #1. He asked me what did I think of that, I was like "That's impressive." He talks about how Staples is a big corporation and how Staples owns a stadium in Los Angeles, CA and how there are always Staples commercials during football games.
He moves onto talking about the training program. He says the training program is just the basics. He admits that the training program isn't difficult and that you won't be learning stuff like from the A+ certification program. He then asks me about going up 6-step ladders to stock items. I was like "I can tolerate them but I don't like them too much" or something along those lines. He was like That's normal and workers tend to end up appreciating them.
He then asks me "So do you have any questions?" I asked him "When will you be making your decision?" He said "This weekend, but probably even sooner, probably around Wednesday." I should have asked, "May I call you back if I don't hear from you by Wednesday" but I forgot to. Oops.
He looks over my application again, reads my references and resume and talks about how at the Shelton Staples, they hand-pick people and that they only pick the best of the best, the cream of the crop. They pick intelligent, knowledgable people, etc. and mentions my Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance. He asks how many hours would I want to work in a week. I said 15-20 hours. He says that since I'm still in school, it should always come first. That is the #1 priority and that Staples is only a supplement to school. He goes onto talk about Staples provides the red shirt and how I would have to "wear my nametag and never let anyone catch [me] not wearing one."
He says that as for salary, he says he'll definitely give Bruce my application and that he's just a screener so he can't speak about salary. He says someone with my "extensive knowledge and experience is impressive" and near the end of the interview, he asks me if there are any other questions to ask. I was like "No thank you" and he says "Are you sure?" I was like "Yes" He reiterates how he's going to give Bruce my application and we both said it was a pleasure meeting you and parted our ways. The reason I said earlier that not stating my name will hurt me is because Bruce probably can't associate my name with my face.
The thing I didn't like about the interview was that I did not get to say much. I just nodded and said yes most of the time. It was hard to chime in because the guy rambled the whole time. I didn't need to mention any strengthes or weaknesses. Safe to say, I was caught off-guard at how unique this interview was compared to the stuff in the handouts you gave in class. When driving home, I felt as if there were so much more that I could have said. I didn't mention how I shopped at Staples frequently. I didn't get to mention how I was a team-player because earlier, he mentioned how the workers would get awards for their hard individual and team-work. I did maintain very good eye contact though and I was only a little nervous so that helped.
Anyways, I have a feeling that if I get called back, I'll have to go in and talk to Bruce for a "real" interview. I'm a pessemist but I think he was a *little* disappointed after talking to me in person compared to seeing my application. It's hard to explain how he reacted, from my point of view at least. Looking on the bright side, he was still pretty happy the whole time. I guess I'll have to wait until Wednesday or at the latest, this weekend, to see if they made their decision.
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