i'm beginning to hate group interviews.
two of the six interviews i had in the past four weeks have been group interview style. you're essentially asked 2-3 impersonal questions that aren't very relevant to the position and you have to make an attempt to answer them in a way that they see fit. it doesn't seem to matter how much i tell them that i live within a reasonable distance or that i have an excellent attendance track record at every job i've ever had.
group interviews are a waste of time for people like me. at reitmans this morning, there were 4 of us; a girl kind of my age and two older, bigger ladies with 30 years of retail experience a piece. how can i even compete with that? my 2 months of retail means nothing compared to years of experience. there was a question about positive work environments, one about meeting people, and one dealing with communication.. or something. all 3 of which i remember nothing about how or what i answered with. i never answered first in any of the questions either and the one lady sitting next to me interrupted me once that i really didn't appreciate.
the "fun" part of the interview was choosing an outfit for the people interviewing me. both of them were bigger, fashionable ladies and i was intimidated. so i went with a classic, simple look (of what i could find in 5 minutes in the store) for the scenario of one of them going to an interview and then going to lunch afterwards: black dress pants, a flowery, colourful top, a black cardigan, flowery white sandals and sparkly bracelets. this was okay in my head. it's what i would probably wear in that situation. but neither of the managers gave any feedback to say if my outfit was a good choice. it was also during this part of the interview that i overheard the managers commenting and judging me and the other younger girl because we were "tiny". as in, we wouldn't fit the clothes? we wouldn't fit in with the team of several older, bigger ladies? i don't know, but i think that's pretty uncalled for. it's not my fault that i'm skinny and you're not; that doesn't give you the right to potentially not offer me a job.
seriously, i hate group interviews. one-on-one interviews are the only ones i can seem to handle right now and at least they can get a pretty clear picture of who i am and what i'm like. reitmans, similar to build a bear workshop, does first round group interviews and then second round one-on-one interviews. if i qualify for a second interview, i'll know by friday of next week. but i highly doubt i'll get it.
but in exciting news, i'm now officially a graduate as of yesterday with a bachelor of arts in tourism and environment! but apparently, being a graduate doesn't make finding a summer job any easier.
