I now get to do the interviewing at my store

[JustaCashier]

Along with the advice already given, I think it would be a good idea to practice doing interviews with family, friends, and maybe even coworkers. It won't be exactly the same, but may help put you at ease at asking questions, and establishing an interviewing style.

Don't bother practicing on family pets if you have any. The dog will just look at you with his tongue hanging out, and wagging his tail, and the cat will just turn around, stick his butt in your face and saunter away.

[WonTon]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Everyone had great points for me. As for the weird questions that have nothing to do with the job, no worries. I'm really anal rententive about doing things by the book as far as that goes.

I guess I'm just more nervous about it than anything. I mean, you're screwing with someones life by deciding their financial state for them...or worse yet, your own if they suck.

Anyway, thanks guys!

[Slave to the Phone]

Along with the advice already given, I think it would be a good idea to practice doing interviews with family, friends, and maybe even coworkers. It won't be exactly the same, but may help put you at ease at asking questions, and establishing an interviewing style.

Yes, yes, yes!!! This is just what I was going to suggest. Ask your trainer for her list of interview questions and then practice, practice, practice. You need to be confident and in control. If you have doubts about your performance, you will focus on them instead of the person you are interviewing.

I also agree that small talk is important. It sets you both at ease and helps you to know if this person will fit in well with the team.

...and the cat will just turn around, stick his butt in your face and saunter away.

I kinda disagree with this. None of my cats would never do such a thing.

They would just yawn and go to sleep

[Byronthebanker]

I would always ask, "why us. .. lots of people offer lots of jobs all the time, why would you like to work here?"

The company had a card with about 25 pre-appoved interview quesitons on it, but that was just a guideline. Where I work now they use an interview style that starts out like, "Tell me about a time when . .. ." the subject has to tell stories from their past mostly.


I would like to ask questions more like these:
(just cause don't you think all baggers and cashiers should know this stuff?)

A train leaves Los Angeles for New York at a constant speed of 15 miles an hour. At the same moment, a train leaves New York for Los Angeles on the same track. It travels at a constant 20 miles an hour. At still the same moment, a bird leaves the LA train station and flies toward NY, following the track, at a speed of 25 mph. When is reaches the train from NY, it instantly reverses direction. It travels the same speed until it reaches the train from LA, when it reverses again, and so forth. The bird flies back and forth between the two trains until the very moment they collide. Given that the train stations are 3500 miles apart, how far will the bird have traveled?

OR

You have a 5-quart bucket and a 3-quart bucket and an infinate supply of water. How can you measure out exactly 4 quarts?

[WonTon]

A train leaves Los Angeles for New York at a constant speed of 15 miles an hour. At the same moment, a train leaves New York for Los Angeles on the same track. It travels at a constant 20 miles an hour. At still the same moment, a bird leaves the LA train station and flies toward NY, following the track, at a speed of 25 mph. When is reaches the train from NY, it instantly reverses direction. It travels the same speed until it reaches the train from LA, when it reverses again, and so forth. The bird flies back and forth between the two trains until the very moment they collide. Given that the train stations are 3500 miles apart, how far will the bird have traveled?

OR

You have a 5-quart bucket and a 3-quart bucket and an infinate supply of water. How can you measure out exactly 4 quarts?

Haha! I work at a fine art supply store. 99% of all artists have no concept of math and such things. That actually would be a good ice breaker!

[Gurndigarn]

I would like to ask questions more like these:
(just cause don't you think all baggers and cashiers should know this stuff?)

No, I don't, which is why I'ld not use them unless you're interviewing for a position that requires logic. Or having read a few logic puzzle books.

A train leaves Los Angeles for New York at a constant speed of 15 miles an hour. At the same moment, a train leaves New York for Los Angeles on the same track. It travels at a constant 20 miles an hour. At still the same moment, a bird leaves the LA train station and flies toward NY, following the track, at a speed of 25 mph. When is reaches the train from NY, it instantly reverses direction. It travels the same speed until it reaches the train from LA, when it reverses again, and so forth. The bird flies back and forth between the two trains until the very moment they collide. Given that the train stations are 3500 miles apart, how far will the bird have traveled?

It would drop dead of exhaustion and disorientation, after having flown just over two thousand miles (it would have been just under two thousand miles if the poor thing was able to reverse course with no turn radius), with a series of dizzying turns at the very end.

You have a 5-quart bucket and a 3-quart bucket and an infinate supply of water. How can you measure out exactly 4 quarts?

You can't, because it's damn near impossible to carry or pour one into the other without spilling a few drops here and there. Now, if the buckets came with gyroscopic stabalizers and liquid-inertia dampeners, you could fill up the three gallon bucket, pour it into the five gallon one, fill the three bucket again, pour out just enough to fill the five gallong one the rest of the way, dump the five gallon out, pour the remaining gallon in the three bucket in, and top off with one more three gallon bucketful.

[WonTon]

Like I said, artist have no concept of math and numbers. My eyes just glazed over reading that, haha....



You'd be a poor candidate for the job. j/k

[Barefootgirl]

You can't, because it's damn near impossible to carry or pour one into the other without spilling a few drops here and there. Now, if the buckets came with gyroscopic stabalizers and liquid-inertia dampeners, you could fill up the three gallon bucket, pour it into the five gallon one, fill the three bucket again, pour out just enough to fill the five gallong one the rest of the way, dump the five gallon out, pour the remaining gallon in the three bucket in, and top off with one more three gallon bucketful.

*head hurts*

I want a third bucket. That way, i can fill the 5-quart bucket, then pour the contents of that bucket into the 3-quart bucket. What's left in the 5-quart bucket is 2 quarts. Put that into the 3rd bucket, then repeat.

[Bella_Vixen]

My head hurts now.


And I am nervous for when I become assistant manager, because in my company, they don't keep you at AM for very long. They bump you up in SSL in a realtively short time. I don't think I can hadling interviewing people, I suck BEING interviwed.

[DistantStar]

I don't interview people, but a decent chunk of my time at work I'm the operator. So if you are calling up about an application or interview or something and are rude to me, I will tell the people in personnel. They like that idea, by the way. Do take current employees' opinions into account if they interact with a candidate, please.

[WonTon]

Funny you should mention that. ^^^ I called someone up for an interview and when I got off the phone two associates came up to me and told me what an a-hole this guy was!

I'm like, "Can you please tap me on the shoulder when someone is filling out an app so I can talk to the person to see if they are INSANE or not?!" Ahhh! I told them, from now on please put a Post It on their app describing their personality. We actually had a good laugh about this. I even had customers laughing too.

Come to find out, they were thinking of a different guy. The one I called was a nicer dude.

**In a perfect world, I would like to have the hopeful come and talk to management about getting a job. It would make things easier.

[Becks]

WonTon, when I was working at the gas station, the owner asked us cashiers to put a note on the incoming applications, asking us to note if they seemed friendly, etc. One girl that I highly recommended got hired. I'm glad.

[WonTon]

So, I got to sit in on the interview today with the guy I called yesterday. Both the SM and I have nothing but nice things to say about him. We want to hire him....but we still have one more interview tomorrow and we have to be fair. *whispers* I think our boy today will get the job.