I applied online for the stores in Hamleys, Covent Garden and Stratford but recieved an email from the Build A Bear crew in Hamleys around a month after replying asking if I wanted to go to a group recruitment session the following Sunday from 10am - 12pm. I went and the environment was very relaxed and informal, everyone in a circle just sitting in the store. We first did an ice breaker (say our name, our age and an interesting fact about ourselves) then we had to do some activities. First of all we were put into pairs (there were 10 people at my interview) and we were told we had to create an advertisement for build a bear, they said it could be a role play, a song, rap or whatever, we could also use props from the store. Me and my partner sang Let It Go changing the lyrics to build a bear related stuff and danced with the frozen bears, and they seemed to love it! We then were split into two groups (5 and 5) and were given a christmas song which we had to change the lyrics to suit build a bear and perform it. My group was given Jingle Bells, the other group had All I Want For Christmas. Most of my group were not very co-operative, most of them were really embarrassed about singing and dancing but to be honest I didn't care about that, I really wanted the job! They're looking for people who are outgoing and fun, so be sure to really try to stand out in your interview. We changed the lyrics to stuff like "Build-A-Bear, Build-A-Bear, build a bear today, give it hugs and lots of love and then take it away." It doesn't have to be an amazing song haha just needs to be a bit silly and fun. I sang on my own most of the time cause the others didn't want to, so that really helped me stand out. After that we just sat down on the floor in a circle and the managers asked us each to do a heart ceremony. If you haven't been to Build-A-Bear before basically a heart ceremony is what you do after stuffing your bear. An employee will ask you to do things with a little heart like "put it on your heart, put it on the bears heart, close your eyes, make a wish ect. They gave us a scenario and we had to act as if we were doing a real heart ceremony with that customer. There was a girl who worked there who showed us one as an example before we did ours. I got a whole family, others got someone who is disabled, someone who can't speak english, a really shy girl, a really outgoing boy, if you've built a bear before you will find this easy, just be cheesy and cute and they will love it. After that the managers were firing random questions at us, nothing like typical interview questions. They would just point to someone in the group and say stuff like "Who's your favourite member of one direction and why?" "Who's your favourite marvel superhero and why?" "How many donuts can you eat in one go?" Just silly stuff like that, they're looking for people who are fun and outgoing, so just make some jokes and be lively and chatty and they will love you. After that we had to fill out a form with our contact details and our accessibility and stuff like that. And then we had to do an online test, they told us that no matter how much they love us, if we fail the test they can't hire us. It was really easy questions like "do you take drugs before work" and just stupid stuff like that. There was also some questions explaining scenarios and if you agree with what happened. Don't lie, but try to think how they would want you to answer. They want people who will give great customer service and will be very honest in the workplace, so keep that in mind. They said they would call us that day to let us know if they want us or not but they didn't call until Tuesday. I actually missed the call so instead of waiting for them to call again as they didn't leave a message I just rang them back, a guy picked up the phone pretty quick, I just said my name and that I had a missed call and then he asked if I wanted to join the team!!! I said yes and he then told me about a Hamley's induction I had to go to that Saturday (nothing to do with Build-A-Bear but since I work in Hamley's I had to know fire exits ect) So I went to that and it was fine, then went to my Build-A-Bear induction this morning and then had my first shift at 12! If you've got an interview just be yourself, be happy, outgoing, friendly, lively, chatty and all stuff like that so you stand out and show that you're the type of person they are looking for! Good luck!

I applied online using my CV, then got a call a little while later. First of all I had a group interview, there were about 12 of us there. The assistant manager was interviewing us and asked a question then went around the circle. They were fairly creative questions, firstly about the business itself and then about your personality. We then had to do some active, creative tasks individually and in a group. I got a phone call that day inviting me for a second, 1 on 1 interview a few days later. This was more formal, about myself and what I'm doing currently. I then completed an online test and was sent home. I got offered the job that day. It was probably the best interview process I have done.