After dropping off an application, the initial interview was scheduled immediately after a rudimentary mathematics test. This interview consisted of 'canned' interview questions, a tiny bit of scribbling according to what the answers were, and a pass along, up the chain, to an area manager. In this case, the area manager's name was Assad. I went to meet with Assad, and had an interview that stretched over an hour, during which we discussed all kinds of things, only maybe a quarter or a third of them having anything to do with actual work in this position. He told me that I was hired, as soon as the background check would return, and that it _was not a problem_ that I couldn't work graveyards, being a _single parent_. He told me that the manager of the local store that I would be working at (#140) would be able to bump my times of arrival, shift completion, and other things around so that I wouldn't have to work any hours that my son was not in school. He re-iterated this point multiple times, making certain that _I_ knew that _they_ would work with _whatever hours I was willing to commit to_, in this case from 9am-2:30pm; my son's school hours. Upon meeting up with the trainer on my initial day of training, she asked me if I was told that I would have to be working graveyard shift, to which I immediately and emphatically replied _NO_. Well, to make a long, frustrating story short, it turns out that, as a general corporate rule, they do not put anybody entry-level in any hours that aren't graveyard. There are no exceptions to that rule. They hired me on, which I'd told my social worker about, prior to finding out it was all based on lies, and now I'm losing my TANF benefits thanks to this place playing 'bait and switch' with me. Best part is that I got it all on video, and audio, recordings. The corporate guys bent over backwards to try to make things right, but they simply couldn't. I probably wouldn't have been so pissed if they wouldn't have repeatedly tried to call it a _misunderstanding_. You guys, a misunderstanding is when _a proper attempt at communication is made_. This guy flat out lied to me. Let me know if y'all would like to see the video or audio coverage of the interviews or the process by which I got booted out, and paid for 1 hour of work, which is subsequently leaving my son, and my single-sole-provider self potentially out on the street, right after arriving in this new city. You can't trust anybody, anywhere, unfortunately. On my way out the door, after I returned for full copies of the paperwork, to try to save my case with social services, the trainer confided in me (a couple of times) that this isn't the first time that Assad had played 'bait and switch' with people he was hiring. Don't work for guys who lie straight to their employees' faces, guys. Boycott these liars out of existence. :|

Plaid applications are available at all stores and online. Applicants must submit a hard copy to any store--the store where you submit will not necessarily be the store where you work. Your application will be forwarded to the area manager, who will decide what store needs help at that time. You will likely interview at the store where you turned in your application: first, by that store manager, then by the area manager (two separate occasions). Before the first interview, you must complete a very short, very simple math test. Really, it's super easy to get 100%. Then, the store manager will ask you stock questions printed on an "interview" sheet and will write vague references to your answers before turning this sheet into the area manager. Assuming you are mostly a capable human, you'll meet with the area manager probably within a week, who will ask you if you're okay with working graveyards, will tell you to try your best and not be lazy, and who will tell you that you absolutely must remain busy at work. Then they'll send you to Plaid College or University or whatever it's called, where the trainer is SUPER RUDE but the tests are easy. Then you'll train for two days at your store. Not difficult stuff, really, and most Plaids are not awful to work for. They'll call one of your old jobs and ask about you. There is a background check. There is no drug test.