Initial telephone screening interview with Talents Manager. Talents Manager was affable enough, but clearly had not prepared for the interview, opening question being how much notice I needed to give in current job despite both my CV and covering letter clearly stating my availability for an immediate start!
No interest or questions about any of my previous employers or types of products sold whatsoever. I was only asked crib sheet questions about figures, rotas, stocktake accuracy, stock loss, expected salary, etc. Background noise made it difficult to hear interview questions at times. I couldn't tell if Talents Manager was working from home with children playing in the background or was in an open plan office with colleagues laughing and joking nearby. Either way, it didn't come across as professional!
Despite my considerable managerial experience in similar retail environments and in selling the kind of products Smiggle stock in most of my previous positions, and expecting to be progressed to the next stage on this basis, I was surprised to receive a follow-up message some two weeks later thanking me for my time and advising that I was not successful and wouldn't be progressed to a face-to-face interview with the Regional Manager. So much for relevant experience , close proximity to the store, and availability for an immediate start!
Smiggle then continued to advertise the vacancy for well over a month after this. The store did not appear to be well managed subseqently. Not at all impressed!
Domande di colloquio [1]
Domanda 1
How much notice do you need to give? How many staff have you managed? How far in advance do you do your rotas? How many ways can you do your rotas? What figures did your work with? What was your stocktake accuracy? What was your stock loss? What holiday do you have booked? What is your expected salary?
Ho presentato la mia candidatura online. La procedura ha richiesto una settimana. Ho sostenuto un colloquio presso Smiggle nel mese di mar 2018
Colloquio
Had a telephone interview which lasted approx 45mins. Quite indepth questions regarding KPIs, management experience scenario based questions. Lady from HR who interviewed me was so lovely very friendly. Great first impression of company. I was given example questions which i needed to prepare for interview along with a SWOT analysis. I turned up for store interview with area manager. She honestly looked like she had rolled out of bed wearing a hoodie and trainers. I knew the company was fun and relaxed but that didnt give mea great first impression especially when she didnt know what store i was applying for (she was doing interviews for 2 store manager roles for her region). But when she didnt have my cv to hand and asked me about my experience i felt that was rude and unprofessional that she hadnt prepared. I noticed she was also using the assistant managers interview questions which i didnt mind but again it all seemed very unprofessional which was a shame as the telephone interview was so positive and really made me feel this was a good company to work for.
The interview lasted about 45mins i wasnt asked any of the questions i had prepared for or did not ask for my swot analysis. I left feeling unsure of what to make of the interview as all seemed a bit bizarre. The questions were quite straight forward and had enough experience to answer them well. I was offered the job with a respectable salary however i was also offered another job elsewhere so weighing up the two options smiggle unfortunately seemed unprofessional and i didnt get a great first impression from the area manager who i would be working with/for. The negative reviews on the company did influence me aswell so i decided to turn down the job.
Domande di colloquio [1]
Domanda 1
Can you give an example of how you have managed a poor performer?
Ho presentato la mia candidatura tramite un'altra fonte. La procedura ha richiesto 2 settimane. Ho sostenuto un colloquio presso Smiggle nel mese di feb 2018
Colloquio
I have applied for a role of Store manager in one of their stores. I had initial phone screening with their recruitment department and offered a telephone interview at later date. The telephone interview lasted for an hour and I felt it went really well and I answered all questions to both mine and recruiters satisfaction. I was successful and was offered one to one interview with one of their Area Managers. Because I was relocating at that point I was still living over 300miles from the store I was being interviewed for. I have made arrangements but the interview was cancelled day before due to “area manager not being in the area” and couldn’t make it. We have rescheduled the interview. I have prepared SWOT analysis of the store, as asked by recruiter, and brought it with me. When I arrived for the interview I was asked to look around the store. Once the area manager was ready I was taken to the back of the store, which looked like warehouse office and staffroom in one. I was sat on a box whilst a team member was sat on the floor next to me eating lunch. From the beginning I had a bad impression of the area manager as they looked like they just got out of the bed in joggers and hoodie. They have not even read my CV, luckily I had a copy with me so they could quickly scan through it. The questions asked I have already answered during my telephone interview. The whole interview took roughly 15 minutes and I wasn’t asked to go through my findings in SWOT analysis. I have never heard back from the company whether I was successful or not. I believe I dodged a bullet there.