My first-ever job-interview in Canada

Today I got my first-ever job-interview in Canada. It was a clothes store chain I applied about a month ago. On Friday I got an email from the store telling me that they had a hiring event coming on the next day. And so I went, without bringing my resume whatsoever. I stepped in the store and found a line of people queuing up. When it is my turn, I was asked why I was interested in working there and one best team I had ever worked in. I was actually cheating, because I heard people in front of me being asked the same questions and prepared myself with them. After that, the manager told me to come back next Tuesday or Wednesday for an audition. I did not even know what on earth that was. Asking the manager, she told me it was a group interview where candidates talk, play etc. to know each other better and the like.

I then searched the Internet for tips and advice for group interview, getting myself prepared. When Wednesday came, I went back to the store after school. To my amazement, I did not feel nervous at all.

I and a young woman were the only two out of five or so people who showed up. Even with fewer candidates, I did not feel I would win the job anyway lol. The manager first asked us to introduce ourselves and tell her one thing that we knew about the company. At that moment, my head swam a little. What? I did not do any research about the company at all. I ended up telling them that I find staffs there are nice (Yeah, that was what I got…). Then she took a roll of toilet paper (yup), and ripped off some, gave it to us, asking us to do the same. That was for the next part of the interview. As it turned out, we had to tell one another interesting facts about ourselves with the amount of paper sheets we got. The manager told us 12 things and the young woman got 16. I got 13 sheets, a good omen… (just joking, I am not that superstitious lol)

The final part is to throw a dice and we had to complete the mission shown on it. “Find apparel combination with a T-shirt for a customer’s blind date” is what I got, after my fourth attempt (The first time is the same with the young woman, therefore, I needed to do it again, and I got 2 blanks in a row…).

I then enthusiastically went shopping for clothes, women clothes lol. I do not know what others were thinking. This guy seems really happy shopping for women clothes perhaps. Since it was a blind date and a T-shirt, I went for casualness. A pair of jeans, a pair of sneakers, a shirt functioned as a jacket and a little bag are my combination. The manager then told us to put them back exactly where we had found them. Dramatically enough, we both got back from different directions at the same time.

That was it. The manager told us that whoever gets the job would be contacted via email and thanked us for coming. Then we thanked back in return, blah blah blah. When I was walking home, I thought I’m so not getting the job. Because of my lack of knowledge about the company and explanation to the clothes I chose; especially when compare to the young woman’s awareness of the new arrival of swimming suits in the store.

As I had expected, I did not get the job. Even so, I consider this a very interesting and rewarding experience. It makes me aware that I really need to at least get to know the company in which I apply a position, such as their policy, aims, achievements etc.