Smart/casual for Blockbuster interview?

j-josie

Hi there. My DS has an interview with Blockbuster for a p/t job as store assistant (yey!). He has been told to turn up wearing black, 'smart/casual'.
So, should he have a proper shirt or would a polo shirt be smart enough (he would make sure it was not one of those fashionably crumpled/frayed ones...)
Polo shirt has the re-wearability factor but maybe too casual? He has no black tops so needs to buy whatever.

Plus, has anyone any advise on what q's he can expect at the interview and any suggestions for any q's he can ask?

Many thanks

DizzleUK

Black trousers, neutral shirt and tie. I would always wear this for an interview regardless of it being a corner shop or a multi-billion dollar company.

I would imagine the interview questions would be fairly standard. Background history, strengths/weaknesses, aspirations, knowledge of role applying for. That sort of thing.

j-josie

Thanks for your reply. He has just bought brand new black shirt from Ebay so hopefully that will do. (He says shirt def has to be black)
But has also ordered plain black polo shirt (so no further on really!)
As for experience..well he's still at 6th form and this would be first job but he has watched a lot of films and played a lot of XBox games, lol :rotfl:

DizzleUK

I must admit I am a little concerned/confused as to why there is a stipulation that an interviewee MUST wear black (though the staff at my local Blockbusters do lean toward the weird end of the spectrum).

If he is still at school/college, expect the early questions to focus on what he is studying and what he plans to do afterwards. Being a part-time out of school hours position, I wouldn't expect anything too challenging.

I think the main thing will be his demonstration that he can communicate well with other people and has an outgoing personality.

I used to have a managerial position and I had to hire Saturday staff (usually 6th formers). With their CV's being light on info due to their age, the main thing I looked for was whether they were "switched on" or not. A 5 minute informal(ish) chat about their A level choices, what they wanted to do after (uni etc) and hobbies/interests usually sufficed.

botanical

j-josie wrote: »

Hi there. My DS has an interview with Blockbuster for a p/t job as store assistant (yey!). He has been told to turn up wearing black, 'smart/casual'.
So, should he have a proper shirt or would a polo shirt be smart enough (he would make sure it was not one of those fashionably crumpled/frayed ones...)
Polo shirt has the re-wearability factor but maybe too casual? He has no black tops so needs to buy whatever.

Plus, has anyone any advise on what q's he can expect at the interview and any suggestions for any q's he can ask?

Many thanks

Congratulations and good luck!
I would say not a polo shirt, too casual. Dress for the interview, not the job. Black trousers, nice plain shirt (I like flattering blue) and a tie.

It does impress in an interview if he can show that he's already prepared for the interview and knows what the job entails.

Just a small question or remark can do it, like 'I know the job has shifts, does it mean two shifts can be worked together?

Anything really to show preparation and intelligence.

j-josie

Dizzle: the 'all in black thing' weirded me out too! DS is a cheerful, optimistic soul so doesn't 'do' black really. Now, if it was his sister that would be a different thing:p
And as for a 5 min chat...well they told him it could involve role play (!)
It's only for 1 shift a week, for goodness sake!

Botanical: thanks for your comments too. It seems the shirt has it (that's what my DH said too so he'll be pleased & saying 'I told you so', lol)

DS would really love the job. He is going to research the company a bit so hopefully he'll communicate well and start earning some money soon...

DizzleUK

Request to wear black + roleplay = :eek:

This is the high street chain he's going to and not the "other" video shop with the blacked out windows?

purplerose

Black trousers, black shirt and a tie would be good, I'd leave the polo shirt as it's a bit too casual.

As for experience - he's been at school for years so he's got experience from that. If he has any hobbies such as playing football or a member of any clubs then these are all good things to draw experience from.

For example - Have you ever worked within a team? He can say yes because he did a group project at school/is a member of a certain football team/is a member of the XYZ club.

What benefits came from working in a team? - It's good to have the support of others and the ability to support your team mates when required. It's motivating to work in a team as everyone wants to do their best and not let the others down.

Other questions that might be asked -

Tell me about yourself.

What's your top 3 skills?

What do you think is good customer service? He can say what he thinks good customer service is based upon a time he has had a good customer service experience in a shop e.g. the sales assistant was knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, polite.

Why do you want to work for blockbuster?

What would you do if a customer was angry because they had to pay extra for late return of a DVD?

What would you do if a customer asked for an item that was out of stock?

In addition to that I imagine movie and gaming knowledge is probably important so having a look at the latest DVD releases might not hurt either.

Also, I have a friend who intereviewed for them about 2 or 3 years ago and she was asked to stock shelves and ask customers if they required any help for 20 mins before the actual interview. They just wanted to see if she was capable of that kind of thing seeing as that would be the sort of thing she'd have to do in the job. So make sure he's prepared for that as some people can freak out when asked to do that sort of thing. They may have a different recruitment procedure now but it's good to be prepared.

Questions he can ask: How many people work together on a shift? How do you train people? How long does the training last? When do you plan to make the decision by?

If they have answered all that and he can't think of anything else then this has helped me: "well I think everything has been covered thoroughly already so I have no additional questions, thank you".

The above might seem a lot but if he's had a wee think about these things beforehand then he'll hopefully have a more structured answer prepared rather than being caught off guard.

I hope he gets it

j-josie

Purplerose, thanks for all your good suggestions. I'll show him this thread so he can do some preparatory work.
DizzleUK: I know, I know. Do you think I should walk him there, just to make sure he has the right video shop??:p
Now, if they text to him to say bring a mask and a wet lettuce leaf, I 'm not letting him go:rotfl:

stephyt23

Goog luck to him.

Is very odd that they are telling him what colour to wear to an interview.

pinkteapot

I bet the role-play will be dealing with a difficult customer. You can practise this with him.

For example, rentals have to be returned by 10pm on the day they are due back. So the role play might be the interviewer taking the role of a customer who returns their DVD shortly after the cut-off.

Assuming the job is customer-facing they'll just be checking that your son is personable and will keep his cool if he has to deal with a chavtastic numpty customer. Which, based on the people I usually see in my local Blockbuster, is entirely likely.

He should show an interest in film - the Blockbuster staff always comment on the films we're renting, whether they enjoyed them etc.