Sophie's Choice

Surprise of surprises, I got the other job I interviewed for yesterday. I actually accepted both jobs and, it's possible that I could have actually done both of them...but that would have been a bit nutso...and I was looking for a fun-ish job that will get me out of the house and give me something to do. I wasn't looking to make myself mental working 60+ hours @ two retail jobs over the busy holiday season [I have to make time for xmas stuff like cards and baking and enjoying my new tree]. I decided to go with the first job - the one @ the Gap, leaving the Williams-Sonoma for some other individual. Probably some individual who does not have wild and crazy facial piercings like I do [please note: I have my nose pierced and I wear a tiny-ish - meaning I've seen smaller, but it's still pretty small - and if you've ever seen a photo of me, you've seen it and isn't it totally outrageous?] as William-Sonoma has a corporate policy that forbids such insanity. They were very unintentionally high-larious as they went on about serving high-class clientele high-end goods and therefore expecting their employees to look appropriately high-style...all while paying them $9.40 per hour, of course. I mean, I get it - it's retail, so that's the expected salary...but I also find it funny that they want their people to match their $500 toaster on that type of pay scale.

My choice to go with the Gap was actually pretty easy. They aren't open late evenings or weekends and I will have several consecutive days off over Christmas so I won't have to ask for time off or worry about disappointing anyone. The employee discount is huge and more useful to me than the lesser discount @ Williams-Sonoma [if I'm tempted to purchase nice clothes, it's okay to indulge as I can use them or buy gifts - if I get tempted by a $500 toaster, that's really no good for anyone...well, maybe it would be nice for the bread?]. The other employees seemed friendlier @ the Gap and the location is better, too. But mostly...mostly it's because the Gap didn't make me do a ridiculous frakking GROUP INTERVIEW.

Yeeesh, it was awful. I admit, I was feeling a little burned out from my morning interview and walking to/from the subway [lots o' stairs @ my station] in heels and in the rain and from my sleep schedule being a bit mixed up. But still, it was really gross. There were ten of us being interviewed simultaneously in the area behind their stockroom, right beside the freight elevator that services that block of the mall. There was a big concert/tree unveiling going on in the mall and the sound from that was quite intrusive, as was the various alarms and bells that were going off because we were sitting there. We all sat up on high stools in a circle around the interviewer and the session lasted approximately 90 minutes. Basically, it was a lot like a regular corporate/retail/customer service interview, except that you had to raise your hand to answer the questions. Whatever, I'm not shy. It was difficult to sit through nine other people telling of similar experiences or pretty much saying the exact same thing about how they would handle themselves in whatever situation. I think the only reason companies do this sort of thing is to save themselves time [although really, they could have gone through the same number of candidates with short individual interviews and it wouldn't have made us feel as much like cattle]. So yeah, definite turn off. It may be the sad reality that managers view lower-level employees as just interchangeable warm bodies, but it kinda sucks to see that attitude proudly on display. However, I'm glad I went - it's a good experience to have multiple [and very different] group interviews under my belt.