My Job Application
Created | Updated Mar 13, 2012
Some of you may know that I have to look for a job as the shop where I worked for nearly 16 years has been closed.
Now I haven't really been very active so far, as the world won't stop if I am without a job for a while. My husband hadn't shown any signs of caring for the last six months, making me wonder if he had forgotten about it, so it was a nice surprise when he came home the other day, handing me a flyer he had picked up in the discount store where we buy most of our goods.
The flyer advertised an open day of applications for various positions within the discount store.
They were looking for shop managers, assistant shop managers, clerks/cashiers and temps.
On seeing the flyer, my youngest son said: "Mum, you're going to apply for the position as shop manager."
Now I hadn't thought of applying for that position, so I told him that that was maybe a little over-ambitious, and I'd only consider applying for assistant shop manager. I didn't actually mean it, though. I hadn't considered applying for anything more than what I've done for the last 16 years.
The event was to be held on Saturday, 10 July, between 10am and 5pm. On Friday, I told my son I was going to the discount store in order to know where exactly it was, how long it would take me to get there, and generally get an impression of the shop. He offered to come along and help me with the shopping, so off we went.
The discount store in question is in the neighbouring village, about five km from where I live. We found it all right, and it didn't take us long to get there. I asked the first clerk I came across about the application day, and what I would need to take, but she didn't know. She pointed me to the branch manager who was 'back there', but I couldn't see anybody at first. I then spotted a young man and went up to ask him. He was very friendly and told me what I needed to take the next day. He told me to come half an hour early, and then he'd take me to the manager.
I thought that was a good start.
My son and I did our shopping and returned home where I sat down to have another look at my CV (which I had written back in March to send to the job centre), as well as an application. I've never before written a job application. So far, I've always walked into a shop I knew was looking for people and told them I was interested in doing it. I was never turned down. But then the last time was 16 years ago, and I was a lot younger, plus the job situation wasn't as dire as it is nowadays.
My son told me to look for an application form on line, which I did. I downloaded one, then altered according to my needs. By then, I had decided to go with my son's advice and apply for the position as assistant shop manager. I had browsed the discount store's website once again (I had done a few times before but never got my act together to apply), and it still said that they offer a thorough training for each position within their company.
Although I don't meet their requirements, strictly speaking, for once I thought: 'To hell with it, I've got 16 years experience in that field, it has to count for something! This is my chance to make an impression, as I won't risk that somebody bins my application the moment they see my date of birth.'
My son, who had learned it all at school, helped me with the formatting, scanning of references and printing.
He read my application and said it was fine and looked professional. So far so good.
On Saturday morning, I got up early so I wouldn't need to rush. I got the blouse I intended to wear out of the wardrobe and decided it could do with some ironing. Got the ironing bard and the iron out and started to iron when disaster struck: apparently, some gooey stuff had been on the iron (what it was and how it got there I have no idea) and this was now fixed on my blouse. I tried to scratch it off with a knife, but to no avail. In the end, I went and washed it out, then dried it with the hot iron. Phew, that was a lucky escape. I carefully put some make-up and had my son check that it was OK.
He didn't want to come with me as moral support, but told me that all I needed to do was to present myself in a confident manner, and that he was sure I could do it.
I drove to the shop and arrived at exactly 9.30, and I even found a parking space in the shade, which was nice, seeing as it was already very hot. I entered the shop and saw a stand in the centre, a bit like those they sometimes have when they offer some tasting of new products. There were leaflets with information about the various jobs they offered, so I took the one for the job I was applying for and skimmed it. I then searched for and found the young man who had told me to come early. He told me that the boss was in the office and was about to bring me there, when a very bossy woman overheard what he said and said: "Applications? Yep, that's me, too." and joined us. I could clearly see that that wasn't OK with the staff member, so he said: "Oh, you'll have to wait for a while, they're all still in the office, having a cup of coffee." I got the hint and went out to get a trolley to shop for the items we had forgotten to take on Friday. Shame, that really spoilt the plan of getting ahead of the crowd. Still, it was nice to see whom that man would like to work with.
When I came back with my trolley, I saw that that woman had now got hold of the branch manager, who was restocking and sorting the dairies. She was impatient when he told her that she had to wait for another 20 minutes. She insisted that it said from 8am on the flyer and poster and asked me to confirm it. I told her that it said 10am, and went away. A bit later, I could hear her complaining that the applications where to be held at the stand, in the shop, in plain view of everybody. I didn't care, really, but then I had come with no idea what to expect in the first place.
Not long after that, the men in the suits came and presented themselves. Meanwhile, quite a crowd had gathered around the stand. One of the men asked who had been first, and the bossy woman told him it was me. He then went on to ask who was applying for which position, and who was applying to be shop manager or assistant shop manager. Turned out, I was the only one with this ambition, so he asked me to talk to him, whereas the other applicants were left to talk to the other two men in suits.
So, he is the manager of several branches in Frankfurt and nearby. I don't recall the whole conversation, but one of his questions was what I knew about the company, and as I had read it all up, I was able to answer that. He then asked why I was applying to work with them, so I told him that I've been a loyal customer with them for decades and that I knew exactly where I was applying, which seemed to have been the right answer. As for what I've done so far, we agreed that what I've done is on a much smaller scale than what I am applying for, but then I pointed out that I knew they'd train people for whichever position. I told him I have learned a lot myself over the years and that I was confident I could learn everything needed. I told him that I was prepared to work full-time because I was sure that nothing else was possible as assistant shop manager anyway. He then asked me where I lived, and when I told him, he said there was another branch in Frankfurt which he was responsible for, and if I'd work there, too. I told him that I was flexible and could work anywhere and any shift (shifts go from either 6am to 2pm, or 2pm to 8.30pm).
I have no idea whether this question reflected an interest, or whether he only wanted to find out how keen I am.
He then asked me whether I had any questions. I wasn't prepared for that, so I asked him about the customer-staff ratio. He told me, that on Saturdays (which are always very busy), there were four staff (branch manager included) and on weekdays, there were three. I've never had the impression that there were only three to four staff around where I shop, but maybe it depends on the branch? He said, being a discount store, they had to save on personnel to keep costs down. He then asked me if I had any further questions, and I was well and truly stumped, so I told him that yes, I had a lot of questions, but that it would go beyond the scope of this interview to ask them all. I hope I got away with it. If I am lucky, I'll get an invitation to a 'proper' interview, if not, they'll just send my application forms back to me. Naturally, I hope they won't, though. I made it clear that if, for some reason, they decided I was not suited for the position, I was prepared to start at the bottom and work my way up. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask when I can expect to hear from them, but I guess it will be soon - whichever way - because he said that they'll sit together after 5pm and deliberate on whom to invite for a second interview. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
