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Friday 23 October 2015

RIVER ISLAND INTERVIEW


For as long as I can remember I've wanted to work at River Island 1) because I spend all my student loan in there and 2) I'd have no problem picking out the uniform. 

After my trip around America, it came to my attention that I am very very very poor. Not poor as in your friends ask you to go out and you say "oh no I can't, I have literally £3 in my bank" but really you have about like ... £50, you're just playing it safe, not that kind of poor, oh no. Literally, I have £3 in my bank, currently, right now. So, safe to say, I not only want but I need a job. 
I spent hours typing cover letter after cover letter after cover letter, relentless hours sending off cv's and searching for vacancies and asking in shops and then I got a River Island job alert email (you can sign up to those on the work for us website.) So I applied ... to 3 local River Island stores and it became my mission to work there as I've wanted to work in River Island since I could first fit in to the clothes. 

I thought I'd post the process to help anyone else wanting to apply/who may have an interview etc! 

I applied online. I know a few people have asked in store and apparently they give you an application form to fill, I imagine it's the same as the online form I filled in. It basically asks if you've worked for RI before/have you got retail experience/your availability/your last job and one question which is: Why do you want to work for River Island?, the rest is equal opportunities general data collection questions. 

This is what I put: 
Working for River Island is my absolute dream job in retail and I would be ecstatic to work for not only my favourite of all time stores but also such an amazing company. Without sounding cliche, I adore River Island and working for your company wouldn't feel like work at all simply because I know I'd enjoy it so much and could promise 110% dedication and enthusiasm to River Island. I would be proud to say I worked for the company and anyone who knows me would know how excited I would be if I was offered a job. Pretty much everything I own is from River Island, any chance I get I am in the store; It takes a great deal of effort to get myself out of there without buying something else to add to my River Island collection. (Not that that would be a bad thing.) I have never had a bad experience either with a purchase or staff. I know I could live up to River Islands high standards of customer service that I've been subject to many a time. It's actually a running joke among my friends and family how much I love the shop and no one even bothers asking where I got whatever it is new I'm wearing because they'll know the answer: RI! 

I got invited to a recruitment event for all 3 stores I applied to with this so something in there must tick a few of their boxes. 

I heard a few horror stories about the recruitment events, and I read about two different types. Don't worry, I experienced both and they're honestly nothing to worry about. I was expecting an interview, it wasn't. In the first recruitment event there was a group of 6 of us, we had to first of all introduce ourselves, tell everyone a bit about ourselves and why we want to work for River Island. It was a really relaxed and comfortable setting, everyone was friendly and the manager made everyone feel at ease and pretty casual. I think this part was just to see how confident you are at speaking in front of a group. 

The next part we were split in to groups and given two questions to come up with answers for. The manager observed. This, I thought, was to see how well we contributed in a group. The questions were something along the lines of "what is good customer service and how could you deliver good customer service yourself?" and "What's special about River Island and what could you contribute to the team?", I think. This was a week ago so my memory is hazy but they aren't hard questions. They're looking to see your team work and again, how confident you are and if you make good and valid contributions. You then just read them out to the other groups. 

After that we were told to go pick an outfit for any occasion of our choice, we had 10 minutes then we'd present it to the rest of the group. Well I nearly fainted with happiness at this. Someone made a joke about keeping the outfits, I thought this was a good move. I forgot to mention this was after the store had closed so it was really chilled, music on, basically just shopping. I made sure to chat to the other girls and made a few jokes. I tried not to pay too much attention to what the manager was doing as I didn't want to look like a kiss-arse but I had a few sneaky glances and I think he observed how we shopped, i.e did we take our time? How we put things together. Just relax, ignore the time limit to a certain degree, and shop away. It was fun! 

I was really happy with my outfit, I feel it was one of the strongest, without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn too much (haha.) When I presented mine, the manager didn't ask me to further my description or ask me any further questions, I think this was a good sign because I tried to cover everything when I was explaining; I seen him nod a few times when I explained certain elements of my outfit so that was reassuring. I genuinely loved the outfit though, I thought I'd took a risk and it seemed to pay off. 


If you get asked to do this task, confidence is key, sound like you know what you're on about and explain why you chose items in thorough detail; a few people who didn't got asked to then further how they would describe their items down the phone to another store. The manager was wanting to see if we knew what we were on about I think as you're expected to be able to fashion advise customers and know trends etc in retail. If you're interested in fashion then this is a doddle, if you're not too sure just have a little browse at the store manic-ans before the event or a quick look online!

After that we were told about the job. How many hours we could work, discount, uniform, etc etc and then we could leave. The whole thing took an hour and I left pretty confident with myself.

The recruitment event at the 2nd store was named an "interview", so I went prepared for an interview. Again, it wasn't. It was the same sort of thing. Talk about yourself, give an interesting fact, why you want to work for RI. If you can make them laugh, that's a bonus. I said I was born blue, like a smurf. (hor hor hor.)

This group was bigger. So I thought of it as more competition. There was some strong contenders too. The ones I feel were most successful were the ones who talked the most, were more confident, made jokes, etc. It's a very relaxed interview and I get the vibe it'd be the same in most stores, they said at the beginning they want to see how much we talk. Everyone was friendly and again the managers were super nice so it wasn't hard to feel relaxed. Just try not to fade in to the back ground. 

This interview was basically the same except we didn't pick outfits, we done role play. In pairs, one is the buyer, one is the seller and you switch roles buying and selling a particular item. You're given 10 minutes or so to plan this with your partner and they observe you during this time, so don't think they aren't watching. Then you stand up in pairs and do your role play. My pair went first, awkward. I think it went okay, could have been better but points for bravery I guess!

We also had to work in groups and come up with ways of showing great customer service on a certain section within the store. We were given footwear but others were things like check out, fitting room etc. You just come up with a list, again in groups and then present it. After that it was the same thing as the other event going over the job role and availability etc. 

And that was that. I really enjoyed it, it was definitely one of the most fun interviews I had, I even got chatting to a few of the girls on the way out and walked home together, it was nice. Hopefully, if you have a interview at River Island you'll leave feeling the same way.


Some tips I find help me personally. 


  • Try and think from a managers perspective. If you were the manager of the shop, who would you hire? Would you hire yourself? What would the perfect candidate say/do? etc.
  • Be yourself and don't lie. You can expand the truth, but don't lie. You'll look silly if you get caught out. 
  • Try and think of a way to stand out, even if it's subtle. Something simple you say may stick in a managers mind and separate you from the rest. 
  • If you're nervous, pretend you're chatting with a friend (obviously not 100% the same) or better, pretend you're acting. Think of a really confident character you like from, I don't know, your favourite Netflix series, how would they act? 
  • Do a bit research about the store, just in case, it'll impress if you know your stuff and know what you're walking in to so you don't get caught out.
Just don't panic, be yourself, remember to be confident and if you genuinely like the store/have an interest in fashion you'll definitely be a high contender. As for clothes to wear to the interview, I wouldn't go head to toe in River Island. They want you to wear something that represents the brand. So maybe a few RI items and something on trend. I wore shoes, bag and jewelry from River Island. My jeans were also River island but you couldn't really see them,I think my top might have been too, so I'm basically just being a massive hypocrite and going against everything I just said. I did have a long waistcoat and a scarf on too though (not RI) so it wasn't obvious and I wore lucky underwear. 

Anyhow, good luck to anyone who might have an interview there!! I got a phone call today being offered the job and I snatched it right up. Can't wait to start ... and for the discount of course. Muahaha. Hope this helps :-)