How to get a job in an American store
'03.08.2017'
ForumDaily Woman
In this article sent girl Ulyana on site Russian notes, you will learn all the important nuances of finding your first job in the United States and one hundred percent recharge your positive energy!
“How did you manage to get here?”, “What about your English?”, “Was it difficult to interview?”, “What are they asking?”, “How to fill online application? These questions from my compatriots and former citizens of friendly republics I hear at work every day. I hurry to notice, I work not in NASA and not in the White House, but only in a regular online store, which are countless in Los Angeles, and they always hire someone in them.
“Since I am asked so often about this, it means that it’s interesting,” I thought and decided to write this article. I hope I don't bore you too much with the details and find myself useful to someone. So let's start in order.
A little bit about yourself. In the states just over a year. My English is the most mediocre, I taught it only at school and uni and, to my great regret, only to pass the exam. Well, I did not know then that this language would be useful to me. The decision to go to the store came somehow by itself, since my English wasn’t good enough anymore. To be honest, I, at first very much doubted that he was good at anything, but everything worked out :-). And here is my first piece of advice: Do not be afraid of anything, even if you make a mistake somewhere or say something wrong, no one will kill you, laugh at you and expel you. If you do not understand something - ask again, do not worry. But in no case do not think that you do not need to learn English. Need to! Sure to! By all means Without it, nowhere! But do not sit on the stove while you learn, you have to do something. And in the process of work, the language is absorbed at triple speed!
To get an interview, most often you need to fill online application (how in Ross or Best buy), or in-store applicationas for example in Trader joe or Zara. So, in order, a lot online application can be found here or on the sites of the stores themselves in the section Jobs or Careers, usually somewhere at the bottom. The first thing I liked was that you could upload your resume and Cover letter, and many fields - such as address, name and other general data - will be filled in automatically. How to write a resume and Cover Letter, I will not write, because I myself fall into an infernal stupor, if I encounter the need to write these things. My resume was written for me by a wonderful friend, I was lucky. But you, if you are less fortunate, you can find all the necessary information on the Internet, there are even some resume builders or in Russian, resume designers.
So, the fields are filled, and we just have to check the accuracy and fill in the remaining ones. It is advisable to fill in the remaining fields in accordance with the loaded resume, so as not to enter into the stupor of the manager who will look at your profile. To do this, simply open the file with the summary and copy from there everything that did not load. You probably think that I am writing the obvious things now, but not everyone is so clever. For example, I amazed myself with this guess only on the third questionnaire :-). Now I want to save your time and energy! If English is absolutely useless, you need an assistant, if there is no one alive and speaking English, open Google Translate, also nothing, the meaning of the question can be understood. Open and do not close. Over time, experience will come to you, and the questions will no longer seem abracadabra.
A few technical tips, starting to fill out forms, you will see - they will be useful.
1) The questionnaire will always ask, with different variations, about the previous address of the work. Well, if he is somewhere in America, if not, feel free to write your address and phone number, they will understand there. I am writing this to the fact that the program in which you have to fill application, often does not allow foreign addresses and does not allow to leave the field blank. If the program accepts foreign names of cities, it is better to write the one that actually was. But this happens rarely, often have to get out. Machines that you take with them! 🙂
2) Specify the reasons for leaving the previous jobs, such as Relocatedwhat it means moved Business Closed, Seeking Advancement and others like them. Do not write about how the reptile was your former boss and how little he paid you.
3) There will be questions that have nothing to do with you. Such as, for example ... I can not remember now, but you will definitely see them. In response, write N / A, do not leave the field blank.
4) To the question when you can get to work, write Instantlywhich means immediately. Managers love it, we will please them!)
5) Stock up on names, phone numbers, and in some cases addresses of guarantors before filling out questionnaires. Be sure to come in handy. It should be people who speak good English and do not hold on to you evil! 🙂 Warn them beforehand so that this will not be a surprise for them. The possibility that someone will call them once is insignificantly small, but we don’t want to risk it, right?)
As soon as it seems to you that you have answered all the questions and the mission has been completed, you will see on your screens assessment. What kind of animal is it and what is it eaten with? I'll tell you now. This is something like a fitness test. You will be asked a series of questions with something like this: you got a rude customer, what will you do? Or your colleague can not cope with the responsibilities, what then? Also, you will be offered options for answers. Or instead of questions there will be statements like: My friends consider me responsible. And options: absolutely agree, agree, absolutely disagree, disagree. Try to answer the questions as your employer would like, and consider some features of the American mentality. Do not tell your future employer that friends adore you for your immediacy. It may be so, but only your future boss will hardly appreciate it. When asked about negligent colleagues, it’s better to answer that you will surely pester the manager in the best traditions of the genre. Do not worry, in reality it is unlikely to be done, at least I have not come across this.
You will have to spend at least half an hour on this in every sense of the great testing. And so in each application. But nothing can be done. For the third time, all questions will be answered automatically, since they are almost always similar. With the exception of such wonderful figures as Aaron brothers, specifically they have such a test there that the hair on the head stand on end. If you want to get to work exactly there, then better bring along a couple of friends to help you. There, the test gives a total of 10 minutes and assignments for mathematics, logic, and it is not clear what. From surprise, you can get a small heart attack :-). By the way, about such tests, if you do not know the answer or feel that you do not have enough time, put answers that is called Nashar. This is almost a mandatory item. Something like an indicator of the will to win) Do not leave unanswered questions.
Before you begin the assessment, make sure that you eat, pee, smoke, rest, dance (if necessary), tie a scarf and sit comfortably. Often, this test is given a certain time, and it is better not to take a break, so that there is no misunderstanding.
After all that has been experienced, you will need to fill in the fields related to your income. I have no advice for this part. I just answered all the questions honestly. Tell them everything they want and press the button already. complete.
Everything is ready, you are beautiful! It remains only to wait until the manager is also convinced.
Now about In-Store applications. With them easier. The questions there are the same as online, consequently, and my recommendations remain the same. I am glad that there is likely to do without assessment, but maybe you will be given several math tasks. As far as I know, they do that in SubWay. But do not worry, even filling out a questionnaire in the bank, you will not encounter anything that goes beyond the school curriculum. So you do not need higher mathematics and other monsters from this opera. Well, vooot ...)))) Also, if you wandered into a clothing store, in the questionnaire you may be asked what well-known clothing brands you know, or what style of dress is preferable for you. Probably, in the shops of cosmetics, too, there are specific questions.
Most often the form In-Sore Application You can take it home and quietly fill it, but there are such pests that do not want you to fill out pieces of paper with a beautiful underscore in a comfortable atmosphere. They want to see you curled over a questionnaire in the corner of their store :-). To feel comfortable, find some, preferably the most detailed, questionnaire, fill it at home and carry it with you so that in such cases you don’t twitch, painfully don’t recall the data from your resume and the necessary phones, and quietly copy everything from your cheat sheet. what do you need. Returning the form to the store employee, do not forget to attach your resume. Make sure that it is beautiful and not sweet. You can even print it on a beautiful piece of paper. If you are not allowed to go home to fill out the questionnaire, then Cower Letter along with a resume can not leave. It will cost.))) But if you brought the completed questionnaire from home, then it would be good form to leave the whole set: resume and Cower Letter. Make sure that the letter and resume were printed on the same paper.
Going out to hunt for In-Store application, better dress appropriately. No jeans, flip-flops, T-shirts or the like. This is not necessary, of course, but it's better that way. Shopkeepers are easier to contact if you are well dressed. You don't have to put on all the best at once. Just business style with no excess. Cover tattoos, comb hair, remove piercings. I repeat once again - this is not necessary, but it will give you more chances. Moreover, everything may happen faster than you planned, it may happen that you return the questionnaire - and the manager will immediately come to you and want to conduct an interview, this is done, for example, in the same Trader joe. The truth is, as far as I can tell, they treat a tattoo very loyally and so on, but where is the guarantee that in other stores they will not catch up with this idea.
In all profiles - and in In-store and Online - you will definitely be asked what job you are applying for, Full-Time, Part-Time, Seasonal, Tampere. What does it mean accordingly: full employment, part-time, seasonal, temporary. I would advise to agree on everything!) We need an interview! In any case, if you take even a seasonal job and you show yourself well, you, of course, will be left. And if you immediately get on Full-Time and you will go crazy, they will fire you - and you will not have time to blink an eye. But this is just my opinion, then decide for yourself.
We finished with the questionnaires, or rather did not finish, but continue to fill out, submit, bring, send every day, without stopping. Sooner or later there will be a result. Do not despair!
And finally, the long-awaited call. I told you.))) The manager will clarify the time in which both you and him will be more comfortable to meet. During these conversations I tried not to talk a lot, in order not to show my level of English and not to burn the office ahead of time :-).
We are going to an interview. We calculate the address by Google Maps, if you have not been there yet, and are trying to figure out where to park there if you plan to go by car. Yes! It is very important, it was not enough at the most crucial moment not to find a parking place and be late.
We dress for an interview in the same way as for hunting application. If the store has any brand colors, and you have accidentally stumbled on something suitable, feel free to wear them, they will be pleased. If not - nonsense, it does not matter, you still do not work there.
And here we are at the interview. Ta-da-m! What will they ask? Here it is just that simple. I do not know why, but managers are not particularly original in their questions. And they want to hear quite definite answers. It’s like reading a play by roles отвеч We answer questions clearly according to the script! In no case do we pour upon the manager flows of pure consciousness on a simple question, such as tell us about yourself :-). Everything is essentially. Below, I’ll give you approximate questions and approximate answers to them, I’ll write in English, so that you can learn very little with the latter! It is also useful to those who are prone to panic and partial loss of consciousness at the most crucial moment. So, here:
1) Tell me about yourself.
First, I specify the position. I Have ___ (years of experience) years of experiences in this field. I am hard working, enthusiastic.
2) Why do you want to work for us?
I want to be part of this team. I like to improve my career. You can also add that you have heard a lot of good things about the place where you are settling. For this fuss on their site.
3) What are your strengths and / or weaknesses?
I am very motivated, dependable As to my weakness, I am perfectionist that I have to produce the best quality work.
4) Where do you see it in years?
I’ll anticipate that I’ll be a professional or management position.
5) How do you spend your spare time?
Being a career person I spent my life.
6) Why should we hire you?
I`m good candidate, my skills, training and education.
7) What did you like / dislike about your last job?
I enjoyed my last position very much, I like it and I like it. Not only was it like it’s not enough of hours.
If this is the first job after the move, then it’s better not to say anything about what you didn’t like about the job, and it’s clear why you don’t work there anymore 🙂
That's all the questions I heard, every time as a carbon copy. By the way, this list of questions was given to me in an institution that deals with finding a job for everyone. And they already have experience. So, I hope that they will be useful to someone.
If everything went well, they will call you, and maybe they will immediately say that they are taking you to work. I was told several times that they would contact me if there was a positive response, and according to the Russian experience I considered this a refusal, but in 80% of cases they called back. So by the end of my search I had several options.
And then came your first working day. Congratulations! Last advice, do not be late! It is rumored that if you are late on your first working day, you can no longer enter, you are automatically fired. Tragically, what else do you say. True, she did not check and I do not advise you.
I would like to add that I know perfectly well that we all came here not to work in the store, this is understandable. We all have plans to conquer this America, or at least realize our American dream. And we will definitely succeed, who would doubt. In the meantime, we are walking along our thorny road into our transcendental distances, it would be nice to get some experience, learn a language and make friends, or even acquaintances. So, the work about which I wrote is a good opportunity to grab everything at once.
Thanks to everyone who read my article, I sincerely hope that it will be useful to someone. I would be glad to learn about your experience in finding a job. Thanks for attention.
The author is Ulyana Maynskaya. Los Angeles.
