Tales from my days working in retail
Barnes & Noble — Interviewing new people

Over the years I worked for Barnes & Noble Booksellers I helped open 7 stores in three states and the District of Columbia. I helped interview and hire many new booksellers. This one story reminded me of how many people are often not prepared to interview.
We were heavily into building out the new store when in walks a young man in an ill-fitting suit stating he had an interview. No one scheduled an interview that day and the team tagged me to interview him, so I sit him down and ask him to tell him a bit about himself.
This young man struggled to talk about who he was and what why he wanted to take a job in a bookstore. Noticing his struggle I thought I might try a different tact and ask him to tell me about a time that he experienced poor customer service and how it made him feel. He sat quietly for several moments and then simply stated, “bad.”
No context no story, just, bad.
This young man was clearly not prepared to work in retail. Many people, and I am not pointing out just the younger, current, generation, did not learn or gain the basic skills to function effectively in retail. These skills translate to all work. Being able to interview is vital for any job. Having the ability to tell a story that shows your skills and engages your interviewers is one of the single best skills anyone can have. Once you are in the door, you don’t want it to shut due to a lack of interpersonal skills.
It would be wonderful if schools would build these skills along with teaching students to read, write, and do basic math.
No one is perfect, and we all are nervous interviewing, but practice makes perfect. I would encourage anyone seeking employment to work on their interviewing skills with friends often.
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