Does Apploi really have an advantage over the more traditional employment methods? I went undercover posing as a jobseeker to the retail and food stores around Wall Street NYC to see how easy it was to get a job, taking along my resume and enthusiasm.
On the whole, it was clear that the majority of establishments were hiring or looking for more applicants. However, this process was lengthy and frustrating as ultimately, after all the hours spent, I am still “unemployed” and now am deflated.
Here are some of the observations
- There ARE jobs available yet it’s extremely difficult to find out where they are and how to apply!
- Resumes are not needed nor wanted. I printed out 10 copies, and could not get a single employer to take one, even when I literally pushed it into their hands, such as Gregory’s coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts they pushed it back without even looking at it!
- The majority of big chains (e.g. Urban Outfitters, Duane Reade & GAP) use their own, online system where you’ll be prompted to upload your resume and answer questions. I was required to do this for each company which was very time consuming and tedious. On average, this application process took me 30 minutes per company. It took me 5 minutes to find the application page. Most companies then require you to create an account before you can even start filling in your personal details, this takes a further 10 minutes.
- Despite the pointlessness of going door-to-door, I did have a friendly experience with the employees I came across in GAP, Urban Outfitters and C21 stores who were enthusiastic for me to apply.
The In-Store Application
- The in-store applications which I completed generally consisted of a 2 page form. They required personal details and past work experience, so I basically had to literally copy out my resume and re-write it on their form.
- One of the companies I visited was Bento Box. The form was straight forward but took 5 minutes to fill it out by hand. BUT it was the worst user experience as I was waiting for 10 minutes like a lemon until they found the form. After handing it back and waiting another few minutes, I was told that the manager was too busy to see me, and IF they had any opportunities, they would call. This felt like such a waste of time. Not only did I have to fill out the form by hand, but this was all done for nothing as there wasn’t even a job opening.
- Similarly at Aldo, I was given a form to fill out, which took around 6 minutes. After returning it, I was again told that if they had an opening they would get in touch. This was the second time this happened… bottom line is, don’t waste my time, this was 20 minutes which could have been saved.
- In both these experiences, the process took a while and was extremely frustrating as I had to complete the lengthy form even BEFORE I was told there were no openings.
- My most uncomfortable experience was at a Dunkin’ Donuts, the lady wrote down a name and number for me to call on the back of a receipt. This just felt very unprofessional and put me off applying.
- Two coffee chains (Bean & Bean and Gregory’s) both told me to visit another store in their chain and I would get an interview then and there. Note that these 2 store locations were not close to me.
I have come to 5 conclusions about this process and why Apploi MUST be the way forward for all hiring companies
- Time: Apploi’s streamlined user friendly application takes around 3 minutes per application, which was half the average time I spent in each store just inquiring about the process.
- Efficiency: Using Apploi allows you to fill in your resume details ONCE rather than repeatedly for every application as I experienced.
- Having assurance that you are applying to a company/job which is hiring: With Apploi, you can apply to specific openings at specific stores. Your application is therefore read and needed, and saves time spent applying to stores who don’t have guaranteed openings.
- Location: With Apploi, our app / browser knows your location so it will only show you the closest jobs to where you are, so no more wondering around!
- Best user application in the world: Using Apploi it has the best and most straightforward application I have ever completed.
Hopefully this undercover investigation demonstrate the strength of Apploi and how it will help you find your prefect job. Visit Apploi.com to get started or download our app from both the iTunes App and Android Play Stores.
Written by Ben Lewis
Director of Operations & Marketing
