I have an interview on Thursday for Trader Joe's. Regular followers may recall that my goal before coming to NY was to work at Trader Joe's; a long time fan from California, I wanted nothing more than to earn money and part-time benefits with other young slacker hippie types and earn discounts on food I buy anyway. Nothing really changed about that goal except that every time I went in there, it was massively crowded and, given that I had no idea really how to go about applying for a job that was not in a theatrical costume shop and I had never worked customer service, I was intimidated and didn't want to embarrass myself, ruining the ability to even shop there because of the sheer humiliation.
Now I've been working at FAO for over two months (maybe two and a half...it seems like longer, but that's not even possible), and I have learned many things that have changed my perception both as a retail sales monkey and as a customer.
1) The people hiring you are not predisposed to hate you. They want you to be smart and good and an easy candidate to say yes to.
2) It is not that hard to be smart and good and an easy candidate to say yes to. As it turns out, I look good on paper and in person and there are no superstars applying for $10/hr jobs that are going to make me look bad.
3) When you have a question as a customer, the people working there are not predisposed to hate you. It is their job to make you happy. They may privately scorn you if you are a jackass, but needing help does not automatically make you a jackass.
I have let my managers at FAO know that I will be pursuing other jobs and, if I secure said other jobs, will be turning in my two weeks' notice at FAO. It's just too many hours (I had a feeling this full-time thing wasn't going to work out) and all during the day - no time to attend auditions, prepare for auditions, read plays, find new monologues, do research, scope out auditions and extra work. I didn't move to New York to work at FAO, but it seems like I won't be able to do anything BUT work at FAO if I don't admit that a day job that actually has to happen during the day precludes those other things I'm trying to pursue.
1 comment:
I actually sat next to a trader joes interview in progress at cafe lyon in rockridge. My two take-away lessons from the experience:
1) stop laughing at every question your interviewer puts forth, it makes you sound like you're on speed.
2) don't say that you've shopped at trader joes for over 20 years if you're only 22. It doesn't count if your grandma did the heavy lifting.
Which is why I think you should just go into this interview half dressed/nekkid with an eyepatch over your left eye. Rock it!
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