I generally think of myself as an excellent worker, but I absolutely suck at job interviews. Something about being grilled and examined that I find not only uncomfortable and distasteful, but also very dehumanizing and well.. my best chances at getting a job is to make a good connection with the interviewer, because I don't perform well under such pressure.

This week I had a group interview. It was rather odd. I've had one of these kinds of interviews previously, but that was an IT position that felt more like a casting call, whereas the group interview at this retail store felt like some kind of reality tv show.

I felt sorely out of place in a room full of people half my age whom had retail experience and all seemed very aggressive and competitive to grab whatever positions were available. We answered questions in groups and paired up for role-playing (where I performed miserably, being perfectly aware that the person in front of me wasn't truly a customer).

The interview was long and stressful and while it may have made things easier on the interviewer, it was definitely not more convenient or courteous to the applicants, putting the emphasis on how much they wanted a job rather than the need for the retailer to fill positions. In a competitive world, kudos to the interviewer for that bit of slight-of-hand, because there was nearly a collective groan at the end when it was revealed that the positions offered were not full or part time, but on-call positions with a mere minimum of 2 hours. Well at least they offer good benefits to those that perform well and stick around.

Regardless, Pier 1 Imports just gave me a callback. I'll see how it goes.