Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Working Interview?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
monarch64

monarch64

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
19,512
So...I''ve been interviewed a couple times by the same company this week, and today they called and asked me to do a "working interview" which will consist of me working a full shift (9.5 hrs) unpaid so they can observe me in action. I did a quick search online and found that this seems to have become accepted as part of the interview process in recent years, but I''ve never been asked to do one. I did agree to do it, but I''m sort of weirded-out by the whole thing--an entire day''s work with zero pay? Has anyone ever been asked to do this? I''d love to hear any thoughts/comments/opinions, or actual experiences. Yes, it is a job in the retail jewelry industry...company shall of course remain nameless but it is an indie jeweler. TIA!
 
Monnie,
I never heard of that; I wish I could offer advice but I am sending buckets and buckets of good interview vibes sweetie!!
wiz1.gif
You will rock!!!
 
I have never heard of this, nor do I know anyone who has been asked to do this. I would be weirded out as well. It Seems like a lot to to ask IMO. I always thought there were laws against having people work at a place of business that were not on payroll. Or maybe thats insurance reasons for not letting unpaid or employees not on the clock doing any work. Anywho good luck and let us know how it goes :)
 
Thanks dear Skippy and Lauralu. When I told DH about it he was equally "weirded-out." When I did the search online the answers I came up with were related to servers or temps...and neither of those are related to the job I''m interviewing for.
 
Date: 4/22/2008 10:41:37 PM
Author: lauralu
I have never heard of this, nor do I know anyone who has been asked to do this. I would be weirded out as well. It Seems like a lot to to ask IMO. I always thought there were laws against having people work at a place of business that were not on payroll. Or maybe thats insurance reasons for not letting unpaid or employees not on the clock doing any work. Anywho good luck and let us know how it goes :)
Click to expand...
I was thinking about this too -- what if you trip over a big pile of diamonds and break a leg; are you covered under worker''s comp since you''re not an employee?


Putting that aside though, I would do it. Don''t forget, they are interviewing you but you''re interviewing them too. Do you find the store a nice place to work? Do the other employees treat you well? (I imagine people''s personalities will come out a lot more through the course of a work day than they do in the 15 minutes of an interview.) How do feel about the inventory and the quality once you have a chance to work with it? That sort of thing...
 
Deejay, I agree, I am interviewing them as well, so I guess it is kind of a good way to figure out whether I want to be there long-term as well. Thanks for bringing that up, because I hadn''t thought of it that way yet!
 
Hm...I''ve never heard of that, but I''m in a completely different industry. I''m sure this will be a GREAT opportunity for you to strut your stuff! Good luck!
 
I haven''t heard of this either. BUT, it''s a great way to check out the enviornement, their inventory and how they do things. You will be able to tell a lot about them during that day. Sending PS fairy dust your way!! Good luck Monnnie!!
36.gif
 
I have never heard of it either BUT if you do it I wish you all the luck in the world! You deserve it
2.gif
 
Monarch: the good news is that you are being seriously considered for the position.If you like this position its for your benefit also to go and observe.YOu won''t be working much thats for sure.They want to see how you would fit and giving you opportunity to see if indeed this job is what you want.You can excuse yourself at any time if you don''t think this job/ position is for you.
I think its a smart way to accept or deny a job.
I wish you luck and ask lots of questions to ensure that this job is what you really want.
 
nclrgirl, Kaleigh, and Tacori, thanks for your input! I'm glad I'm not the only one who's never heard of this. In all my years of recruiting and hiring for other retailers I've worked for I haven't seen this done, so it was a complete surprise to me this morning when my potential employer brought it up. I guess it's another new experience/opportunity and can only be beneficial to both the employer and myself. And Scarleta, you're right, I do have the freedom to leave if I decide the job isn't right for me. Although I don't foresee that happening...I'm a Taurus and stubborn, and hate to give up, ha ha!
 
They used to do this at the place I worked retail, and I did one to get hired. I also thought it was very strange at the time. I did get the job, though.

In fact, I never thought the working interviews were particularly effective, because everyone except 1 person we "working interviewed" was on their absolute best behavior. Needless to say, some of the people on their best behavior on the working interview were terrible employees when they started working for real. So when I became manager, I stopped doing working interviews!

Also, the longest we ever had anyone do them was for like maybe 3 or 4 hours max. I think it''s weird that they want you to work a big long day. Where I live, though, it''s a right to work state (think that''s the term) so it''s very easy to fire people for whatever and not be liable. Depending on the state you work in, it may be harder to fire people, so maybe they''re just being extra cautious?
 
something about this just plain sounds illegal: wasn''t there a case in court over something like this some years back?

movie zombie

ps but good luck with it if you''re going to do it!
 
Thanks for your comments Thing2of2 and MovieZombie. MZ, I haven''t been able to find anything in the IL employment law website regarding this practice, so I don''t think it''s necessarily illegal. I''m thinking it has something to do with a "temp" situation, and I''m wondering if I''ll be asked to sign a waiver or something before I begin my "workday" for this interview.

One thing did bother me about the very first interview: i went in to fill out an application, and ended up being interviewed by a female who asked me point blank if I had children. I replied "all legalities aside, no, but I do have two dogs." I was floored that she even asked. She did happen to be obviously pregnant and commented that she was on her third. However, that question is illegal under federal law and it concerns me that either she wasn''t aware of that or just didn''t care.
 
I say go for it. Knock thier socks off. If it's a job you want, I think you should definitely do what it takes to get it. Hmmm... I don't like the children comment either.

I look at it this way, they may be interviewing you... but you are interviewing them too. It doesn't sound like a bad thing.
 
Thanks Layla! I hope you are doing better today...was just about to go post on your can''t breathe thread!
 
I wonder if she asked that since she''s preggo and will take leave soon, she wants to know if you''ll be there for the time being?
Totally illegal to ask that, but was wondering if that was her motive?? Just another thing to think over when you do your working day...
2.gif
 
Date: 4/23/2008 12:01:39 AM
Author: monarch64
Thanks for your comments Thing2of2 and MovieZombie. MZ, I haven''t been able to find anything in the IL employment law website regarding this practice, so I don''t think it''s necessarily illegal. I''m thinking it has something to do with a ''temp'' situation, and I''m wondering if I''ll be asked to sign a waiver or something before I begin my ''workday'' for this interview.

One thing did bother me about the very first interview: i went in to fill out an application, and ended up being interviewed by a female who asked me point blank if I had children. I replied ''all legalities aside, no, but I do have two dogs.'' I was floored that she even asked. She did happen to be obviously pregnant and commented that she was on her third. However, that question is illegal under federal law and it concerns me that either she wasn''t aware of that or just didn''t care.
Click to expand...

Wow! It''s pretty crazy that she would ask you that. Hmm...well like everyone else said, you can interview them, too.

I''m not sure about the legalities of the working interview, either. I always wondered if it was legal, though.

Good luck on your interview!
 
Forgot to add that we had no waiver or anything for working interviews.
 
Thanks again, thing2. I guess I''ll just go, and see how I like it! And DeeJay, I hope I don''t trip over any big piles of diamonds, but if I do rest assured that you PSr''s will be the first to know.
2.gif
 
I can''t say I ever had a working interview - but I did have an "all day interview" once - it was the final round for this company, and basically from 9-5 I met with a different employee each hour...at this point it was more of a "fit" interview (I would ask them questions as well) and they took me out to lunch with a couple of associates. It was pretty strenuous, but not unheard of, and by then end of the day I had my answers DOWN!

So, I guess its not that ridiculous for them to want to spend a day with you.

Didn''t end up taking the job but it really prepared me for my upcoming interviews.
 
In my line of work, it''s common to have interviews that last for anywhere from 8 hours to 2 full days. Last fall, I did a 12 hour one. Only one 30 minute alone-time break. Holy crud. Talk about exhausting.

And I''ve also been asked, pretty consistently, about my family situation despite it''s illegality. Every time I get TOTALLY uncomfortable.

I''m also pretty weirded out by them asking you to do this without pay. But then again, after several years in the US, I still can''t BELIEVE that students regularly work without pay on these so-called ''internships''. I still just can''t believe that''s legal. It''s the most blatant exploitation.

But I digress.

Go for it. Treat it as an interesting learning experience, if nothing else!

Good luck!
 
Date: 4/23/2008 12:30:12 AM
Author: Kaleigh
I wonder if she asked that since she''s preggo and will take leave soon, she wants to know if you''ll be there for the time being?

Totally illegal to ask that, but was wondering if that was her motive?? Just another thing to think over when you do your working day...
2.gif
Click to expand...

That is what I was thinking...but still totally illegal and weird!

I think you''d be surprised at how many people don''t realize that is illegal though. She probably just doesn''t know any better.
 
Monarch,
Good luck with this company! I have never heard of this type of interview either, although never really worked in retail. It does seem odd to me too but given the question from the one lady, it really might be good for you to see how THEY are b/c it might turn out that you don''t like them not vice versa.

Good luck regardless!
 
I did a 4 day interview with a big jewellery company in Italy.

They hired me as Creative Director at the end.

They basically took me to the big gold fair in Vicenza to see how I worked with their clients and if I could design under pressure on the stand.

The worst thing was I was staying in the hotel with them and had to have dinner with my future boss every evening - I was petrified before I went. In the end I really enjoyed it, and I got on really well with the guy. I also got to see a huge amount of beautiful jewellery - sadly not what this company produced.


On the intern thing - in politics it's very normal to get a foot in the door by working for free. I did it for 5 months! That said, every job advertised as travel expenses only gets between 40 and 70 applicants...
 
Date: 4/22/2008 10:53:11 PM
Author: Kaleigh
I haven''t heard of this either. BUT, it''s a great way to check out the enviornement, their inventory and how they do things. You will be able to tell a lot about them during that day. Sending PS fairy dust your way!! Good luck Monnnie!!
36.gif
Click to expand...

I agree! Best of luck!!
 
did you check federal labor laws? asking you ANYTHING about your private life is a no-no..........questions are to be job related. even the question, do you have a car, isn''t permisible. its your business how you get there.....and you could be using the bus which should not disqualify you for a job.

movie zombie
 
Thanks Rockzilla, Indy, neatfreak, Dixie, Pandora, Zoe, and MZ (again!)! I feel more prepared...I am going to go through with it. I talked to DH more in-depth about it today over dinner and he agreed that I would be getting a good idea of what it would be like for ME to work for them during this interview. I will definitely report back to this thread and let you all know how it goes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top