High street fashion store interview

lafemme

Any advice for store manager interview for a high street fashion store? Types of questions they might ask etc.

Chessala

Well, I had an interview in a Fashion store not long ago. Wasn't a manager position but maybe it helps you anyway (was top-level sales advisor...). There were questions and practical parts, so I'll split it.

Questions (in no specific order)

• How would you ensure health& Safety at work?
• How do you keep yourself up-to-date with Fashion trends?
• How would you handle problems (like money missing theft etc) at work?
• How would you ensure the best possible sales in your store?
• What do you think is the advantage of working in a team?
• How would you ensure integration of team members?
• What will you add to the team/company?
• Why do you want this position?

Practical

There were essentially two parts. One made me chose an outfit for an imaginary person for a certain occasion (in my case it was a casual meeting for lunch with friends, person around 30). Meant was a head-to-toe outfit including accessories. I had about 20 minutes for that and afterwards went through my choice with the interviewer, explaining why I chose every piece. Don't be afraid to chose more expensive pieces either, as the earnings of the shop are important too.

For the second part I was given a theoretical task. I had to manage a shop for a day, had a certain number of employees and tasks I had to consider and, of course, the opening hours of the shop. I had to consider the especially busy times of the shop and the importance of the tasks. All necessary information was given and make sure to mention your involvement in the tasks and don't just plan your employees.

That's about all I can remember, hope it helps and good luck!

lafemme

Thanks Chessala, sounds... interesting. I expected there would be questions about fashion trends but picking out an outfit??? Not big into following trends so hopefully that won't go against me. Good luck with your job search.

wmpdd3

Buy 'look' and pick 1 trend and learn it. The stock at the front of the store should be the bestsellers so pick your main item from here. Answer each question in relation to sales / stock / people. call another store and speak to the manager and ask for pointeres. Often did this and got the inside track.

lafemme

thanks wmpdd3, that's great advice.

UMMMM

Questions in a interview for fashion retailing don't really vary that much from company to company! What they will be looking for you to show is your abilty to lead a team, your understanding of commmercialty, profit and change management.

What is your background and what level of management is it and then I will try and assist more.

borderlinemeath

For a management position you will be asked about KPIs, Key Performance Indicators that are relevent to the position -

usually if you have previous experience in retail management it's the following:

Sales
Customer Service
Stockloss
Controllable Costs (payroll, utilities etc)

Also how you will develop your staff, how you will motivate them to achieve budgets, high levels of customer service.
How you would deal with problem staff
How you would increase sales, increase ATV, average transaction value, How you would motivate staff to ensure add on sales etc.

You will need to be aware of the current fashion trends but if it's a management position there's also going to be a lot of empasis on your management style and people management skills.

Good luck!

Faith+1

Chessala wrote: »

Well, I had an interview in a Fashion store not long ago. Wasn't a manager position but maybe it helps you anyway (was top-level sales advisor...). There were questions and practical parts, so I'll split it.

Questions (in no specific order)

• How would you ensure health& Safety at work?
• How do you keep yourself up-to-date with Fashion trends?
• How would you handle problems (like money missing theft etc) at work?
• How would you ensure the best possible sales in your store?
• What do you think is the advantage of working in a team?
• How would you ensure integration of team members?
• What will you add to the team/company?
• Why do you want this position?

Practical

There were essentially two parts. One made me chose an outfit for an imaginary person for a certain occasion (in my case it was a casual meeting for lunch with friends, person around 30). Meant was a head-to-toe outfit including accessories. I had about 20 minutes for that and afterwards went through my choice with the interviewer, explaining why I chose every piece. Don't be afraid to chose more expensive pieces either, as the earnings of the shop are important too.

For the second part I was given a theoretical task. I had to manage a shop for a day, had a certain number of employees and tasks I had to consider and, of course, the opening hours of the shop. I had to consider the especially busy times of the shop and the importance of the tasks. All necessary information was given and make sure to mention your involvement in the tasks and don't just plan your employees.

That's about all I can remember, hope it helps and good luck!

Can't believe you had to go through all that for a retail job! Not so long ago they were delighted people would even turn up for an interview. I guess the current climate gives employers the chance to be very choosy.

lafemme

UMMMM wrote: »

Questions in a interview for fashion retailing don't really vary that much from company to company! What they will be looking for you to show is your abilty to lead a team, your understanding of commmercialty, profit and change management.

What is your background and what level of management is it and then I will try and assist more.

The interview is for store manager position with a UK fashion chain with stores across UK, Ireland, Europe, not high end fashion. I have man management experience but not in fashion retail.

UMMMM

You really need to tell them about transferable skills then and try and show an interest in fashion to a certain agree.I often have been asked to prepare a SWOT to show analytical thinking. If its a international brand you have most likely passed a telephone interview for screening so think about those questions and use them for preparation.

In every question try to think about product,profit and people and relate your answers to past experience. The role profile and demonstrate how you would fulfil it! These will usually involve sales,customer service,product,people management.

Hope this is some help!