MAC interview UK

[BlueMountain]

Hi I came across some helpful threads on here when I searched google for MAC interview questions. I had an interview for a store a few years ago and didn't get a call back for the 2nd stage so this time I wanted to be more prepared! I have just been called for the demo stage anyway so hopefully this information might help someone else who has an interview coming up! my interview was for a Xmas temp role! These are the questions I was asked the first time I applied. (That I can remember!) Tell us what you know about MAC Why do you want to work for MAC what is your personal makeup style Where do you get inspirations from How do you keep up to date with current trends Talk to us about some current trends What is your idea of good customer service How will you meet your targets I was then given some scenarios, can't remember them all but one was 'You are on your own on the counter and have a customer sat down who is trying foundations. The counter gets busier and you have a customer enquiring about eyeliner and another customer looking at products,. What would you do?' I didn't have much retail experience this time around and was newly qualified from college however I have been working in the store for 18 months now and have more experience as a freelance makeup artist. So I wrote a list of some more questions that they might ask me this time around and also prepared better answers for the questions above Here's my list....... Favourite MAC product and why Best tool If mac was a colour what would it be.... If you were a colour what would you be... Who is your favourite makeup artist And finally here are the questions I was asked - I realise all stores will be different and they might not ask these exact ones but they are trying to evaluate every candidate the same so hopefully if you can prepare good answers to most of them and you have the relevant experience you should do well! I was asked to talk through the makeup work I have done, they had a copy of my CV and had already read through the jobs and seemed impressed. After this I was asked to tell them what I knew about MAC as a company I made sure I talked about viva glam, mac aids fund, back to mac and also mentioned the pro artist teams and fashion week. Leading on from this question they asked what I knew about trends from fashion week I was asked Who is your favourite makeup artist Why do you want to work for MAC we then moved on to my sales and retail experience. I work as a freelance artist for another brand in the same department store so they talked about this. Give us an example of a time you have given great customer service Give us an example of a time when you have dealt with an unhappy customer, what did you do If you worked for us and you were behind with targets what would you do to fix that How would you become a good member of the team? The question that totally through me off was ' can you please talk to us about an object you are passionate about' I hate thinking on the spot!!!! I was struggling and they said it could be anything, a picture from my portfolio etc, so I talked about that. I would have said my passion is makeup and rambled on but when they said object it was confusing. Anyway after this they asked me a few more things like what is my role in the job I do now, what am I responsible for etc. then they just asked formalities like hours, availability etc. I wasn't sure how it went, I felt like I had strong answers for most questions and although I wasn't relaxed at all, I tried to be myself and appear confident and smiley. They asked me questions on most things from my answers so I think it's important to make sure your answers are genuine and true otherwise you could get caught out. They asked why I liked my favourite makeup artist and what was my favourite work of hers so if I just gave a random name they would have realised I didn't actually love that person! I mentioned fashion week as well and they asked for trends so luckily I knew the answer. Will post another thread after my makeup demo Hope this was helpful

 

[daisybuti]

Thanks for the heads up! im waiting for my interview arrangement with MAC, the manager had called me 2 days after i handed in my CV and said she would arrange an interview with me 3-4 weeks later as she was going on holiday. she also told me the available positions which was PT and xmas temps.

i obviously would love to go PT instead of temps but right now i just want my foot in the door!

the manager did say to me xmas temps sometimes get taken on permanent... do you know by chance how often this is?

i should be getting a call within the next week, and i hope the PT is still available!! i have been researching MAC everyday since she called me so i can be prepared... but the object question was just super weird! lol

are you planning to see if you can take your temp role further?

 

[daisybuti]

sorry i forgot to add, how long has your interview/hiring process been so far??

 

[BlueMountain]

Hi, well I think normally they keep a couple of the temps on in January but I guess it depends on what vacancies are available and how well temps have performed, I think in my store last year they kept 2 on. If they offer me a part time perm position I would love that, if I get temp then like you said it's a foot in the door and I would try and work hard over the Xmas time and hope they keep me I think I handed my cv in at the end of August and she said the interview date was in 3 weeks and booked me straight in with a time. Then I got a call 2 days after my I interview for my makeup test

 

[daisybuti]

Hi, thanks for reply! How did your make up interview go?
I have my interview date this Thursday on the 4th October! She told me to bring in basically my portfolio (or images of make up work i have done) and a mood board for what inspires me as a makeup artist!

So right now I am working on this.. I'm putting everything into my iPad so I can show her on there. I am super excited and the nerves are actually hitting me now cause I have a date and time!

I am unsure of what to wear and what makeup look to go for, definitely will be all black and I want a nice bold lip thats in this season... simple, neutral possibly slightly winged eyes with Rebel lipstick?

I hope I pass this interview and be able to go onto the demo!

And I know at the end of interviews they ask if you have any questions, I am not sure if its appropriate for me to ask about the temp roles and perm roles since its just the first interview. I have a lot of questions in mind but feel like they should only be asked once you are hired... arghhh!!

 

[MissPumpkin]

I have worked for MAC in two different locations so I had to go through the interview process twice, the first time for MAC Spain and the other for MAC Travel Retail (where I currently work) the first time I wore very bright, green eyeshadows with a winged liner and peach lips/cheeks, the second time around I wore yellow, teal and grey (from the Colour Added quad) and red lips.

Just go for something that represents your style and strengths, if you are great at doing skin play around with shading, highlighting and contouring, if you have mad eyeliner skills, create defined lines and sharp points. Just be confident in what you do, and remember what you used because they'll probably ask you what you're wearing Good luck!!!

 

[BlueMountain]

I had my demo on Monday and they offered me the job yesterday (Tuesday) think that is quite quick compared to how long other people have waited but I suppose it depends on the store. For my first interview I wore bronze and orangey colours on my eyes with a nude lip and lots of highlight/contouring, for my demo I went for rebel lips and a neat flick on my eyes with lashes. The demo wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, they let me chose a look from some face charts to recreate. A member of staff then helped me chose all the products for the look which took some of the pressure off me! She also sanitised everything for me and explained the process, and then gave me her brushes, I had 30mins to do it. A couple of girls came over to look and passed compliments which was encouraging, I had a really dry mouth but apart from that I didn't feel nervous, I just got into the zone and pretended I already worked there haha. it felt natural lol. I think I spent a little too long on the eyes and was still doing mascara when she came over but she didn't say stop what you are doing brushes down!! She gave me a few minutes for finishing touches. After this she asked if I was happy and what did I like about it, I then was asked to go and get two extra products to change the look. I could also use the products I already had and they gave me a further 15 minutes. That was it really, I was advised to treat my model like a customer so I made sure I explained each product, talked about how to apply it and why I was using it, got her to feel her skin once the primer was on etc, ask her to look in the mirror during each stage. There were a couple of questions at the end but only formalities as the same manager had interviewed me so she had all the information she needed, I think sometimes they will ask you more interview type questions if they feel they need to so I had some extra info in my head just I case. So I start Monday, excited!!!!! Good luck with your interview let me know how it goes, I asked about temp/perm in my interview and I asked how many positions were there and how many applicants

 

[daisybuti]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

You're right, it was a really quick process!
So you only had a total of 2 interviews? I thought there would be another interview after the demo!!! Super happy for you
I am still sh*tting it for tomorrow, although I had 4 weeks to prepare lol, but because I was given an actual date it feels more real now!

What did they tell you about the perm/temp?
The manager at the counter I applied for said temps don't usually start till round november time! I hope i get as fast a response you did lol
Did you have to bring your own model?

 

[daisybuti]

I had my interview last thursday and thought it went CR*P!!!!!!!! It was awkward towards the end cause they asked me a question before we parted, and it was "Tell me something about you that would shock us!" and I was stuck for words and came up with something really stupid!

I honestly thought I had lost the job then. They said they would call back earlier next week (this week) and I got a call on wednesday, which I missed, but they left me a voicemail saying they were calling everyone back with feedback from the interview. I was super nervous when I heard the voicemail and thought, why couldn't she just tell me on the phone that I didn't go through!!

So I called her back today because in the voicemail she said she had just finished work and will be in the next day at 10AM. I called her back and she didn't give me much feedback about the interview but she had just said "Congratulations! You got through to the demo!". I was like

...

She gave me some details, saying it will be in Birmingham at 10am along with 2 other applicants who got through, she has yet to call me back and give me more details e.g. which day and whether we have to bring anything.

I have a feeling they will be hiring 2 out of 3 of us as she told me that they have a 24hrs over 4 days and 18hrs over 3... either way I cant believe its narrowed down from all those applicants to me and 2 other people!

Will update after demo...

 

[Fizzy pop]

Hi Hun Congratulations!! On passing the first stage. I am in the same position as you I have my 2nd Interview soon and I am so nervous about it!! I have to take a model and I know nothing more. Can anyone help with what is expected on the 2nd interview please xx

 

[daisybuti]

Can anyone help with what is expected on the 2nd interview please xx

Congrats to you too Are u for perm or xmas temp???

Theres another thread another user started stating her experience for a Xmas Temp role but sadly they didnt get it!

They said they didnt think that the trainer would only allow 20 mins to complete a look and that they thought it was a 45 min make over, so you should prepare yourself that you may only get as little as 20 minutes for a make over. Also some people have commented saying they had 20 mins for a day look and 5 to 15 more minutes to transform it into a night time. Some people had been given face charts to re create the look, some people are given a theme/specific look e.g bold lips.

I think as well as focusing on the make up, you have to make sure you are selling to your client as well... so explaining what your using, how and why would be useful.

Im doing tonnes of research before the demo lol I still have a while left yet tho.

Good luck!

 

[Fizzy pop]

Thanks! It's a Xmas temp role, I am doing as much research as possible to and getting mixed feedback on what they might ask me to do. I think it has changed the way they do the demo's well that's what the manager who interview told me, but would not give anymore info! I did ask her for more lol . Have you had your date yet?

 

[daisybuti]

My demo date is 26th Oct, still a while to go yet!
They have changed the way they do demos?!!!!
I know during my first interview they told me Xmas temps usually go through a different interview which I am guessing 'more informal'.
They never asked me the history of MAC, what I knew about MAC etc. But they did ask about certain products, and what I would link sell with a lipstick etc.

I have seen people comment that after the demo they go through another interview where they would probably ask you more about why you want to work for MAC and all the MAC history details etc... so I am prepared for that if I do get that far. As for demo I am just going to expect the worse (20 min make up demo). May practise on myself for the time being as my model is located in Birmingham (thats where my test is going to be) and I can't just make a trip down there as I cant afford to!

Funny thing is, the user (Snob111 i think) said they got 20 mins to do a HEAVY smokey eye look. Which i thought was unusual! So maybe the only thing thats changed is time limit?

When is your test due and is it with the Birmingham regional manager as well?

 

[Fizzy pop]

Hi Hun Yours is before mine! Mine is on the 29th and its at mac store Birmingham. On my interview they asked me loads! I had to sell a product to them, the history, trends, difficult customer and much more. Will you let me know how it went if that's ok with you? I hope you get it Hun. Which store will you be working in?

 

[daisybuti]

29th, is it morning? They told me dates i could choose from and it was 26th in afternoon or 29th morning!

Yeah the manager asked me about difficult customers, busy situations etc as well but nothing about the history and programmes they have!!!

I will let you know how it goes and what happens so you get the heads up! I'm getting more nervous as the date approaches lol!!

I will be in the Meadowhall store if I get it (closest store to me and I live an hour away)

What about you?

 

[Fizzy pop]

Mine is in the afternoon, if I get it I will be based in Wolverhampton. I know exactly how you feel. I hope you do get it after all the hard work you have put in it. Do you have an e-mail or contact number I can contact you? If that's ok with you?

 

[daisybuti]

you can contact me at [email protected]