CristelleNicole
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- Thread starter CristelleNicole
- Start date
CristelleNicole
Active member
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LC
Well-known member
[FONT="]Cristelle, [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I actually used to work at Macy's as one of the counter managers, and giving these exact Interviews was part of my job, so I hope I can help.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]The good news Is, they hire all types of people, (95% of the people I saw hired never had any makeup experience in the past)[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Make sure your look is very clean. Stick with neutral eyeshadows, but apply them as flawlessly as you can. Also, glasses are not frowned upon.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I wouldn't go with the black skinny jeans, you always want to wear to your Interview something that correlates with their dress policy, and jeans aren't allowed. Do you have a simple black dress and heels or black pants?[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]As far as the questions they'll ask...It will be very typical Interview questions, mostly not even related to makeup. Most will be situational "what If" type questions like "what would you do in this situation"[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]The thing to understand about Macy’s-type department stores is that the people working there don't know dIddly-squat about makeup. They don't care about your skills; they just care about if you can sell. Another thing that Macy’s In particular pushes very hard is selling their credit card. They actually care more about that than meeting your sales goal. It's really sad. You get put on a probation period for a certain length of time and if you don't sell X amount of credit cards in that time they can fire you.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]As far as using this as an avenue to lead you to your future career, I hate to say this but it doesn't help by much. It's a very common misconception that getting a job at any ol' counter will further your career and open other doors. The one and only thing it does for you is gives you something to put on your resume, and even still, having "Clinique" or "Estee Lauder" on a resume when I look to hire other artists for jobs means nothing to me. The reason Is because the companies give you next-to-no training, and the very little training they do give you consists of teaching you about their products and how to sell them, they don't teach how to actually apply the makeup. It leaves the store with a department full of girls who are applying makeup on women the way they see fit. Now, every once in a while, and this is incredibly rare, there will be a spot that opens up within the line you work for for a trainer or senior makeup artist type position. The senior makeup artist has a region and travels from store to store doing "events" that bring in revenue for that counter. It's a well respected and hard to land job because there's only one per region, and everyone wants it.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I'm not trying to sound like a DebbIe-downer, I just wanted to give you a very realistic scenario of how It really Is, because I went through the same thing hoping It would further my career and It didn’t. But I won’t lie, I loved my job, then again I love the challenge of selling. At the stores the girls are all friends at each of the counters and its overall a fun environment. You also get quite a bit of free products from whichever line you end up working for, so that's another plus.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I hope this helped.. [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Xo Lauren[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I actually used to work at Macy's as one of the counter managers, and giving these exact Interviews was part of my job, so I hope I can help.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]The good news Is, they hire all types of people, (95% of the people I saw hired never had any makeup experience in the past)[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Make sure your look is very clean. Stick with neutral eyeshadows, but apply them as flawlessly as you can. Also, glasses are not frowned upon.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I wouldn't go with the black skinny jeans, you always want to wear to your Interview something that correlates with their dress policy, and jeans aren't allowed. Do you have a simple black dress and heels or black pants?[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]As far as the questions they'll ask...It will be very typical Interview questions, mostly not even related to makeup. Most will be situational "what If" type questions like "what would you do in this situation"[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]The thing to understand about Macy’s-type department stores is that the people working there don't know dIddly-squat about makeup. They don't care about your skills; they just care about if you can sell. Another thing that Macy’s In particular pushes very hard is selling their credit card. They actually care more about that than meeting your sales goal. It's really sad. You get put on a probation period for a certain length of time and if you don't sell X amount of credit cards in that time they can fire you.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]As far as using this as an avenue to lead you to your future career, I hate to say this but it doesn't help by much. It's a very common misconception that getting a job at any ol' counter will further your career and open other doors. The one and only thing it does for you is gives you something to put on your resume, and even still, having "Clinique" or "Estee Lauder" on a resume when I look to hire other artists for jobs means nothing to me. The reason Is because the companies give you next-to-no training, and the very little training they do give you consists of teaching you about their products and how to sell them, they don't teach how to actually apply the makeup. It leaves the store with a department full of girls who are applying makeup on women the way they see fit. Now, every once in a while, and this is incredibly rare, there will be a spot that opens up within the line you work for for a trainer or senior makeup artist type position. The senior makeup artist has a region and travels from store to store doing "events" that bring in revenue for that counter. It's a well respected and hard to land job because there's only one per region, and everyone wants it.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I'm not trying to sound like a DebbIe-downer, I just wanted to give you a very realistic scenario of how It really Is, because I went through the same thing hoping It would further my career and It didn’t. But I won’t lie, I loved my job, then again I love the challenge of selling. At the stores the girls are all friends at each of the counters and its overall a fun environment. You also get quite a bit of free products from whichever line you end up working for, so that's another plus.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I hope this helped.. [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Xo Lauren[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
CristelleNicole
Active member
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LC
Well-known member
They won't give you any kind of hands-on part of the interview, not to worry. You'll have an interview up at HR, and then another one with the line's representative, and that's it.
MAC does their own separate hiring and don't receive the apps from the dept store.
You'll quickly learn your line's foundations, so don't worry about it. Most of the time you'll be working will be very slow, so you'll have plenty of time to play with all the makeup and products and get a feel for them. Each line does have training, but as i mentioned before, it's just about their products and not how to actually apply the makeup or they may touch on this very briefly. Training is 1-2 days long, where as MAC's training is 5 days long and they really focus on application (not to mention getting sent to update training every few months).
You can wear the ballet flats for your interview, or peep toe heels are fine as well. I personally wore 5 inch strappy stilettos to work all the time, so unless your shoes are 7 inch platform clear heels with a goldfish in the platform, you can wear whatever shoes you want
As far as selling goes, this was one of my strong suits. You can get a feel with each person whether theyre truely just browsing around, or if they're needing something. For those just browsing, I always just said "Hi" with a friendly smile, and once they started playing with a particular product, I'd go over to them and politely ask them if they'd like to see it on, from there, I'd end up trying to do a full face. The more you put on them, the more they'll buy. For the customers who seemed like they needed something, I would assume they needed help by saying, "Hi, I'm Lauren, what are you looking for today?"
MAC does their own separate hiring and don't receive the apps from the dept store.
You'll quickly learn your line's foundations, so don't worry about it. Most of the time you'll be working will be very slow, so you'll have plenty of time to play with all the makeup and products and get a feel for them. Each line does have training, but as i mentioned before, it's just about their products and not how to actually apply the makeup or they may touch on this very briefly. Training is 1-2 days long, where as MAC's training is 5 days long and they really focus on application (not to mention getting sent to update training every few months).
You can wear the ballet flats for your interview, or peep toe heels are fine as well. I personally wore 5 inch strappy stilettos to work all the time, so unless your shoes are 7 inch platform clear heels with a goldfish in the platform, you can wear whatever shoes you want
As far as selling goes, this was one of my strong suits. You can get a feel with each person whether theyre truely just browsing around, or if they're needing something. For those just browsing, I always just said "Hi" with a friendly smile, and once they started playing with a particular product, I'd go over to them and politely ask them if they'd like to see it on, from there, I'd end up trying to do a full face. The more you put on them, the more they'll buy. For the customers who seemed like they needed something, I would assume they needed help by saying, "Hi, I'm Lauren, what are you looking for today?"
JennsJewelz
Well-known member
Cristelle, I know nothing about applying for a job for Macy's, but I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your interview! Don't stress too much - if you can show that you're polite, friendly and professional, I'm sure it will be just fine!
And Lauren has given some awesome advice already - I really can't think of anything else to add, other than giving a good solid handshake when you meet and at the end of the interview - no limp noodles! Let us know how it goes, sweetie! Good luck!
CristelleNicole
Active member
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CristelleNicole
Active member
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JennsJewelz
Well-known member
Sorry to hear that dear!!! This whole interview experience will hopefully help you with your next job interviews, though Don't give up!!
Don't give up!!
CristelleNicole
Active member
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theglamoresque1
New member
Hello all!
First off, I'm so sorry you didnt get the job, hopefully there are some better oppurtunities out there for you!
I'm new here and I can really relate to this post. I applied for a position at one of Macy's makeup counters yesterday and my interview is on the 19th, I'm nervous!
I just have one question, I'm 18 but I wear braces. Do you think that will undermine my chances for getting the job since the braces make me look a little young? Thank you!
First off, I'm so sorry you didnt get the job, hopefully there are some better oppurtunities out there for you!
I'm new here and I can really relate to this post. I applied for a position at one of Macy's makeup counters yesterday and my interview is on the 19th, I'm nervous!
I just have one question, I'm 18 but I wear braces. Do you think that will undermine my chances for getting the job since the braces make me look a little young? Thank you!
steffstarsz
New member
hey lc i actually have an interview at a cosmetic counter myself on tuesday and im extremely nervous also but after reading what you posted , im pretty sure ill make it , is it ok if i email u ?
Mseverino82
New member
Hello my name is Marlene , I have a question from your experiance working at any makeup counter now matter if it's mac,or other great makeup , is it worth trying , i'm a new makeup artist and i'm a licence esthetician, i'm so lost and i don't know what the best path is i love doing makeup but can that turn into a career? i'm 28 years ols and i dont have my life together, what advice can u provide for me?
brenda92
New member
Lauren,
Your answer really helped ! Thank you so much. I have another question for you if you can please help me out. I just finished cosmetology school im about to take my stateboard test but my main intrest is in makeup, so if i choose to get into the makeup world where would you recommened me to start off? Thank you for taking your time to read this if you can please help me out.
Your answer really helped ! Thank you so much. I have another question for you if you can please help me out. I just finished cosmetology school im about to take my stateboard test but my main intrest is in makeup, so if i choose to get into the makeup world where would you recommened me to start off? Thank you for taking your time to read this if you can please help me out.
Berrygarden
New member
Hi Lauren
I would be VERY interested in learning about how you got into the industry. When you have a minute, I hope I can learn more. Many thanks, Sofie
I would be VERY interested in learning about how you got into the industry. When you have a minute, I hope I can learn more. Many thanks, Sofie
Karina Saldana
New member
What kind of interview questions should we expect at a Macy's Retail Cosmetics Sales position? I'm quite nervous.
chieny
New member
Hi
this was very useful for the cosmetics counter traveller position i applied at Shu Uemura..Reflecting on the phone interview i had today for the position i realised the sales component was pretty strong because she enquired a lot about my previous sales target and experiences,possibly because of the departmental store setting..Apparently she said my pay would be paid half half by the departmental store and brand
She asked me to come down for another interview tomorrow for some scenario based questions and wants to get to know me a bit better.Any examples or questions they usually ask about scenario based questions??
Pretty nervous about tomorrow,yikes!
this was very useful for the cosmetics counter traveller position i applied at Shu Uemura..Reflecting on the phone interview i had today for the position i realised the sales component was pretty strong because she enquired a lot about my previous sales target and experiences,possibly because of the departmental store setting..Apparently she said my pay would be paid half half by the departmental store and brand
She asked me to come down for another interview tomorrow for some scenario based questions and wants to get to know me a bit better.Any examples or questions they usually ask about scenario based questions??
Pretty nervous about tomorrow,yikes!
KimmyAnn_678
Well-known member
I would think a lot of them would be similar to How would you handle a certain situation (difficult co-worker, upset customer), tell about a good customer service experience you've had, tell about a bad one, tell about a time you've achieved a hard to achieve goal. Most times they don't focus too much on product knowledge, etc, but they are always impressed if you already know a little about the company.
Good luck
