I wanted a job at a coffee shop and I heard the Starbucks inside Target was hiring. I went inside to ask for an application form and they said since they are in Target that I have to apply on one of those computers at costumer service. After getting through the normal job application questions, they ask if the can do a background check and drug test. I said OK. Then they start asking all these psychological questions like what percentage of people do you think cheat on their tax returns? Are you truthful and blunt or careful and delicate? Do you feel your parents are proud of you?
I expected them to ask me if I still hear the lambs at night! I felt like I was under interrogation! Then what happens next makes me feel like I’m in some spy movie. The computer screen says to pick up the red phone and say I just applied. I pick up the phone. It rings. “Yes?” “I just filled out the application” “You will receive a call in 7-10 business days.”They hang up. Isn’t this overkill?
The whole application took over an hour! Over half of it was the very odd questions.
i dont
OMG!!! I KNOW!!!!!!!!!
thats ridiculous that you think that- its called season- sometimes they need people- other times they dont….its not always a good time to get a job at places like target and starbucks.
Working in retail is a major pain in the rear anyway. I have a friend that works at Target and all he does is complain about it everyday.
I think target don;t like to young folks, most of their worker is least mid 30 or 40. Any job in the goverment even at lowest position need to alot of exam before consider for interview, the wait is alot longer than those private company, but private sector usually after 2 week no answer to you mostly like not hiring.
yeah don’t you feel stupid when picking up the red phone?? and they act like they don’t know why you ‘called’
i can’t believe they did that to you!! they did it to me, but i was applying to be a manager…
the first job that I applied for was a job at kmart when i was a freshman in college. that personality questionaire that you are talking about I failed. they didn’t tell me that day in person or when they interviewed me. they called me about three days later to tell me.
i do think the CIA has much more stringent requirements, and the FBI is looking for He-man or his female equivalent. I don’t really know how to answer those personality tests very well either.
I applied for a part-time job last year that asked 100, yes 100, questions about how I felt about people stealing from work! I never got a call back, I think these new quickie tests are nothing more then alot of BS to save someone doing an actual interview process! **steps off soapbox**
omfg yes! i thought i was just gonna run in and grab and app and go home to fill it out or spend 10-15 minutes filling it out on the comp, but it just kept going, and going, and going!!!!
the whole, phone thing… annoyed the heck out of me! i picked up and they picked up and they were like “yes?” so im like o well, i finished my application… so there like ok thanks… we’ll call you in two weeks.. never got a call btw
oh and thw questions were wierder than anything i could think of and im pretty wierd!!
Ok, I have to start off by saying that you are hysterical…
I forwarded your question to my husband not only because you made me laugh out loud, but also because I just applied to Target and went through a very similar situation. When I was done, he and I had a conversation in which I expressed a very similar sentiment.
From my experience, and obviously yours as well, I have to say that I am amazed that this is what you have to go through to get a barely-above-minimum-wage position.
You do have to consider,though, that in retail it’s a very important thing to establish whether your potential employee is an inherently honest person. I have been in retail for over tens years and these ‘personality’ tests are indeed odd, but they are geared to establish whether or not you are a risk to the company… They are off-putting, but once you understand their intent, they’re not so bad.
As far as my ‘red phone’ experience… I was told the hiring people weren’t in until later in the afternoon, (I was there at 10 am), and they’d give me a call within a few days… Now the red phone is answered by the store operator and based on the way they answer their phones, the lines must look the same to them as the folks who call in for store hours and directions and such… I think the point of the red phone feature is that if you are a super-star, by their standards of course, then they can ask you to hang out for an interview and try to hook you before you leave and get a seemingly better job offer.
What I thought was really odd about the whole process was that when I was called in for an interview, I waited in their business office while they called around the store looking for someone free enough to do an interview… (???) …then the guy I interviewed with, (could’ve been a cashier for all I know) rushed through the interview like I was obviously a waste of his time, BUT then asked me to stay so he could see about getting me a second interview… a fast-track he said…
Confusing experience… but I ended up getting a job offer that day… now I just have to decide whether I really want to take it : http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjYiHAQju6CqTBKBSKFi0GLsy6IX?qid=20070819170226AALpq8f
Nowadays, however, you will come across those psychology-based personality profile questions a little more often in your job search. Whether they be in the application process or part of the pre-employment requirements… they are everywhere…