For Part I, click here.
For Part III, click here.
For Part IV, click here.
At this point, you should now have a resume, a cover letter, and a list of stores you’ll be applying for. The next step will be to get your stuff together and head out. This step is probably the most time consuming part, aside from filling out applications, as requires you to physically travel from place to place.
4. Paying Them a Visit
Now you’re going to need a folder, a printer, and a lot of paper (and not to mention ink. Sorry). On your cover letter, you may want to make a few adjustments to certain areas such as the name of the company you’re trying to apply for. You are going to be printing out a separate cover letter and resume for each place you’re applying for, so if you are applying for 13 stores then, well, you’re going to be printing out 13 cover letters and 13 resumes. Staple them together and place them in a folder.
Next, you’ll be getting dressed into the best attire that you have. The closer you can get to a suit and tie, the better. This applies to girls as well, as while a dress may look nice, a suit looks more professional.
Now you’re going to need the entire day open, a lot of gas, and a checklist in your head of what to do when approaching hiring manager at each store you go to:
Shake their hand and introduce yourself.
Tell why you’re there. Most places now require that you fill out an application online, so they’ll most likely give you a reference number for that store for you to enter into your application and tell you to finish that before you do anything else. But that’s no reason to stop there.
Hand them your resume. Make sure that the one you hand them is for that specific store and another. It would help to put the resume for that store at the top of the stack to avoid making this mistake.
Ask if they’re hiring. If they answer “No” or “We are currently accepting applications” (my favorite one :P), then follow up by asking them when they would most likely be hiring on more employees. I’ve had a few tell me that weren’t hiring at the moment, but would be hiring within the next week or the coming month. These are the ones you want to devote your attention to.
5. Do Your Research
When you return home from your expedition, go on the computer and look up information for each company you’re applying for. You can do this at any point between now and before you go for your first interview. You may want to write down any information that you may find such as the history of the company, its foundation, benefits they offer, wages, and any pros or cons that you may find based on what current or former employees say about the company. Note that you’re going to hear a lot of bad things about the companies you’re researching. I work for Publix, and while there are a lot of bad things I can say about the company, there are some things about Publix that puts it a step above its competitors. So in other words, you want to be objective when doing your research.
Now that you’ve paid them a visit, you’ve got your foot in the door, or multiple doors should I say, which will help you out immensely. Just the simple fact that you’ve handed them a resume shows that you’re serious about the job, which will put you application towards the top of the stack of applications they have piling up on their desk. Next, I will be going over what you will be putting into your application, how to go about answering the questionnaire (if they have one), and following up with them after you’ve submitted your application.
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