Okay, here’s the back story. – kinda long, so you can skip to the In a nutshell at the end if you don’t care.
This summer I’m moving to Rochester, NY. My best friend from college lives there, and I’m moving in with her and paying rent to her mother. I need a job, obviously. So over the first half of spring break, I went up to Rochester with my friend to do a little job hunting at the mall near her house. I knew exactly where I really wanted to work, but figured I’d apply at several stores for safety’s sake. Most of the various places that I was getting applications from for back up were either downright rude or just very unhelpful, but, at the place that I really wanted to work – Hot Topic, the manager I spoke with was extremely helpful, friendly, and seemingly very enthusiastic about me applying.
I explained my situation: I live in Pennsylvania, I’m moving to Rochester for the summer, I’ll be available from early/mid-May until late August, but I’m strongly considering moving up there on a more permanent basis after I graduate next spring, so there’s a possibility I could come back and continue working at that time. She said that although seasonal summer help usually starts in June, they were actually looking for some people to start in May, so that would be great, and the August ending date would also be really convenient. She gave me the application, told me to fill it out and if I brought it back tomorrow after 2, she’d be there and we could talk about interviews and such. I did so, and after that evening I took an automated phone interview, basically ascertaining my attitudes about the work and the atmosphere and the policies, and then called and talked to the manager again. She said that since I was going back home the next day, I should call her a few days ahead of time the next time I would be in town to set up a regular interview. She was so incredibly nice and enthusiastic about it and I felt really good about it.
I’m going to Rochester next weekend, the 21st-23rd, and I just called to set up my interview. Now, I’m 19 years old and have held two jobs in my life, one at home, and one at school. At home I’ve worked at a restaurant near my house basically every summer and on breaks since I graduated from high school. The interview process there was really lax and easy because my older sister worked there for almost three years, and had only recently quit, so the manager knew me and the interview was mostly just her telling me what work clothes I had to buy and how the scheduling worked. My job at school is a work-study job at the library, the interview was brief and not exactly overwhelming - as far as I know one of the main reasons they hired me to begin with was that I could work Tuesday and Thursday mornings and they needed someone to fill those times. (I am now in my 6th semester in that job, I’m very good at it, my supervisor loves me and I’m very happy with it.) So… I’ve never really had a serious real-world job interview and I’m not sure how to handle it.
So I need tips, advice, anything. For anyone who might not know, Hot Topic is a retail store specializing in clothing, accesories, and other stuff with kind of a hardcore musical edge - punk, emo, indie, metal, and the styles that go with it. Sometimes they’re criticized for mass-marketing these supposed “alternative” styles, but I don’t really care, I like the music, I like the style, I like the atmosphere. But I have no idea how to prepare for whatever kind of interview I might get. So can you help me out?
In a nutshell: I’ve got a job interview at Hot Topic. I really really really want to work there. How can I prepare and what advice can you give me? I strongly appreciate any help.