Job Interview today

[BreakfastSurreal]

I had my job interview at David's Bridal this morning. There were some really good things, and some not so good things. The interview itself went extremely well, and the job duties were explained well and sound definitely like something more my style than my last job. The manager showed me different people's pay ranges. They get $7.50/hr + commission (not sure on the percentage). The lowest ranked pay was $12/hr for a week,a nd the highest ranked salesperson was at $30/hr. So I have realllly good earning potential there. Ok now comes the bad part. When I applied there I was still employed with my last job, and I didn't bother telling them that I had quit on Saturday. It would have just brought up a lot of unneeded questions. So I didn't mention anything...then, the manager called my old boss while I was sitting right there. I gulped and my stomach was in knots, and I didn't really have time to think about what to say, I was kind of speechless. At that point I thought I migth as well just walk out, there was no way my last job would give me a good reference after how I left, even though it was their fault. After she hung up the phone, I told her "Ok well let me be honest...I was employed with them on thursday when i applied, that's why it says I am still working there, but on Saturday I tried giving my 2 weeks notice and ended up walking out" . I gave her the whole story, and she told me seriously not to worry about it, as long as my other references checked out then she wasn't too worried, because apparently my old manager was a bitch to her on the phone anyways. *whew*. I still kind of am not sure whether I have the job or not, she is going to call me next monday, so I am on pins and needles until then. I am wondering if she was just being nice when she told me not to worry about the bad reference, or if it really will affect whether or not they hire me. before she called my old boss though she talked to someone from corporate and told them she was hiring me. I'm guessing they jsut need to do more background checking and stuff like that because I did have a bad reference. I am soooo about to write my old company a letter, there was no need for them to give me a bad reference, I was a damn good worker while I was there. You guys keep your fingers crossed for me, I REALLY want this job!!!

 

[Mrs Behavin]

I hope it all works out for you. I am keeping my fingers, toes,and eyes all crossed for you! lol
I think the hardest part is waiting.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

Yeah, I never listed my old bosses as references, but you were caught between a rock and a hard place on that one.

I really hope it works out for you.

 

[BreakfastSurreal]

yeah i checked the "do not call" box...but she wanted to anyways...i couldnt really say no the way she asked...like i felt like i was hiding somehting if i said no. which i kind of was. but meh...she really liked me, so she migth hire me anyways and put me on a 30 day probationary period. I think she will. I just really hope so!

 

[Jersey]

good luck!

 

[Ria]

Aww, good luck with that.

As far as I know, companies are not allowed to give no reference or a bad reference here, so you had it hard in your interview. hope things go OK for you anyway.

 

[videophotog]

A former/current employer CANNOT give you a bad reference for they can face a defamation of character lawsuit from you. They would also be preventing you from gainful employement and would have to pay you damages until you get around to getting a job from that point. Even if you robbed the place clean and did the bosses wife they cannot saying anything other than verifying your employment time. Many corporations will only verify employement even for good employees for fear of saying something wrong or have it heard wrong by the new employeer.

David's Bridal is a chain (I'm sure you knew that) so I'm not sure what you can expand up to. If you like sales I'd look into either real estate or even car sales. The sky is the limit on how far you want to go.

I own my own video/photo company so I have to know these things!

 

[Ria]

Thought that wld be the case over there too, but things differ from country to country.

There you go BS, that should help you eh?

 

[BreakfastSurreal]

Well I am in school fulltime, I really like selling dresses, and the money is good. I just need something to do while im in school. I don't like SALES per se, I like selling wedding dresses. Car and real estate sales are careers, to me this is just a part time job...a damn good one though! I need to look into the defamation of character thing. I don't think she technically said anything BAD about me, but she did kept saying "it's against the law for me to tell you anything.." like she was leading into it...so she skirted around giving me a bad reference, but made it blatantly obvious that that was exactly what she was doing. The mgr from davids asked if it was a loss prevention issue, and my old boss said no. Hopefully that's all she cared about.

 

[videophotog]

As a newb I'm just getting to know everyone so I didn't know you were in school. This should be a natural fit (pun intended) as a job for you then, if you like what you do you will do well in it!

Sounds like the old boss did say the right things to cover her behind then, at least she answered what was important to the new boss.

If you really want this job, the most important thing you can do tomorrow is mail off a quick thank you note to the David's Bridal manager thanking him for his time and that you really look forward to working on his team. This will go a very long way for you since so many won't think to do this.

If you do not hear from the manager by 3pm on Monday, call and ask for him. Let him know that you know he is busy and Mondays are a difficult day to stay on task or something along those lines. Let him know that you are looking forward to working on his team once again. They like that term because after all they are the manager!

You can PM me if you prefer, I know if you do these things you will get the job! I can tell you what to expect on the second interview (yes, more than likely another one) what to say and what questions you might expect to answer and some good things to ask!

 

[BreakfastSurreal]

thanks man! i appreciate all the advice! I will def. pm you

 

[BreakfastSurreal]

ok i need yalls help. is this a good professional letter? this letter is REALLY important and i want it to be perfect! thanks in advnce for the help guys.

To Whom It May Concern:
I am a former employee of the Houston location of Special Occasion Dresses. On Saturday, March 31, 2007, I put in my two week’s notice, and gave my reasons for leaving. I had planned to work for the next two weeks, but decided not to after I was treated very unprofessionally by the assistant manager, Evelyn Broderick. Evelyn had asked me to lie for her about a damaged dress, and also to print out an email from a former employee and bring it to her, but she would not tell me why, which raised a red flag in my head that something sketchy was going on. I no longer felt comfortable at the store, and after I received a verbal lashing from Evelyn for telling her simply how I feel about such dishonest business practices, I decided it was time for me to leave. I am not someone who just walks out on a job, but I didn’t feel I owed anything to the store after the way she had treated me, yelling and pointing fingers in my face. On Tuesday, April 3, 2007, I had a prospective employer call the store for a reference, and according to this employer, Louise Dicken answered the phone and was extremely rude. There is a reason that the Houston store isn’t doing well in sales. To resolve this problem, I would appreciate it if I could get an appropriate reference from the corporate office. I’m sure you know that giving an opinion-based reference is illegal, and when a prospective employer calls a previous employer all they need is to verify whether or not the person worked there. As a side note, I really loved my job at Special Occasions, and deeply apologize for the irreconcilable differences I had with the management of the Houston store.

 

[Veronica]

I wish you the most luck in the world. I am sure all will turn out well.

 

[Peter Parka]

Good luck and I hope it all works out!