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Benefit Interview Process (eughk!)

When I applied for the job I was searching long and hard to see what to expect but barely found anything with the exception of a few blog posts. This was my first (and only) try at dabbling my hand in the world of Makeup Artistry and I though this post may be useful if you're ever thinking about applying for Benefit in the future, or just enjoy a good story- because trust me.. this may not be what you're expecting.

I guess I should start from the very beginning. Whilst on a hunt for a part time job, among many other retail stores, I handed my CV into the Benefit beauty counter in Debenhams. I did not expect to hear anything back, being the Politics/Economics student that I am and having no experience in make-up at all, but surprisingly this was the only one I did hear back from. I was in the gym at the time (back when... I actually went to the gym) halfway through a 30 minuet run on the treadmill when the lady from Benefit phoned me.

Round 1 - The Phone Interivew
So after the immediate panic I switched off the treadmill and answed the phone (before catching my breath properly!) This was about 3 weeks after i'd applied and like i said, i wasn't expecting a call, so this completely threw me off guard. She told me that i'd got through to the phone interview stage then proceeded to ask me 100 questions. (Where I basically kissed Benefits ass.) 'What do you like best about Benefit?' .. 'The high quality make-up and retro packaging.. of course!' 'If a customer said... how would you respond?' If you're worrying about the phone interview, I really wouldn't. It's super easy and as long as you do have a genuine passion for makeup and have dabbled your hand at some Benefit products you'll be fine! After an awkward silence she told me I was through to the next stage, the 'audition.'



Round 2 - The audition
For the audition you're asked to wear all black and I made special effort with my make-up with special thanks to the Naked Palette (which the lady complimented, yay!) I arrived super early, which is better than late I guess, so walked around for a bit to calm my nerves. It was a pretty tough audition, for the first hour me and two other girls were taken to a room where we were 'taught' about 5 specific beauty products. The 'lesson' basically included one of the beauty girls spurting out ingredients to us and a script that you have to recite to every customer. You have absolutely no free will in what you use or say, which sucks. They even separate the script up into the left and right side of the face. For example, whilst doing the left side talk about the ingredients, whilst doing the right side talk about the customer etc. Next, us 3 girls had to do each others make-up in the style of a cheesy Benefit employee which was possibly the worst thing i've ever had to sit through and i'm convinced the girl made me look like a clown on purpose.. bitch. After letting a total stranger do your make-up, you're sent out to the shop floor where you have to 'sell sell sell' for 4 hours. This includes Traffic Stopping everyone who comes through the doors. I didn't realise but throughout the day the other two were sent home (harsh?!) and i was the last man standing. This swiftly brings me to my final stage in the benefit quest, the interview.

Round 3 - The interview 
I know what you're thinking. Really? 3 rounds? Yes! The interview happened straight after the audition and I wasn't really asked any interview questions at all but more the days i'm available, the pay etc. She made it sound as though I had the job in the bag but rudely I never did hear from Benefit again.

If you genuinely want to get into Make-up I would not recommend Benefit. Though there are some perks (noticeably the £200 worth of free makeup twice a year) their main priority is selling and not the actual products. The lady in the interview said herself that within the first half hour she would be able to tell if our 'selling techniques' were right for the job. Looking back i'm glad that I never got it but am still so annoyed that they never got back to me, not even after the final interview. Maybe to get your foot into beauty counters this could be your chance, but I definitely couldn't imagine you staying there long if you were genuinely interested in make-up.

29 comments:

  1. Such a helpful post! I've contemplated handing in CVs to beauty counters, but have never gone through with it as I always thought you needed experience. You did well to get through to the last stage though, shame they didn't contact you!

    Sammy xx

    www.ramblesandjangles.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. You should definitely hand your CV in, i've heard Lancome are quite nice! x

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  2. it was really disappointing reading this post. i really love benefit products because they seriously work wonders for me and i only have good things to say about the benefit counter at my local department store and the wonderful woman who works there. i wonder if creation benefit stores are more strict than others and i hope that this was just a bad experience. i am really sorry that you had to go through that!

    http://www.lovefromberlin.net/
    xx rae

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    1. Maybe! The things i did read up on pretty much warned the same though. I love benefit products too! x

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  3. Wow! What an eye opener! It seemed like you had it right in the bag then they went and did that! Really sorry about that but at least you have got the experience now x

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  4. So sorry you had such an awful time with it! I wish i'd seen this sooner. my best friends daughter got through to Round Two of the interview process and was sent home in tears. She's only sixteen, loves make up and especially Benefit. For such a well established brand, I don't see why they're so pushy?
    Hope you find something better soon!

    xxx

    http://wethingin.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Really? That doesn't surprise me at all! They don't advertise so they probably feel they need to attract attention that way, it's bloody annoying! x

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  5. This is such a shocker and makes me think differently about Benefit. :( Thanks for sharing your experience!

    http://jemaroons.blogspot.ca/

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  6. Wow, what an interesting interview process!!

    I have an INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY on my blog, hope you will enter;
    http://beautyandlifestylehunter.blogspot.com.au/

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  7. Wow! I am shocked!!! I work in cosmetics retail and my company is nothing like that!!

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    1. I've heard about some really great cosmetics stands like Lancome! x

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  8. Thanks for sharing your experience of this, sounds awful! I absolutely hate the Benefit counter in my local Debenhams purely because the SAs just do the hard sell WAY too much, it puts me off completely from shopping there xx

    Evelyn @ We Were Raised By Wolves

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  9. What an interesting read - I'm personally not overly keen on Benefit although they have the odd good product. Bless you having to go through such a traumatic sounding interview, so bizarre that they let candidates put make-up on each other.

    Hannah www.cagneyandlace.com

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  10. Oh! I didn't see that one coming! They sound rude.
    It's nice you know it was actually great not having the job in the long run. I can't imagine how they would treat you once you work there.

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  11. This is a great blog post! I will never hand my cv into benefit in the future though!
    http://thelipstickthegirlandherwardrobe.blogspot.co.uk/

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  12. This was such an interesting read! I'm shocked at the way that they treat their potential employee's!

    Aimée X
    dress-it-up-6.blogspot.co.uk

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  13. This is such a good post! Followed you back, brilliant blog :)

    Siobhan xx
    http://siobhanhm.blogspot.co.uk

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  14. Hi Lucy! I contacted you via your contact form about a button swap a few days ago. I was wondering if you're still interested in swapping buttons? If so, would you like to swap buttons with me? I love the new layout by the way, what a beautiful background pattern! :) x

    twincolours.net

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  15. Great Post! Very interesting

    http://ssimply-me.blogspot.hk/

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  16. It makes u think what the workers actually feel about the products if there scripted with everything they say x

    1stepclosereveryday.blogspot.co.uk

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  17. Wow, this is REALLY interesting to hear! I can't believe they made you go through such an intense process to work at a counter. Surely they'd just want to see you could put makeup on people properly. yikes! good thing you didn't get it!

    Olive & Ivy

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  18. I've heard about benefit being a bit crazy before when it comes to sales!
    Shame because it is just SO PRETTY :|

    New follow from www.livingwitholivia.com since your blog looks rather lovely :) x

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  19. Just looking through your blog to find this very interesting post which I loved reading btw ! :) this would have been tough and something I would not have been able to do myself lol and does sound very nerve racking having to do 3 interviews basically for a sales job that really pushes you to your limit. I wish you luck in finding a job you like and will enjoy :) xx

    http://krystelcouture.blogspot.co.uk/

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  20. Reading this really helped actually, as the shopping centre I work at atm are looking for people for a Benefit counter and I handed my CV in. Don't think I want that job anymore now, that sounds like a horrible process. x

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  21. Sorry to hear they never got back to you..Especially as you did so well!
    I applied for a job with benefit, had a telephone interview which went well and then got invited to go to an audition. But I decided not to go ahead with it as if I ended up getting the job, it was going to be too far to travel.
    I also read up a lot on the web about what to expect and there were so many horror stories!
    I don't like how what you have to say is all scripted either..it all sounds a bit fake and sounded to me like you had to be really over the top and pushy!
    I just couldn't see myself enjoying it!

    Thank you for your comment on my blog :)
    I'm now following you on GFC :)
    Great post! xxx

    gemmasdiaries.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. I went through 3 interviews and I didn't get a reply even after chasing them up! Rude!

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