I began my online application and left it to finish later. Two days later, I received a call from the General Manager inviting me to an open interview. The night before the interview, I completed the online application. The interview consisted of four people. Myself and one other potential employee were interviewed simultaneously. The interview was conducted by the District Manager (DM), while the GM sat next to him quietly. The DM was very abrasive and the interview was very fast paced. The DM asked each of us to describe ourselves, our recent work history, and things like that. We were then handed a fact sheet which seemed to just cover some basic information about the company and how it treats its employees. We were to read both sides of the paper right there, and keep it for our own reference. After finishing reading, we were asked a series of questions at a very fast pace. First the other interviewee would be asked, then the other. Questions included variations of: •What are two things you could bring to this store? •What did you like about your past jobs? •What is one area where you think you could improve? •What is something you're proud of? •Where do you see yourself in five years? •What is the difference between this store and a library? The interview ended with an impromptu sales pitch. The DM had a bag of misc. things. We had to pull one out, without looking, observe the item for 30 seconds, and then "sell" it. My fellow interviewee had a little Buzz Lightyear reading lamp, while I had a little zen garden thing (these are the sort of tchotchkes BAM! keeps around the check out area, a.k.a. cheapo impulse buys). My little zen kit had a "Buy 2 Get a 3rd Free," and the DM/GM were clearly looking for me to mention this deal in my "pitch." Interlaced throughout the entire interview was the emphasis on selling the company's discount cards. I had previously worked for BAM! one summer several years ago, when the card only cost $10 and employees weren't pushed as hard to sell as many. The DM was very interested in knowing how well I did selling cards back then (I couldn't remember, it was too long ago); my fellow interviewee had also worked at Borders before, and the DM wanted to know how well he was at shilling out their cards when he worked there. The stakes seem higher for the card now, as it's doubled in price and employees are required to maintain a percentage of at least 5% (that is, when you work as a cashier, at least 5% of all your sales are discount cards). The emphasis on selling cards was brought up at the very beginning (the DM began the interview by saying something to the effect of, "If hired, maintaining your employment depends solely on how many cards you sell. If you underperform, you will lose your job. If this scares you or doesn't interest you, you're welcome to leave now before we begin.") Both of us were hired on the spot, pending the results of a background check. I received a call about a week later to fill out paperwork and have since started working there.

I showed up, gave them my name, and seemingly no one even knew I had an interview. I sat for around 30 minutes waiting on someone to finally show up.