While group interviews may save those in charge of onboarding new talent some time, applicants who’ve been through the process have had no qualms in hopping on social media and decrying this type of interview. One candidate likened her group interview to the Hunger Games.
A TikToker named Jamie (@jamiebeth621) also isn’t a fan of the group interview and highlighted how her not-so-smooth time during an H&M job interview made her realize how problematic this method is.
Jamie says she wasn’t informed the interview was going to be in a group setting and only found out after she arrived to the store. “I was practicing … my responses to what they would ask me, like, ‘Tell me about yourself’ and ‘Why do you want to work there?’ And then I show up, and there’s a bunch of other people waiting, so I assumed it would just be a one-on-one. … One person goes, and then the next person goes, but then they brought us into … a room, and then we had to do an ice breaker and … [share] our favorite fall item.”
“And then after that, we had to go around the store and find three good things about the store and three good things that needed opportunities, so we had to go around the room and do that, so that was really bad,” she continues.
When it came to the talking portions of the group interview, Jamie offers her perspective on why she found it so difficult.
“We had to answer a bunch of questions, and it wasn’t like we go around the room; it was like people choose to speak up when they want to speak, which I’m terrible about cause I have terrible social anxiety,” she says.
Because Jamie is hesitant to speak up without being prompted to do so, as she gets anxious in social situations, she says she spent a lot of time listening to other people talk.
“And then so the interview didn’t go very well cause you can see other people’s responses, but when it’s just you, you think, ‘Oh I think this interview went well. Maybe I have a chance.’ But when you’re surrounded by other people’s answers, you see like, ‘Oh, I definitely don’t have a chance.’”
Jamie shares at the end of her video that she didn’t get the job.
Her video was viewed over 69,000 times.
@jamiebeth621 Ill never get the job when its a group interview #jobinterview ♬ original sound – Jamie
A number of viewers who saw her post questioned why the clothing retailer had such an involved job application process for what they deemed to be a fairly straightforward and low-paying gig.
“Why do corporations make you jump through hoops for the simplest of jobs? Going on a scavenger hunt for basic pay,” one questioned.
According to Indeed, the average hourly rate for an H&M sales coach is $10.38, with assistant managers pulling in $24.51 per hour, give or take.
“All that for h&m?? they’re doing way too much,” another commenter echoed, while someone else quipped, “Wow they’re acting like you’re applying for NASA. They doing the most.”
There were other folks who, like Jamie, also slammed the nature of group interviews in general. One viewers called it “lazy and inefficient.”
“It is SO frustrating that retail jobs will do nonsense like that. They need to make that known beforehand too. I’m sorry you were so blind sighted,” another said.
It’s not just Jamie and a few sympathetic viewers in the comments section of her video who are critical of group interviews. StartUpNation called them “usually a really bad idea.”
The business blog said the format leads to some folks who are more reluctant to be extroverted getting glossed over, despite them potentially being a great fit for the business.
Other downsides, according to StartUpNation, are that these types of interviews can often be viewed as “cattle calls” that could adversely affect the reputation of a business and that “top performers” will generally avoid these types of interviews, meaning a company could ultimately lose out of acquiring valuable talent.
The Daily Dot reached out to H&M via email and to Jamie via TikTok comment for further information.
