Cotton On! Got an interview

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Ooh. I went to Chatswood for the induction, I felt so out of place there - it's extremely rare that I travel over the bridge heh. I'm working at the Hurstville one, they moved across to where Valleygirl used to be, but they're hopeless at decor - it still looks tiny inside. It doesn't seem too busy, which should be good, I just hope I don't get bored. Didn't see anywhere to sit though lol =/

is the induction place in chatswood easy to find? it's close to the station yeah? i don't think i've ever been to chatswood before.

[SmokedSalmon]

It is kind of behind the main shopping district... which is weird. In one of the office buildings. To walk there from the station would take u around 20 mins.

[WTF!bbq]

Wear comfortable shoes, for the love of jebus. That said, it's not actually that far, I just managed to get hopelessly lost about 3 times; they're remodelling Chatswood stn or something so they have a lot of detoury sort of stairs and construction zones... that's my excuse, and I'm stickin to it. But yeah, was not a happy chappy by the time I turned up.

Haha!! Yeah you will, u'll be picking up clothes off the ground and from the dressing room continously!! And also saying to customers 'hey there, how is ur day today? who are u buying for?' time and time again. Fun times

Eeh! Hahah evil people. People are going to think I'm weird when im like "omg hai gaaais", I'm so un-cotton-on. If they leave clothes on the floor a lot though... :burn:

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Wear comfortable shoes, for the love of jebus. That said, it's not actually that far, I just managed to get hopelessly lost about 3 times; they're remodelling Chatswood stn or something so they have a lot of detoury sort of stairs and construction zones... that's my excuse, and I'm stickin to it. But yeah, was not a happy chappy by the time I turned up.


Eeh! Hahah evil people. People are going to think I'm weird when im like "omg hai gaaais", I'm so un-cotton-on. If they leave clothes on the floor a lot though... :burn:

lol okay thanks for that, i'll get there early then and leave myself a good 40 minutes or so to find it, knowing my luck i'll get lost for sure.
thank god i'll be going there from concord, instead of home, as chance would have it. or i'd have to get up so insanely early :s

[alby]

i just got a call for a group interview tomorrow in wollongong....i'm kinda iffy about it after reading what you guys've said. should i try hard for the job or just see how it goes tomorrow? i'll probably ask about breaks and pay during question time...anything else you think i should ask about?

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

ask whether you get paid for the induction. i didnt have the guts to ask that. but after 3 hours and a totally numb butt from sitting on those bloody chairs the whole time i sure hope we do. i'm waiting for a call to tell me when i start working. they asked if i could come to work in hurstville at the induction and i was like what?!?! do you have any idea how far away that is?!?! so yeah make it clear which stores you're willing to work at if they ask you.
oh and it seems like we'll probably be spending half our pay on clothes to wear to work. thank god for a 30% discount.

[alby]

yeah, there's only a cotton-on & a cotton-on body in the gong....closest after those would be like hurstville area, and yeah, i doubt they'd get many people agreeing to work that far away.

i guess that's an excuse to get new clothes all the time...and i think 30%'s pretty good, espically when their stuff isnt THAT expensive to start with

i'll probably be too much of a pansy to ask about the induction

[WTF!bbq]

Damn. If we get paid for the induction that's leet, those chairs were shitty indeed. They're a bit dense about the "I IS BE WORKING HERE NOT THERE" thing by the sounds of it ^___^ I spent $220 the other day getting all my brand new flash work clothes, weee. Tax deductible though, which is cool and it isn't too much tbh, it's generally one of the cheaper clothes stores around and they've got some pretty alright stuff. Especially jeans being just ~$50 after the team discount, that's coolies. I do think the breaks thing is majorly big suck, but it doesn't seem to get too busy at the one I'm going to be working in.

Ask if you should be booking your training week at the induction like the paper says you should apparently be (even though nobody in my lot did... weird, unless it's just an outdated practice of theirs or something).
They might not tell you this at the induction - they didn't for me - that normally you can't wear sale items in store unless they're having a massive storewide kinda sale, otherwise you have to wear the full-priced stuff.

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

bumping to ask a question. how long did it take from induction to when they called you for your first shift, cause it's been a week and i'm still waiting. maybe they're waiting until my full availability starts to call me. i dont know.

[xxPanDa]

they called me yesterday. after they called me i told my friend to register online too, and they called him 5min later!

asking me what interest me to cotton on... what skills i could bring...
i screwed up those Qs >< i didn tknow what to say, took me a while to answer.. she stoped me and said "i put u on the spot havnt i?" and wen on to ask
if i can work at xmas...

she said she will call me today, if they decide to employ me..

i didnt get a call.. i geuss i didnt get the job than = /



about the buying the cotton on clothes thing. cant u just wear ur old cotton on clothes? or do u have to wear the ones selling in store...?

[footballstar]

they called me yesterday. after they called me i told my friend to register online too, and they called him 5min later!

asking me what interest me to cotton on... what skills i could bring...
i screwed up those Qs >< i didn tknow what to say, took me a while to answer.. she stoped me and said "i put u on the spot havnt i?" and wen on to ask
if i can work at xmas...

she said she will call me today, if they decide to employ me..

i didnt get a call.. i geuss i didnt get the job than = /



about the buying the cotton on clothes thing. cant u just wear ur old cotton on clothes? or do u have to wear the ones selling in store...?

To all those that have applied to Cotton On, did u guys include a cover letter on ur online application or did u just attach a resume?

[WTF!bbq]

^CoSMic DoRiS^^: ages, as in, i haven't been called for a shift yet, technically. i was called about 5 days later to fill in at another store, but i hadn't done any training, didn't have any cotton on clothes and had a hsc exam the next day, so i declined. i actually went into the store and told the store manager when i could start, last week, and she hadnt called D: so i went into store today, and seeing as they've moved spots in the shopping centre there's lots of organising stuff to still be done, so she can't train the people who have no retail experience yet (i.e. me and a few others). try going into the store, introducing yourself to the store manager and asking about the roster did you get a christmas or permanent casual position?

xxPanDa: as for the clothes, they want you to wear current stock from your "home" store for advertising reasons, the exception is if you're filling in a shift at another store i think. but yeah, the discount's there so you keep buying relatively new lines, which is good and bad because on the one hand, you always have new stuff in your wardrobe, and on the other hand some days the whole shop looks like it's had an attack of the uglies.

footballstar: Just a resumé in my case.

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

thanks for that, i was really starting to worry :s i got a christmas casual position...i hope they're just waiting till next week when my full availability starts, coz right now i've got exams and shiz so my availability is a bit dodgy till then. i might go into the store like you said, seeing as how it doesnt seem to exist according to the westfield website (i went there to try and get a ph number for the store). i know it exists, ive seen it, but it must be new coz its not listed anywhere even on the cotton on site.

[pauralotter]

ohh is anyone here doing the group interview tomorrow at blacktown for cotton on? they called me just b4 and im so nervous, cos i have no experience and im a really shy person! im applying for xmas casuals at penrith, any one else? any advice?

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

ohh is anyone here doing the group interview tomorrow at blacktown for cotton on? they called me just b4 and im so nervous, cos i have no experience and im a really shy person! im applying for xmas casuals at penrith, any one else? any advice?

i got hired as a christmas casual for penrith. the group interview was easy as. i dont know if all the activities are always the same, but going off mine, make sure you know your own birthday and can talk for 30 seconds or less about why you'd be good for the job. oh, and sit next to someone friendly 'cause you're going to be talking to them a lot. and you have to tell everyone what your favourite band is, and why. oh and brush up on your sign language. it's easy, unless you're retarded or never available you should get hired. good luck.

[Kyuss333]

Hey, I'm up for an interview tomorrow... The only thing I was really curious about was if I should come to the interview in Cotton on clothes or actually come in good clothes :P... Also... For anyone who actually got the job... If they could give any helpful tips about what to say and how to present yourself.

Thanks. David

[xxPanDa]

How much do you get paid?

[modjo]

I actually got called for an induction ! I thought i did terrible at last weeks interview. The exercise where we all had to "sell" our partner was *painful).

Anyway if I ive been called for the induction, does that mean Ive got the job for sure?
Can someone here tell me what happens at the induction?

And how much does Cotton on pay?

[xxPanDa]

So I am really unhappy with the lack of communication from cotton on. Out of the 3 girls that went to the interview(That i knew, 15 overall) only one got a call back, saying she was rejected. Me and another girl are yet to recieve communication, this is so frustrating and rude. We were told a phone call would be made regardless, although I just got another interview with The Body Shop so im not to mad.

did u ever get the phone call?

its been more than 7 days now since my interview...
it sux cause i want to apply for other jobs too, and i dunno my availabilty

[blue_chameleon]

I went for the group interview today, pretty sure of getting a Christmas Casual position, because I listed about 4 stores, and have got a fair bit of experience behind me.

Anyway, to those who have casual positions there already, or who have had Christmas casual for Cotton On over Xmas period before, how many hours did you guys get (roughly)?

I know everyone will probably be different, but just looking for a ball park figure. 10 - 15 hours? 20 + hours?

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

well i havent even been called for my first shift like we were all assured at the induction that we would be, and i can't find the contact number for the store ANYWHERE and really don't feel like travelling 45mins to my store to check up on it when it's their responsibility since they were the ones who told me i'd be called. at this rate, they can get fucked if they think i'm going to go and buy their crappy clothes to wear to work when they can't even get their act together about actually employing me. I've applied for about 4 other jobs this week and if any of them hire me i'll be telling cotton on to shove it, because i think they've just basically been really rude, and that's not cool.

/rant.

[blue_chameleon]

well i havent even been called for my first shift like we were all assured at the induction that we would be, and i can't find the contact number for the store ANYWHERE and really don't feel like travelling 45mins to my store to check up on it when it's their responsibility since they were the ones who told me i'd be called. at this rate, they can get fucked if they think i'm going to go and buy their crappy clothes to wear to work when they can't even get their act together about actually employing me. I've applied for about 4 other jobs this week and if any of them hire me i'll be telling cotton on to shove it, because i think they've just basically been really rude, and that's not cool.

/rant.

Yeah I understand your frustration at not knowing when you start. I am going through the same thing. I spoke with the lady that did our group interview and she said they were opening new stores constantly in the lead up to Christmas, hence that she wasnt sure when or who would contact us, just that we would be regardless of if we got the position or not.

So it seems to me that they are pretty hectic atm, they opened a store in my suburb, and in the suburb that I went for the group interview (10 mins away). So id say that rightly or wrongly, thats what has their attention so they can get the Xmas business, not us...yet.

Im in a similar position with applying for other jobs. I know that Cotton On need me for about a week either side of Xmas day, but other than that im assuming things. Which is frustrating.

[xxPanDa]

...regardless of if we got the position or not...

ive been wait for like 2 weeks now..
they say they have a "policy" that will reply us within 7 days

do you guys have their number so i can ring them?
u can pm me

[blue_chameleon]

ive been wait for like 2 weeks now..
they say they have a "policy" that will reply us within 7 days

do you guys have their number so i can ring them?
u can pm me

Each region has different people involved in recruitment, so there is no one person I could suggest you contact. If you went to the group interview, you should have received a call from someone before the interview. Best bet is to call them and ask for an update on progress.

If you applied for Christmas Casual positions, the dates they employ you from (ie. you need to be available from), were set out on the application form you would have received when you went for the group interview. The important dates were coloured in black. Off the top of my head, I think they were around the 15th of December through to the 8th of January (something in that region, a week either side of Xmas day etc).

They still have around 2 weeks until they need people for Xmas. If they told you they would contact you within the week, thats their fault for making such a promise. But just use common sense guys, dont stress out!

Apply for other jobs, and if you're successful with them before you hear back from Cotton On, then go with you offer from the other job. Eitherway, there's no need to stress out about it. If you are Xmas casual, chances are they will need you for 2 weeks roughly, so for most people this will only be a temporary position.

Just apply to other places in the meantime (with full availability), thats all I can suggest.

[Che08]

I went to one of those group interviews out at chatswood a while ago. I was really unhappy with the way they treated us, like sheep or something you know? heard us in ask us questions but not really listen to the answers.
I dont know - i just dont perform well in a group. solo or a few people in the interview is the only way for me to get a job.