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Hey guys. I hope this is the right area for this but anyway.

I applied recently to Games Workshop (in the UK) for their trainee manager positions, and yesterday I got a phone call telling me that I'll be having a phone interview with them this Thursday!

I've had a few phone interviews so I know the basics of what to expect, but I was also wondering if anyone here could gift me with some advice? Have you or someone you know done the interview? Or even if you know what it might entail and could just give a few words of advice?

As it's for a trainee manager I assume that while they're looking for manager material they don't need experience (which is good because I don't really have anyway). I've also been out of work for a while which I know looks bad, but hey they have my CV so if they weren't interested they wouldn't have phoned right? I just really want to do well for this interview.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Best advice is think of examples of you being flexible or working on your own initiative. I swear to god if you make a joke about it Being I8 and that ur WS6 I will kill you.

But that really helps a lot if you can answer they 2 questions perfectly.

zonino wrote:Hey guys. I hope this is the right area for this but anyway.

I applied recently to Games Workshop (in the UK) for their trainee manager positions, and yesterday I got a phone call telling me that I'll be having a phone interview with them this Thursday!

I've had a few phone interviews so I know the basics of what to expect, but I was also wondering if anyone here could gift me with some advice? Have you or someone you know done the interview? Or even if you know what it might entail and could just give a few words of advice?

As it's for a trainee manager I assume that while they're looking for manager material they don't need experience (which is good because I don't really have anyway). I've also been out of work for a while which I know looks bad, but hey they have my CV so if they weren't interested they wouldn't have phoned right? I just really want to do well for this interview.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

I was out of work for around 4 months before my interview with them, and it had no impact whatsoever. They understand the employment situation in these current times I'm sure! My advice is be yourself, be honest, and answer the questions as well as you can. I thought I fluffed up my phone interview, however yesterday I drove a van full of my belongings from Bristol (where I was training) to the North East to take over a store!

Good luck, if you get through to the recruitment day you'll have a great time!

Good luck. I'd apply there, but I'm not legal age

Good luck to you, hope it goes well.

Congratulations to Mr. narked as well.

Keep a pad next to you. Write down the name the interviewer gives you.

Get rid of any and all distractions, no computer, books, tv, people, pets, anything.

Aside from that i's just like any other interview.

Just say your able to badger people into buying stuff they really dont want and you'll be fine

Semms to be the main thing they look for in their staff

Best of luck mate.

Key things to show are enthusiasm, honesty, commitment and personality (but not too extreme). You don't want to get overboard on the OP rant (those DE figs are the absolute biatch etc) stuff, but a knowledge of the company and their customer base never goes amiss.

Try to avoid simple yes/no answers and give the reasons behind any opinions/comments you make. Nothing wrong with asking them questions either. Try to avoid saying the same phrases all the time such as ... like, you know, well, obviously etc.

Agree on the having no distractions in the room. Maybe write some key bullet points on a piece of paper so you remember to cover everything.

Don't worry about the employment gap. It's what you did with the time that counts. If you spent the time actively looking for work, going on holidays or even using the time to finish off painting your army you can still spin this as a positive. Saying I got so depresssed my girlfriend left me and I haven't been outside for 6 weeks would be far from helpful!

If you've worked in any shop environment before where you've handled money than that's good - unless you got sacked for theft of course! Even if all you've done is help out at a village fete it may be worth throwing in!

Dont have them call your cell phone, use a land line. Less chance of something going wrong and Land Lines are usually clearer.

Answer the phone nicely until you get their call, don't just answer it Hi or Hello, instead say something along the lines of Hi this is Blank, or Blank Residance.

Keep the place quiet, no blaring music etc...

Don't be to much of a fan boy

Talk yourself up, but don't brag.

Good Luck!

Be knowledgeable about the company whether it be around their games or turnover, ask questions.....and more importantly CLOSE them down for a second interview.......after all the job requires that ability

Don't pretend to know things that you don't. There is no shame in admitting that you don't know something rather than giving an on the spot answer. These tend to be rambling, boring and suprisingly easy to spot.

By saying that you do not know something then you can then use this as an opening into how you wish to develope and learn. This will mark you out as keen and honest, vitally important in that line of work, especially when you consider that all other skills can be learnt on the job (they know this )

Think about it from their perspective, they're looking for someone to potentially run a store for them, a manager isn't hard to find, a good manager harder, and a good one with enthusiam for the field is much harder to find.
As Catyrpelius said, big yourself up, but avoid arrogance. Make them aware of your enthusiasm for the IP (I wouldn't mention an interest in anything other than GW tbh) but again, don't be a brown nose.
Be polite, clear and get your points across. Talk to them like they're sitting with you and you'll be fine.

Though the best advice I'd say is not to get nervous and forget to mention something important, the notepad with bullet points on it would be great. Past, relevant, experience is king, regardless how long ago it was. Maybe keep a copy of your CV nearby and link your points to it. They *WILL* be taking notes, and it may seem simple, but relating to your CV will give a good impression.

Avoid long pauses, on a phone its worse than face to face! Like one of the other posters said, if you don't know something, tell them you don't know, or that you've never come across that "thing" before...

At every and any opprotunity, try to take control of the interview, you can do this quite easily by asking questions. Its a small psy trick / jedi mind trick, but by getting them to do most of the talking, will make them go away feeling that the interview has gone well.....the reason for this is simple, its because they would have had an active part to play in the exchange, and therefore they think this is fruitful and positive....

A good example of this, is when you next chat up a lady, get her talking about her, in fact, the less about you that you talk will have her swooning....the same tactic works at interviews

Don't forget, there are lots of young children in GW stores these days so they will ask you about that. Some of the children will be nice. Others, un-nice. A related issue is therefore dealing with parents. Any experience working with kids will therefore be relevant.

Presumably in the first instance you'd be at a store working as a trainee manager, then in a one-man store, but eventually they'll want you to manage others, so some ideas about how you would go about that would help.

Don't ask about your staff discount.

They will likely come up with scenarios that you could encounter and ask you to talk through how you would handle it. How would you handle a shoplifter? How would you handle someone who wants to return an item that is already damaged? How would you handle a member of staff who is constantly late? ow would you handle a regular who hogs the gaming table? How would you go about preparing your store, staff and regulars for a big event, like the release of a new edition of 40k? How would you balance the need to play something other tan 40k?

They will ask about how you feel about working weekends, etc...

They may be interested in your familiarity with the product, but all you can do here is be honest. It will not actually be their main priority.

The best way to answer questions about what you will do in the future is to give an example of how you handled a similar situation in the past. Either how well you did it, or what you learned about how to handle it next time.

Ahh thanks guys. Lots of good advice there.

As I said I've done a few phone interviews so I know what to expect. I'll need to refresh my competency based questions, and I've looked into a little on GW and of course I know about the product... well apart from LotR. I've worked in a retail store before where I handled money and I was even a keyholder so that looks good. Shows I'm trustworthy (which I am!).

I have to admit I ramble, especially when nervious. I'll do my best to avoid doing that. I just need to prepare a bit more but I have time. I just need to remain calm right?

I have to say that you want to let them know you can be a part of the team. That you fit the "culture" of the store. If you are a frequent visitor to the store, you may already know the culture. If you are not, I'd suggest dropping in to "buy some minis" and see what you can find out.

If you are familiar with their store and their needs, your chances go up. Another thing you can do is do some reading on their website if they have one. Also make sure you are up to date on the latest GW releases so you can prove to them that you already "keep up" with all the latest. As manager, you will have to do this.

They will probably also ask you how you would deal with a difficult customer or employee, so think on that, too.

Good luck!

Read GW's mission statement and use some of the key terms therein when asked about your ethics and values. Matching you to the company is a tactic that representatives are going to use.

syanticraven wrote:Best advice is think of examples of you being flexible or working on your own initiative.

Quoted for truth.
I'm not an HR professional, but I've interviewed hundreds of potential interns and a few full time employees for my department. The answers to these two questions really separate the wheat from the chaff.

Also, if you can have an exmple of when/how you handled multi-tasking, that comes up sometimes also.

Good Luck!

zonino wrote:Ahh thanks guys. Lots of good advice there.

As I said I've done a few phone interviews so I know what to expect. I'll need to refresh my competency based questions, and I've looked into a little on GW and of course I know about the product... well apart from LotR. I've worked in a retail store before where I handled money and I was even a keyholder so that looks good. Shows I'm trustworthy (which I am!).

I have to admit I ramble, especially when nervious. I'll do my best to avoid doing that. I just need to prepare a bit more but I have time. I just need to remain calm right?

Having been on the course, I could offer you advice. But having then failed the course (d'oh!) I'd best not.

I ramble, and still got through As I said, they key is to be yourself and be honest. If you get through to the recruitment day, they will stress this point to you.

Remember, they want a good, responsible manager, a leader, not a fanatic of the game. So while it will be good if you play a few of their systems, do not act obsessed with the hobby.

narked wrote:I ramble, and still got through As I said, they key is to be yourself and be honest. If you get through to the recruitment day, they will stress this point to you.

Recruitment day eh? Let me guess, group interview? It always seems to be group interviews and I don't know what it is but I just don't seem to do that well in them. I mean, I'm confident, I speak up, I get involved. There's always loads of people who just sit back and let the interview happen to others. Maybe I ramble too much?

Be assertive, not aggressive.

Kind of lame to say it, but you'll either make the grade or you won't, and no amount of advice can change that! If you don't, it's hardly an indictment of you as a person, just your potential fit within the slightly bizarre family that is GW.

Best thing to do is right your answers before hand, most questions will be based on a few themes

-initiative (working on your own)
-working with others (under and in charge)
-problem solving
-responding to problems
-time management

Your answers don't need to be job related, think of a situation that best examplifies your ability in those areas and write a bit of a spiel about it, but get ready to go off script /modify the answers.

and as said above, never lie, it will bite you in the ass sooner or later.

I don't know what it is like over in Europe, but when I got interviewed over here in the States I was asked rather odd questions like "What is the color of power?". The answer is whatever color you personally feel is the color of power. Alot of the questions I was asked were to determine how quick I was with strange situations. I guess I did OK as I got the job, but then turned it down because I was offered a management position in my current career field. Haven't looked back either.

Shepherd23 wrote:...when I got interviewed over here in the States I was asked rather odd questions like "What is the color of power?". The answer is whatever color you personally feel is the color of power.

Answer: RED....RED LIKE THE BLOOD OF THE ENEMIES THAT TREMBLE BEFORE YOU, THE BLOOD GOD, AND THE SKULL THRONE!

LET ALL PERISH BEFORE THE GOD OF BATTLE!!!

And that should be your answer right there.

Be ready to quote 'examples of' from your previous employment.

ie
"Give me an example of when you overcame a hostile situation and resolved it effectively."

"Give me an example of meeting a difficult deadline and how you accomplished it."

"Give me an example of how you contribute to a team situation."

"Give me an example of you bringing *great customer service to a sales encounter."

*they might use the word 'outrageous', because some moron in their upper echelons has decided that this word, with a dictionary definition that's entirely negative, is actually a new 'key word' to be used at all times. You may wish to preempt this arsehattery by dropping it into the conversation first, it's a gamble but may well score you points.

If you have any familiarity with Health and Safety, fire evacuation or first aid, it wouldn't hurt to mention it.

Best of luck.

zonino wrote:Recruitment day eh? Let me guess, group interview? It always seems to be group interviews and I don't know what it is but I just don't seem to do that well in them. I mean, I'm confident, I speak up, I get involved. There's always loads of people who just sit back and let the interview happen to others. Maybe I ramble too much?

When it comes to constructing the wall out of lego in a team, be sure to be actively involved and willing to lead and initiate the process.

You may well, alas, be required to impersonate an ork/similar..just go for it.. and remember THIS IS FUN . Compulsory fun, the best kind.

I'd echo whats already being said working in recruitment myself.
Be enthusiastic, have answers prepard, the worst thing you can do is the whole "ehhh, ummm, well" thing.
Unless they have a unique interview style they arent going to throw you a curve ball, they will be standard competancy based questions.
The idea behind them is to demonstarte you have that particular competency by citing exampls from the past.

Be open, friendly and enthusiastic and you'll do well enough.