Resume/Interviewing Do's & Dont's From A Hiring Retail Manager

(And first, a note: A good portion of this will be coming from a place of frustration.  Also this will probably be long.  You've been warned.  Oh right, and as I run an adult store I am sure I look for different things in candidates than most other retail managers.  But regardless of this my points stand.)

I cannot say just how much I hate accepting applications and interviewing and deciding on a candidate to hire.  I absolutely hate it.  I loathe it.  If I could just work all of my shifts myself I think I would 'cuz then I wouldn't need to hire anyone.  But alas, that's not reality nor will it ever happen.  Thus, I must put up listings, accept applications, call people for interviews, interview them, decide on a candidate to hire and hire them and so on and so forth. 

So I'm going to share some of my experiences in a do and don't format and I will do my best to explain WHY you either absolutely do or don't those things.  I will also share things that, for me, will automatically get you either put at the bottom of the pile or outright rejected upon simply looking at your resume/application.

First things first; resumes are so much more important than a lot of people seem to think they are nowadays.  I have heard a lot of people say that it's in the interview where you can really shine... well.  It's your resume that gets you to that interview!  Please take it seriously!

General Job Hunting Advice

• Make sure your voicemail is activated and not full.  Few things irritate and frustrate me more than someone who applies and has applicable experience but then has a voicemail that's full or not activated.  How can we leave you a message then?  'Cuz believe-you-me, I will *not* call more than twice.
• Know about the job you're applying for.  Don't apply willy-nilly and then be surprised/shocked/etc when you ask me what kind of business it is and I tell you.
• Don't constantly re-apply after you've been rejected.  Maybe once or twice a while down the road if your job experience has changed, but it looks far too desperate to constantly re-apply to every open position whenever it's posted.  Not only that but it makes it look like you cannot hold down a job.  Additionally if you were rejected there's reason's for that.  If you are genuinely wanting to work for that company call and ask to speak with the hiring manager; make your case that way.  Do not just keep spamming us with your resume.
• If you don't plan on going to the interview, call and cancel.  Do not just no-show!  This will immediately get you blacklisted, often times from the entire company.  Let me tell you how frustrating this is and how much time it wastes for those of us conducting the interviews.  Often we even come in on days off so we can accommodate the applicant's schedule and let me tell you how much it sucks to have someone no show when I have come in specifically to interview them. 
• Pay attention to the actual job listing.  If you can only work day shifts do not apply for a night shift position.  This is a complete waste of everyone's time.  
• Make sure you fill out the application to completion.  We have a random extra question we ask and I have had people get an interview 100% on that alone; additionally it looks extremely bad if you cannot be bothered to completely fill out the application.  If you cannot properly do that why on earth would I think you will complete your job tasks? 

Resume Do's

• Do check your spelling and grammar!  Having basic mistakes such as "there" instead of "their" or "too" instead of "to" looks bad.  For clarity here; it's not that I judge a person on their grammar and spelling capabilities, I judge on whether or not a person is willing to spend more than 35 seconds on writing their resume.  
• Do ensure your contact information is correct!  I have received applications with the city name as the applicants name; phone numbers which are incorrect; multiple addresses in different cities, etc.  This hinders our ability to get ahold of you which clearly will directly affect whether or not you have a chance at getting the position.  
• Do ensure your jobs history is in correct chronology; typically this is most recent at the top and oldest at the bottom.  I can't express how frustrating it is to have to search and find the applicants most recent job somewhere in the middle with all of the other jobs just randomly thrown in.  This makes you look like you don't care and like you're just too lazy to do it properly.
• Do include at least 1 sentence on what you did at your previous jobs as well as approximate dates.  Don't only include the business name; many places can have a wide variety of positions you can do so just the business gives us absolutely no information about your job experience. 

Resume Don'ts

• Don't use the same cover letter for every job.  I have received cover letters, well written, but for positions I was not hiring for; some that we don't even have in our company period.  This will automatically get you rejected in many cases as you are effectively applying for a position not on offer.
• Don't use street terms, nicknames, colloquial words, etc.  While there may be appropriate industry related terms you can use, but using fad words and such is unprofessional and not everyone knows them.  If I can't understand what you're telling me why will I call you for an interview?
• Don't include complaints about your previous jobs in your resume.  For real; this looks super bad; if you say you left a job because of too much work how do I know that the work load I give you won't be considered too much to you? While that's always a possibility if you show that you already have a history of balking at a given workload how do I know you won't just quit when you see we work hard?

Interview Don'ts

• Don't be too early or late; while too early may sound odd we often have other things to do that day; being too early can mess up another interview, paperwork, etc.  Please respect your interviewers time and be as close to on time as possible.
• Don't come dressed with your undergarments hanging out, ripped/stained clothing, items that don't fit, etc.  While I don't expect (nor want) you to be dressed formally, dress with some dignity and respect.
• Don't get distracted by items in the store during your interview.  I once had an interviewee pick up books and look through them while I was asking them questions.  This got them an immediate rejection.  Not only is it extremely unprofessional but it's also very disrespectful.
• Don't bring a friend!  This shows that you do not at all take the interview seriously.  
• Don't use a ton of buzz words/phrases.  Using a lot of these just makes it sound like you're reading a script and not being yourself.  Because of sounding scripted it makes you sound completely insincere.

Interview Do's

• Do have a reasonable amount of eye contact.  While you don't have to constantly stare directly into my eyes it's good to look at your interviewer from time to time.  If you can't look at me when I have control over whether or not you get a job, how can I expect you to look at my customers and give them respect and dignity during your interactions with them?
• Do ask questions beyond what is the pay.  This shows you have interest and initiative and are there to do something beyond pick up a paycheck.  
• Do look up the company ahead of time so you have a vague idea of who you are applying to work for.  Like the above this shows interest and initiative.  
• Do be yourself but also take the interview seriously; you're going to an interview to a job which you will use to pay your bills.  Don't act like you're just hanging out with a friend.

The things which will get you immediately rejected

•  Being extremely improperly dressed; I had someone come to their interview with their undergarments showing.  Extremely inappropriate.  
• Going off about all the drama in your life/etc as to why you're 5 minutes late, had to reschedule, had to leave your last job, etc.  Leave it as "my apologies something unavoidable came up."  First off, putting too many details makes it seem like you're lying.  Secondly if your life drama is so great as to affect one simple interview what's it going to do to a full work schedule? 

On whether or not to call regarding the status of your resume

With this there's no right or wrong answer.  It's totally personal to the interviewing manager.  For me personally it's annoying because if I want to interview you I will call you.  However it does show initiative so I can see why some managers like it.  In retail it can just be so busy and with as many applicants as we can get if they all call I will be doing nothing except fielding calls about the status of someone's application. So leave it up to your own personal discretion.