HMV - His Master's Voice

Micheal Wittman

Hi all,

Ok, I have an application form here for HMV and they have asked some of those annoying questions.

So i was hoping u could all help with some good answers

Never seen such awful questions before....

1) What do u consider determines excellent customer service, Give a brief example where u have demonstrated this skill

2) What do u consider are your strengths in knowledge of the products HMV sells, How do u gain buld upon your knowledge.

3) Explain who you see as HMVs key competitors, stating briefly who you believe HMVs strengths and weakneses are against each.

4) Give an example of when you have promoted a new idea or changed a way of doing things in your current/ previous job.

5) Give an example of when you have worked under pressure on several tasks and yet maintained or exceeded the required standards and deadlines.

6) Briefly explain why you are applying to HMV. How does fit with yur career aspirations?


There they are, lets see the boards.ie think - tank answers :P

Or maybe some good webpages that answer this nonsence.

Many Thanks,

Herr Krupp Of Essen

dub_dan

they won't hire you unless you learn to count.....

Tommy Vercetti

well Q3 is laughable, you could write a book on their weaknesses

as for Q6....do they honestly think flogging Louis Walsh drivel to slappers in tracksuits and hoopy earrings is a career aspiration?

Agent Smith

to some perhaps...


i'd rather gauge my own eye's out

Dont Ban Me

Ans to all.....

Feck off...I like Cake!!

jor el

Originally posted by Micheal Wittman

2) What do u consider are your strengths in knowledge of the products HMV sells, How do u gain buld upon your knowledge.

I buy lots of CDs/DVDs from cdwow and play.com as they're very cheep and I plan to build my knowlege by using Kazza and emule

6) Briefly explain why you are applying to HMV. How does fit with yur career aspirations?

After reading the above questions, I no longer want to work for such a bunch of muppets.
How do they get anyone to answer these? Seriously though, how does HMV fit your career aspirations?

impr0v

1) I consider good customer service to be a mix of a number of elements, including familiarity with the needs of the outlets customers at a general level, to be approachable at all times, to have the willingness to listen attentively to the needs of each individual customer and finally to go that extra distance to meet those needs.

An example of where I demonstrated this would be when I met my girlfriend Sharon for the first time. Given my vast experience I was aware of the needs of women in general and I made it obvious I was approachable by making frequent eye contanct with her, and flashing my gold chains. When she did approach me, I listened attentively to all the muck she was spouting and when I finally got her into the back of my corsa, I went the extra distance to meet her needs. See attached reference from Sharon.

2) I would consider myself to be in touch with current trends being exhibited within chart music, while being broadly familar with the directions being taken by a number of sub-genres, such as non chart hip-hop, dance, metal and drum and bass. I have a large collection of DVD's and also personally own an XBOX, Playstation 2, and a Gameboy Advance, meaning that I am intimately familiar with the current state of the games market.

I intend to build on my knowledge in these sectors by borrowing stock from the shop to rip on to my computer at home, watch with my mates, or to play for a few days before returning. I also intend to take frequent advantage of the staff discount for both myself and my mates.

3) Given the current state of the market I believe HMV's current competitors are not similar outlets in the high street, but those in the virtual marketplace, dude. Online outlets such as amazon, blackstar, play.com, cdwow, etc., will eventually spell the end of the high street cd/dvd/games marketplace due to more competitive pricing, the availability of peer reviews, a wider stock selection and lack of parking problems.

HMV's strengths over the above retailers are an established brand and a visible high street presence. Should I be hired, my high standards of customer service would then be added to the list of strengths.

4) When I helped my mate Tommo in his job for a few weeks last summer I introduced more modern and better practices to speed up his acquisition and supply chain practices. When we got into the cars he was pulling off the panels under the steering wheel to try and 'wire the cars, which was slow, risky, and reduced the resale value of the cars. I showed him how many people leave the car keys just inside their front door on a hook or on the hall table, and how it didn't take much to get the house door open. This led to a significant speeding up of the process and a corresponding increase in productivity. I will have reference from Tommo next week, visitors are only allowed on a wednesday.

5) When I was in my last year in the 'tec we used to go down the valley for drinks and a bit of a party most friday nights. Some of the birds I was with before Sharon were quite open minded after a few drinks and some nights down the valley I would have to concentrate on several tasks at the one time. However I always maintained my the required standards, and despite it being extremely hard work, exceeded the required deadlines.

6) I am applying to HMV because it is a condition of my rehabilitiation that I get a job, and it is hard to support my kids on 79 euro per week. My career aspirations run to taking abuse from ignorant customers and giving the same back for 10 to 12 years until I get a management position purely due to seniority and whiling away the rest of my productive years supervising scumbags hoovering generic carpet and making money for some nameless and faceless corporate machine. I think HMW fits quite nicely with these aspirations.

Dustaz

haha impr0v wins

Sarky

Originally posted by Micheal Wittman

1) What do u consider determines excellent customer service, Give a brief example where u have demonstrated this skill

2 years ago in Macdonald's, a customer became so disagreeable that I was forced to throw her in the mincer. The act was done with remarkable skill and efficiency, and every effort was made to allow the customer to file a complaint at a later date, which thankfullay did not arise.

2) What do u consider are your strengths in knowledge of the products HMV sells, How do u gain buld upon your knowledge.

I know the porn section by heart, and hope to improve my knowledge of the computer games section by taking home and copying each and every game available.

3) Explain who you see as HMVs key competitors, stating briefly who you believe HMVs strengths and weakneses are against each.

The public, who constantly challenge you to reduce prices to reasonable levels, and your strength against them is complete and total apathy towards anything they might ever request.

4) Give an example of when you have promoted a new idea or changed a way of doing things in your current/ previous job.

In my last job Imurdered my superiors and ruled middle management with an iron fist of tyranny before the shareholders recommended I resign.

5) Give an example of when you have worked under pressure on several tasks and yet maintained or exceeded the required standards and deadlines.

Two months ago the Mafia came to collect on several large gambling debts, and even with a shattered pelvis I managed to steal, beg and beat the required amount out of friends and elderly strangers alike.

6) Briefly explain why you are applying to HMV. How does fit with yur career aspirations?

I'm here for the staff discount, and it provides the wages necessary to buy the human blood necessary for my ritual sacrifices to Khaila Mensha Khaine.

Marq

I worked in HMV before for quite a while. PM me and let me know which one you're applying to and I'll give you some hints on how to answer those questions - they are actually looking for specific things. Are you sure though? - it's a soul-destroying place to work if you have any interest in music whatsoever.

AdMMM

It must be an absolutely sickening feeling having teens coming up and buying the most undesirable crap(in your mind anyway) !

Marq

not only that - their playlist selection is rigidly awful. the powers that be don't seem to understand that playing Britney CD's doesn't actually increase Britney sales - people will buy those CD's no matter what. Teens generally come in knowing what they're going to by, which is, for the most part, heavily influenced by the singles charts. Playing more left-of-field music actually does encourage sales of those CD's, as the serious music shopper (the ones that don't really know exactly what they're going to buy before they go in to the shop, they just know they're going to spend 50 euro on tunes, cos that's what we do) often hears something they like and will buy it there and then. I recall I once sold out our copies of ...And No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave just by putting it on for an hour. HMV weren't too happy though, they reprimanded me for deviating from the set playlist. Place is a fúcking joke, I'm glad I buy all my music on vinyl these days.

seamus

Heh, I did an interview for Virgin before it closed, just for part-time work. He asked me what the top five singles and the top 5 albums were that week. Not being someone who listens to the radio or watches TOTP, I just lookled at him blankly and said "Uh......westlife I guess, maybe Robbie Williams...".

Needless to say, I didn't get it.

eth0_

That's crazy! Sure they have big print outs of the UK and Irish charts behind the till area in every HMV i've been in.

Suaimhneach

That's mad. In my local HMV they're all *alternative* and play their own music. Probably just have a cool manager or something.