Archived Interviewing for GSA on Friday

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skk123

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Let's get a few things out of the way. I know what the position is all about, there's no need to tell me i'll be working my butt off for little pay (god knows i do that already). Also, this isn't my first post, i was a member back before the board went offline.

I applied and was given my interview time today, it's Friday, so i have 2 days to prepare. My ETL-HR gave me a list of practice questions, which I hope are going to help, but i have a question about one of them.

What are some of your strengths and opportunities? - Strengths are obvious, but what do they mean by opportunities?

I'd also like to know what to make sure I convey in my interview. What sort of things are they wanting to hear? What are some things to avoid saying?

The candidate pool is between myself and 2 others, one being my best friend. It seems to me that they are favoring my friend by having him cover gstl breaks all the time, maxing out hours, plus he has already applied once before for the position and was turned down. The other guy may be a dark horse, don't know too much about him to really say. I feel i have the edge on both in the interview process, but is there any way to beat favoritism? I get a little shaky and sweaty when put on the spot. I am very well liked by both my GSTL's and the first interview is with GSTL and the second is with ETL-HR.

This position is very important to me, i'm possibly changing majors in college due to my current major not offering enough opportunity and I may have to start repaying loans, the 80 hour paycheck will help.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated, and if anyone is open to some 1 on 1 for any questions that arise, i would also appreciate it.

Thank you all, you have always been a great help to me in the past.
 
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Short, short answer ...

They're looking for how you handled tough situations in the past and how you made sure they were the best result for the store.
Also they want to make sure you were taking into consideration the effect on the entire store store (buzzword global) and not just your area.
Good luck and I'm sure you're going to be one of the good guys.
 
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For the interview there are other threads that have gone into detail about I would check those out!!

My advice is that they are going to ask you about a time that you had to do a hard or difficult task with little time, or had to deal with a difficult coworker, or a task that was beyond your skill set. Have examples of those and other similar things ready, what they want to hear is 1) what was the event, 2) what did you do about it, 3) what was the outcome, and 4) what did you learn/what would you do differently next time. Demonstrate that you are willing to learn new things and that you learn from your experiences and from your mistakes. Also have examples of leadership ready to go!!!


Good luck!!!!! The job itself may not be perfect, but, you get more hours, responsibility, and it can most certainly move onto bigger and better things both in and outside of spot!
 
I just went through the interview (and transfer!) process last week, and got the position. If you have any specific questions about my interview, PM me.

Strengths/wins are things that went well. Any process/task that was executed without a hitch. Any metric that was green.
Opportunities are things that did not go well, or could use improvement. Any yellow/red metrics, oopsies with a process.

What position are you currently, and what workcenters have you worked before?
 
Opportunity, as in "opportunity for improvement": incidents that didn't go well, why you did what you did, what you learned from them & what you would do differently.
Strengths: what you do well & what you could teach others.
 
I'm mainly a service desk TM, once a week i'll be a cart attendant or a cashier. I think my globalness (not a word?) on the front end is my biggest strong point. Started Cashier, moved to CA, moved to Service Desk, now i do it all pretty much, just looking for that next step without going to the sales floor, i'm tired of moving sideways, it's time to move up.
 
Try to use examples like:
When you noticed somebody doing something incorrectly, and how you were able to remedy the situation.
When you suggested an idea of how to improve a process, how you did it, and what the outcome was. Did it work? If not, why not?
When did you go above and beyond to fix a problem?

Generic things like that. Problem solving, mostly. Situation, Task, Action, Result.
 
Keep your answers structured (Situation, Behavior, Outcome)... Stay on topic and focus on the specifics of what you did (Broad to Specific)... I come up with my situations before hand, and mold them to the question! Think of a specific time you drove a project, a time you mentored or taught someone a new skill, a time you collaborated or partnered with someone, and a time you made a mistake and learned from it! If you have a situation for each of these, you should be able to mold them to any question you come across in a Target interview!

Your strengths and opps are mostly Target terms... If you feel your biggest win is being "global" and willing to take on any challenge (learning from experiences, accepting feedback from your leaders and running with it) then tell them your win is being "resilient and adaptable"... Your opportunity needs to be something that either YOU aren't great at or that doesn't come naturally to you! Focus on leadership dimensions and tell me what you think you need to work on... Think about how you develop yourself (keeping yourself accountable for your actions, or willingness to challenge others), how you work within a team (communication, inspiring others, managing talent, or building relationships with other areas of the store), or how well you drive for results and implement new information and best practices! Try and be honest with yourself and narrow it down, and give me in your own words what you think you should work on and I can usually tell you the words they want to hear for it!

Other advice? I'd say focus on your own development (use it as the reason you want to be a GSA, not saying you want it for money or hours)... Relate the position to your wins and opps and what it will bring to the store and yourself... Focus on your store's wins and opps too! If you know any of them, relate them to yourself in the interview (such as training being a big focus, or driving a strong FFF culture if your store struggles on that?)...

Trying to give you the tools to knock them dead! If your friend is the favorite going in, wow them with a TL quality interview to win them over :)
 
Remember not to take it personally if you don't get the spot. The reasons may be bogus but they have to have one to pass you up....for now.
 
Interview went very well i think. My GSTL told me she can see me out there doing it, that i'm driven, a go-getter, goal oriented, etc. She said she learned a lot about my background she never knew before. I may have dropped the ball with my ETL HR one a question or two, but i think i saved it ok. Thanks to Rock, your advice to keep a handful of scenarios handy was a godsend. I was able to mold them to just about every question. Overall i think my chances are high, my friend told me he had a great interview too. I'll let you know what happens. I appreciate your advice, thanks.
 
skk123 said:
Interview went very well i think. My GSTL told me she can see me out there doing it, that i'm driven, a go-getter, goal oriented, etc. She said she learned a lot about my background she never knew before. I may have dropped the ball with my ETL HR one a question or two, but i think i saved it ok. Thanks to Rock, your advice to keep a handful of scenarios handy was a godsend. I was able to mold them to just about every question. Overall i think my chances are high, my friend told me he had a great interview too. I'll let you know what happens. I appreciate your advice, thanks.
Click to expand...

No problem :) I am all for development! If you need any help with interviews or even just your own progress let me know!
 
Good luck!!! GSA is great opportunity to learn, expand, and demonstrate what an asset you are!
 
Found out that the third guy dropped out, chances just went up, hopefully will find out this week.
 
God closes a door and opens a window.

I didn't get the Gsa position but both my gstl and etl hr told me they were blown away by my interview and would like to start training me to be a pharmacy tech! This actually ends up being better news.
 
Funny how things work out.
I'm glad that this was a better result and that you pretty much aced you interview.
Kinda interested how someone was able to edge you out though.
 
skk123 said:
God closes a door and opens a window.

I didn't get the Gsa position but both my gstl and etl hr told me they were blown away by my interview and would like to start training me to be a pharmacy tech! This actually ends up being better news.
Click to expand...

Go for it!
 
skk123 said:
God closes a door and opens a window.

I didn't get the Gsa position but both my gstl and etl hr told me they were blown away by my interview and would like to start training me to be a pharmacy tech! This actually ends up being better news.
Click to expand...

Awesome news! GSA (while a good position in its own right) may have been good to pass up! See? Give them a TL level interview and they would have to do something with you :p
 
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