I failed my first retail interview at Woolworths. They had a small group selection with 3 interviewees and I got too overconfident and cocky. But after that I passed my next three at Index, Boots (both one on one), and a much larger group selection at Asda (I remembered to smile, relax and have fun rather than taking it seriously and getting stressed out). Funny that two of those are now dead.
At woolworths they sat us down and asked us to come up with an idea for a new product to sell and how to market it. At Asda, we had to actually introduce the person sat next to us instead of where you usually present yourself, then had numbered cards which we werent allowed to look at to hold in front of you and try to arrange each other in order, and then try to build a tower out of straws.
The straw tower thing was just crazy - 10 minutes to build, at 5 minutes one person got called from each group and got given a cup to place on top of it, and then at 2 minutes someone else got called and were told that each straw now had to have a knot in it :x. If they see people get stressed out, bossy or that arent enjoying themselves, they dont get recruited.
Also a few people turned up in suits and were completely serious and straight faced throughout the whole thing, they didnt get picked either. Also they didnt recruit a single person who couldnt speak decent English either, and maybe 33% of the people in the group were very illiterate. They pretty much pick the people they liked the most, but I heard after I started work there that they have had group selections where no one was successful.
The salary at retail jobs wont be negotiable, they pay everyone the same rate regardless of age or time spent working there.
The boots interview was a little odd too, you simply got walked around the store while discussing what you saw with the interviewer who took notes. I made mention of the products on sale, customers and staff etc and somehow passed.