MAC Demo Interviews - descriptions & questions

I have a few questions maybe some MAC ppl/employees could help answer! I recently dropped off an application so I want to try to start practicing now w. everything in case I get a call back I want to be as prepared as possible. I am mainly worried about this time limit, like under timed pressure will my MU still look as good? Any tips on this from any1 would be most helpful!
but my
1st question is- how long was your time limit?

2nd q- If the time limit is 30 minutes (what I heard) and I usually take alot longer than that to get the MU looking the way I like how could I cut my time down (I usually take about 45-60mins)

3rd question- did they help you along in anyways w. tips on application, fndtns selection, sanitizing technique or what not? Also were you allowed to ask questions as you went along?

4th question- The brushes they supplied you with, were they already sanitized?

5th q- did your time limit start before or after you picked all your products and got them all ready and sanitized?
(if you cant tell Im kinda worried about this time limit)

6th q- This question doesnt pretain to the interview process but more of after you got hired...how do you handle a situation that someone doesnt like there application or colors etc. even if its the look of what they told you they wanted.

Also what do you do if someone is very vague in what they want and/or looking for? How do you KNOW what to give them if they are not specific?

7th- How hard is it too learn to work on diff. skin types,textures,colors ethnicities etc. I am also kinda worried about this because I only mainly do apps on my sisters right now and a few friends but not a vast range of ppl.

Ok thanks for any help! Sorry for all the questions I just want to be prepared in case I get my call back!!

Also sorry more questions (totally jumping the gun these though)

Are your sales goals hard to meet? Like are you selling hard all the time or do they average your goals out so that your sales arent so hard to make?

Also what happens if you dont meet your sales goals?

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For my interview, I had about an hour from start to finish. Time wasn't a big stressor. For freelance events, slots are 30 minutes, and that takes some time management. Practice doing an application from start to finish in 30 minutes, and also in 50.

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Practice!!!!! Do it on yourself and talk your way through and time yourself! Move quickly and explain things as you go. Have a definite plan: ie. moisturize, foundation, primer, concealer, eyes, cheeks, etc...

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Sanitizing, yes, everything else: No. They want to see how good you are at the application. If I had questions about product location (in the store) or sanitizing, I felt very comfortable asking!

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Yes. Once you use a brush, do not put it back into your belt until it is sanitized (likely they will do that for you at the end)

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Don't worry! After

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That totally happens, and you do your very best to make it better in the time that you have, but the most important thing is to make them a part of the process - I show them almost EVERYTHING that I do - every step of the way and ask questions "do you like this" "is this the color/look/style you like" so that I never get past a step without their acceptance.

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Just do your best! Ask for even a vague comment: Bold, bright, fav color, neutral, or do a look you love on yourself. be creative and look for inspiration in their eyes, clothes, style. Keep them talking throughout and giving you feedback on what you ar edoing so you can take it in a new direction if they seem unhappy.

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It's trial and error! My first time freelancing I asked for foundation matching help on a few ladies with darker/yellower skin that I am not used to doing. You get an eye really quickly, though.

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I am sure it depends on the counter, but they use past years' statistics to come up with appropriate goals.

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If it happens enough, I am sure the manager would talk to you about your selling technique. My manager sets extra-high goals with prizes from the "BAG O MAC" full of D/C LE stuff if you get it

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Good Luck!!! Welcome

thank you for all this helpful info and all the time taken to write it!! So nice and helpful!!

i used to go to syracuse university and i had the HUGEST crush on ricki. shes like the hotter christina aguilera hAHHA which im sure shes heard like 150000 times. i used to shop mac there all the time while cursing the lack of a freelance/pro store. (im from nyc) but seriously i loved talking/buying to/from her! congrats girlie~

Congratulations! How are things going? Your interview sounded perfect. I would never have thought to do or say some of the things you did. You were just incredibly thorough. I would love to work with you. You sound really knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.

I figured I might as well post my interview process as well. It was at a MAC store on a BUSY Thursday evening. The manager brought me into the beauty studio and already had out the brushes, skincare, alcohol and other stuff that I was required to use.

She told me to do a natural look, so I went out and got the shadows that I wanted and everything else for face. While I was doing her makeup, I explained each brush that I used as well as one or two more uses for that particular brush. I also explained different ways to wear each color that I put on her eyes, lips and cheeks. *Have you all heard that many African Americans have two-toned skin, as in lighter and darker areas of the face, so you need to use two foundations? Well I knew it and STILL messed up!* So after I finshed her face, I evaluated it. My model needed another foundation color on her forehead because it was INCREDIBLY washed out, her eyeliner was crooked on the left side and her lips were just plain boring. So, the manager came in and asked what I thought of my work, and I made the comments that I just stated. She also said that she needed MAJOR concealor under her eyes, and showed me a great trick with the 222 brush.

Now, I had to go through the conversion to the evening look. Very simple. Added some carbon to her eyeliner with the 219 and smoked it out, a little more espresso in the crease, a tad bit more blush cream, Vino lip liner and Currant lip pencil.

So, the trainer came in and said she looked great and the manager siad she looked great (although I was so disappointed in my work, I have done MUCH better on the model just going out to the club!) So I had my oral interview the next week, got the freelance gig two weeks later!

I know it wasn't very detailed, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

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Thanks hun!

Which store did you go to? Tyson's?

Congratulations Erin! Thanks a lot for your demo description, it really helps!

I'll have mine in a few days in Paris (I already had an interview 2 months ago...) and what concerns me is the model I have to bring.
I assume she must be like a typical MAC customer, talking about the style, the age, etc...?
I didn't have much choice, for nearly all of my friends are working... if I could, I'll bring one of my best friend, she's 21, has a flawless skin, beautiful hair and she's very thin. Looks like a model!
But otherwise, I wonder if I could bring someone older, like 40-50 years old...

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Oops, I haven't been on for awhile! I had my interview at the Towson Store in MD.

Congrats to the ladies who landed the job. I come to the right place, my interview is next Tuesday and I am SOOOO NERVOUS!! Basically, I taught myself everything I know, and I know I dont know everything. I did not know that I need to talk and try to sell while doing my models makeup! Now Im SUPER nervous
Advice please!

Thank you that was so helpful! I just went into MAC here in Bath the other day and they offered me the job interview. The question and answer section went well but I'm a little nervous about my demo. I've done plenty of stage makeup but when I'm doing makeovers on people I know I use my fingers on the whole. Will it count against me if I use products instinctively rather than by the book?

DO NOT USE YOUR FINGERS!!! Whatever you do..

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Ahh I know this! Heehee I'm just saying will it matter if i just use the brushes they way I think they'll work for me? I am learning with brushes atm but i'll proably use the wrong ones or something....

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Oh ok.

Yeah, use them the way you know how.

I just wanted to share my demo interview for a free-lance position because it was a bit different than the other experiences I've read about on here.

I found out on a Tuesday and my interview was that Friday. I asked my sister-in-law to be my model. I've never done her makeup but because of the short notice and the interview being at 2:30 it worked out quite well for her schedule. Plus she is really beautiful, has amazing features and the most to die for lashes you will ever see, I swear it looks like she's wearing flasies even when she has no mascara on.
I was told to have her wear all black.
We showed up about ten minutes before the interview. The counter was swamped so we had to wait for a few minutes for the manager to be available.
I was shown where we would be sitting and was given the option of whether I wanted Tamsin (my sis-in-law) to face the window or away from it. I chose for her to face the window because I felt the natural light was better.
I was handed a random group of brushes including the #150, #190, #217, #224 and #263. I was shown where the various products were, given a brief over-view of the different powders and foundations and was shown where the various applicators were.
I asked for a petrie dish, some rubbing alcohol and sanitizer.
I followed typical santizing prodecures which are out-line in other posts on here.
I wasn't given a face chart and instead was given this scenario
"Your customer is a bride that is getting married today, doesn't usually wear makeup but wants to try some plums on here eyes."
I had a few minutes to gather the products I wanted to use and was given 45 minutes to complete the look.
They were so busy that they didn't seem to watch me that closely which kind of made me sad because I was filling Tamsin with info on the products, what I was doing, how I was doing it, why, prices, you name it.
They did let me know when I had about 15 minutes left which was nice.
At the end the manager that had set me up came over along with the district manager who I had my second interview with and they also brought over a trainer that was there that day. Ah I was so nervous!
They were all very sweet, gave me helpful feedback and that was it!
They told me that they would clean up and they insisted saying it was faster when they did it

I will add that I was very careful about sanitization and when I touched Tamsin's face I placed a tissue between my hand and her skin.

That's about all I can think of!

My demo was a tad bit different so I'll share it while it's still fresh in my mind.

I went to the counter with my cousin (my model) and there were two other girls there for the demo interview. The assistant manager gave us a run down of the sanitation procedure and then she said that the manager would come to give us our scenario. The manager told us that we'd have 20 minutes to do our demo. Yeah ONLY 20 minutes!!! Within that 20 minutes we had to get all our products, sanitize everything, and complete the make-up demo. She told us that our model was new to MAC and was going to meet with her boyfriend and his parents for the first time. She said to be sure to remember the current trends.

I rushed to get everything I could and started doing the demo. I introduced myself to my model and started with her eyes right away. I explained to her why I was started with her eyes, because it's easier to clean up the fall out without retouching all her foundation, and explained to her every step I did including what brushes I was using. I did a neutral look for her. I used Nylon e/s as a highlight, Jete e/s (Danse) on her lid because it was neutral but it still had the color to add to her look, I used All That Glitter e/s in her crease, Sable e/s on her outer third, and Carbon e/s outer v. I explained to her that she could make Carbon a very dark an intense color or she could make it very sheer to just add depth to the eyes. I did it very sheer on her because of her scenario. I lined her lid with blacktrack but in a rush I skipped lining her lower lashline.

I then applied Strobe Cream to her skin for a moisturizer and explained to her how important it was to use a moisturizer. I told her that often I wear Strobe Cream alone if I don't put on any foundation. Then I applied PP Face and told her how it evens out her skin and adds a layer between her skin and her foundation. Then I applied her foundation and set it with a powder. I used Sunbasque blush on her and showed her out to apply it.

I lined her lips with a lip combo from Danse, I forgot exactly what I used for this.

I just had enough time to spray some Fix+ on her before time was up. Then the managers come up and asked me to tell them what I did. I made sure to break everything down as much as possible and tell them every single product I used, why I used it, and the purpose of it.

They asked me if I could do anything different what would it be. I told them that I wanted to make the lips a little darker and I had to skip putting liner on the lower lashline so I could finish everything else. They said that's the only recommendations they had but told me that I did a great job for the time I had. Hopefully they ment it and weren't just being nice haha.

They went to go talk to the other girls and told me to just hang out. I took that time to put everything back where it was supposed to be and make sure my station was clean. Throughout the demo I used a lot of tissues haha. I used them to place between my hand and her skin and to wipe off all the shadows and blush and all that stuff. I made sure to throw away everything after I used it.

They said that they'd give me a call after the weekend madness was done so now I'm juse waiting. So I guess not all demos are the usual 30 minutes! :-\ Hopefully they realized the time crunch.

GREAT description, Amoona!!

Hello, all. I just left my demo for MAC at the local Nordstrom. It went really well, I think. I wanted to give the details for anyone who's curious before I forget!

My model, Tammy, and I got there about 15 minutes early, but they didn't make us wait a bit. The counter manager waved as soon as she saw me, and I introduced her to Tammy. Then we were both introduced to Danny, one of the trainers.

They showed us where Tammy would sit, and collected some things like brush cleaner, disposable mascara wands and lip gloss applicators, a sharpener, hand sanitizer, the brushes and two petri dishes. I also asked about alcohol to dip the lippies in, and he grabbed that, too.

He told me he wanted me to do a neutral look that included a full face (concealer, foundation, powder, blush), at least 2 eye shadows, mascara and brows and liner, and at least 3 products on the lips. He asked me how familiar I was with the MAC line (pretty familiar, I told him) and if I had any questions. I asked him to run through the sanitizing process for me, even though I felt pretty comfortable from reading Specktra . During his explanation, I watched him think about telling me about the hand sanitizer, but then he pulled his hand back and didn't say anything about it. I made sure he saw me use it once I started. So there's a tip: listen for what they don't say, as well as for what they do tell you!

He told me I had a half an hour to do the look, but could take as much time as I wanted to collect what I needed. Sanitizing time was to be done in the half hour time limit, for me. I took Tammy with me and we talked as I selected things. For example, I asked her what colors she usually wears, what types of blush she is comfortable with, and about her skin. She told me about her skin problems (redness, shadows under the eyes, some lines). Then we got started.

I talked about using brushes (she doesn't now-she uses sponges and the applicators that come with the makeup she buys) and why I liked them. I put on Strobe Cream and Prep + Prime face, and explained why I had chosen those (not going to go into it here- ya'll know what these products are! ) I applied Prep+Prime Eye in light. Honestly, that's the first time I've ever used that! I'm a Urban Decay Primer Potion addict, frankly. I let the primer sit as I poured out the foundation and concealers, and explained that this exactly what I do at home- let it kind of "settle". Then I put on the foundation (Mineralized Satinfinish)and concealer (Select Cover-up). I used the same brush I had used for the Strobe Cream and Prep+Prime (the 190- which I actually don't own but now MUST HAVE!) for the foundation and told her why I did that. I used the 194 for the concealer.

Then I started on her eyes. I used Phloof! on the lid and Tempting on the crease. I didn't take the color all the way up to the brow because of her eye shape and because this was supposed to be a "natural" look. I shaded her brows with the Brow Shader and a very battered 263 (that's all they had that was appropriate). On the eyes I used a 242 and a 224 to blend. I took Tempting into the outer V and under the lashes, and explained why I did that (her eye shape, etc...). I quickly lined with Teddy only on the upper lid, then I used Zoom Lash in black, I talked about those products a bit as I applied them (totally BS'ing, because I've never used either one! Thank you, Specktra! ). I used the hilighter from the Brow Shader at the end of the whole application, to show her how that pulls the whole look together.

I went back, then, and used the Mineralized Skinfinish Natural to powder and even out the color a bit more, and then added the powder blush we had picked (I think it was Springsheen, but I can't be 100% sure). That was also my first experience with the 187 brush. Of course, I am totally in love and want one. (I've been holding off on brush purchases, 'cause I'd rather wait 'til I have a discount! )

I quickly lined her lips with Whirl and shaded in the lips a bit with it, topped it with a lipstick (I have no idea what color I grabbed, but it looked good!) and Viva Glam VI lipglass. I used the disposable applicator for the lipglass, and some raggedy looking brush for the lipstick. I have no idea what the hell that was, because they'd scratched the # off of it, but it was the only thing that looked right-ish. Man, that was a wretched brush!

I purposely picked VG VI l/g not only because it's my favorite lipglass EVER, but also for its versatility and because it gave me an easy opening to talk about Viva Glam, the MAC Aids Fund, and then I mentioned Back 2 MAC while I was talking about the company philosophy. SWEET!

I stepped back, took a look, and asked if it was ok for me to run and grab something I had forgotten. The trainer said it was, so I scurried off to grab my beloved Fix+. I described the product and told her how I carry a smalled decanted bottle with me in my purse for touch-ups during the day, then warned her to close her eyes and spritzed her. I took another look and was fairly satisfied, so I handed her a mirror. I treated her like a customer the whole way through and basically ignored the trainer except the the Fix+ thing and the one time I realized I had stuck a brush on an eyeshadow I hadn't sanitized. He went and grabbed me a new brush. OOPS! Lesson learned: sanitize everything first, don't do it as you go along, like I mistakenly tried to do.

Meanwhile, the counter manager had come by once or twice, and so did one of the employees who whispered "we've been talking about you!" and winked. The counter manager chased him off.

By the way, I was done with a few minutes to spare, which didn't hurt! This is a really busy counter and since it's Nordstrom, they do a lot of makeovers because they're free (no obligation to buy unless it's New Year's Eve or Prom).

So, the trainer took a look and asked me what I'd do differently or what I wasn't happy with. I told him I was not pleased with the foundation color I selected, and he asked me why I chose that one. I told him (in a more professional way than this) that Tammy and I had looked at the colors and she had been scared of the NC colors, even though that's what she needed to counteract some redness she had (even though she's cool complected). But what I picked looked good, it just could have looked better, he said, and told me later that I had to do what the customer wanted, ultimately.

So he then handed me a bright purple eyeshadow. I forgot to look at what it was, but I'm betting that was Purple Shower. He told me that my customer wanted to try brighter colors, but wasn't sure how to wear them. I was to tell her how to ease into them and then apply it. I told her I love to use colors like that with Tempting (aha! it was already on her eyes- don't think I didn't think that through in advance, guys! ). I asked her if she'd like me to apply it, and of course she said "sure!". I put Tempting over the lid (remember, it had only been in the crease and outer v) and then used the purple in the inner corner about midway across the lid. I explained the blending and that she could wear these bright colors sheerly or more intensely and explained how. She preferred to keep it sheer. I showed her the mirror when I was done, and she really liked it. YAY!

And that's about it. She went and looked at shoes while he and I went and chatted for a few minutes. He told me the MRO wasn't going to be down in this area for awhile, and they couldn't wait for her 'cause they're down two full-time people so he'd handle the interview/follow-up (I guess normally she would have done that part?). He asked me some typical interview questions including about my availability, asked if I had any questions for him, and then told me that the counter manager or Cosmetics Dept. manager would be in touch. I went back and thanked everyone and we left.

Now I wait...

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention: the trainer told me he wasn't going to be next to me the whole time, partially because he said he would watch me from further away to observe my body language and how I interacted with the customer. So, tip #3: just 'cause they ain't right there, don't mean they ain't watchin'!

Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to make sure I got it all in there... Thanks for reading this far, if you did!

*jen

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!