MAC Demo Interviews - descriptions & questions

Honesty0410

Member
Yeah I think that's how it is in a lot of places. I've heard of people being offered permanent positions without having to freelance, but most of them were available to work whenever. I know in my district anyway, you have to have worked for a while before you are allowed to ask for certain hours. They like you to "do your time" first.
 

Tiana Le-She

Active member
Hi everyone!!! I'm new here but I have been hovering over this site for a little while. So finally decided to join because I am going through the MAC interview process and this site has been so helpful to me thank you all!!!! I truly appreciate all of your openess and and candor to help people like me with big hopes and dreams try to succeed. Ok so I started this process April 18th with a group interview with Ms. Homa if you search the site for Homa you will find that I left a reply in the thread "Has anyone interviewed with Homa?" there you will find the description of my group interview with her at pentagon city mall in Arlington Virginia. I had a demo interview with Manny, a manager at springfield mall I believe he is more than a manager but I can't remember his tittle. The interview was at 2pm on Saturday April 29th I showed up with my bff Lauren who I chose not only because she is very beautiful but she could make me look good ;) and sell me !!! We met up at 1:30 and went over somethings like what I would be doing, the order I would be doing her makeup in. Thanks to this site I wrote down the sanitation process and studied what others did during their demos. We went into the MAC at 1:50 and we were told to just wait for Manny. We had a seat at the counter it was just us demoing that day. This MAC is inside the Macys and we were just at the counter so I took advantage of that and laid down my tissues all over my counter space. I sanitized my hands and asked Manny if he had a peri dish, he gave me a metal artist disk. After that he told me to match her for foundation and grab my moisturizer and concealed and powder for her. I picked up strobe cream and matched her perfectly number 8 in the MAC Matchmaster foundation(I love that foundation) after I got everything together Manny came over and told me that I had 30 mins to create a day look for the office on her. So I began with the strobe cream and I used the 190 brush to apply it, I also explained to her that this was great because of the dewy glow that it would give her as well as help moisturize her dry skin. I then used the same brush to apply the match master foundation and I explained that this brush was a multipurpose brush. I then drew in her brows with stud and used concealer to clean them and make it pop. I used soft ochre as a base for her eye shadow then went in with dazzle light on her lid and wood winked on her inner crease and down brown on her outer crease for definition. All the while I am talking to her and I showed her the brows when I was done with one I also showed her her eye when I was done with one and about to move on to the next one. After that I lined her eye with smolder eye pencil just a small line and put some studio fix mascara on her I did not line her lower lash line because I put enough mascara on her that when she blinked enough excess product ended up on her lower lash line perfectly. I then blushed her cheeks with breezy and lined her lips with duck and put diva matte lipstick in her. I brushed her with some powder nc 45. Remember to dip all lipsticks lip pencils in alcohol and wipe off and sharpen pencils. And if you do touch their face just use a tissue as a barrier that's what I did just incase but I did ask her for permission to touch her face before hand. I kept the look simple and finished a few mins before time was up. He came over and asked me what products I used and what brushes. Then he said I have 15 mins to turn it into a night look. So I just took some black tied shadow and blended it into her inner and outer crease to darken things up I took smolder and darkened her liner and winged it out some, I then lined her lower lash line with smolder and smudge it with black tied shadow. I took her lipstick off, lined her lips with redd and wen in with my favorite lipstick, ruby woo!!! I did add more mascara to her as well. Took me about 10 mins to do all of that. When he came back he went through like the first time and asked me what I used etc. After that I was asked to wait ousted the maces on the bench and he would come and give me feed back . He said he was thoroughly impressed for me not to have any cosmetic experience except a makeup artist certification which I recently received April 13 2012 it was a 6 week course at the Bennett career institute, I've been doing makeup for a while in myself and friends though. Well he said that my brush skill were great and u knew how to blend blend blend he said he was very happy to pass me on to the net round!!! We started discussing which stores I could work at and he could see me at pentagon city because I had the MAC look!!!! Pentagon city mall is the place to be!!! Or metro center in DC. I was happy and I'm still on a natural High! Just remember to stay focused and have fun if you want a job at MAC you better come correct look the part and have a passion for makeup! Here is what my friend looked like in the end I hope this helps too just like everyone else helped me too!!! Thanks, Tiana
 

jamiearias

New member
I have to say, great tips. By far most descriptive I have seen on the net. Judging by your recount, as a retail manager I would hire you. I have a demo interview coming up thursday and I need advice. Especially since I would love to apply for a management position. So i definitely need to be spot on. My management experience is there but the cosmetic is lacking, only working for bare escentuals for a few months in the past. Honestly in my recent years I have shied away from MAC as I practically live in Sephora. So I definitely need to re-familiarize myself with there product line up.
 

Tiana Le-She

Active member
Thank you Jamiearias! That was nice of you to say. :) I will have to try the pics again tomorrow, I'm on my iPad so I'll try it from a computer tomorrow. I did forgot to mention to keep the look simple because your customer has to be able to go home and apply that makeup on themselves :) just keep that in mind too.
 

MACpossible

New member
I just had my 1st interview with MAC I am so nervous about the Demo.... She said she will get back to me in a week or so..... I need practice with eyeliner and I have one question... the mascara do they give you two wands to do the mascara? I was thinking about going to a MAC counter and getting my makeup done... Just to see how one of the hired artists does the application
 

xdanielleax

Active member
Hey everyone! I'm back from my 2nd interview! The demo interview! I got a call yesterday from the manager at the Springfield Mall asking if I could come in today at 12 with my model for the demo. I don't know too many people here. We moved to the NOVA area last year and I haven't really made that many friends. But I do have 1 good friend here. She has 5 kids including a newborn baby so I couldn't ask her...lol. So I brought her 13 year old daughter. She's a pretty girl and she has great skin which is a plus.

We showed up about 15 minutes early. I introduced myself to Manny, the manager and he set me up at a chair. He told me to pick out her foundation, concealer, powder and skincare and he'd be right back. I decided to use the mineralize foundation in NW20 for her because it's sheer to medium coverage and she has great skin. I also picked out the select moisturcover concealer in NW15 and MSF Natural Light. For skin care I picked up some strobe cream and prep and prime skin base. He came back over and told me he wanted me to create a daytime look for the office. He said to use no browns at all because she always goes for browns and wanted something different. He said I had 30 minutes.

I sanitized my hands then I started off by grabbing a petri dish and squirted some strobe cream and skin base into it. I used the 190 brush to apply both (strobe then skin base) During this I was explaining to her what each product did and what it was good for. Then I squirted some foundation in the petri dish and applied it with the 190. Then I just concealed under her eyes and applied the MSF with a fluffy brush. After her foundation was down, I went ahead and grabbed all the products for her day look.

For eyeshadow, I decided to do some purple. I grabbed phloof for her lid, parfait amour for her crease, and brule for highlight. I also grabbed soft ochre paint pot. I didn't grab any liner for the day look. But I did grab lingering for her brows. I was looking for the zoom lash but it wasn't there so I grabbed the plush lash. For her cheeks, I grabbed well dressed blush. For lips I used Viva Glam V l/s and Nymphette l/g. She had difficult eyes to work with. They are a bit hooded and hardly any lid space. I made sure to sanitize everything as I went. (dipping lipsticks in alcohol, wiping powder products with a tissue, etc...)

When the 30 minutes was up, he came back over and told me that he wanted me to turn it into a night look but, with just a few products in 15 minutes. I went back and grabbed Nocturnelle for the crease, beauty marked for the outer v and under the eye to smoke out. I also lined her eyes and waterline with graphblack technakohl. I used Harmony blush to contour and MSF in soft and gentle to highlight. I wanted a bold lip so I went with currant l/l, rebel l/s, and pop mode l/g.

When I was all done, he came back over to have a look. He had me go sit at the bench outside Macy's so we could talk. He asked me how I thought I did and I told him some of the improvements I would make. I should have brought the crease color in more on her day look. For her night look, her lips were a bit dry so it clung to the lipstick a bit. He told me over all he really liked what I did. He especially liked the night look but we talked about how the full on vampy look might be a little overwhelming for the average customer to handle. So if I do those looks, just make sure I can sell them! lol...He was super super nice. He told me I had The MAC Look head to toe :D and that I passed this round! He's going to email Homa and let her know how I did. He said the next step will be an interview with the regional manager! Eeek! I'm so excited. I was nervous when I first got there but once I had that belt on, I felt right at home!
 

Tiana Le-She

Active member
GREAT JOB girlie!!!! I am very proud of you!!! I'm sure you feel great :)

I've been in contact with Homa and Manny was on vacation last week so thats why things were going so slowly for me. She said that she is working to set up an interview with the manager but she is on vacation this week !!!

Girl they had another career fair today so I went dressed in all Black and my face was BEAT!!! I just walked in and talked to Homa...and I was like I'm the one who keeps emailing you lol and she laughed, complimented on my makeup and hair and told me that she has not forgotten about me and that I passed my makeup interview and said the manager is on vacation!!!

So with MAC you gotta keep pushing and pushing until they let you in the door or you bust it down lol
 

xdanielleax

Active member
Thanks hun! Well thanks for the heads up! At least I know I won't be expecting a call for at least a week! I feel really positive about how everything is going! My husband had the opportunity to move to St. Louis for his job but after I've had these MAC interviews, he really supports me and knows how much I want this, so we are staying put in DC :) So I'm REALLY hoping I pass this last interview!! hahaha. I wonder why they are having so many career calls lately.
 

RandomnessWithK

Well-known member
I just came back from a MAC Job fair yesterday and was invited back for a 2nd interview (the demo application) Tomorrow (OMG!) in El Segundo, CA .. I was told to bring my own model and my own brushes.

So my question's are:

- since i'll be bringing my own brushes - do they have to be ALL MAC?
- And I don't have a brush belt, but rather one of those sigma travel cups - is it okay to use that to set my brushes in or how should I go about this?!
- since it's been asked in other threads but not answered yet - If you are going to use say the 252 brush on an eyeshadow (that you wipe of with a tissue of course) use it on the model and then you want to use the same brush but a different color, do you just wipe the brush off or do you have to take the brush cleaner?
- also, when we have to gather our items, would you suggest I also get mascara wands and the applicators for lipstick/lipglass etc?
- before getting any of the makeup, can you ask your model if they prefer liquid/powder foundation? or just get whatever?


Thank you in advanced! I am really hoping someone can answer these questions as my demo is tomorrow and i'm freaking out! OMG! :) I'm SO excited more than anything! LOL
 

MA-Aish

New member
hi Guys, this forum has been a huge help to me...... I am from India and I have got a call for the demo at MAC and I am quite nervous about it....mainly for two reasons......first of all, I am asked to carry my own brushes and I dnt own MAC brushes, secondly, I have not used MAC as where i live MAC does nt have a store there, I am relocating and hence I applied to MAC. So far, I have used Revlon, Maybelline, Makeup Studio and mostly Kryolan(I dnt like it much personally). Though, I am pretty excited about the chance I have got to give a demo, I am not sure hw wud dese 2 things impact on my candidature.......

please let me know if i need to buy MAC brushes(Pls dnt say tat i hv too! dey r so damn expensive).....and if i need to go to diff stores of MAC and get a thorough knowledge of the MAC products. I do hv info abt d products as in theory i must say,,,,,,,but working in such a nerve wrecking situation is entirely diff with new products......
I am relying a lot on u guys......for u guys r the encyclopedias for Beginners like me.......pls help me out!!!
 

Marilu85

Member
Hey everyone:

I had the demo interview today for a freelance position. I had 30 minutes to gather supplies and create a look of choice (I chose a day look for work). The only requirement or explanation i was given before the clock began to tick was that a winged liner was a requirement, that means no explanation of sanitation, cleanup, process or rules. I remember asking for alcohol to dip my brushes in. I dipped brushes, wiped lipstick, and used applicators to get liner and lipgloss out, the only thing i don't remember doing was cleaning eyeshadows or blush/powder compacts with a tissue first. I was given a 168, 134, 130, 195 and some eyeshadow brush, i think a 238 brush. i borrowed a 263 from a fellow employee mid makeup job in order to apply liquid liner, since the penultimate i had picked out ended up being too dry to use.

I asked the interviewing manager for a lip brush and I was given a 213. It took me a good 7 minutes to gather my products because it was a busy day and I couldn't find the foundation I had previously matched to my model before my interview. I couldn't find the shade lighter than it either, so i had to go one shade darker. the manager had come by for this and walked with me to go look for the NC44 prolongwear i was referring to, and told me it didnt come in that, so she suggested studio fix. I was confused about that until i realized when i got home that what i had matched my model with before was studio fix not pro.. ..Grrrr...nerves! Unfortunately, I completely bypassed any skin care, other than prep + prime brightening serum, for the sake of time. I pulled out amongst my products, a lip liner, that i didn't have time to apply. I applied NC45 Prolongwearr, mineralize powder medium dark, prolong wear NW25 concealer, very black false lashes, eyebrow pencil spiked, I'm the one glamour daze blush, viva glam VI ( i believe), and this is where it gets shady, tinted lip glass, 2 eyeshadows. Because I wanted to get them all done, I skipped so many things I wanted to use, e.g. moisturizer, paint pot, lip conditioner, lip liner. I noticed i didn't have any time to keep my area clean, it was messy with the tissues and the brushes and the applicators, etc.

In the entire 30 minutes, the manager maybe stopped by 3 times for a few seconds, to glance in or listen in. There was also no way for me to tell if she was there, because my back was turned so i relied on my model to tell me if she had come by at all. At the end, she came for the last time and i asked her how i was on time, she said I don't know you tell me. Then she said i was over 3 minutes. She asked me to explain myself and what i used and why. I did, but when i went to point out the brow pencil, i couldn't find it amongst my things. The critique I received was pretty much all negative from what I remember. One thing she said that was good was that I had filled in her brows. The rest, she said i should have taken a step back to make sure the winged liner was symmetrical and used a brush to get rid of fall out instead of a q tip, she said the foundation was a bit dark for her and that I should have chosen a moisturizer for her because her skin would have looked better. Asked me what I would fix, i agreed with her suggestions and added that the concealer was a bit light and that I might have combined two blushes for a more defined finish next time. she saw id borrowed a brush from someone and told me i wasn't supposed to because it was all about seeing how i could make do with what i had. she also said that I needed to interact more with the customer. She ended it by saying that she would call me within the week to let me know. i thanked her and the girl who helped me. I really hope I didnt blow it! :(
 
I appreciate this detailed description! I would love to work for Mac but I must admit I have been somewhat discouraged because I do not really have any retail experience or certification yet but have intentions on getting one in the future. I will take your steps as to studying all of their products & learn their functions. I would assume that you bought a lot of their products to try them and see how they look and what the results really look like....
I started doing some freelance work and I was somewhat nervous but both the girls where really happy with the results so in the end i felt good but I did think of somethings that I forgot to do while i was applying their makeup so of course i will be more cautious of that. There is a MAC at Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, NY where I live that I am interested in applying fo but when i asked if they were accepting new applicants she asked if I had a resume which i didn't have with me because i am still working on putting it together since I didn't really know how to put a makeup resume together..

Thanks for the sanitizing information also.. so now i know to make sure to sanitize the makeup by wiping the eyeshadows with a tissue, and cleaning the lipsticks with alcohol...

How is it going so far ? Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 

AllyDVon

Well-known member
Hey everyone:

I had the demo interview today for a freelance position. I had 30 minutes to gather supplies and create a look of choice (I chose a day look for work). The only requirement or explanation i was given before the clock began to tick was that a winged liner was a requirement, that means no explanation of sanitation, cleanup, process or rules. I remember asking for alcohol to dip my brushes in. I dipped brushes, wiped lipstick, and used applicators to get liner and lipgloss out, the only thing i don't remember doing was cleaning eyeshadows or blush/powder compacts with a tissue first. I was given a 168, 134, 130, 195 and some eyeshadow brush, i think a 238 brush. i borrowed a 263 from a fellow employee mid makeup job in order to apply liquid liner, since the penultimate i had picked out ended up being too dry to use.

I asked the interviewing manager for a lip brush and I was given a 213. It took me a good 7 minutes to gather my products because it was a busy day and I couldn't find the foundation I had previously matched to my model before my interview. I couldn't find the shade lighter than it either, so i had to go one shade darker. the manager had come by for this and walked with me to go look for the NC44 prolongwear i was referring to, and told me it didnt come in that, so she suggested studio fix. I was confused about that until i realized when i got home that what i had matched my model with before was studio fix not pro.. ..Grrrr...nerves! Unfortunately, I completely bypassed any skin care, other than prep + prime brightening serum, for the sake of time. I pulled out amongst my products, a lip liner, that i didn't have time to apply. I applied NC45 Prolongwearr, mineralize powder medium dark, prolong wear NW25 concealer, very black false lashes, eyebrow pencil spiked, I'm the one glamour daze blush, viva glam VI ( i believe), and this is where it gets shady, tinted lip glass, 2 eyeshadows. Because I wanted to get them all done, I skipped so many things I wanted to use, e.g. moisturizer, paint pot, lip conditioner, lip liner. I noticed i didn't have any time to keep my area clean, it was messy with the tissues and the brushes and the applicators, etc.

In the entire 30 minutes, the manager maybe stopped by 3 times for a few seconds, to glance in or listen in. There was also no way for me to tell if she was there, because my back was turned so i relied on my model to tell me if she had come by at all. At the end, she came for the last time and i asked her how i was on time, she said I don't know you tell me. Then she said i was over 3 minutes. She asked me to explain myself and what i used and why. I did, but when i went to point out the brow pencil, i couldn't find it amongst my things. The critique I received was pretty much all negative from what I remember. One thing she said that was good was that I had filled in her brows. The rest, she said i should have taken a step back to make sure the winged liner was symmetrical and used a brush to get rid of fall out instead of a q tip, she said the foundation was a bit dark for her and that I should have chosen a moisturizer for her because her skin would have looked better. Asked me what I would fix, i agreed with her suggestions and added that the concealer was a bit light and that I might have combined two blushes for a more defined finish next time. she saw id borrowed a brush from someone and told me i wasn't supposed to because it was all about seeing how i could make do with what i had. she also said that I needed to interact more with the customer. She ended it by saying that she would call me within the week to let me know. i thanked her and the girl who helped me. I really hope I didnt blow it! :(
That sounds really intense. My demo was nothing like that. /: Let us know when you get the call!
 

Erikawithakkk

Well-known member
I had my demo yesterday, and overall, the makeup looked good. I did forget to close the sale though after I finished the application, and i'm kicking myself for it because i'm usually really good when it comes to closing! Has anyone else here had this happen? If so what was your outcome? Im so nervous now! I definately feel like i've blown my chances since I interviewed for assistant counter manager, and I know they expect us to know all of this since we would be leading a team :(
 

sharonsmakeup

New member
Quote: she asked if I had a resume which i didn't have with me because i am still working on putting it together since I didn't really know how to put a makeup resume together..


I can help with that! I've worked for a few different makeup companies (including MAC) and have writing resumes down to a fine art.

First thing, get a piece of paper and a pen and write down every single job/volunteer work you had, or any extra curricular activity you had in school. Then write down every duty you had in that role, say you were a waitress, you had to take orders, serve food to customers, put payment through the register, clean tables, assist kitchen staff etc. Then you need figure out what skills you needed in order to do all of those duties. For example taking orders, you need good communication skills, time management (get it to the kitchen quickly), customer service and relationship skills.

Pretty soon you'll see that even though you don't have retail experience, you have skills that you can transfer to a retail environment.

What skills do you need for in a cosmetic retail environment I hear you ask?!
Customer Service
Time Management
Build Relationships with Customers
Sales
Ability to work under pressure
Answering phones
Diary management
Handling cash
Basic Arithmetic

Sorry if this sounds like a daunting list, but if you really break it down, it's stuff we all do every day. You just need to analyse your experience so far and make it fit into one of those categories.

And as for makeup skills, you might be surprised to know that although it's definitely an advantage to have a cert, it's not essential. Practice on everyone you know, take tonnes of pictures (make sure they're well lit) and make a small portfolio to show them what you can do. They don't expect every single person to be this amazing artist, they will train the right person to their standards. You just need to convince them that your passionate about the work - especially the selling aspect - and that you will make a positive impact on their business.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd love to help out!

Sharon
http://www.sharonthemakeupartist.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/sharonmakeupartist?feature=mhee
 
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