RooTuesdayx
Member
Hi guys!
Pretty new to this (well, I'm not but I'm a total lurker!), and I just wanted to throw in my experience of the UK MAC interview process.
I went through the recruitment line, applying for a part time Christmas Temp job (however there is an opportunity to be offered a permanent contract as I'm lucky that my local counter is in need of staff anyway!)
The phone interview! I've had a phone interview for MAC before a few years ago (didn't make the cut then), and from what I remember it hasn't changed. I was asked standard questions;
What do you know about MAC? (i just breifly went over the company history, hit on viva glam, aids fund etc)
Have you worked in retail/cosmetics before? (obviously this part depends on your own experience, but for me I've done both. I think this is where I fell down last time as this is the only question I had a different answer to than last time!)
What's your favourite makeup style, MAC product, and how would you link sell that product? (Doesn't really seem to matter what you choose here as long as you can back your answer up.)
So after I passed the phone interview, I was told that my details would be passed on to a regional manager who would decide if I'd be offered a face to face interview, then she breifly explained what that would be like. They said it would usually take about 2-3 weeks for them to be in touch.
Three weeks rolled by and I hadn't heard anything, so I just assumed I wasn't getting a face to face interview. But last week out of nowhere I got a call from the counter manager Joanna, who wanted to interview me. She told me to take a CV and anything else I could think that I'd like her to see (portfolio etc), and that we'd do a one-to-one interview then my demo straight after. Unfortunately when I got there, the trainer who was supposed to go through the demo had called in sick, so we had to reschedule, but I'll come to that later!
We went up to the office and Joanna basically went through my CV, asked about my past jobs and training etc, and then talked about the typical retail things, how I feel about working to targets, handling pressure etc.
Fast forward to yesterday, makeup demo. I wasn't asked to bring a model, one of the MA's working was sitting for us. There was only one other girl (that I saw) interviewing just before me and we both worked on the same MA.
I was told I would have 25 minutes to do a full face including lips, she wanted to see a daytime smokey eye. I was told to treat the MA like a customer so to be sure I was on point with customer service. I started out by asking a few questions about her skin type and what kind of coverage she wanted to achieve. Since she liked full coverage I grabbed Studio Fix fluid as her foundation, Studio Finish concealer, prep and prime skin, eye and finishing powder. There were already a few brushes laid out for me (150, 168, 188, 252, 219, 224, 209, and 316), petri dish, q-tips, mascara wants, spatula and hand sanitizer.
I started with the eyes, scraped out some prep & prime into the petri dish and applied with the 252.I wiped the top of each eyeshadow with a tissue before using, then dusted shroom from lashline to browbone with the 224. Same brush, I added wedge to the outer half of the lid, then defined the outer corner and crease with espresso and the 219. I added some dipdown fluidline to both upper and lower lashlines with the 209 and blended out with some espresso & 219 again.
Next I went on to skin, primed with prep and prime, I used the 188 to apply as I didn't have a nice flat brush and didn't think I'd be allowed to use my fingers! Over top I used the same brush to buff Studio Fix all over, finished off with Studio Finish under her eyes and on a few problem areas with the 252. By this point I had less than 5 minutes left to finish, so I quickly dusted the whole face with Prep & Prime finishing powder and added Porcelain Pink msf to the cheekbones, then ran to find a lipstick. I was looking for a light pinkish colour and just grabbed the first thing that looked good (it happened to be Snob, probably not my first choice if I'd had more time but nevermind!) and quickly applied just as my time ran out.
The feedback was great, the only thing I was told I could have done better was under eye concealer which I applied just a little too heavily and it settled into some of the skin's lines. Besides that my application was great. I was asked to do a quick run through of my look and why I chose what I did, then the trainer asked me a few questions about why I wanted to work for MAC, how I would describe my style, how I get inspiration and my favourite thing about makeup, who is my beauty icon.
I think the biggest things to remember with the demo are; sanitize! They were really impressed that I cleaned everything before using. Customer service is a HUUUGE deal too, even if your model is your best friend, talk like they're a customer, explain exactly what you're doing, what you're using to do it, and why they should use the same products. And of course your application, but don't panic if a couple of minor things go wrong, just relax and do your best!
So about 30 minutes after my demo the manager from the counter called and told me they were both really impressed with me, my demo had gone great and they offered me the job! I start in a couple of weeks and can't wait!
I'm sorry for this being so long winded, but before my interviews I totally scoured this forum looking for what to expect. I hope my experience helps some of you out there who want to work for MAC!
I went through the recruitment line, applying for a part time Christmas Temp job (however there is an opportunity to be offered a permanent contract as I'm lucky that my local counter is in need of staff anyway!)
The phone interview! I've had a phone interview for MAC before a few years ago (didn't make the cut then), and from what I remember it hasn't changed. I was asked standard questions;
What do you know about MAC? (i just breifly went over the company history, hit on viva glam, aids fund etc)
Have you worked in retail/cosmetics before? (obviously this part depends on your own experience, but for me I've done both. I think this is where I fell down last time as this is the only question I had a different answer to than last time!)
What's your favourite makeup style, MAC product, and how would you link sell that product? (Doesn't really seem to matter what you choose here as long as you can back your answer up.)
So after I passed the phone interview, I was told that my details would be passed on to a regional manager who would decide if I'd be offered a face to face interview, then she breifly explained what that would be like. They said it would usually take about 2-3 weeks for them to be in touch.
Three weeks rolled by and I hadn't heard anything, so I just assumed I wasn't getting a face to face interview. But last week out of nowhere I got a call from the counter manager Joanna, who wanted to interview me. She told me to take a CV and anything else I could think that I'd like her to see (portfolio etc), and that we'd do a one-to-one interview then my demo straight after. Unfortunately when I got there, the trainer who was supposed to go through the demo had called in sick, so we had to reschedule, but I'll come to that later!
We went up to the office and Joanna basically went through my CV, asked about my past jobs and training etc, and then talked about the typical retail things, how I feel about working to targets, handling pressure etc.
Fast forward to yesterday, makeup demo. I wasn't asked to bring a model, one of the MA's working was sitting for us. There was only one other girl (that I saw) interviewing just before me and we both worked on the same MA.
I was told I would have 25 minutes to do a full face including lips, she wanted to see a daytime smokey eye. I was told to treat the MA like a customer so to be sure I was on point with customer service. I started out by asking a few questions about her skin type and what kind of coverage she wanted to achieve. Since she liked full coverage I grabbed Studio Fix fluid as her foundation, Studio Finish concealer, prep and prime skin, eye and finishing powder. There were already a few brushes laid out for me (150, 168, 188, 252, 219, 224, 209, and 316), petri dish, q-tips, mascara wants, spatula and hand sanitizer.
I started with the eyes, scraped out some prep & prime into the petri dish and applied with the 252.I wiped the top of each eyeshadow with a tissue before using, then dusted shroom from lashline to browbone with the 224. Same brush, I added wedge to the outer half of the lid, then defined the outer corner and crease with espresso and the 219. I added some dipdown fluidline to both upper and lower lashlines with the 209 and blended out with some espresso & 219 again.
Next I went on to skin, primed with prep and prime, I used the 188 to apply as I didn't have a nice flat brush and didn't think I'd be allowed to use my fingers! Over top I used the same brush to buff Studio Fix all over, finished off with Studio Finish under her eyes and on a few problem areas with the 252. By this point I had less than 5 minutes left to finish, so I quickly dusted the whole face with Prep & Prime finishing powder and added Porcelain Pink msf to the cheekbones, then ran to find a lipstick. I was looking for a light pinkish colour and just grabbed the first thing that looked good (it happened to be Snob, probably not my first choice if I'd had more time but nevermind!) and quickly applied just as my time ran out.
The feedback was great, the only thing I was told I could have done better was under eye concealer which I applied just a little too heavily and it settled into some of the skin's lines. Besides that my application was great. I was asked to do a quick run through of my look and why I chose what I did, then the trainer asked me a few questions about why I wanted to work for MAC, how I would describe my style, how I get inspiration and my favourite thing about makeup, who is my beauty icon.
I think the biggest things to remember with the demo are; sanitize! They were really impressed that I cleaned everything before using. Customer service is a HUUUGE deal too, even if your model is your best friend, talk like they're a customer, explain exactly what you're doing, what you're using to do it, and why they should use the same products. And of course your application, but don't panic if a couple of minor things go wrong, just relax and do your best!
So about 30 minutes after my demo the manager from the counter called and told me they were both really impressed with me, my demo had gone great and they offered me the job! I start in a couple of weeks and can't wait!
I'm sorry for this being so long winded, but before my interviews I totally scoured this forum looking for what to expect. I hope my experience helps some of you out there who want to work for MAC!
