Initial telephone screening interview with Talents Manager. Talents Manager was affable enough, but clearly had not prepared for the interview, opening question being how much notice I needed to give in current job despite both my CV and covering letter clearly stating my availability for an immediate start! No interest or questions about any of my previous employers or types of products sold whatsoever. I was only asked crib sheet questions about figures, rotas, stocktake accuracy, stock loss, expected salary, etc. Background noise made it difficult to hear interview questions at times. I couldn't tell if Talents Manager was working from home with children playing in the background or was in an open plan office with colleagues laughing and joking nearby. Either way, it didn't come across as professional! Despite my considerable managerial experience in similar retail environments and in selling the kind of products Smiggle stock in most of my previous positions, and expecting to be progressed to the next stage on this basis, I was surprised to receive a follow-up message some two weeks later thanking me for my time and advising that I was not successful and wouldn't be progressed to a face-to-face interview with the Regional Manager. So much for relevant experience , close proximity to the store, and availability for an immediate start! Smiggle then continued to advertise the vacancy for well over a month after this. The store did not appear to be well managed subseqently. Not at all impressed!

Had a telephone interview which lasted approx 45mins. Quite indepth questions regarding KPIs, management experience scenario based questions. Lady from HR who interviewed me was so lovely very friendly. Great first impression of company. I was given example questions which i needed to prepare for interview along with a SWOT analysis. I turned up for store interview with area manager. She honestly looked like she had rolled out of bed wearing a hoodie and trainers. I knew the company was fun and relaxed but that didnt give mea great first impression especially when she didnt know what store i was applying for (she was doing interviews for 2 store manager roles for her region). But when she didnt have my cv to hand and asked me about my experience i felt that was rude and unprofessional that she hadnt prepared. I noticed she was also using the assistant managers interview questions which i didnt mind but again it all seemed very unprofessional which was a shame as the telephone interview was so positive and really made me feel this was a good company to work for. The interview lasted about 45mins i wasnt asked any of the questions i had prepared for or did not ask for my swot analysis. I left feeling unsure of what to make of the interview as all seemed a bit bizarre. The questions were quite straight forward and had enough experience to answer them well. I was offered the job with a respectable salary however i was also offered another job elsewhere so weighing up the two options smiggle unfortunately seemed unprofessional and i didnt get a great first impression from the area manager who i would be working with/for. The negative reviews on the company did influence me aswell so i decided to turn down the job.