The whole process began with my application on the Inditex career website, which was already tricky because half of the job postings text did not show up in some browsers. I applied anyway and I got a call one week later, asking me to come another week later for an interview. This interview was basically comprised of filling out a form with information that was already stated on the online application form (when and where do you want to work, etc.), and then sitting in a room with 20-30 other applicants, watching two marketing videos regarding Inditex. On this occasion, there was no information given about the different roles, shops or salary. It was more important to "know the company", meaning: being able to recite facts that you can read on the Inditex website.
A few hours after this session, I received another call - I shall come for an interview the following week, it will again be in the inditex headquarter. I was expecting to get at least a face to face interview or (even better) an interview with an actual store manager. Instead, they put again 20 of us together in a room (most faces already familiar from round 1) and played the usual get-to-know-each-other teamwork games with us. This took another 1,5 hours. At the end of the session, we were reassured that there will be no more interviews, the next reply from Zara will be to start work and to sign the contract. However, it was said that this call can happen anytime between 2 days and 6 months from now. Starting positions will be almost always 20-25 hours. One person asked about the starting salary rate, but the question was not answered by the interviewer ("we don't know yet, that depends on the new wage laws).
All in all, my Zara/Inditex application took 3 weeks and two useless group sessions to be "processed" until my application finally showed up to somebody who actually wanted to hire people (store managers). All of those hours spent in the tube and in the training room were basically just a big waste of time. Nobody ever interviewed me during this process, apart from 30 seconds where I was asked for exactly the same information that I already gave on my form. The girls who were sitting the sessions with me were all very eager to show that they are prepared and ready to do the job, and many of them had previous retail experience. It was really disheartening to find out at the end that basically all of them were put on hold for up to 6 months to get a part time job which would not pay the bills, and that so far nobody of them was ever properly noticed as an individual. I had interview processes for positions that were on a much higher level but did not take so long (and if they were, there would be hour-long face to face interviews and knowledge tests etc.). On the other hand I am wondering why people get hired without a trial session? It seems to me like Inditex does not really mind to hire anybody, but then make a big fuss about getting full time hours ("this is like a promotion") and act as if they are giving away paid internships at Vogue.
Conclusion: If you are looking for a quick entry level job because you just came to London or you want to make a quick move, forget about Inditex. There are enough companies out there where you are already working a week after your first email application and get your first payment shortly after, and it will be a full time job where people will know your name without you having a name tag sticked on your shirt.
If you got nothing better to do and you are happy to sit at home and wait for Zaras call of duty, go ahead. Chances are that you will be called by several other companies in the meantime.
I am really happy that I got a job offer from another company and could decline the offer from Zara.
