Keith's Interview
Minnie is one of my best friends that started working right after me. I offered to my manager's that she was looking for a job and they set her up with an interview. Lucky for them she was the perfect visual of an Abercrombie Model.
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Interview with MinnieMinnie's face entered my computer screen. Her blond hair was thrown into a bun and an old t-shirt drapes her thin body. She grinned her white, pearly familiar smile as she sat in her poorly lit dorm. One Direction posters covered the wall beyond a bunk bed with it’s purple floral comforter tossed aside. Her bright green eyes look excited to see me. “TELL ME HOW YOU’RE DOING,” she shrieked.
“OH MY GOODNESS! I have so much to tell you!” I said, and right away we began literally an hour and a half long conversation about our transitions to college. “Okay, okay. Minnie, now I need to ask you some questions about your experience working at Abercrombie.” Minnie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “I feel like we’ve talked about this a billion times.” “I know, I know. But it’s been almost month since we’ve left so maybe we’ve had a long time to reflect… So. First question. I looked at my list of interview questions. 1) Were you recruited? I had gotten Chloe her interview right after I was recruited. I moved on. “Did working at this retailer boost your confidence?” I asked. Minnie began stroking her hair. “Well…” she said. “You are called a “Model”, and you get hit on by the other models and a ton of customers. Plus,” she added after a slight pause, “Brad told me I really had a chance to be a cast member on the posters. Managers get more money if they hire models that get casted so basically, yes, it is a huge confidence boost.” “Yeah, I agree. So did you think working at Abercrombie was trendier than another retailer at the mall—say Gap?” “I think people make it out to be like that. You get an idea that it’s so cool working there, but you’re really not. Abercrombie just has a more pedicured look but you still have to pee in a nasty looking toilet and get sweaty mopping the floors every morning.” “So true,” I said, remembering back when I would have to sweep all the dust bunnies onto the carpet until they were swarmed around me like flies. I move on. “After working for a while, do you find yourself buying and liking the brand more? Or less?” “I didn’t mind the clothes at all. I bought more of their clothes after working there. Before I worked at Abercrombie I thought it was a little kids store. Like I shopped there a lot when I was in my preteens. I always went for the stuff with the brand name on it or the logos. But when I was working there, I leaned towards the stuff where the logos were hidden. What I didn’t like was how strict the dress code was. Brad was really into the “Look Book”. “Brad was kind of ridiculous, though,” I noted. “His life revolved around Abercrombie; he literally said ‘every piece of clothing I own is Abercrombie’”. “I know!” I chimed in. “He was so proud of himself and I was thinking umm, that’s embarrassing.” “Yeah, Abercrombie wants to think that only attractive young adults buy their clothes, but in reality its not true.” “Who does buy their clothes?” I asked. “Like I said, I thought there were just a bunch of preteens who shopped there, but there’s also a lot of European and Asians foreigners who shop there. I think Abercrombie wants to think that only attractive people want to buy their clothes but in reality, it’s not true. I mean, it might be true in Europe and Asia, but definitely not here for the most part.” “Totally, totally,” I agreed. “So. What do you think are some major differences between the managers and the models?” I asked. “Well educationally, the models are probably smarter than some of the managers. Brad was kind of a dumb shit. Like, the models-- They have bigger goals in life versus the managers who are kind of stuck. I’ve asked Andrew, ‘do you want to do more with your life than Abercrombie?’ I literally asked him that and he said he didn’t know.” “I totally get what your saying,” I chimed in. “Like for us it was just a part time job to earn extra cash for college, but managers are full time. And it’s weird cause they’re all so young—even the regional managers.” “Yeah I can't tell if they get so sick of their jobs that they quit really early or if Abercrombie fires them one they hit 30!” We both start laughing, but I think we both were actually curious which it was. Satisfied with Minnie's answers, I said, “I think that was a perfect way to wrap this conversation up!” We then continued talking about Minnie's cute RA. READ REST OF INTERVIEW ON ABERCROMBIE'S MARKETING METHODS
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