It's NO secret...Victoria Secret

I have tried to apply for VS a lot since TN where I did interview with them but with no success. That is for both CA and AZ. Oh well at least I have interviewed with them before!

1. First time was in Murfreesboro for the outlet mall called The Avenue. I was interviewing for the stock position. The girl who did my interview liked me so much she wanted to hire me on the spot! She ended up moving to another store. The reason I didn't get the job wasn't because I wasn't liked but she suddenly had to give the job to someone from another VS store transferring. But she promised to refer me to any other stores. I used her in my next time I interviewed but was not successful there either. This was the closest I ever came to getting a job at VS.

2. The second time I interviewed was at Cool Springs Galleria in Franklin. The job was at Christmas time. I was hoping to balance the job with my calendar kiosk one so I could make more money as the hours kept getting cut for me and it was not good especially that time of year. They were hiring a lot of people. But its a clothing store for thinner woman so I am guessing in the end even with the recommendation from the other manger as to why I didn't get the job there. But I did try.

Good experiences with my first interview will always give me hope and I will probably always apply with the company as long as I am trying to find a retail job whenever that stops I don't know...

Borders Books...you know the other bookstore before it left the planet in 2011...

First of all I worked for Borders books so this is one of those where I talk about OTHER interviews (although including successful interviews could be helpful I will not for now but might go back and do so later on).

1. My first time ever interviewing for Borders Books was when they were opening The Block of Orange (as it was called back then) in 1998. A new outdoor mall where I later would get my first retail job. I wanted a bookstore job so badly so I went to them to interview. But was sadly told I lacked any retail experience which is why they could not hire me...

2. When I moved to Arizona I tried for a Borders near us. The store was located in this parking lot by this ice skating rink we barely found it. I was not interviewing for the store but for their calendar kiosk Day by Day (before Day by Day got sold). It was late 2010 and I needed a job and I so badly wanted to work for the company. The interview went fine even though I had to RESCHEDULE it when something happened and the manager was not in on the day I was going to do it originally (its okay we saw the olive mill that day in Queen Creek all good!). Sadly they did not hire me but I will never know why. With ALL my experience both with calendars and the company I will never know why I was not taken on.

3. My third and last time interviewing for them came also in AZ. It was for a Borders far from our house about 40 min in Mesa. A nice mall I will never see again because I only saw it twice. The manager liked me enough to call me in for a café job. I had ZERO food experience in a café but she acted like at the time over the phone it was okay even though I didn't apply for the café. But when I got there for my first ever group interview with two other people I found they wanted experience. I was very upset because it was not easy to come that far for a job that would not take me on. It was a more stay for good job as the calendar kiosk wouldn't have been. And it took place a few weeks after my other failure one.

Honestly I didn't know my interview in Mesa would be the last ever as the company I loved tanked in 2011 and were gone for good before the years end :(

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Updated on November 10th, 2013:

4. I interviewed for Borders another time in Arizona. This time it was in Scottsdale. At the time I thought it was for their calendar kiosk Day by Day which is what I had applied for and was told. When I arrived the manager on duty didn't even know I was coming. So he had no real questions for me and even told me he was making up some questions as he didn't have my resume or anything. I ended up being interviewed for the store not the kiosk. I went upstairs to the café (yes it was two story). The interview was weird and felt odd. And it wasn't shocking they never called me back. I called them back but never got hired for the store or the kiosk! Sad but true.

B&N doesnt stand for Big & Nasty (but that was funny when I heard it ...)

My second retail job ever came from working at Barnes & Noble. I didn't ever have issues with the company persay. I am glad they are still around and hope they never go away now that Borders is gone for good. Only real big bookstore. I have worked at two different B&N but I have since and inbetween interviewed a few times hoping to get back on with the company. With no success as we can see it never ends well. For a nice company they tend to be a big snobbish and don't like the idea of taking back on former employees something I will never understand. I love B&N and hope to one day work for them again if the cards are played right...

1. After my first & second time working at the company I was interviewing at the one in Nashville, TN. It was at Opry Mills a fun little mall that got ruined by the Nashville flood in 2010 and sadly B&N never returned. I was new to the area and I was excited. The managed seemed to really like me. She loved I had worked twice with the company. It was a mistake I knew after mentioning my second time at B&N here in OS CA as it was not a good experience. For whatever reason despite an awesome interview I was never hired. I believe my former manager second B&N job decided to say stuff bad about me.

2. I had my first real interview with B&N that wasn't really an interview in TN before we moved out there. It was at a new store opening in Murfreesboro at this cute new outside mall that opened fresh in 2007. The manager never interviewed me but I talked to her in person. Then I called her a few times. I thought she was going to help me even when my current manager (see above) didn't want to transfer me. Turned out she didn't like me and was back talking me to my manager saying I was bugging her and she clearly didn't want to hire me. I never tried to get a job at that store even though I lived out there nearly 3 years and started using their wifi on a regular bases eventually.

3. All though I tried for another few B&N in TN none got back to me. I continued to apply when we moved to AZ finally one called me the one at the store near us. I was SO excited! It was in Chandler, AZ and I was so happy thinking this was it she would hire me. But the lady who interviewed me was really odd. She acted funny about me having not been with the company but one time (I stopped telling them about OS). She didn't like me and I wondered why she had bothered to call me in the first place. I was really disappointed with this interview! And of course she didn't take me on...

4. Not to give up I interviewed for B&N again in 2011 when we first moved back to our area in CA. It was at a B&N that was about half hour from our house. A seasonal job. They were taking on a few people. I was so excited I really wanted this job and I worked hard. The interview went alright. But again not impressed I had worked for the company before. So of course they didn't hire me. I was very disappointed!

I wanted to add I WONT give up on B&N. I love the company and want back on even if its just one more time. I will forever be sad. When I was told at Borders that B&N stood for Big and Nasty I laughed. But all the bad experience I have had trying for a job with them makes me question if they were always this way or things have changed. Times are tough for books. I am not big on electric books but since that's the way things are going who knows how long bookstores will be around. Here's to hoping I get a 3rd shot at B&N someday again!

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UPDATED SEPT 22nd 2013 WITH SOME NEW B&N AND ONE I FORGOT!

5. I interviewed for a B&N in AZ. I cant recall the city but I think it was probably Chandler maybe Queen Creek. I remember it was this B&N in this odd lot. My interview I thought went alright I was hopeful as always. After we hung out in the café played on the wifi for a bit on my ipod.

6. I got interviewed in August this year at a store in Mira Mesa. This was by far my WORST ever interview with the company. My old manager from OS is now working there and I guess she told them all about me. It was the first thing the girl who interviewed me brought up. It really upset me. They brought me 45 min from home to make fun of me. She didn't even ask me any kind of real questions. And within 45 min of being done they emailed me to say I wasn't hired. No kidding. I wouldn't have worked there anyways after I found that out!

7. I had an interview almost two weeks ago at the B&N in Temecula. Its about 30 min from our house. Small world. The manager who interviewed me knows one of the former bosses I had at my B&N job in Main Place mall. I think he left our store around 2003. She joked would he remember me I said he might. I had no idea he still with the company you just never know this far along after. Well the manager really did like me. I think she did. And since I haven't heard back I didn't get it I am hopeful I might still. Really want this one. Shall see. Stay tuned!

Sorry again for adding 3 but I thought it was important thanks for reading!!

Limited Too...now called *JUSTICE*

There are few stores out there that sale teen/kid stuff that I can say I have shopped in. I cant buy the clothes but Limited Too later changed to Justice is the exception for me. I haven't shopped there a lot but I *have* bought stuff at the store a few times now. Why? Not only do they sale teen fashion they sale cute stuff similar to stuff at Claire's. Maybe that is why I like them so much and have tried to get jobs at them for a while.

I have applied several times to them. They are now online. But I have only interviewed so far three times with them. I have been applying with them since they changed their name in TN. But I never interviewed with them till AZ.

1. My first came at Cool Springs Galleria in Franklin, TN. I really wanted them for my second job. I was working at Borders and going to school. My school took place on Tue & Thur evenings so I was limited by a job willing to have me work evenings ONLY all week and not at all on Tue or Thur. I ended up at Children's Place but I interviewed first at Justice. I am unsure but back then it might have still been Limited Too. Either way the interview went alright. They wouldn't have called me had they not been okay with my limited hours but they ended up not taking me so I went and agreed to Childrens Place instead. I held out at first because I was hoping they would call me back.

2. My second interview came from working at Chandler Fashion Mall. That was the city we lived in. I applied with them twice and got an interview finally shortly around the time I got hired at Bath & Body. They weren't giving me hours so I decided to try for a second job and there you go. The interview wasn't bad but they told me things I had never heard before. Not only do they sale teen stuff but they except their workers to "wear similar clothes to the one we sale" which really makes no sense. How do you get stuff like what they sale but not what they sale? I was disappointed to hear this and of course I didn't get the job. I don't have fashion sense and cant get clothing store jobs. I never knew they held such high standards!

2. Oddly enough I knew all that when I interviewed with them in Fall 2011. We had just moved back to CA and I was working to get a job hard. And I interviewed at one about 30 mint from our house. I remember one of the questions during the interview was it okay I worked so far from home and I was fine with it. The interview wasn't a bad one. I remember that. The girl was nice and understanding. But I didn't get hired even if they were hiring several people at the time...

Oh Justice I wont give up trying for a job with you no matter what. But it may never happen...

Oh LEGO of my LEGO

Before I started to work at LL I had a job at a Lego Store. I worked at the one in Anaheim at the downtown disney area from August 2004 to November 2006 only leaving because we moved out of the area. I was hired on the spot because the manager liked me. Its still one of my top favorite places to have ever worked. I had tons of friends. And when I left they gave me a cake and flowers I was so loved :) Although I am fb friends with some of my former co-workers I often wonder about those I never got back in touch with...

SO with that in my mind I have tried to get back on with the company a few times now.

1. In 2010 while living in AZ (they had NO lego stores in TN but do now) they opened a brand new Lego store up. Had I known what I found out afterwards I would have contacted my former store and the manager there was going to be at the job openings and I could have maybe gotten hired on. But anyways. The interviews were done in a group. My sister also interviewed but the manager was very interested in me. I was a former employee with a good standing record (I later learned this) and was very much rehireable. The interview went well enough he acted like he wanted to hire me. I worked hard to get my number from a check stub I still had, and then I worked to contact him again. But for some reason that I will never fully understand I was never able to get in contact with him. I tried him by phone and by email. But no one contacted me. By time I finally got someone to talk to me they had hired all the people they were going to. I was heart broken.

2. However I still had enough heart to try for the Lego Store by us. It was in the Chandler Mall for Holiday season. I went in there and interviewed. The interview went well. I even brought my number I still had. I was excited thinking they would take me on. But for some reason they decided not to contact me or hire me. The interview went well. I think they remembered me and thought I was a pest for trying for the first job few months before and that is why I wasnt hired on. Either way I gave up after that and didnt apply anymore with them.

Since then I have tried for a few other Lego Stores since I am back in CA. I am unsure yet if I will ever get back on with Lego. But I love Lego and will never forget the job I had and the impact it made on me. Even if I never get back on with one I will never stop loving Legos. Or forget the job I loved.