Current Events > Chipotle interview....wtf?1?

(+) Yeah! (+)

What's with all the loaded questions?

"What was a time you provided excellent customer service?"

"What was time you made a promise you couldn't keep?"

I felt like screaming "lady this is a job for fucking teenagers. What answers are you expecting?

The first one is a pretty normal question but that second one is bizarre

"Describe a time where you were a dogshit human being."

"What was a situation where you were a total fuckup?"

"Were you bullied in school, and if so, is it because of your huge nose?"

"What are the three best reasons not to hire you?"

At what point in the job training process do they indoctrinate you in the art of portion size skimping?

Those are the same questions Starbucks uses, both for interviewing and advancing.
For the second question, the expected answer for a store manager role is something like, "Once I told a guest (customer) over the phone that we had Sumatra in stock, but it turned out that we only had Decaf Sumatra. I offered a similar roast and let them know that we should have more Sumatra in on <date>. I explained that I could keep a pound to the side with their name on it. I also offered a free cup of coffee. The guest was excited to try a different roast he hadn't tried before."

To just get hired, they're looking that you don't completely fuck up the questions, that you have reliable transportation, availability, and a living human body.

This may be a hot take, but jobs for places like Chipotle, etc should have no interview questions like that...they're obviously looking for workers, they should just be running the usual background checks, etc, hiring folks and if they can't keep up or don't fit the team just release them within the probationary period

FL81 posted...

At what point in the job training process do they indoctrinate you in the art of portion size skimping?

That's what the "broken promises" question is about.

they want you to be able to answer stupid questions on the fly because thats what 99% of customer service is.

Samurai_Man posted...

This may be a hot take, but jobs for places like Chipotle, etc should have no interview questions like that...they're obviously looking for workers, they should just be running the usual background checks, etc, hiring folks and if they can't keep up or don't fit the team just release them within the probationary period

My workplace does four to five person panel interviews for the lowest paid employees we hire (one is always HR). Anything management and they start sitting in heavy-hitters like the CFO, COO, directors. Anything at that level and they have someone from the board come to the interview.

I get it for all the management and above roles... but do we need five people grilling a forklift operator?

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

"What was a time you provided excellent customer service?"

This one isn't weird at all to me. It's a customer service job so it makes sense.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

"What was time you made a promise you couldn't keep?"

This one I might have gotten a little sassy over. "Well, you see, many years ago my mom was hanging off the edge of a cliff, saved only by my hand. I promised her I wouldn't let go and let her fall, however my grip started to loosen and as tears streamed down my face she told me, "It's ok, son, I don't blame you for this", before she slipped and fell to her demise. Thanks for asking"

My hot-take would be if you think food service is a job just for teenagers you probably arent qualified for the position.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

What's with all the loaded questions?

"What was a time you provided excellent customer service?"

"What was time you made a promise you couldn't keep?"

I felt like screaming "lady this is a job for fucking teenagers. What answers are you expecting?

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

"Not at fucking Chipotle I hope."

Tyranthraxus posted...

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

without diabeetus i hope :(.

They're behavioral questions, trying to see how you'll be able to respond in a professional way because that's essentially what customer service is. Anytime I ask those behavioral questions at the CPA firm I work at, I'm looking to see if you can give me a life experience of being able to turn a bad situation into a good/less bad situation. Can they think on their feet, are they proactive rather than reactive. Obviously these questions aren't perfect and it's essentially gotten to the "fake it till you make it" kind of mindset, but most part it does a good job filtering like 85% of the time.

But yeah I remember my interview for Carl's Jr. being much much easier. What was my time availability? Do I have a reasonable means of transportation? What was my previous experience working at McDonalds at? How well can I multi-task? Etc. Behavioral questions really should be for white collar jobs/managerial positions.

I dont have a problem with the first question. Its really just a chance for you to show what youd be willing to do to help a customer (made up or not). Regardless of how minimal the job is, I cant blame them for still looking for the best people for the job.

As for the 2nd question theyre looking for people who will shoot themselves in the foot and spill the beans on mistakes theyve made. The only logical answer for an interview with that question is I dont make promises that I cant keep, but here is a way that I turned I saved a bad situation, and give some BS story on how you were a hero in a hectic moment.

Pretty standard questions

It's so dumb to ask these questions when most of their applicant are high schoolers who are never going to go to college.

Are these questions like some kind of shit test? Like if I'm able to answer them properly I immediately become a flight risk.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

lady this is a job for fucking teenagers.

come again?

Why are you applying at a job for teenagers? Are you a teenager?

Aztex posted...

Why are you applying at a job for teenagers? Are you a teenager?

Well let's just say I'm certainly not qualified to work at an investment firm or legal office.

The excellent customer service bit would trip me up because like...are there fucking tiers I'm supposed to be keeping track of? Am I supposed to just be giving mediocre customer service to everybody except a lucky handful of cherished souls?

Customers always got whatever they want that's within reason so long as I have the ability. Maybe I should've kept a journal during my old convenience store days in case I needed those anecdotes in the future. >_>

Interviewer: "How many children have you killed, and where are the bodies?"

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


It's clearly meant to fuck with them asking something stupid like "describe when you made a promise you couldn't keep"

I was intentionally going for odd/weird/uncomfortable because it's a dumb fucking question as it sounds like they're inquiring about your moral failings to work at a damn job.

A time you gave great customer service? Ok, cool. What job-related examples do people have for a time they failed to keep a promise? That's typically personal failings that a job shouldn't know or care about. Who promises their employers they'll do something in full earnest that goes beyond doing their job to an acceptable degree?

Kradek posted...

It's clearly meant to fuck with them asking something stupid like "describe when you made a promise you couldn't keep"

I was intentionally going for odd/weird/uncomfortable because it's a dumb fucking question as it sounds like they're inquiring about your moral failings to work at a damn job.

A time you gave great customer service? Ok, cool. What job-related examples do people have for a time they failed to keep a promise? That's typically personal failings that a job shouldn't know or care about. Who promises their employers they'll do something in full earnest that goes beyond doing their job to an acceptable degree?

Nah, as others have said, for that question you'd talk about a negative situation and explain how you turned it around or how you learned from it.

And it can absolutely relate to a job. Like you can "promise" your boss that you'll get something done by X time.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

It's so dumb to ask these questions when most of their applicant are high schoolers who are never going to go to college.

You seem really hung up on this for some reason. It's obviously not just for teenagers or you wouldn't be applying for it

I am not in the job market anymore but places are going to throw in those curve ball questions. As long as they aren't inappropriate I get it. As stated it is to see how you react to surprises.

I am not explaining this well, but I remember when I was explaining about how a previous company had these goals and I laughed at it apparently they didn't find it funny. I just said if they didn't meet them I guess they got a little bummed. Apparently that was offensive.

Fyi they outsource to dogshit companies to make these questionnaires.
It is why interviews across all of the workforce is now cancer.

I watched a video all about it will post later.

Basically at first these companies just asked a few basic things but HR kept asking for more and more filters and now we all gotta wade through vomit rivers.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

It's so dumb to ask these questions when most of their applicant are high schoolers who are never going to go to college.

Are these questions like some kind of shit test? Like if I'm able to answer them properly I immediately become a flight risk.

Basically no Corp wants to invest time to train people anymore.
These questions are designed to tell in a roundabout way if you had a job before meaning they don't have to train you.

"A time you gave excellent customer service"

It isn't about your answer. It is about did you work a job before as then you can answer fastly.

Or so that is the theory.

As with the oddball question it's to see how you can react suddenly to a situation. The NFL actually has done this in way more offensive ways like asking about criminal mischief etc.

As for your standard questions. Depending on the field asking about customer service or your personal life when appropriate is so stock. People are getting paid to interview the person.

Dammit I am over thinking and getting into my own head but I was reading a old wrestling magazine from 1990 and they were looking for locksmiths at starting 19 dollars an hour. I was too lazy and wasted away my life I didn't even say this in a negative way and my older brother was giving me grief. *sigh* useless.

Kradek posted...

This one isn't weird at all to me. It's a customer service job so it makes sense

What if you have no experience.this is a first job kinda job after all. Not saying it has to be your first job but it is to many.

I remember getting irritated interviewing with the prison. They asked questions youd only know if you worked the job. Fortunately I'm 3rd gen and had a clue.

I would tell them I never make a promise that I can't keep (that ain't me)

I'll just say this. I was applying for a job at Media Play after I worked for Target. Media Play went bust not long after this. But one of the questions was did you have daily goals there and what were the reactions Something like that. So I said we have credit applications goals and I guess I just laughed when I said if we don't hit them tomorrow is another day. Apparently the interviewer got really angry how I brushed that question off.

Maybe that's why I don't sincerely laugh anymore or seem happy it gets me into trouble.

MacadamianNut3 posted...

I would tell them I never make a promise that I can't keep (that ain't me)

I've never made a promise I can't keep. If I'm not 100% sure I say I'll try my best

The thing it's always these chain restaurants that ask these inane questions.

An interview for a local place usually goes like this

"Can you handle the responsibilities of the job?"

"What's your availability like?"

"Do you have reliable transportation?"

And that's it.

"Let's say there's a fire in the kitchen, and you have to choose between saving the life of your manager or the life of a customer, how would you react?--go!"

o_O

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Yeah, but you were still saying it in response to me saying how I'd fuck with the interviewer.

Nobody "promises" anything to their employer. They make professional commitments, they have obligations per their role, and they have deadlines. You make promises to people you care about and want to come through for on a personal level. So asking someone about a time they broke a promise is akin to "tell us about a time when you let down your family or friends".

As for that last sentence, it's asinine to think that even if I was employed by a particular company to give the interview questions that I'd be able to affect the entire interviewing process across all industries.

Real "If you're so against crime why don't you just become a cop and stop all crime" energy there.

NoxObscuras posted...

Nah, as others have said, for that question you'd talk about a negative situation and explain how you turned it around or how you learned from it.

And it can absolutely relate to a job. Like you can "promise" your boss that you'll get something done by X time.

As I just explaiend to another, nobody realistically promises anything to their employer. They make professional commitments because their duty/role within the company dictates it. You make promises to people you care about because you want to come through for them on a personal level. Maybe there's a few people who take their career seriously enough that they make honest promises to their employer, however I just don't see the majority of employees doing so when (especially in the U.S.) the corporate structure is designed to specifically not care about you or the needs of you and your family. Why would people make promises to organizations who act like it's a hassle to provide PTO and sick leave? Fuck them, they should be fortunate enough that they manage to get whatever productivity they receive.

Sufferedphoenix posted...

What if you have no experience.this is a first job kinda job after all. Not saying it has to be your first job but it is to many.

I remember getting irritated interviewing with the prison. They asked questions youd only know if you worked the job. Fortunately I'm 3rd gen and had a clue.

See, those are questions clearly meant to be people out. If for the first sentence, an answer of "honestly this is my first job, so I don't want to make up an example and lie to your face, however I will do my best to learn from your training to give the best customer experience that I can" isn't sufficient enough then they're a shitty employer and the prospective employee is fortunate for dodging that bullet, even if they're initially dismayed at being rejected.

As for the latter, that's pretty fucked up and sounds like they're trying to only hire people who have already experience, which gives off "this is an entry level position with 5 years of experience required" energy. A friend of mine is in medical billing & coding and he was telling me that he saw a company's application where they said "you must have 5 years experience with x program" and the particular program had literally only existed for 2 years. Sometimes employers put some really stupid and unrealistic shit as qualifications for their position.

Kradek posted...

As I just explaiend to another, nobody realistically promises anything to their employer. They make professional commitments because their duty/role within the company dictates it. You make promises to people you care about because you want to come through for them on a personal level. Maybe there's a few people who take their career seriously enough that they make honest promises to their employer, however I just don't see the majority of employees doing so when (especially in the U.S.) the corporate structure is designed to specifically not care about you or the needs of you and your family. Why would people make promises to organizations who act like it's a hassle to provide PTO and sick leave? Fuck them, they should be fortunate enough that they manage to get whatever productivity they receive.

Y'all are focusing too much on the word promise and missing the point of the question. It gives the interviewer more of an idea of how you handle failure. You can just add easily talk about a time in a previous job where you made a commitment and failed to keep it. It doesn't have to be a literal promise.

But if you're someone that doesn't have any previous work experience, then phrasing it that way also gives that person a chance to use a personal example, rather than a work example.

I'm not sure why that question bothers you so much.

NoxObscuras posted...

Y'all are focusing too much on the word promise and missing the point of the question. It gives the interviewer more of an idea of how you handle failure. You can just add easily talk about a time in a previous job where you made a commitment and failed to keep it. It doesn't have to be a literal promise.

But if you're someone that doesn't have any previous work experience, then phrasing it that way also gives that person a chance to use a personal example, rather than a work example.

I'm not sure why that question bothers you so much.

It bothers me so much because it's just another indication of how much employers think they're entitled to owning their employees to the point they can expect promises from them which is something a person should fundamentally care about far more than a work obligation.

You promise to be at your niece/nephew's birthday party and you promise to help a friend move into their new house. You're obligated to submit a project or assignment by a certain deadline. Yes, there are people who will throw in the word promise as a way of satisfying or reassuring their employer they'll get it done, however I think it's wrong for them to expect/want that.

As outlined in my earlier posts, promises come from a personal level which can speak of your morals or how willing you are to let down those you personally care about. Employers aren't entitled to and should not view themselves in the same vein as someone you actually care about, because they certainly do no care about you as your family and friends do, hence why we have professional commitments to our employer outlined in our job duties and employee review.

NoxObscuras posted...

Y'all are focusing too much on the word promise and missing the point of the question. It gives the interviewer more of an idea of how you handle failure. You can just add easily talk about a time in a previous job where you made a commitment and failed to keep it. It doesn't have to be a literal promise.

But if you're someone that doesn't have any previous work experience, then phrasing it that way also gives that person a chance to use a personal example, rather than a work example.

I'm not sure why that question bothers you so much.

Probably because, even by your own admission, the question is not straightforward enough for the 'answer' to be anything that should be comfortably answered. In another view, it's really a question to weed out interviewees.

I'll admit, there's been times where I wanted to answer the typical "why do you want to work here?" or "why should we hire you?" with a blatant "BECAUSE I NEED TO WORK TO MAKE MONEY, NOW TELL ME MY START DATE SO WE CAN GET ON WITH LIFE"

Robot2600 posted...

"Let's say there's a fire in the kitchen, and you have to choose between saving the life of your manager or the life of a customer, how would you react?--go!"

o_O

Save the CEO and the sharsholders and let the manager BURN

Manager: uhh uhh says I have to hire you...

WingsOfGood posted...

Save the CEO and the sharsholders and let the manager BURN

Manager: uhh uhh says I have to hire you...

Also, saving the customer would likely be the "right answer" as they'd receive far more negative publicity and loss of business from the death of a customer than a manager.

Robot2600 posted...

"Let's say there's a fire in the kitchen, and you have to choose between saving the life of your manager or the life of a customer, how would you react?--go!"

o_O

"I would obviously do everything within my power to save both the manager and the customer, even if it meant sacrificing my own life."

As they get teary eyed and start to clap.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

"What was a time you provided excellent customer service?"

Seems like an odd one for entry-level people who have never had a job before.

"My brother wanted fanum tax but I gave him two candy bars instead of one, skibidee."

Kradek posted...

Yeah, but you were still saying it in response to me saying how I'd fuck with the interviewer.

Nobody "promises" anything to their employer. They make professional commitments, they have obligations per their role, and they have deadlines. You make promises to people you care about and want to come through for on a personal level. So asking someone about a time they broke a promise is akin to "tell us about a time when you let down your family or friends".

As for that last sentence, it's asinine to think that even if I was employed by a particular company to give the interview questions that I'd be able to affect the entire interviewing process across all industries.

Real "If you're so against crime why don't you just become a cop and stop all crime" energy there.

As I just explaiend to another, nobody realistically promises anything to their employer. They make professional commitments because their duty/role within the company dictates it. You make promises to people you care about because you want to come through for them on a personal level. Maybe there's a few people who take their career seriously enough that they make honest promises to their employer, however I just don't see the majority of employees doing so when (especially in the U.S.) the corporate structure is designed to specifically not care about you or the needs of you and your family. Why would people make promises to organizations who act like it's a hassle to provide PTO and sick leave? Fuck them, they should be fortunate enough that they manage to get whatever productivity they receive.

See, those are questions clearly meant to be people out. If for the first sentence, an answer of "honestly this is my first job, so I don't want to make up an example and lie to your face, however I will do my best to learn from your training to give the best customer experience that I can" isn't sufficient enough then they're a shitty employer and the prospective employee is fortunate for dodging that bullet, even if they're initially dismayed at being rejected.

As for the latter, that's pretty fucked up and sounds like they're trying to only hire people who have already experience, which gives off "this is an entry level position with 5 years of experience required" energy. A friend of mine is in medical billing & coding and he was telling me that he saw a company's application where they said "you must have 5 years experience with x program" and the particular program had literally only existed for 2 years. Sometimes employers put some really stupid and unrealistic shit as qualifications for their position.

Walmart has done this to me and they are clearly the type of place to be somebody's first job

I answered a few questions I've never been in such a situation if I haven't been trained to deal with it and find myself in that postion I will consult a manager.

Hell happened to me when I interviewed for the liquor store too. They asked me what would I do if a woman comes in with a 2 year old saying it's too hot to leave them in the car. I said I do not know what the policies are on that but whatever the policy is I will enforce to the letter.

Didn't get either job. Got the one with the prison though.

Because the people applying have no IQ. This is a way to filter people who cant even answer a straight question

I work at Walmart. The answers dont matter. They're just looking to see if you have a pulse.