Applied for the regional bookstore about one month ago, and never heard anything, and coming in person didn't really help. Then, after the month, I got a phone call (and in-office interview) from a regional manager who manages 16 stores in the area. Clearly a very busy person, but he was easy to talk to. Asked a few general questions about prior history, education, etc, and through showing general competence and intelligence, was hired on the spot. The interview was simple, just the two of us, and the other workers seemed pretty down-on-their-luck, but friendly. It's not hard to get hired if you are willing to work hard(ish).