I submitted my application online and was rung the following day by the store manager, inviting me in for an interview.
The interview itself was extremely easy, and the manager essentially was asking me things that were already stated on my CV, aside from the odd 'what would you do in this scenario' question. However, there was a notable look of surprise that, when asked about my previous experience, I answered that I had none.
After this very brief and somewhat informal interview I was told I needed to do a shop floor trial - which basically consisted of me being placed on the shop floor attempting to engage with customers with very little direction or guidance, and without any real knowledge of the store layout or products. This was compounded by the fact I was not wearing any uniform and so just looked like a customer.
My shop floor trial was, however, cut short after 5 minutes, which I thought seemed very odd. I was then told by the manager she would be in touch by the end of the following week.
Three weeks down the line, I had still heard nothing and so decided to ring up, being told by the manager she had been on holiday and was going to ring me that very afternoon (what a coincidence). I was rung back about an hour later by a different employee who informed me I had been unsuccessful and they had already filled the position(s), this being due to my lack of experience.
Now I can understand if they did not want to hire me due to my experience, and it's fair enough because I didn't have any, but this was clearly stated on my CV when I first submitted my application, and so I think it was completely unacceptable if that was their reservation for them to have called me in for an interview, and then gone on to keep me twiddling my thumbs for a further three weeks, wondering if they were going to call me back or not.
As much as everyone within that store seemed like nice people, I feel very badly treated and let down by a company which preaches such good ethics and values.
A word to the wise: don't bother applying to The Body Shop if you have no previous retail experience and save yourself some valuable time and effort.