I was looking for a part time job during high school. My mother was a somewhat frequent patron at this small Sally Beauty Supply location, so there was a personal element to the hiring process. My mother asked if they were hiring, was given a paper application for me to fill out and when I returned it, I was essentially scheduled for an interview immediately. The interview was just about as typical as one could expect from a chain retail store, including the most basic of interview questions. In comparison to many people who apply for that position, I'm sure I presented as a gem in the interview. While I don't remember exact details about the interview, I can confidently say that anyone who conveys genuine concern for customer satisfaction and speaks eloquently should have no problem, whatsoever, getting hired. I had no prior experience in retail sales and even less knowledge about the products they carried, but was hired simply because I made a positive impression. I do remember one loop I was thrown for. At the end of the interview, I was asked if I smoked. This caught me completely off guard and I had no idea whether it was part of the interview or not. I said, "No, I quit," and my boss's response was that she wanted to know because they take frequent smoke breaks. Anyone who has ever seen the episode of Friends in which Rachel, a non-smoker, works with smokers who bond over their smoke breaks will understand how I felt at that point. The paid on-the-job training is grueling- and I don't mean it was physically or even intellectually challenging. However, it was immensely draining. It consisted of sitting in a back room with a small TV, a binder filled with pages upon pages of reading material and tests, watching hours of employee training video, produced by corporate and answering test and quiz questions about the hundreds upon hundreds of tedious information about products, displays, interacting with customers and other store procedures. I quit the job 85% of the way through the training process because, as far as I was concerned, it was just short of torture and I realized that retail sales was not the right job for me.