This is a little late but I had an opportunity and now I have the time to explain it to you.



For people who don't know, CEX stands for Complete Entertainment Xchange. It's a Multimedia shop chain that is mainly British but I've heard there are some CEX's in US states. It's basically like an upscale pawn shop but unlike Gamestop (if you saw the Zero Originality rant done by a former employee) this place actually gives you an OK price for your trade ins and sells them at an affordable price. I rarely get the chance to go to a CEX because the nearest one is in the centre of Coventry and that is no bike ride. But I love going there because of the affordable used games and I can drop off things that are unsellable (except my Alpine Stars album), knowing I won't get so ripped off and I would get actual money from the trade in.

But this Friday morning (which I was both exhausted and in pain from a Pendulum concert the night before, life experience for me), I was about to go on my paper round when my sister told me there was a new video game store and they want gamers, films addicts, music lovers and tech geeks for their staff. Knowing me as both a gamer and a mid level tech geek, she told me that I can go there to apply for a job there. After the paper round I found that it was CEX and because the store was under construction, that people wanting a job can go to the nearest hotel from the place.

I waited there for about 15 minutes along with around 7 guys from their 20s to 40s until the District Manager (who was the least to what I imagined he'd look like) came in and handed out Application forms and pens. After filling about 3 of the 6 pages of the application form, I looked up to find almost 40 guys and around 5 women in their 20s, 30s and 40s all coming in to apply. This was worrying for me because there were some main facts about me at that time:

-I'm 16 years old, the youngest person there.
-I had no preparation, as I was only told this morning.
-Due to no preparation, I had no identification on me, but I did have my National Insurance number in hand
-I have had no previous experience in retail, from looking at everyone, most look like the kind of people who did

So I had guts for being there, everyone was given raffle tickets which were used to put people in order for interviews, which was something my sister didn't get so quickly and she worked at two camping shops. I was the 2nd person to be interviewed!

When my interview came, I was asked if I had any identification, I didn't. From the looks of it, that might have been it. Because two of the 4 other CEX members said that if I had no ID they couldn't continue, but thankfully, the DM said I could.

Then came the questions, you got your usual questions like "How did you find out about the application?", "What should you find in a good/bad employee when working with customers?", "Why do you want to work for CEX?" and "Do you have any previous retail experience?". But later, the guy was asking me questions about popular movies, world cinema/anime (which I would like to thank my Otaku friend for my answers), mobile phones, MP3s, computer hardware. While another person being interviewed was continually being asked video game questions (_). The only video game question I was asked was "Can you name me some of the most recent Xbox 360 and PS3 releases?" which I responded in my mind just one word, CRAP! I don't own either system, but I know two people who I've played on their PS3s, but they don't talk much about upcoming releases (one of them has played COD 4 and Warhawk since they launched). So I had to use my memory of the internet for the most recent releases I remembered, which were inFamous and Prototype.

Then after all that, the interview ended, I sighed in relief and walked out and headed home after calling my parents about the interview. My parents and my sister have been positive about the interview and I hope to get the job, so all I can say now is wish me luck guys!

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