Beauty Consultant

My modus operandi when handling irate or dissatisfied clients is simple – be polite. Politeness is usually the solution to everything. I listen to their grievances and try to provide them with extra services to make sure that they do not go home angry. I also try to get into the nitty gritty of what happened that made the client angry.

Assessing clients’ skin and hair types and offering skin and hair care advice has been my basic duty in this role. In addition to this, I have been selling retail makeup and hair care products to clients, by providing them with information on the company’s products and product lines.

A little job rotation never hurt anyone. I would actually be quite pleased if I were given the responsibility of providing therapeutic services to clients for a day. It will give me a chance to brush up on my skills in beauty therapy and still keep me in touch with my work as a manager.

Make sure you share a story that demonstrates your presentation skills in front of many people. If you are really brave, offer to give a snippet of that presentation to the interviewer. This will definitely be different from what most people do.

Coordination and customer service-orientation are primary. Apart from these, it is imperative to know scheduling systems inside-out, possess the ability to handle large client influx and manage cross-selling activities. What is also important is great communication skills and an organized mind.

This question is one of the most frequently asked questions. Where do you start? What do they really want to know? Are you to begin from elementary school or college? You have to be very careful on how you answer this question because your answer here sets the tone for the rest of the interview. This question is mostly asked as an icebreaker but if you did not prepare for it, it becomes a real problem.

I am a people person and the fact that I get to meet different types of people every day is motivation enough for me to work at this position. Also, the work in itself is quite interesting as there is always something new happening and I get to learn the ropes on a daily basis. This makes it an excellent career for someone like me.

Once I am sure that I know all there is to know about beauty products and their use, I intend to take up a course as a beautician. Then I have my heart set on opening my own spa.

It was kind of serious just because of my managers and stuff. But it’s really upbeat, it’s pretty flexible. They’re really understanding. But you have to be really personable with the customers so they let you interact with them a little bit more than other jobs. It’s a very light environment.

If you have a professional network, discuss it detail (# of contacts, people you know, their positions and what you've learned from them or how you've worked with them). If you don't have one, discuss how you would develop one (career fairs, networking events for that industry, through your existing friends, etc)

Think about a time where you've rallied a group of people around a cause / idea / initiative and successfully implemented it. It could be a small or large project but the key is you want to demonstrate how you were able to lead others to work for a common cause.

Knowledge of the beauty ranges that are sold by Lancome, strong aptitude in selling techniques, ability to provide honest feedback to clients and capability of taking initiative when presenting and selling Lancome merchandise are important prerequisites for this position.

Turn this question into a strength question in disguise. For instance, say something like “I do not like not being challenged at work” or you could mention a weakness that has nothing to do with the job and that you can overcome with training. This way, you end up turning this potentially tricky question into a positive.

Sometimes, you may be asked about certain challenges you faced in your previous position. If you are asked this question, lean towards the problem that happened early in your carrier and that you were able to solve. Do not try to blame others, just identify the problem and the role you played in solving it.

I was a cashier. I stocked up the makeup and I rang people up to be exposed to the types of makeup and different things that I would know it better for when I … because I was in … I also was training to be a makeup artist, so they wanted to expose me to the material used and the atmosphere in general before becoming one.

Upselling is the norm for beauty consultants who work in a retail setting. I think of it as an important step in generating both revenue and customer interest in different products.

If we talk about products, I would advise a special serum that I know works really well on oily skin. If it is just advice, I would tell them of my own secret concoction that can be used for oily skin.

We all have fears. It's okay to discuss them. Just don't dive too deeply into them. Discuss how you would work to overcome your fears. You don't want to seem weak. You want to acknowledge it's out there but that you'll be able to work through it.

This could be a very simple question if you are prepared for it. You just have to talk about the strengths that you know would be of value to the company.

• Make the most of this question. This question gives you the control to guide the interview to where you want it so take advantage.

• Emphasize the strengths you have that are crucial to the position

• Find out from the job description and from company research, the kind of strengths the company invests in.

Well, people in that type of industry … They’re focus is on your face because that’s where the makeup is. That’s where the art is. I would, what I would do is wear all black and it looked very sleek because that’s what they wear to the store. Make yourself look like one of them and wear all black and then do your makeup very cool, because that is your canvas and you’re showing them what you have to offer.