I applied at Apple and had my first interview. What's next.

What should I do at my interview if presented with this dilemma?

• I currently work at Panera Bread and make $8.33/hr. Just recently I had a cut on my hours because the company told my GM to do so. I've asked for more hours because I need the money for bills but they keep fluctuating. Fed up with the working conditions, I decided to apply elsewhere so I applied to The Gap as a Stock Associate. I got called for a group interview but I have some questions before my interview: 1) Is the Stock Associate position better than the Cashier position at PB? 2) What is the average salary as a Stock Associate, is it worth leaving my current job? 3) If I get the job but am offered a lower salary or the conditions aren't right for me and I wish to turn down the job, whats the best way to do it? What if they hire me on the spot?(My current job hired me on the spot, but I was lucky enough to need the job so I didn't feel the need to turn them down) 4) How does a Group Interview work? Am I going to have to outshine the rest in front of them or will I be interviewed independently? 5) Is there anything else I should worry about or need to be informed of? I want to be as prepared as possible so I don't make a mistake and end up leaving my current job for the new one and find out I was better off staying at the first job. I just don't see any progress after working there for a year. They even offered me an Associate Training position after being there for only four months which I was thrilled about but have not seen any advancement in this preposition, all I hear is that it will get done. I live in the New Jersey area in Bergen County if that helps anyone give a better answer especially about the salary portion. Thanks so much for your help!

• Answer:

  1) Probably pretty similar. 2) Not sure, but probably minimum wage or close to it. If I were you, I would find out what the position would pay, think about other benefits/drawbacks (might get more hours, etc.), then decide whether it's worth leaving Panera. 3) You can just say that you appreciate their consideration, but after giving it further consideration, you don't think this job would be a good fit for you. Or something to that effect. You probably would not be offered a job on the spot after a group interview anyway. The company I work for does an informal phone interview, then a group interview, then a personal interview. So your group interview is just one step in the process of landing a job. In other words, you'll probably have some time to consider whether you really want to work there. 4) Yeah, you are sorta competing against the other interviewees. In a group interview, the interviewer(s) will pose questions to the entire group and you'll take turns answering. Not to say that only one of you will get hired; typically, they have X number of spots to fill, and they use the group interviews to find promising candidates for personal interviews. So if you don't get called back after a group interview, you probably wouldn't have been hired even if you went straight to a personal interview. But since there's several of you interviewing at once, you are sorta competing. 5) Just think about prospective interview questions (why do you want to work here, what prior experience do you have, etc.) and be prepared with answers. Try not to get too nervous, because you'll make a better impression if you're calm and collected. Good luck!