Candidate Tips: Professional Applications that Stand Out

 

If you’ve worked in the beauty and fragrance industry before, you know that in store consultant work is incredibly rewarding. Acting as the face of high end and well loved brands, you can provide a personalised and positive experience to customers, creating that initial and lasting connection to a brand.

 

Why Fortem & Mode?

First off, let us introduce ourselves! Fortem & Mode is a temporary staffing agency, specialising in the recruitment of beauty and fragrance retail sales consultants. Once you’ve joined our books, you are able to apply for temporary work in your area, which you can base around on your own schedule.

All of our roles require confident and engaging consultants, with excellent customer service and sales skills. We get a lot of applicants, so we need to be sure we are booking some of the best. In return, we provide a friendly and engaging service with an easy to use staff portal and wide variety of work.

Our recruitment process is built on creating strong and open communication from the offset. After you’ve joined, you can expect to hear from us a lot! Our headquarters are in Cardiff, but we have well established connections with brands across the UK, especially in the North West, Midlands and South Wales.

We welcome all potential consultants to apply. Once successful, we make sure to nurture our relationship with you. We offer further training opportunities and maintain a friendly and open communication, ensuring an excellent working relationship so we can provide work opportunities that suit you.

 

How do I join your books?

Fortem and Mode uses an online staffing portal, where you can input your personal details to create a profile. Once complete, your profile is reviewed by one of our brilliant account executives. We manage our staff bookings based on location, so the executive who reaches out to you, will be your main contact during your time with us. As they manage all of the work in your location, you can be assured that they have the knowledge necessary to place you in right roles.

Our online portal is easy to use, but it’s vital that it is completed as fully and comprehensively as possible. We only accept around 30% of applicants to our books, so here are some tips to make sure you are giving yourself the best chance of making a great first impression.

 

To avoid any delays with your application, make sure you have uploaded all your contact details, right to work and reference details correctly. We will be unable to progress your application without these, so it’s best to get them in right at the start!

Profile photos

 

We ask for three profile photos:

  • One clear head shot
  • One full length
  • One natural head shot

 

Working in customer facing roles, you need to be well presented.  These images are our first impression of you and tell us how you will present yourself in store. Make sure you’re setting off on the right foot – best to keep the filters to Instagram!

The ideal head shot will be clear, forward facing and most of all smiley! You should be well groomed, with natural make-up and tidy hair. Similarly, your full-length shot should be clear, and you should be well presented. Uniform as a standard is smart all black, so a photo that shows this is ideal. If you don’t have one, a well presented and smart outfit is great. For the natural photo, keep it clear and ensure you are well presented.

These photos do not need to be to a professional standard. However, we do send a head shot through to the client and store once we have booked you for work. This will be their first time ‘meeting’ you so it’s really important to show them that you are well suited for the job.

 

About you

Introduce yourself! Let us know a bit about you. Give us a brief outline of your experience, why you’ve applied to join our books, and why you think you’d be a great fit. We look for people who have a strong work ethic and great attitude. This section is a great opportunity to give us a first impression of how passionate you are about the work.

Experience

This is your chance to really sell yourself. Make note of any previous experience, including the roles you’ve worked in, and brands you’ve worked for. This gives us a great idea of your level of experience and any specialist areas you may have.

If you’re new to this industry, use this section to demonstrate that you have an understanding of the skills and knowledge required for the work. Be sure to highlight any retail, sales or independent make-up artist experience that you have. To really sell yourself, explain how these have given you skills that will benefit you in our in-store roles.

 

Training & Qualifications

We know that the beauty industry is vast, and there are plenty of ways to gain experience. Maybe you have a lot of experience in a salon environment? Have you taken on industry qualifications to expand your skill set? There are a lot of skills that are transferable, so upload copies of your qualifications and expand on how they may help you going forward. We work with fragrance, beauty, skincare, and nails so highlighting any qualifications in these areas is beneficial and could give you an edge in your application.

 

Next steps

Once you’ve submitted your completed profile, it will be carefully reviewed by our team. Incomplete or poorly created profiles may be declined at this stage, and you may not be invited to interview! So make sure you double check your application. You’re welcome to get in touch with any queries.

In summary:

A picture is worth a thousand words! Think of how you would present yourself in store, and ensure this is reflected in your photos

Hook us in with a strong bio. Tell us a bit about yourself and give us a reason to start a conversation with you

Sell yourself using your experience. Previous experience with a brand can go a long way, so this is your opportunity to name drop!

All training is valuable! Specialised beauty training can really give you the edge, and it lets us know you’re invested in your work

Follow these tips and you should have no problem progressing to the video interview stage. We look forward to meeting you!

To apply to join our books, start your application today.