Dunno if this counts or not.
When working in a comic book store we had an advert up for staff wanted. All the usual freak geeks of nature came in, practically jizzing their pants at the prospect of working in an Aladdin's cave of geekery, not to mention working with some GIRLS. They handed over the CVs which we promptly read, laughed at and binned because we already knew who we were planning on hiring, and it wasn't going to be a geek with a personal hygiene problem. Most people who worked in the shop were kind of a bit geeky about stuff but not as much as the clientele. They'd ask you questions about Seaquest DSV and I'd just look at them and say 'I just work here, I don't watch that rubbish'. The evil glares and jealousy vibes I got from them were pricesless. The openly staring at my knockers was not. Socially awkward Aspergers freaks.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 10:50, 16 replies)

And then
you moved on to a career in Social Care?
(Rsoles, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 11:07, closed)

Do you know
seriously and honestly, I'm considering it.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 11:07, closed)

I once worked in a football club.
The number of people who came up to me and tried to talk about football...! Seriously, wtf? I just told them football was for idiots. The worst bit was when we put an ad up asking for staff, and hordes of football-liking thickos applied for the job. Um, hello? We know who we're hiring?

Anyway, clearly they were the arseholes in that situation.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 11:34, closed)

Yep.
I agree.

There actually was a bit of sense behind the hiring scheme: the manager wanted people who would actually work and not spend all day looking at the merchandise or reading comics or talking to customers about their interests. So by hiring people who weren't at all that fussed by sci fi or comics, the work got done.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 11:39, closed)

But it clearly helps if your staff actually have some knowledge of the products they are trying to sell

(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 12:52, closed)

Nine times out of ten
the customers knew what they were looking for. And there were staff who knew a bit about stuff. I admit that had I not worked there, I wouldn't have begun to read comics. The staff weren't obsessives, like the majority of customers.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:02, closed)

Knowledge, fine.
But not to the exclusion of the more important qualities you need in shop staff - social skills, organisational skills, etc. Far better to hire someone enthusiastic and competent who can learn as they go than someone whose only qualification is geeky obsession.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:05, closed)

EXACTLY this

( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:09, closed)

I once went to an interview for Games Workshop staff.
It was a bit of an eye opener to learn that simply knowing all the rules didn't make me a good potential employee.

On the bright side, I was still light years ahead of some of the other applicants in terms of employability. Dear sweet tittyfucking Jesus...
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:19, closed)

God.
Games Workshop. Whenever I've ventured into one of those shops with Double F, it's like in a western when the piano playing stops and everyone looks around because there's a GIRL in the shop. I don't know where they find their staff.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:22, closed)

A lot of them are actually careerists attracted by the extremely good terms of the job
who just picked up the hobby as a necessary part of it.

The ones they recruit from their existing fanbase have to be something extremely unusual in that sweating mound of terrified virgins. And no, I don't exaggerate, especially since it used to include me. Every bad thing you can possibly say about the GW crowd is true. I was actually secretly relieved when I didn't get the callback, because it had been a few years since I'd been in one of those stores, and what I saw terrified me.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 13:29, closed)

Extremely good terms of the job?
I assume you're using sarcasm. Even GW managers get paid approximately fuck-all and they have to work most weekends. Mates of mine have worked there and had all the joy of GW gaming ground out of them before leaving for jobs which pay actual money you can live on.
(The man with the flan swashed his buckle on, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 20:15, closed)

I went to the one on Oxford Street the other day, and my girlfriend said she fancied coming along
I said she'd probably better not, as she'd only confuse them...but then I found myself being served by a girl! A real girl who was friendly and chatty! Bizarre.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 15:02, closed)

So you work somewhere and slag off the customers and the merchandise?
Honestly, the geeks would do a better job than you. At least they'd have enthusiasm for their career and knowledge about their stock.
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 12:53, closed)

It wasn't a career.
It was a job whilst I was a student.
( Blue Star was working part time at the 5 and Dime, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 12:56, closed)

Holy Shit! You have breasts?!
Someone was going to do it
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Fri 9 Jul 2010, 16:27, closed)