The US-owned Blockbuster chain of DVD and video game rental stores first appeared in the UK in 1989 and has grown to where, at its peak a year ago, it had nearly 60,000 employees. Since then the company has filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the US and has closed many of its worldwide stores, laying off thousands of workers in the process.
While Blockbuster UK is no longer part of this chain, its 650 stores and 5,000 employees are also up for sale and have been for some time. The rumoured £50m price tag for its business in the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Italy along with the global $560m loss has not made it a particularly appealing investment prospect.
See the article in The Scotsman – for more information.
Is there still a possibility of a career with this multi-national entertainment company and what can it offer?
Turning to the company’s website, the jobs link is hidden away at the bottom of the page. Before you get to it, you are forced to endure an irritating flash presentation first. Clicking on the ‘jobs’ link takes you to a jobs ‘landing page’.
This first page is quite easy to navigate but is spoiled by the adverts for buying or renting out DVD’s and games. Surely the webdesigner realised that the page advertising jobs and careers should not attempt to push the company’s product at the same time? This makes it look either badly thought-through or just plain tacky; depending upon your point of view.
The main link proudly declares, “If you’re mad about movies and games then why not check out our current vacancies and find out more about our employees.”, followed by a big ‘Apply Now’ button. This wording suggests that there will be search facilities whereby you can browse specific vacancies and then select one or two for your targeted application.
Clicking on this button opens a new window – https://jobs.blockbuster.co.uk/csr/default.aspx which at least plays down trying to market its products (although this aspect still persists in the background).
That said, there are nice clear buttons which offer five different positions, these being:
- Customer Sales Representatives
- Assistant Managers
- Store Managers
- District Managers
- Support Centre
Clicking on Customer Sales Representatives takes us to a most disappointing page which only offers a choice of reading the ‘role profile’ (a loose alternative to a job description), an application form or a link to the same store locator as customers are offered. The only really prominent thing on the page is an offer to rent a DVD for £1.
There is also an unfriendly and extremely unprofessional statement which tells applicants that if they haven’t had a response in 30 days then they should consider that their application “will not be progressed further on this occasion”. It also warns against speculative applications yet provides no facility for actually searching for vacancies – if there are any, of course.
The application form can be found here. It has three tie-breaker questions, these being:
- What’s your favourite movie?
- In one sentence, how would you recommend the above movie to a customer?
- How many movies do you watch on average per month?
OK, the company rents out DVD’s but couldn’t anyone think of more useful questions to ask? If I said I watched 200 films a month would this make me an ideal candidate or would I just be a complete couch potato incapable of actually doing a day’s work? Answers, please, to Blockbuster UK.
No doubt this was the same criterion by which they engaged the webmaster.
Trying different positions gets Assistant Managers (11 positions) and these lead to an online application process. If you cannot say ‘yes’ to all of the questions, the programme will automatically reject you. If you survive this, you are taken to an online application form.
There are 24 Store Manager’s positions advertised and choosing one takes you to the same bunch of questions as per the Assistant Managers.
There are no District Managers or Support Centre vacancies and you are encouraged to apply speculatively despite the prior discouragement against doing exactly this.
Of course, nowhere is there a mention of salary or holidays or other working conditions.
No doubt Blockbuster’s problems run deeper than sorting out its job vacancies issues but, without fresh and enthusiastic new recruits coming into the business, its predicament is unlikely to be resolved and it will remain an unattractive proposition to buyers.
Anyone considering a long-term career with Blockbuster should go into this with their eyes wide open. Perhaps an early night before applying rather than one spent staying up late watching £1 a DVD movies would be the best option.
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i think that this job would suit me because i know alot about films and there categories.