It seems that a lot has changed in three years.

I started at New Look at the end of June, and so far it's been incredible. The pay for all of the people starting when I was was £6.29/hour, which is really not bad at all, and if you ask for more hours, you'll probably get them. The interview may be the thing that throws prospective employees- besides from the generic one to one interview (what skills will you bring to the store, what experience do you have etc), there was a task whereby everyone was given a sheet of paper with a celebrity and specification on, and we had about 10 minutes to pull together an outfit downstairs. Although that may seem more like a test of how up to date you are with celebrities and fashion, it's much more about style and initiative. My specification was Fearne Cotton going to a festival, and in the photo she was wearing a hat. So I chose a straw hat and took it from there, using the beigey colour to choose a floral top with beige, orange, and blue in it, chose some wooden bangles, denim shorts and basic brogues. It seems simple but you do have to be creative- one girl had Leona Lewis going to an awards night and came back with a very basic and uninspired outfit consisting of a shimmery dress, a sparkly necklace and some silvery shoes. She didn't get the job. You do have to talk you outfit through to the group (obviously focusing on the manager), and although I'm fairly shy it wasn't too nerve wracking, from the interview to the chosen employees everyone's been very friendly- even though you might expect some character clashes from a female dominated environment, it ends up very professionally.

Newbies tend to get late hours- I currently work 4-8pm on Saturdays and 1-5 on Sundays. You can tell them when you want to work and they'll try their best to accommodate that. You can go for longer hours too, but with the change in policy (inspired by new government rules) meaning that breaks are no longer paid (although this may be different for under 17s), 4 hours without a break is probably better value (depending on travel) than 8 hours with one unpaid.

But one of the best parts of the job has to be the discount, applicable to you and a nominated person of the opposite sex (although there aren't many male sections around and I don't think the discount works online). It's 50% off the original price on everything except concessions (AX Paris, Pussycat etc), which makes buying current season uniform easy. Being strapped for cash isn't really an issue either. You can easily get away with past season jeans and a current season t shirt (often about £5 with the discount- less then an hour of wage). So if you only work one day a week then you could technically go the whole month on £5 of uniform.

As with any shop floor job, a decent conversation with a customer that leaves you both smiling really keeps you motivated. Simply making a positive comment on the colour of their items can open up something much less dull than "would you like your receipt in the bag?"- and this is where the discount can come in; only last weekend did I settle a woman's mind on a party dress because I'd bought the same one and genuinely adored it; and one top that I've only worn twice has already had three compliments and two women asking me to get them one in their size- it's such a confidence boost and it's all of these points put together that make me realise that New Look feels like another home.