Amira Seyoum
Staff Writer
Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch have been on a search for college students to come work at their stores.
The companies have recruiters out on campuses like the University of La Verne looking for college students ready to work.
The companies are looking for “true college aged” employees because they want their customers to be greeted and helped by people who they can relate to: their peers.
“Our customers want to walk in and see themselves,” said Peter Maney, manager of the Abercrombie & Fitch in the Victoria Gardens mall.
Maney was recruited by Abercrombie & Fitch years ago when he attended the University of Montana, he said.
“We wanted to create a college environment and it’s nothing new because this is how it’s been for the last 10 years,” Maney said.
In October, Maney recruited ULV students in Davenport Dining Hall. There were about 30 students who were hired to work at the new Abercrombie & Fitch at the Victoria Gardens mall, which recently opened its doors to the public.
Hollister has similar tactics.
Vanessa Martinez, a 19-year-old freshman who works at Hollister in Covina, was hired at an open interview last year.
“I’ve been working there for a year and I got hired pretty much on the spot,” Martinez said.
“I love people and it’s really fun,” she added. “I’m one of the reliable people and they know to trust me.”
Martinez was one of the few who was not recruited at school and she doesn’t think that the recruitment process is such a good idea.
“I think its okay, I mean it’s a good job opportunity for people looking for a job,” Martinez said.
“I just think that if I had a company that’s not the way I would go about hiring people,” she added. “I would hire them based on their experience. It would make it more efficient because some of the students with no experience aren’t reliable and not ready to work. A lot of them end up getting terminated.”
The chances of bad recruitments making it difficult for employers and co-workers at Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, hasn’t changed the policy.
Recruitment is still something that is highly pursued because the companies are always looking for someone their customers can relate to.
Students like ULV’s homecoming queen Rachel Leber and former ASF president Travis Berry work at Abercrombie & Fitch. Leber is a manager.
These are faces you see on campus daily. It is what the stores are going for.
They want their customers to feel like they are talking to a friend and sometimes you just might be.
Amira Seyoum can be reached at aseyoum@ulv.edu.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.