120 people queue for 10 jobs at refurbished Trim supermarket

An open day at a Trim supermarket saw some 120 people turn up for interview in the hope of securing one of the 10 jobs on offer last Wednesday. The manager of the newly revamped SuperValu store in the town, Stephen Nally, said he was "blown away" by the number of people who came along to the open day, which had only been advertised with some posters in the supermarket window three days previously. Open interviews were scheduled to take place from 2pm-5pm, but the sheer volume of applicants saw the interviews continue until 6.30pm on Wednesday and resume the next day. A queue continued through the supermarket and onto the street outside as hopeful applicants waited to be interviewed on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Nally said he was shocked by the number of people who turned up and that word must have spread quickly by text and email. Of the 120 people interviewed, 28 are being brought back for a second interview and Mr Nally said they were "very impressed by the quality" of the applicants and that they could have filled 25 places. However, one customer who contaced the Meath Chronicle said she felt a "more dignified system of interviews" should have been used and that, as a customer, she felt she was an "intrusion on the privacy of people waiting in line". Jane Lynch said: "While commendable that SuperValu is once again providing much-needed employment in Trim, perhaps the management would consider a more dignified system of interviews for prospective employees in the future." She said that approximately 40 people stood in full view of passing motorists outside the SuperValu premises and directly in front of customers at the till within the store, as they awaited a call for interview. "It is a most inappropriate system anywhere, but all the more so in a small town, where the anonymity of applicants was unlikely. Surely SuperValu, Trim, could have incurred the cost of a room in one of our many local hotels here in the town where interviewees could sit with comfort and privacy. To say that standing at the tills was an uncomfortable place to be would be an under-statement, and it was a position that should have never been imposed on any customer by the store." Ms Lynch added: "On the day in question, many other customers, in addition to myself, felt that we were an intrusion on the privacy of those people standing in line. I am not interested in other people's private business." In response to the criticism, Mr Nally said they did not anticipate the number of people who would turn up and that, if they had known, they would have booked a room at a hotel. "We were blown away, 120 people turned up all at the same time. We have new offices upstairs but they weren't finished and we hadn't enough room. If we had known how many people would turn up, we would have done it at a hotel. We genuinely thought there would be 20-25 people who would have fitted in the temporary offices upstairs and the canteen," he said. Mr Nally added he did not feel it was humilating for people to be standing in a queue looking for a job and said it was "part and parcel" of the way the country is at the moment. "We saw 120 people on Wednesday and Thursday and none made a negative comment about the fact they had to queue," he said. A 4,000 sq ft extension to the SuperValu store, which began in January, is now finished and Mr Nally said that renovation works are 95 per cent completed. The store, which covers 16,000 sq ft, will be relaunched in the coming weeks. Due to the expanded store, eight full-time and two part-time positions are being recruited, including cashiers, deli staff, floor staff and car parking attendants. For the past few months, Mr Nally said they had not recruited and said it was quiet during the extension because of the inconvenience to customers. He added that, already, trade had picked up and they hoped it will pick up further once the store was relaunched. Mr Nally added that the extra staff would improve customer service and reduce queuing at tills.