Everything you need to know about landing a job at Mecca
IMAGE VIA @MECCAmax/instagram
WORDS BY BELLA BACKWELL
Dreaming of working at Mecca? This one’s for you.
Mecca has become the literal mecca for beauty lovers across Australia and, naturally, its employment opportunities are incredibly sought after. Mecca placed in the Top Five for Australia’s Best Place to Work for six consecutive years, from 2015 to 2019, and we can see why.
The company’s intensive employee training program and the ample opportunities to move into different roles explain the endless applicants vying for a spot. Plus, a 40 per cent employee discount on all products definitely doesn’t hurt.
Looking for a new 9 to 5? Head to our Careers page for new listings daily.
But knowing Mecca is seen as the dream workplace by pretty much everyone in the beauty industry is a little intimidating. It’s competitive out there, and I’ll take all the help I can get.
I spoke to Jemima Grieve, Mecca’s Head of People and Education, to find out more about what Mecca is looking for and the best part about working for Australia’s leading beauty company.
What roles can people apply for in the Mecca support centre and what is involved in the recruitment process?
We have a range of incredible opportunities for those looking to join the support centre (that’s what we call our head office). This includes roles across marketing, brands and buying, tech and digital, operations, supply chain, people and education, finance and strategy. If someone is interested in applying for a role, the first step would be to apply via the careers page on the Mecca website. Once we’ve assessed applications, a shortlist is sent through to the second stage which typically includes a virtual interview and cognitive assessment.
We then typically run one to two interviews where we explore the candidate’s technical skills (those required to perform the specific role) and their behavioural skills against our ‘Meccanisms’, which is a competency framework that outlines the key skills that our most successful team members demonstrate. This includes alignment to our values, which are embedded throughout the business. We’re committed to making sure that every stage of the process is meaningful and allows the candidate to learn more about the business and get a feel for what makes working here so rewarding!
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Do many support centre team members begin their journey at Mecca in a retail role at one of the store locations?
Yes! We have quite a few team members who have started their careers in the store or the distribution centre (Mecca’s warehouse) and have then continued their careers in the support centre – we have lots of amazing stories about people who have worked across different parts of our business, which we love.
In what ways do you think that working in a Mecca store better equips team members for roles elsewhere in the company?
The experience our retail teams have from [working in] store is invaluable and is advantageous when joining other parts of the business as these team members understand Mecca, our products and have intimate, on-the-ground knowledge of our customers, which is super important to all of us in our roles across the entire business.
What is involved in the recruitment process for retail roles?
Our recruitment processes for retail roles are really centred around understanding the candidate and their potential, rather than simply assessing skills listed on the CV. The first step of applying for a retail role is applying online. If the candidate is successful in progressing to the next stage of the recruitment process, they are usually invited to participate in a session where we assess several skills in one afternoon. This includes their approach to servicing a customer – looking at how they problem-solve and bring joy to every consumer interaction.
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For retail roles, is prior experience required or recommended?
While we do look for prior retail experience, it’s not always essential. We also know that sometimes getting relevant experience is challenging and you just need a helping hand to land your first role. Ultimately, we’re looking for those who are passionate about the customer, who have a hunger to learn, who have done their research on what it is like to work at Mecca and those who are values aligned.
In terms of more entry-level work at Mecca that isn’t retail-focused, are there any requirements applicants need to meet when applying for support centre roles?
In the support centre, we do look for candidates that have experience in the relevant field but additionally, and most importantly, we are also looking for those that are values-aligned, passionate about the customer and willing to roll up their sleeves to help Mecca continue to deliver amazing experiences to our customers. We work at pace in the support centre, and we know that team members who are comfortable with change and ambiguity tend to thrive in this environment!
What time of year do you usually hire new retail or support centre team members and how can people keep up with and apply for current job opportunities at Mecca?
As we’re a business that is constantly growing, we don’t have one set time of year where we look to recruit – instead, we’re always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team. For our retail roles, we do often look to bring on more casual team members before our peak holiday trade period, however, we’re usually on the hunt for great additions to the team throughout the year.
This is also the same for support centre and our distribution centre. If you’re interested in applying for roles at Mecca, your best bet is to jump onto our Mecca Careers page regularly and look at our current vacancies. If you have any questions about any role whether that be support centre, retail or the distribution centre we’ve got a dedicated inbox at careers@mecca.com.au where you can connect with us.
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For both retail and head office roles, what is one thing that makes an applicant stand out to you?
We are often inundated with applications for roles at Mecca so we are always looking for candidates that demonstrate their passion for joining our team – this might be by outlining why Mecca’s purpose and values align to the candidate’s values, how their previous experience will be complementary to the role they’ve applied for or what’s exciting them the most about the role. It’s great to get some insight into the candidate’s personality and what they care about the most – building this connection through the application is very special and always gets us excited to know more!
What’s the best part about working at Mecca?
There are so many incredible parts of working at Mecca (our education program, the opportunities available, working with the brands and products – the list goes on and on!). However, when it comes down to it, our team would say it is the incredible people we work with every day. We have a wonderfully positive and energetic team who consistently do whatever it takes for our customers. We’re so lucky to work with such amazing, passionate people and it does make coming to work such a joy!
This article was originally published on August 17, 2021.
You can view current opportunities at Mecca here.
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