You might want to check back on the status of of your references. They have to have two references before they can hire anyone and sometimes that takes longer then they plan. If they can't get ahold of someone you listed try suggesting someone else.

Thanks so much. I actually ended up getting the call back (and the job) this afternoon, so my worrying was all for naught. I appreciate the helpful advice, though, as it kept me from losing my head over the whole thing.
One other brief question, so brief it doesn't even warrant it's own seperate post:
I heard there was no real dress-code at Borders. Should I dress super nice, or are jeans and a collared shirt okay for the first day on the job?
Thanks.

Conntiki,

I hope you'll accept a little advice from an old guy who spent a lot of years hiring and firing people. First, a caveat: I was forced into early retirement from a previous employer and I work at Borders to stay busy. I'm not a supervisor or manager and I don't want either position. I've turned down promotions to both levels. I'm willing to be at the bottom, although I fervently believe they need to throw some more money down to this level. I can walk out the door anytime and it won't really hurt me.

Having said that, I belong to this site because I think most retailers--Borders included--fail to pay their employees a living wage, or anything even close to a living wage. I may have been a manager for many years in a non-retailing industry, but I believe in unions, always supported unions in my industry, and always will support them.

As stated in other posts, there is no real dress code at Borders. In the store where I work, the manager asks for clean, neat clothing without any political statements. I think the employee manual also says no religious statements on clothing; that's never been an issue in this store. Managers are not supposed to wear jeans on the sales floor, but it's okay for supervisors. We have supervisors who dress worse than the underpaid sellers and I've seen customers refuse to believe a supervisor is the service manager that hour because of the sloppy, unprofessional way he or she is dressed. We have supervisors who show up in jeans with multiple tears/rips, in T-shirts and in sweats. We've had people show up in shirts that have logos for other places where they have part-time jobs (the current GM put a stop to that).

If you want to make an impression and if, if, if, you want to move up at Borders, look at the other sellers and supervisors and dress a bit better if you can afford to. Even if you wear jeans, wear clean, neat jeans. I've seen two sellers get promoted to supervisors and one seller promoted to manager recently. All three occasionally wore clean, neat jeans, sometimes khakis, and almost always collared shirts or blouses that were a step or two up from T-shirts. One seller had several years of retailing experience and was well qualified for the promotion. The other two met the minimum qualifications for the promotions. Whether you or anyone here thinks it is right, appearance can be the difference between getting a job and not getting one.

I'll probably take some grief for this post, but I've been in the workplace since 1969 and I know for a fact that I have gotten promotions where I was only equally as qualified as someone else because I put a little extra effort into dressing and grooming just a bit better than average. It doesn't have to cost a lot, either. A couple of pairs of khakis and four or five nice shirts or blouses won't break the bank.

If you look professional, you will generally act professional. One problem, though: if you dress better than your fellow employees, the customers will think you are a manager. I'm approached a couple of times a day by customers who are upset about something. Most don't believe I'm not the manager. When I called a service manager one time, the customer took one look at the SM in his torn jeans and T-shirt advertising some obscure music group and insisted on talking to me. Since I have no authority, I finally convinced the customer the SM could really help him--which he did.

Good luck.

Sorry guys, but with Borders switching to Seattle's Best, a new dress code goes into force. I just started at a new store that is a S.B. store and the dress code is like this. White or black collered shirt (polo or buttoned down), khaki or black pants, brown or black shoes with no open toes. No visible tatttoos, no facial piercings, minimum jewlery. One wrist band per arm (watchband or leather wristband, stuff like that). No hats, long hair in ponytails, neatly dressed with no holes, rips, etc. And the cafe is pretty much the same, except a apron must be worn at all times. No more t-shirts, jeans, or the like (which stinks). Like I said, sorry guys and girls. And ALL stores will be switching to S.B. by the end of next year, I think. The days of casual dress are over.

Our cafe has been using Seattle's Best for some time now, and there's been no change in the dress code, maybe because we have such heavy turnover there. I imagine it may be up to the GM's discretion whether or not to enforce it.

And why does Seattle's Best get to stipulate a specific dress code for cafe sellers anyway?