The process took about a month. I applied online and after 1 week was phoned by the store manager and asked about my availability. Another week later, I was invited down to the store for a trial. I was simply asked to wear black and arrive at a certain time.
When I arrived, I was greeted by the store manager, she was really friendly and made me feel at ease. I was then lead to the staff room where I put my things in a locker. There was no interview, no introduction from myself, and no getting to know me as an individual - this surprised me.
On the shop floor, she briefly went through where everything was and gave me a product that I had to go outside and 'lease line' - aka I had to pound on people walking past the store asking them to try their new cream. This was embarrassing and it felt like a punishment (plus it was freezing).
I was then asked to go inside and help customers, which I felt confident doing as all of my past employment involved customer service.
The other sales staff were really friendly and helpful.
I was probably there for 25 mins.
Personally, I felt that without an interview, and after being told that they had loads of people coming in for trials, I felt like I didn't get much of a chance to 'show off' my skills. Putting me outside the store, after just meeting me, just made me nervous - and I'm a pretty confident person.
I received a call two weeks later saying that I had been unsuccessful, which I was glad of, as the other sales staff told me that they had to meet targets - I don't really want to work in an environment where the staff's hidden motivation is to make the customer buy more and more and more.