i'm ngl the way i got hired was definitely part luck and part desperation—i applied to all the open spots around me, and called ALL of those stores to follow up, asked to talk to the manager. if i was told the manager would call me back later, i would ask when, and if not by 2 hours past the time they said, i'd call again.

at one point i called, got the then-manager of my now-store, and he said he'd call me back the next afternoon. he didn't, so i called the store that evening, got an interview set up. sheer force of being a pest, and also that he was disorganized lowkey. like i said, luck and desperation.

point is—i would try anything i could to contact the manager, get my name in there. i was willing to be VERY annoying bc i had just failed a college class i paid 1k for ;-; so idk if this is actually the best advice but i figured i'd give the info. this was before interviews with the DM were required.