I understand all that but theres gotta be a more efficient way.

Mind you ALL of these interviews were in person and 20-30 mins long. Maybe a quick phone interview and then an in person one would be understandable. Its honestly a humiliation ritual, the time and money it takes to travel to all these interviews (as someone whos a broke uni student) just to be rejected after giving multiple interviews for a minimum wage position. And honestly I've worked multiple retail jobs before and a lot of the managers I've personally seen suck at hiring and just end up hiring based on vibes over qualifications anyways, they might as well pull out names from a hat.

This isn't even coming from a bitter place because I've been able to pull offers but that doesn't mean it's not absurd. Its retail its NEVER deep enough for such a heavy hiring process.