I was recommended by the Clinique Counter Manager, who is also a friend, to apply for the position. We had great sales chemistry (this Clinique counter was inside an Ulta) so she wanted an associate she knew could complete the job. I had the first interview with the Counter Manager's manager. It was easy as pie. She also helped prep me a little for the Esteé Lauder Talent Plus phone interview. A couple days later, I had the phone interview and the woman on the phone had a great energy to her up until she had to jump into the interview. For the interview process, she had to keep her voice neutral and could not go into detail as to what the questions meant so as to give as objective an interview as possible. Some of the questions were strange. It's a nerve wracking interview because the Esteé Lauder company seems to really only want to see your personality, as opposed to how hard you work. I felt I did pretty good in the interview, but I unfortunately did not pass. The man who reviewed my interview felt that I did not show interest in growing with the company because I answered, "I see myself growing with Clinique and eventually being on the corporate team doing graphic design work." The question I had been asked was, "where do you see yourself in 5 years?"