I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Nordstrom (Bellevue, WA) in May 2012
Interview
I applied online for a position in Womens Sales and was contacted 2 days later and scheduled a phone interview. My phone interview took place the next day and I was offered a spot to come in for their open interviews at the beginning of the next week. The open interview contained approximately 40 people. We all went into the conference room and were introduced to the managers of each department that was hiring. I interviewed with two departments. My first interview lasted about 5 minutes, my second interview lasted about 20 minutes and ended with the women asking me to "sell" them several pieces of clothing. I have never done retail before, but I love fashion so I used my best discretion. The two managers said I did great, handed me their cards, sent me home from the interviews and said they would be in contact within the week because they wanted to "move forward". I received a call 3 days later and was officially offered the job.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a customer with high expectations
Very fundamental, as every retail interview that you go into. Just be yourself and describe why you would be a good fit. So just be confident in yourself and go for it.
I applied online. I interviewed at Nordstrom (Houston, TX) in Mar 2025
Interview
The interviewer was very unprepared, she didn’t know which position I had applied for, and initially brought the wrong form which would be fine on its own.
For context, I recently broke my arm in a motor vehicle accident and I have to wear a brace and at one point the interviewer stated “We’ll be working in the dress department, these dresses are 20-25 pounds and we have to carry them around a lot. Is this something you’d be able to do?” And then very blatantly glanced to my arm brace as if prompting me to explain my injury. This is a temporary injury that is healing but regardless I am perfectly capable of carrying 25 pounds and heavier with my other arm. The details of my injury are not any business of the interviewer and should not effect whether or not I’m hired for a position and I felt as though she’d already made her decision based on my injury.
After this when doing a sales roleplay she prompted me with one question and then had me play out a roleplay of a sale as BOTH the customer and the sales person when a role play requires the interviewer to play the role of the customer to prompt the person being interviewed.
I felt as though this interview was purposefully botched by the interviewer due to my visible arm injury and I found the experience to be incredibly unprofessional and discriminatory. I have had no issue working sales at my current job. I did not receive an offer because I immediately emailed and asked to be removed from consideration. If this is how an interviewee with a temporary injury is treated I can’t imagine how it must be for a permanently disabled interviewee.
There was a phone screening and one in-person interview; it was simple and straight to the point. The phone screening was basic and lasted ~20 minutes. The in-person interview was about ~30 minutes long and also straight to the point
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Simple questions about previous experience and dealing with difficult customers.