I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Nordstrom (Oakbrook Terrace, IL) in Jun 2015
Interview
I found positions available at Nordstrom from a website called Snag a Job. It redirected me to Nordstrom's page that showed the jobs available. I applied for all of the positions I felt I would do well in. About 4 days later I got two responses back. I was rejected for the personal shopper in training and then I was asked to come in and interview for a retail position. They offered me three different time slots to interview in. I actually arrived late to the interview. I thought the interview was at 2:30 but it was at 2. I got there and I checked in at the service counter, they phoned the woman in HR and she come and got me. They were super chill about being late. The lady from HR said that they had me down for 2 and I apologized when I met her in person I apologized again and she said it was no big deal. I was brought to a room in the employees only area and I was seated with about 20 other people who applied to some department in the company. I interviewed with a woman, I believe, decided if I was worth meeting with the assistant manager. She asked me kind of the standard interview questions then I was brought back to the original room and then the assistant manager came and got me and interviewed me. She asked me the same questions and then questions more specific towards the department I had applied to. I then went to the department and did a mock sale. I received a call 3 business days later from the assistant manager offering me the position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q: Why Nordstrom?
Q: Example of when you worked well in a group
Q: Does working for commission scare you or do you have any concerns?
It was a good interview experience. The managers were straight forward and nice throughout the whole process. The questions were directly related to the role. They were transparent about the role and expectations.
I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Nordstrom (San Antonio, TX) in Sep 2025
Interview
it was a really chill and easy interview, the manager was very warm and friendly and none of the questions were too difficult. there was a sale practice section where you have to pretend to sell an item to a customer, but it wasn't too difficult and the manager gave me some guidance and clarification on the practice scenarios. other questions included things along the lines of how you deal with competition, conflict, unhappy customers, teamwork, as well as availability
mock sale questions: what features of this item would you point out to the customer? what concerns or hesitations might the customer have about this item and how would you help them decide? after the customer decides they want the item, how would you close the sale?
I applied through other source. I interviewed at Nordstrom (Tacoma, WA) in Jul 2025
Interview
Extremely easy. I looked the part and got the job. My manager called me the same day to welcome me to the team. They like for their employees to have their own personal style that’s appropriate and makes others want to buy.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why Nordstrom? How would you handle a difficult customer?
Retail Sales Associate applicants have rated the interview process at Nordstrom with 2.4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 78% positive. To compare, the company-average is 73.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Retail Sales Associate roles take an average of 10 days to get hired, when considering 328 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Nordstrom overall takes an average of 14 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Nordstrom as a Retail Sales Associate according to 328 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 29%
Phone interview: 29%
Skills test: 7%
Personality test: 7%
Presentation: 7%
Background check: 6%
Group panel interview: 6%
Drug test: 5%
IQ intelligence test: 4%
Other: 2%
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