I had heard good things about Nordstrom for a long time. I was thinking about making a career change into fashion, so I decided to apply online via Nordstrom.com/careers. A few days later, I rec'd a phone call from HR. They set up a time with me for a phone interview a few days later. The day after (before my schedule phone interview), I rec'd a phone call from a different person in HR and she asked me many questions about my resume, prior work information, background information about me, what the job at Nordstrom entailed and other situational Q&A. The phone call lasted about 40 minutes.
A few days later, I rec'd a phone call from the department manager asking me to come in for a one-on-one interview. At that time I did not know which department I was interviewing for, only that I was to be a seasonal sales person in a full line store. Before I went in for the interview I rec'd e-mailed information regarding the interview. it was nice to have that information prior to the meeting.
The day I met with the manager, I was told to ask for her by name at the customer service counter. She led me to the interview room where she asked me much of the same questions as the phone interview. The only question that stumped me was, "Describe a situation where something went wrong. What did you do to fix it? What was the outcome?" Be prepared for all questions, because the seconds feel like hours when your department manager is sitting there waiting for you to answer!
After Q&A, the dept. manager explained commission, which was very confusing and oddly explained. If you are familiar with commission perhaps you won't have any problems, but I had never worked on commission before, so it was hard to understand. The manager then asked if I had any questions. She seemed impressed when I asked her about her about her own experience climbing the corporate ladder and regarding her top sales employees.
For the second part of the interview, the dept. manager took me to the sales floor into a specific department. She showed me the lay out of merchandise and asked me questions such as, "What do you notice about how merchandise is placed?" "What stands out to you throughout the entire sales floor?" She then asked me to pick out 1 item from the entire floor - explain why I liked it - sell it to her as if she were the customer. I could tell that the other sales people were studying me as I did all these things!
About 4 days passed when I decided to reach out to the dept. manager. I left her a voicemail explaining that I had a good experience interviewing with her and thanked her for sharing her stories and knowledge about the position/company. She called me back a day later and offered me a seasonal position.
A day later I rec'd new hire/seasonal hire information via e-mail with directions, parking information, professional attire, training information, and orientation information. They have you fill out all the forms beforehand so there is not much to do during orientation besides sign printed paperwork.
Orientation lasts 2 days and it is long, quiet, cold and boring. Survey the area you will be working at before so you know where to go for lunch. They did not provide water, so be sure to bring some and make sure to get enough sleep, because your patience will be tested when they give you 9 hours of classroom type information!