Banana Republic Sales Associate Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details one 20 minute interview

Interview Details I applied online for all of the Gap owned companies in my area and got a call back from banana republic first, within about a week of my application. I was asked to come in for an interview. When I got there, I was greeted initially by the general manager, who told me to have a look around the store for a few minutes. Eventually he approached me along with the girl who called me to schedule the interview, a manager in training. There was a third person with them, who turned out to be another interview candidate. I had never had a group interview before, but it was fine.
We walked over to another building and had the session in a quiet corner of the food court. The questions were all just basic retail questions that you would expect:
'Why do you want to work for Banana Republic?'
"Tell me about a time you had to deal with an angry customer."
I just answered every question truthfully, but it pretty much came down to "Should we hire the college kid that needs a part-time job (myself), or the single mother of three children (interview candidate #2)?"
After the interrogative portion of the interview, we walked back over to the store, where the general manager (who also conducted this portion of the interview) explained that both of us would be put in different zones of the store, while he acted as a customer. The purpose of this exercise was to test our customer service and sales ability on the floor pre-training. It might sound intimidating to some but it was really easy. Make an easy approach and just act like you work there. "Good morning/afternoon, can I help you with anything?" Make good use of your surroundings and keep in mind they want to see how agreeable you can be while still selling a product.
After this section, the GM concluded the interview, explaining that the ultimate decision on who to hire would be up to the manager in training who had accompanied us the entire time. I got an email barely twenty minutes later saying that I hadn't been chosen.

Interview Details It was a casual interview. The manager seemed very friendly. Questions were Tell me about yourself, Why BR?, How do you keep updated with the fashion trend? etc.

Interview Details I applied online to every GAP Inc. store hiring in SF. I got calls from 2 Banana Republics and 1 GAP in about a span of a week or so.

The GAP interview was unprofessional, they called the morning of and asked if I could be there at 5. I said yes of course, but had already left my house, luckily I was in a pretty GAP appropriate outfit. There was about 6-7 other people there. They have you interview a partner, then share their info, then the interviewer asks you some questions in front of everyone. Examples: When have you given someone style advice, Where do you go to stay on trend, Why this company, typical questions. After that part she asked 5 of us to stay, the rest to leave. We had to put together an outfit for different characters. It was fun and interactive.

The interview at the Banana Republic flagship store is a lot like the GAP one, pretty much same set up and questions. The interview at the Embarcedero location was a more formal group interview. Neither of the Banana interviews had the outfit thing though. We were told we'd get a call about another interview in a few days.

I got called back for the two Banana stores first and went to those interviews, but wanted GAP and was waiting for them to call. I ended up getting hired at Banana Flagship. Pretty easy, just a lot of interviews.

Negotiation Details – No negotiation. However, it's important to remember that each store has a different budget for pay, larger stores can pay you more.

Interview Details Applied online. Got a call back within a week. Went to a group interview with 5 other people. Basic retail questions. The interviewer seemed to play favorites. She actually said to 1 guy "You're hired" then tried to play it off and said she was joking but I'm gonna guess he was hired anyway. I didn't have as much experience as the rest so I didn't get an offer.

Interview Details Group interview with about 6 applicants and 1 manager. Everyone got a chance to answer each question. The manager asked about applicants' retail and customer service experience, availability, what customer service means to them, etc. At the end there was a time for everyone to ask the manager questions about the job- most people asked about getting time off approved.

Interview Details dress nice, be confident. they are looking for people to sell the banana republic cards.

Negotiation Details – no

Interview Details Filled out the online application and got an e-mail three days later inviting me to a group interview the following day. As it was I was the only one who turned up, so it was a one-on-one interview with the CEM. It was a very relaxed, quick interview, and the CEM was very nice. He asked about my availability from the get go, about what I was studying and a bit about my past experience. There was also the typical 3 strengths, 3 weaknesses question and views on customer service. All in all it was a relatively enjoyable, stress-free interview.

I was asked to come back the next day for an interview with the GM, but it turned out to be more of a formality than anything. He asked if I had any questions about the position, asked about my future plans and then asked me if I was alright with starting at $8/hr. (they don't start at minimum wage). The whole meeting took all of ten minutes, possibly less, and I accepted. He told me to keep my phone by me the rest of the day because the they would be calling about the orientation date. No one called me that day, but I waited a day before calling, and got scheduled for the following Saturday.

As far as what to wear, casual trousers or dressy jeans are alright for the initial group interview, but dress business casual is best for the second interview.

Interview Details Submitted application online. Received a call from their hiring manager. Had a casual group interview with 4 other people and was called back with an offer.