I applied online and was contacted within a few days for a phone screening. The interviewer told me she only had ten minutes, so we'd have to go quickly. She asked very basic questions and would cut me off with, "Ok." when my responses were more than one sentence long. She was not unkind, but she clearly didn't have time for the screening. At the end of the call I asked if my salary requirements were within the appropriate range for the job. She brought it up on the computer and told me yes. She called me back a few days later to schedule an in-person interview. It was later postponed and rescheduled because of a conflict on her end. She thanked me for my willingness to be flexible. The interview day came and I met with the original phone screener and the merchandising assistant manager, who was very young, but definitely on the ball. We sat at a display table upstairs and the ASM took notes and chimed in while the senior manager asked the bulk of the questions from a predetermined corporate list. The senior manager, who was friendly and radiated a hum of energy, sat at the very end of her chair, leaning forward like she was ready to run as soon as the interview was over. She gave me adequate time to answer her questions, but was easy to read if I started to ramble. The interviewer mentioned several times that there was "NO overtime." Each time she said it, she stared down at her page just a little too long, or looked sideways at the ASM. Eventually, she said, "Well, there IS....but there isn't. Do you know what I mean?" The interviewer allowed me to ask a few questions at the end of the interview and she answered them all. The interview lasted about 30-45 minutes and was thorough, although she never asked any follow-up questions to pull more details out of me. She asked about my salary requirements. Before I could answer, she found it listed on the page. She did a double take, as though she had not been aware of it before. She stared at it a little too long, but didn't say anything or ask if it was negotiable (I asked for a mid-range wage, per the Glassdoor average). I wasn't sure what to think, but didn't want to broach the subject in front of the other manager I'd be working with if I got the job. The interviewer explained the next step would be waiting while she took on a few more interviews, then she would submit the candidates she and the ASM agreed on to the District Manager. She said I could expect a call the next week if I was selected for a final 'blessing' from the DM. The job was re-posted a few days later, so I assumed none of the first round interviews were selected. I received an email notification a week or two later to let me know the position had been filled.

The questions were very specific and in depth, it seemed like they were looking more so for an internal candidate. The questions that were asked didn’t match how the position was described in the job description. It seemed they were looking for someone who had a lot more experience than what they had initially requested.