I applied online through the Lowes website for a Seasonal Stocker position. I am a recent college graduate working on my Masters degree. I needed some part time work to help pay the bills so I applied. I have 15 years in retail, all grocery industry. Anyway, I applied online and received a call from the stores HR manager about a week later. He was super friendly and asked if I had a few moments to answer some questions. Basically, he asked about 5 questions along the lines of "describe a time when". It was fairly easy and I pulled from my existing retail experience to answer the questions. He then asked if I would be willing to come to the store that day to interview in person. He wanted me there in an hour and I live 30 minutes away. I said of course and scrambled to get my kids a babysitter and get ready.
I arrived at the store with plenty of time and was immediately led upstairs to the managers office. The assistant manager actually interviewed me. It was basically the same questions from the phone interview plus a few more. It lasted maybe 30 minutes. The interview went well. I knew exactly the angle I wanted to convey, Customer Service. Every answer I gave eventually lead back to superior customer service. He told me he scores every response and the person with the highest score is called and offered the job. I left feeling like I had done a good job. Mind you, this was my first interview EVER. My other jobs were basically do you want a job and I said yes.
I received a call less than a week later offering me a job. Turns out they were also looking for a permanent employee/stocker to work part time with weekends off. I said heck yes. I was offered a guaranteed 25 hours a week Monday through Friday. I know retail so weekends off are almost unheard of. I start orientation on Monday and 40 hours of training. After that my schedule will be 3am to 8am Monday through Friday.
I am happy to have a job while I work on my Masters. I am thankful for the opportunity Lowes has given me.