I found the opportunity on CareerBuilder's job board and followed their link to apply on Pep Boys website. The next day I was contacted by the HR manager. The phone call from HR was a screening and I was asked questions such as how much inventory experience do I have and what my salary requirements would be. I was then offered the opportunity to ask my own questions. The experience was pleasant and at the end of the screening I was offered the opportunity to come in for an interview at the end of the week. I received an email confirming the interview date and whom I would be meeting with/their position title.
I arrived at their Pep Boys HQ location in West Philadelphia. I was a little offput by the location but the interior of the building made up for the outside appearance. I was welcomed quickly and asked to check in at the front desk. HR arrived within minutes to start the process. I spoke to two HR reps at the same time but one did most of the talking. He asked me to clarify some points on my resume, seemed visibly impressed by my schooling, and asked me a lot of behavioral questions unrelated to the job I was applying for - such as "Tell me a time when someone just wasn't working out. What did you do?" I answered appropriately, but the job wasn't going to require any direct reports, so I don't know what the point was.
After that interview, I went to speak with a senior member of the procurement department. We chatted for a bit. He questioned me on specifics about the job that was not on the job description. He also asked me a bit about my experience with the technology they use and what tools I use to make decisions. After my interview with him, he walked me over to the office of the man who would be my boss. We chatted for a bit but he didn't really look at my resume. He gave me some specifics about the account I would be handling and asked what my direct experience in the industry was. We looked over a spreadsheet together and he asked me to provide my insights based on root cause analysis. He pointedly explained that I didn't fit the exact role that he was looking to fill and that he wanted someone who could hit the ground running and after that the interview went downhill.
I sent out thank you letters to everyone I met with and received a response the next day from HR letting me know that I would hear back in 5-7 business days. On the 8th day with no contact, I sent out a reminder to let HR know I was still interested. On the 9th day I received a nice letter from HR explaining that a more suitable candidate was hired.