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Bloomingdale's Sales Manager In Training Interview Questions & Reviews

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Web: www.bloomingdales.com | HQ: New York, NY

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Updated May 2, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 4 ratings

2.8

“Average” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 4 ratings

Positive	75%
Neutral	25%
Negative	0%

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3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Mar 2012 in Chicago, IL (took 6 weeks)

I did 5 1-on-1 interviews and a critical thinking online assessment in the middle of the 5 interviews. 1st with an HR person, 2nd with a group manager, 3rd with the HR manager, then the assessment, 4th with another group manager, and last with the store manager. The assessment is taken at home and is untimed, so it wasn't too bad, took about 45 min. The entire process took me a month and a half because I could only schedule interviews on my days off from the current position I had, so sometimes my interviews were spread out over a week or 2. The HR manager was also very busy traveling to NY a lot so it took some time to follow up and schedule interviews sometimes. All the interviews were fairly easy-going with typical retail scenarios and questions based on my resume, no set list of questions they read off of. There is a big focus on clientelling and driving sales. Some of them took notes during my interview, some of them didn't. Overall a good experience, but long process, which makes sense considering they are one of the most well known and competitive retailers.

Interview Questions

What does a client mean to you?

Answer Question

Negotiation Details

There is no negotiation because the starting salary is the same for all managers doing the SMiT program.

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview, a Skills Test and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed May 2011 in Chicago, IL (took a day)

I was excited to receive a call back from my resume and coverletter, we scheduled an interview for 5 days later. I thoroughly prepared for the interview. Upon arriving, it seemed the interviewer had not read my coverletter and did not know which position I'd applied for (this was detailed in my coverletter).

He basically said that although I'd had retail and management experience (8 years), I did not have "high end" experience, something the job description did not list. He reinforced the fact that no one would be accepted into the SMiT position without such 'high end' experience. He urged me to reapply as a sales associate (this for someone's who've managed 4 different retail chains). The only difference between what I'd done in the past and what I was to do now was keeping a client book, although I'd done that in the past as well. Apparently, that alone was important to rule me out of the candidacy.

He was however very engaging and seemed to love the company and her job. The staff, who greeted me before my interview was also very friendly.

Advice: if you don't have 'high end (not specialty retail)' experience for this position, don't waste your time. The SMiT is broken down into 4 phases, the first being a sales associate phase. However, you can't enter the sales associate phase of the SMiT program unless you've been a Bloomingdale's sales associate. I asked him to reconsider and he said I needed to start at the bottom and would need to apply for a sales position, online.

If I was as unqualified as he thought, why even call me in for the interview?

Interview Questions

What would your past boss say about you?

Answer Question

What was your favorite job and why?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Sep 2010 in Washington, DC (took a day)

Interview was about 45 minutes long. The interviewer had no set questions he basically started asking me about my experiences and then from the answers I gave, asked further questions. It was vary laid back and the interviewer was very nice. He asked me why I was interested in the company, and then he told me about the position and also asked me if I was interested in community service and told me about the charity events that the company organized. Very good experience, but I was overqualified for the position.

Interview Questions

Do you think there is a difference between a customer and a client?

Answer Question

Why do you want to work for Bloomingdale's?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Skills Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Aug 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took 2 weeks)

4 interviews in all. First with an HR associate, was really easy, she went off a list of questions to ask. 2nd with HR Manager, also pretty easy and she was extremely nice. 3rd with Store Manager, which was slightly more difficult but was more focused on telling me about the position. Last interview was with the Dept Selling Manager, it was more to see if I would like to work with her in that dept. All of the interviewers were extremely nice, and the questions were mainly all behavioral. How do you work in teams? Have you ever had conflict with associates? How do you like to be managed? etc