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Costco Wholesale
www.costco.com Issaquah, WA 5000+ Employees
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Costco Wholesale Interview Questions & Reviews

Getting the Interview  157 Interviews

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Interview Experience  143 Ratings

71%
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157 interview experiences
Updated May 19, 2013
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Interview Outcome:   All No Offer Received Offer

Cart Pusher at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Reviewed May 19, 2013 New

Interview Details – They will ask standard interview questions. Just be honest and know what Costco does. It is not Sam's Club.

Interview Question – Have you ever handled multiple customers at the same time.   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – Every one starts at $11.50/hr

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Major Sales Associate at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Reviewed May 15, 2013 New

Interview Details – It takes quite a long period of time to be contacted for a position. Part-time or seasonal automatic.

Interview Question – Psychological assessment required before the interview   Answer Question

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Hearing Aid Dispenser at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Phoenix, AZ Jun 2011 – Reviewed May 12, 2013 New

Interview Details – You must apply for employment online first. If chosen for interview you will be contacted as soon as possible. You will clearly be instructed on when to appear for interview as well as what to bring along with you. It is helpful tobring specific contacts and samples or examples of your work. You will be interviewing with more than one person. The interviewers will want to know about specific ways that you have dealt with real life employment situations, difficult customers, rude or maligning customers. If you are hired they will verify employment history. They will contact your references. If you are offered a position, you will be asked to submit for a drug screening.

Interview Question – Tell me of a situation that you experienced in your working life, a challege that you were confronted with and how you reacted or were able to persevere? What was the outcome?   View Answer

Negotiation Details – In my case I was told up front of what my hours and schedule would be and who I would be working with. The pay rate is alread set. There was not a lot of room to negotiate. The truth is that they are very honest and forethcoming on what the job and of what the expectations are.

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Customer Service Representative at Costco Wholesale

Declined Offer – Interviewed in Issaquah, WA Mar 2013 – Reviewed May 7, 2013

Interview Details – Very lengthy, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Costco is very behind in the IT space and so are their hiring processess.

Interview Question – Typical   Answer Question

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Entry at Costco Wholesale

No Offer – Interviewed in Lodi, CA Jul 2012 – Reviewed May 5, 2013

Interview Details – Small room with two managers. Lots of abstract questions about conflict. Not many questions about the job itself.

Interview Question – Nothing difficult, just open ended.   Answer Question

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Certified Pharmacy Technician at Costco Wholesale

Declined Offer – Interviewed in Minneapolis, MN Mar 2013 – Reviewed Apr 16, 2013

Interview Details – I could not find any current job openings listed online nor posted in store for Costco, therefor I had to apply blindly using their online application system not knowing what their hiring needs were. The first time I applied online was in September. I wasn't desperate for a job at the time so I didn't follow up with a live person.

Then, the following January I applied again and followed up in person. I spoke to the assistant store manager whom told me there weren't any hiring needs at the time, but being a former hiring manager myself I decided to actually speak to someone in the pharmacy. It turned out that someone had just given notice that they were going to leave in a couple of months and the Pharmacist took my information down. When I didn't hear anything after a couple of weeks I decided to check-in in-person and the manager said he had just gotten permission to post an opening (internally). I was told there was a 10 day waiting period before they are allowed to start following up on applications.

I received a phone call the following week and scheduled my interview for the next day. The interview was with the Pharmacist himself and it consisted of basic (why are you interested in working for Costco) and situational questions (tell me about a time when you did.....) I felt a good rapport with the Pharmacist and was told that I would be called to schedule a second interview with one of the store managers.

It took about 2 1/2-3 weeks before I was called to schedule my second interview. I had honestly assumed that they had chosen a different candidate and started applying elsewhere in the meantime. My second interview was with the assistant store manager and it was pretty similar in style to the first interview. I was told I would hear something the following week.

The very next Monday I received a phone call from and HR person offering me the job over the phone. Despite my request, no details were provided in regards to starting pay and benefits. I felt this aspect was very unprofessional; I got the impression that I should have been grateful to even be offered the position and not concerned with any of these "details."

Long story short, when I finally determined the details of the job in regards to pay and benefits I decided to decline the offer. Costco does have great pay & benefits if you are just starting in your career, but offers nothing comparable to the pay & benefits of someone with 10+ years of experience in the field and they do NOT negotiate!

Interview Question – Tell me about a time when you had difficulty working with a peer.   Answer Question

Reason for Declining – Their system is designed to promote from within rather than attract professionals with outside experience. Everyone in a non-management role starts within a dollar or two per hour (cashiers are paid the same wage as a Certified Pharmacy Technician!). This is well below the industry standard in my area (Midwest). While raises are guaranteed and based on the number of hours you've accumulated in your role, it would have taken me over 5 years to make up the difference in pay from my previous employer!

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Part Time Limited at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Phoenix, AZ – Reviewed Apr 15, 2013

Interview Details – I filled out an application online and received a call to interview about a week later. On the first interview, I was interviewed by two managers. One day after the first interview, I was called back for a second interview, which I completed the following day. I was told that I should hear back by the end of the next week if they were interested in hiring me. The call didn't come. A few weeks later, I got a call to come in to do a drug test and sign some papers. The drug test was done by using saliva, and they get the results within minutes. I was offered a job contingent on passing the background investigation.

Interview Question – Tell us about a time you had miscommunication with a coworker and what happened?   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – No negotiation. I was just asked about my availability.

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Cake Decorator at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in May 2009 – Reviewed Mar 27, 2013

Interview Details – There will be one interview with two managers, and from there just one more interview with the warehouse manager

Interview Question – Tell us about yourself   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – There wasn't one

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Certified Pharmacy Technician at Costco Wholesale

Declined Offer – Reviewed Mar 21, 2013

Interview Details – Be prepared for a three process three week long interview. Was called back every Friday for three weeks. Had two interviews and the third was a drug test. The I terrier itself is very routine with the standard interview questions.

Interview Question – How do you handle difficult or rude customers?   View Answer

Reason for Declining – Over two years experience and they only start at base pay.

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Meat Wrapper at Costco Wholesale

Accepted Offer – Reviewed Mar 20, 2013

Interview Details – Interviewed by meat manager first, asked a series of rather easy questions. Once I made it past the meat manager a senior manager in the warehouse interviewed me asked me another series of questions of what appeared to be off the same sheet of paper. After that the job was offered and I went through the drug testing and thats it, pretty simple.

Interview Question – Nothing really caught me off guard as it is retail and nothing really complicated with lower level retai.   Answer Question

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