Post a Salary or Review

Advanced

Nordstrom Retail Sales Interview Questions & Reviews

Post an Interview

Web: www.nordstrom.com | HQ: Seattle, WA

Connections

Updated Mar 8, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 6 ratings

2.8

“Average” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 6 ratings

Positive	83%
Neutral	17%
Negative	0%

Nordstrom has 145,154 connections on Glassdoor

See Who You Know

Hide Filters

1–6 of 6 Nordstrom Interviews

Sort by

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 (took 2 days)

A phone interview to begin as the first contact. Question like: Why would you like to work for Nordstrom? Why you like to work for handbag instead of other department? What customer experience do I have? How do I deliver a customer service, can I give them an example? Then, a person to person interview is scheduled and I am waiting to find out whether I get the job.

Interview Questions

How do I handle the situation when I have to projects that need to dealt with or finish at the same time?

View Answers (1)

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 in Walnut Creek, CA (took 4 days)

Online assessment and application, Phone interview, 1:1 interview

Interview Questions

What is a challenge you had with a team and how did you work together to overcome it?

Answer Question

What is your best sales experience?

Answer Question

What was a difficult challenge you had at work and how did you overcome it?

Answer Question

How do you build a relationship with a customer?

Answer Question

What excites you about a sales position? How do you prioritize your goals?

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Personality Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took 1 week)

I applied online, and then scheduled my phone interview, which lasted for about five minutes. It was really brief and only really asked why I wanted to work for Nordstrom, if I had any sales experience, and what my schedule is. I really focused on how much I liked the Nordstrom culture and customer service.. it was a lot easier than I was expecting! Before hanging up he scheduled another interview with me which happened a few days later.
My first one on One interview was with the HR manager.. it was about 20 min long and was fairly easy. She asked a lot of questions about my previous experience and just personality questions. Like how do I solve a problem, how do I deal with an angry customer, what is something I'm proud of And how did I get there, ect. . So after she was done (and they write everything down) she set up the final interview for the next day with the manager of the department I was applying for.
The final interview was the most nerve racking! I was asked a lot of the same type of structured questions, like how do I complete my daily expectations, a time I went above and beyond for a customer.. and then we went to the department and I had to sell her an item-- that was the scary part for me lol the whole interview took a little over an hour!
I received an email 30 min later and they were asking for me to complete a background check.. then when I finished I received a call from the first person I spoke with and got an offer!

Interview Questions

Have you ever been compared to anyone?

Answer Question

Other Details

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

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Jan 2011 in Durham, NC (took 1 week)

For heaven's sake, dress professionally! In many departments, they still wear suits every day

Phase 1: Phone screening
Phase 2: HR interview
Phase 3: Department MangerInterview
Phase 4: Store Manager--This means the Department Manager wants to hire you

Q: Why do you like sales? A: Comission, determine your own pay. Get out of it what you out into it.

Q: How do you know satisfied customer? A: They smile, they say thank you they "leave with bags in their hand" (Nordy quote). Most importantly, you can build a relationship and thay come back.

Q: If your not meeting your metrics (sales goals) what would you do? A: Ask my manger or someone that is a sucessful salesperson. Seek to follow the example of sucessful salespeople. Build product knowledge--educate myself so I can educate my customers. Follow-up with customers to try to buld repeat business.

Interview Questions

Q: How do you know satisfied customer?

View Answers (1)

Q: If you're not meeting your metrics (sales goals) what would you do?

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

Pay is strictly comission. If you can, find out from someone in the store: in what department is the team earning the most? For example, in my store it is the Women's Shoes team.

Other Details

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

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Mar 2011 (took 2 weeks)

Started with a phone "screen" and was invited for an in person interview with HR and the hiring manager. Hiring manager interview included a selling exercise and department walkthrough

Interview Questions

Why do you want to work at Nordstrom?

Answer Question

How do you feel about working on commission?

Answer Question

Negotiation Details

no negotiation; compensation was draw/commission.

Other Details

I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Personality Test and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Jul 2010 in Los Angeles, CA (took 2 weeks)

I applied online, and received a call 5 days later for a phone interview. The phone interview was very relaxed. I was asked about my previous retail and sales experience; and why I would thrive in a commisioned based atmosphere. After I passed the phone interview i was told that I would receive a call to set up an interview with a department manager. The department manager called me 2 days later to set up a 1:1 interview. The 1:1 interview wasn't too bad. I made sure to build rapport with the department manager. I was asked questions about my biggest sell, my competitive nature, and I was asked to sell a particular garment in the department I was applying for. Two days later I was called with an offer for employment.