The Gap Retail Management Program Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated May 1, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 10 ratings 
“Difficult” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 10 ratings
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Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted May 1, 2012
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2012 in San Francisco, CA (took 3 months)
I applied for RMP online. The next day I received a rejection email with an explanation of why I was not selected to the next round. I disagreed with that explanation, and sent the recruiting manager an email. In a day I was invited for a phone interview. The recruiter was very pleasant, energetic and professional. I was asked some fashion-related questions, as well as business analytics questions. Once all the questions were answered, the recruiter told me on the spot that I made it to the next round. The next step was to complete a 7-day project and present it over skype. This time I was interviewed by a new person, who also was very nice, and was giving me positive feedback. I received a call about 3 days later and was invited for an in-person interview. The original plan was to have an interview in November. However, The Gap received a lot of great applicants, and they had to schedule another round for January. I got in for the January interview.
Before the interview, I received a coaching call from another recruiter. I loved that she was very straight-forward and told me what were my weaknesses. We had a long conversation, the purpose of which was to make me feel more at ease. My advice to anyone who will get to this stage in the future is to have a lot of questions for this call, such as "what areas should I improve on" and "what kind of people were recruited in the past".
Both travel and stay of each applicant were paid for. The first day consisted of an informal dinner and meeting RMP managers and alumni. This is just a day for you to meet everyone, feel comfortable, and ask questions about the program.
The next day started with a breakfast, followed by a presentation about the company and the program. After that, you are given two tests. One on some basic retail formulas. Another, on logic. For the retail part - dont' sweat it, if you have an A for your accounting classes, you will get this part. For the second test, I would recommend brushing up on some currency conversions and percentage questions. Also, make sure you answer all the questions, even if you don't know the answer, pick any, that would increase your odds.
The next step in the process in a 4-person group project. You are given an article to read at home, make sure you not only read it, but also mention the points from it during the team exercise. That will show the recruiters that you came prepared. Make sure to do two things during this exercise: bring a lot of ideas and be a good team player. That means don't criticize other members' ideas and let other people talk.
After the team exercise, you get two 2-person panel interviews. They are really easy. If you are here, then you already passed a very similar one. You are asked to talk about fashion, yourself, and your project. The interviewers are very pleasant and make you feel comfortable with every question. My main advice here, show your love for The Gap, show that you believe in its mission and what it is doing right now. If you don't love the company, this is not the program for you. I love all Gap brands so much, i can talk about them for hours, you should feel the same way.
Right after the weekend I received a call with the great news. I cried... My dream career is about to start!
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Presentation and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Mar 28, 2012 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2012 (took 5 days)
The lady who interviewd me was not very friendly. They asked me several questions which, I work internally for the company, and I didn't even know some of the answers! THey encourage all majors to apply, so it worries me a bit that unless you know a LOT about all of the brands, you will feel unprepared, which is how I felt. They also asked you some math questions, which I felt very akward doing because I know she was just waiting on the other end for me to answer them. I felt rushed and flustered so I did the problem incorreclt, and she rudely told me my answer was incorrect. Then I had to do it over again and she condescendly told me the correct way to do the problem. They emailed me a few days after letting me know they decided to persue other candidates. I wasn't shocked, but my experience just wasn't that great.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Dec 28, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2011 (took a day)
Very impersonal. Phone had bad reception so I had to ask to repeat the question many times. I was pretty disappointed because I have always liked the Gap but the interviewer was not very friendly and didn't really sound very enthusiastic about what she was doing.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Dec 8, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 (took 2 weeks)
First round consisted of two 30 minute one on one interviews. The questions were mostly behavioral, and quite a few about your education. One interviewer was part of the program and the other was a senior employee from one of the three positions that you'd be placed in at the end of the program. People were nice and friendly.
Got invited for second round which consisted of a project. Had one week to complete the project before presenting in a one on one interview over Skype. The questions were much more retail oriented, with an emphasis on the quantitative aspect of the job. Didn't get a third round because my financials for the poject weren't strong enough.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Presentation.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Jan 15, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took 1 week)
I had a first round interview over the phone for the retail management program. I received very little feedback from the recruiter and she really didn't seem overly excited to be talking to me. She asked extremely detailed questions and expected immediate responses. This was especially hard, given that it was over the phone and I wasn't able to see any facial expressions or have her see mine. I did not receive a second round interview.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Jan 14, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took a day)
This was a very standard college recruitment interview process that started with a presentation to potential job candidates on campus. The presentation was coordinated by the HR representative, but there were employees from all of the different stores and who were at different stages in their career. The presentation had good content, but was somewhat uncoordinated between the GAP employees who were there to explain what the company was all about.
The interview took place at the career center and consisted of two individual interviews with one HR person and another senior GAP employee. Behavioral questions were asked such as, "tell me about a time when you were faced with a difficult decision." It was strange because the two interviews consisted of EXACTLY the same questions and I felt as if I were just repeating what I had already previously said.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Jan 3, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took a day)
Resume screen. Moved on to two one-on-one interviews with two separate recruiters. Half of the interview consisted of behavioral questions gauging leadership skills and teamwork. The other halves consist either of a set of question regarding analytical skills or market skills. Was asked to identify target customer as well as fashion trends.
My recruiters also spent most of the time taking notes, making it very difficult to maintain eye contact or gauge the receptiveness of length of responses.
I really don't feel like the interview is an accurate assessment of success on the job. Because they hire about 50% internally and 50% externally, applicants must demonstrate a KEEN interest in retail and must be very knowledgeable about the fashion industry.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Dec 3, 2010
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took 2 weeks)
I was interviewed by an HR representative who pretty much knew nothing about fashion, retail, merchandising. She seemed like she wasn't interested in anything I had to say and just formulaically went down the list of ineffective cookie cutter questions. It seemed as if she didn't like the job or company herself. I felt as if I was wasting her time even though she had obviously picked out my resume and invited me in to interview for a reason. She made Gap seem very unprofessional, conformist and unapproachable. Companies forget that nowadays interviewees can affect your companies reputation negatively if you leave a very poor impression.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Nov 16, 2010 — 3 of 4 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took 2 days)
After submitting my application online I had a 45 minute phone interview with a recruiter. Their whole goal is to make you feel incompetent with the questions they ask.
I got a call back to schedule a video conference call interview and had 7 days to complete a huge project about creating a new brand to incorporate into the Gap portfolio. Didnt move on to the final round because they said my long term financial analysis and profitability report needed more analysis.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Presentation.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Retail Management Program at The Gap
Posted Oct 29, 2010 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took 4 weeks)
The application online was very straightforward. I then made it to a first round phone interview. The phone interview consisted of several situational questions and reasons why I wanted to work for Gap as well as scenarios. I had a very good phone interview and moved on to the 2nd round which consisted of a project. This is how the following 2nd round interview proceeded.
I was a little taken back by the 2nd round interview with my recruiter. From the very beginning, I could feel some sort of tension. I noticed her yawning in the background and her eyes definitely was not reflective of how I view Gap as the proud retailer I know it to be. Every question she had for me felt like it was dripping with disdain. She had her arm up on the table supporting her head like she could care less to what I had to say. As the interview continued, I began to feel very uncomfortable and was unable to answer any of the questions to the best of my ability. It's surprising to have put so much time and effort into and interview and have it valued so little.
Not much to say after that.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Presentation.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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