W.W. Grainger Account Manager Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Was contacted by Grainger "Talent Acquisition Scout" who saw my resume on a job board. Told me there was an opening locally and they were interested in me. Asked him about who was currently handling this position and I was told an individual was on a PIP and was on his way out. Led me to believe there was an actual job opening, later found out this was not the case. He explained the hiring process and sent me a self assessment form and a link to the Chally psychological tool. After completing both was contacted again by same recruiter and told I would be receiving call from another Talent Acquisition Scout about setting up an interview with the District Manager. This new recruiter called me and informed me there was no job opening at present but they were looking to build up a book of talent in case something came available and she wanted me to meet with District Manager. I asked her about the local Account Manager who I was told was on a PIP and she flat out denied this and said that a job could be possibly open in 40 days. Told her I had no interest in meeting with the District Manager just to help them build up a book of local talent in the event someone got fired, but that she was welcome to call me back when they had a real job available. I guess it's proactive to build up a stable of horses you draw from if the one you're using can no longer pull a plow. But from what I can ascertain, they've gone through three horses down here in the last five years. Maybe they ought to put some of these talent scouts out to pasture and feed the horses pulling the plows a little more hay.

Interview Details – Pass prescreening phone interview (sometimes more than one). Formal interview consists of the usual questions as well as up to 30 from the STAR interviewing technique.

Interview Details – The hiring process is very cumbersome. You start with a phone interview from a recruiter, followed by a phone interview with the hiring manager. If you pass the phone checks, then you go in for face to face interviews. I had two face to face interviews and then waited a week to hear back with an offer. The start date was over three weeks later. The entire process was 7 weeks.

Negotiation Details – The company accepted my salary and vacation request.

Interview Details – Situational and open ended questions: "Tell me about a time when...." Nothing too cutting edge or different.

Negotiation Details – Pretty simple. But the person you work for does not do the negotiating. It's done by someone in Talent Acquisition. Was pretty easy to command a top salary.

Interview Details – Initial interview was via phone. The phone interviewer was a recruiter from Grainger and we discussed my bacground, experiences, etc. 2nd interview was in person with the District Sales Manager. The last interview was with the DSM and the District Operations Manager. All interviews were pretty standard...I thought that either they already wanted to hire me or my qualifications were way above the job requirements. After those interviews, I received an offer via Fedex, which I took

Negotiation Details – No negotiations. The offer was above my expectations and I accepted.

Interview Details – Contacted by a recruiter from California for a position open in Wisconsin. I was asked to attend an open house and scheduled an interview. When I showed up there were 11 people waiting. After waiting for 25 minutes I was given 10 minutes to meet with someone.

Interview Details – I started with a phone interview with a recruiter and everything went well. My next interview was with a District Sales Manager & Account Manager and everything went well. The next phase was a one on one interview with the same District Sales Manager and he spoke about how there was not a particular position available but he thought I would be a great fit for the position and he wanted to put me on their "Benchmark" program and basically thats when you wait for a position to open up which could be in 4-6 weeks or 4-6 months. In the meantime I was asked to meet with another District Sales Manager and it seems that the interview was going well until he asked if I knew anything about the company and I informed him that a friend used to work there and he didnt know the guy personally, but later I found out there was some association between my friend & a previous VP of Sales and so he assumed I was affiliated with the VP as well. After that meeting I was removed from the "Benchmark" program and was told that I am no longer in consideration for a position. Please make sure you play the game exactly the way they want you to because this is a company that do not base things off your qualifications but more so on who you know and how they can keep their good ole boy network sealed.

Interview Details – The whole process was great. From phone interview to in person... Everyone was very professional. I was not asked any challenging questions in person. I felt as if the interviewer had already made up her mind on not selecting me as a candidate.

Interview Details – Outside recruitor, internal recruitor, hiring manager, regional VP

Negotiation Details – Short and fair