I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Panera Bread (New York, NY) in May 2015
Interview
The interview process started out great. I came in for a small group interview (with about ten other people). We met the regional manager and the manager of the store that would be opening up and that we would be working for. They explained to us about Panera, the companies history and how they do business as well as some of the different things on the menu. We did a a few different ice breaker games and said why we wanted to work there and stuff like that. A day later I got called in for a second interview which also went really well. The manager interviewing me went over why I wanted to work there and what I expected to get out of it, why I thought I would be a good fit for the job etc. etc. Very easy straightforward questions. Everything seemed to be going good and the manager told me I would receive a call in a few days. Two days went by, and still no call. Finally about 4 days after my second interview I call up the manager who interviewed me. He informed me that he had called me twice a few days previously but it went straight to voicemail. I had no record on my phone of him ever calling me, or leaving a message. He must have called the wrong number, which is odd considering he had called my phone before. He informed me that the store would be opening the following day and there were no more available positions, he would let me know if anything opened up. I was really frustrated by the lack of organization in the hiring process. They obviously never called me when they said that they did and as a result I was screwed out of a job.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you handle a fast paced working environment?
Initial call interview was standard. Asked about my background and experience in my previous sales roles. I ended up passing on the next round of interviews to pursue other roles
I applied online. I interviewed at Panera Bread (Elk Grove, CA) in Jun 2024
Interview
Went in for my first 20 minutes interview with a team manager, who was reading off the questions from a paper. Questions were fairly easy I would say. I was scheduled for a second interview with the GM, but at my second interview, I didn’t interview with a GM. My second interview was with a team member from the Flynn group, which took about 15 minutes and similar interview questions as the first interview. She really liked me and wanted me to meet the GM at the third interview. Third interview came and it took over 30 minutes for the GM to come out and interview me. He was very unprofessional as he was talking to employees in the middle of me talking and had to take a call in the middle of our interview. Then he came back and said they are currently full staff and will not be hiring but will keep my resume. Overall, the interview was a joke and time wasting.
Easy interview that felt comfortable and was not intimidating. Definitely felt easy. I was nervous and it went well. Definitely do not worry if you’re preparing for their interview. You should just prepare answers to basic questions and that will be sufficient.