Nordstrom Retail/Sales Associate interview questions

The process was easy and well organized. I applied online, participated in a group interview and met with the department manager, and got an offer later that day.

Nordstrom is a great company overall, and treats their employees better than "most" retailers, but its interview process needs work. The HR department and Managers made a Men's Department Sales Associate job interview process seem as important as applying at NASA, but they were no means as professional nor as organized. I filled out an online application, and took the assessment. Passed, then was called by appt by headquarters hiring dept. Passed their screening process, then was asked a time & day to schedule an interview at the store. When I went to the interview, I had two people in the room with me asking me questions: an HR associate & the store manager. They asked away and I answered then to be told me to come back a week later at a certain time/day to get the 2nd interview with the HR manager. The next week, the HR/Manager FORGOT that I had even made the interview like as if they had no idea. They were like "what are you doing here?". They gave me the "runaround" and told me they'll call me to let me know a better time. I insisted on going through the HR manager, & had her write in her planner book my name, date & time to interview with her. The week after that, I finally got the interview done with the HR manager and we hit it off. Salary was discussed, which is truly a can of worms. The store is small, which means low foot traffic. Furthermore, the men's department was the lowest foot traffic because it was the farthest department from the store entrances (aka the boondocks). They set the wage to $9.50 per hour, or 6500 minimum in weekly sales and 6.75 percent commission off of those sales. Either one or the other, inferring that they want to pressure their employees at this location "that much more" to meet their sales quota as evident by their lower than usual wage. Lastly, they said verbatim "if your department isn't selling well for the month, we'll have to tell you to go". Another thing said was "some days you'll come in to work, other days that are slow...you'll be told to not come in. It depends". A week after the interview with the HR manager, I got a call by the HR associate giving me the news I was hired. Then she discussed with me the whole nine yards regarding training and orientation, dates & times, where to park, paperwork to fill out such as federal tax returns, etc etc. I got an email with the files to print and fill out with the "congrats" header. Training/Orientation was 3 weeks after the email/phone call. These weeks add up quickly, don't they?? In conclusion, the management and HR dept can be unorganized and unprofessional, which would vary greatly by store location. Also, this type of job is so unstable on terms of job security and wage alike. As if it wasn't bad enough that you cannot make an independent, livable wage (especially in a smaller, low foot traffic store/dept)...if you don't have a high-foot-traffic department, you can kiss your job security goodbye. It doesn't matter if you're a guy who ends up selling lingerie, take the position if it is near the entrance or is known to have high foot traffic. Lengthy, cumbersome interview process.