7 Retail Interview Questions Guaranteed for Great Employees

[metoc15411]

I worked in retail for quite a few years and was constantly amazed that I always had one co-worker who just couldn't do his job.

retail interview questions

It always seemed obvious to me that these people were no good. They couldn't keep up with the register; they couldn't keep up with the pace of the sales floor - how the hell did they get through an interview? And I learned that this wasn't just a problem at my store. One day, I mentioned these slow employees to another colleague, a wonderfully cynical woman who had worked in many, many stores. She responded easily, "Oh, he's always there!"

The thing is, it doesn't have to be like this all the time. These employees wander around the store aimlessly, do nothing, or never receive training, and as a result, don't know how to operate the necessary software or day-to-day procedures. Essentially, these employees are the same as setting a pile of money on fire and then wheeling it around the store in a wheelbarrow.

retail interview questions

Why? Not only do they not do anything particularly useful why every business needs an updated database but they make more work for your useful employees. I found that I would rather work a shift with one person than with one of these employees. I had to clean and run after all my customers, and I had to run and clean after all their customers at the same time.

At least if they weren't there, I could handle all of these clients in my own order, rather than all at once. There were a few days when I actually called two clients on two different registers at the same time because my colleague who had been there for three months still didn't know how to manage that register.

So how can you, as a retail manager, avoid hiring such people?

The short answer is that you will learn how to conduct interviews well.

Preparing for an interview isn’t something that typically tops a retail manager’s to-do list, and for good reason. After all, in the world of retail, there’s always something more pressing to do than preparing for an interview. And since I realized this, I thought I’d break it down for you. After long, hard thinking and a lot of research, I’ve put together questions you can ask prospects to find the perfect hire .

61525928

Before we go any further, I want to make a quick disclaimer: Great employees don’t come to you fully trained and perfect, and you shouldn’t be looking for people like that. You need to look for someone who has the potential to be an effective employee in the time you need with careful training. (And you should definitely specify the time they need to be onboarded, at least to yourself. Still not being able to work the roster after, say, three months is unacceptable.)