Barnes & Noble Store Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I was an internal candidate going for a promotion. Before the actual interviews started, I did a week-long assessment at a training store. After I passed that, the process moved on. I then had an interview with a Store Manager from another store, followed by an interview with my District Manager. After that, I interviewed with the Regional Vice President, and there was also a phone interview with the Regional HR manager.

I was contacted for an interview. I was asked to bring a resume and be ready to talk about my past work experience. The questions were mostly about how I lead teams and focus on customer service. Almost all the questions were situational, asking about the situation, how I handled it, the outcome, what I learned, and if I would have done anything differently. They had really slow follow up, though. I've heard from others who went through the process and they felt the same way. It took over four weeks before I heard back about a second interview and 2 1/2 months before I was hired.

It was a pretty typical interview process for a management role. Started with a mass interview/job fair that needed pre-registration. My name was called, and I met with an interviewer who asked standard questions. Depending on my answers and overall impression, I was invited to stay for more of the same. The process went downhill when they promised a follow-up but never delivered. I made several calls to the store and to contacts who interviewed me, but received no callbacks. While some neutral or negative feedback is understandable, a simple 'no thanks' or an explanation would have been professional. I visited the Escondido location as a last attempt to salvage the situation or simply move on. The interaction there was disappointing, with the person in charge lacking professionalism in appearance and demeanor. The final straw was being told that they hold these 'cattle calls' without actual openings, and they 'make a spot' if they like someone. This was surprising, especially coming from a location where the District Manager has an office. The lack of a return call was simply rude and unprofessional.