Barneys Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online and then went into the store to drop off my resume and met an assistant manager. It took a while to get an interview call back, but I finally interviewed with another assistant manager for the women's rtw department. We talked about typical stuff like my background and then a lot of situational questions about customer interactions, client relations, and working with difficult coworkers. I met some staff and was told I'd hear back about meeting the general manager. The next interview was with the general manager, and it was similar questions, but I got to ask more and they talked about benefits and my wage expectations. I asked about the average entry-level wage and got the offer the following Monday! Even though I didn't have luxury sales experience, I know a lot about fashion and have people skills from my past work in healthcare.

It took longer than I thought it would. First, there was a phone screen, then two in-person interviews. They gave me the job offer and I accepted it over the phone. Just so you know, they don't care about fashion or art as much anymore. The management changed a while back and they stopped hiring people from those backgrounds. So if you want to work at Barneys because you love fashion, know that it's actually a really competitive sales job. They only care about your sales numbers. You need to know your past numbers and have a realistic idea of what you can do in your first year there. They're looking for people to hit close to $1 million in sales annually. Having a client list you can bring with you helps. It's very unlikely they'll hire you if you don't have solid, proven sales experience. Make sure you know the brands they carry. A quick look at their website should be enough. Pick a few you like.

Applied online and after a few months, I had my first interview with the HR manager. Then I met with the Operations and Shipping manager. They went over all the duties of the job to make sure I knew what I was getting into and was comfortable with it. They called me back after a week, and I started 3 weeks later, just because the HR manager was away on vacation.

I went through 3 interviews. The first one with the HR Manager felt the toughest, she really asked some hard questions. Then I had a second interview with the Senior Specialist and the Department Manager, that one was pretty easy. The last interview was with the VP of the department, and it was more about seeing if I was a good culture fit. The whole thing took about 1.5 months.