Patagonia Sales Associate Interview Questions
& Process

I submitted my application online on their website, which was pretty straightforward. About six days later, I got an impersonal email informing me that I had been scheduled for a group interview. I put in a lot of preparation, even reading the memoir "Let My People Go Surfing." When I got there, I discovered there were 3 employees interviewing 7 candidates. I thought it was a really poor method for the managers to assess applicants, and I wondered why they didn't have a phone interview first to filter out less qualified candidates. The group interview itself felt quite pointless.

I found out they were hiring by going into the store directly. I was looking for a second job after graduating, and applying around the holidays or early spring is usually a good idea because of the increased customer traffic. It's always best to go in person to ask for an application and try to meet with the manager(s), making sure to look presentable. Having the manager put a face to your application really helps since they get so many applications. I got a call back after about a week and had the interview a few days later. The whole process was really fast. The interview was pretty much what I expected. I needed to know about the company's history and their policies on being a responsible company.

The first part of the interviews was a GROUP interview with like a dozen people applying and the store manager and assistant store manager. It was pretty much a 30-45 minute open chat about the company's history, its products, and service quality. The store manager asked stuff like "what's your fave product and why?" or "why do you wanna work here?" or "Imagine you got 1 million dollars and 1 month to spend it, what'd you do?". The second part was a 1 on 1 interview with the store manager and a floor leader. The questions were more serious, focusing on your background, experience, and skills.