The Roomplace Interview Questions
& Process

My interview for a sales role was pretty standard, with a few expected questions from the GM. It was surprisingly routine. The manager seemed really stressed the whole time, like a stern librarian. She barely spent five minutes on my work history and asked only a couple questions about it. The rest of the time, she just talked about the company and her own career there. Earlier, I'd checked out the sales floor and noticed 11 salespeople on duty. I thought that was too many for a weekday summer afternoon, knowing how commissioned sales can be tough with too many people. When I asked the manager about it, she seemed dismissive and said there should be sixteen people out there, explaining that customer traffic varies. That was the dealbreaker for me because you can't make money if the odds are stacked against you. Another thing that made me hesitant was how her employees seemed totally intimidated and unhappy. She mentioned she was the manager on duty, so I figured we might get interrupted, which is normal in retail. The first time a salesperson came to her door, she gave him this incredibly harsh look. It totally threw him off; he started stammering and sweating. That was another bad sign. The employees just seemed unhappy, wary, or intimidated once they realized I wasn't a customer and had an interview scheduled.

I applied and was interviewed the very next day. The interviewer was professional and friendly. We talked for about 25 minutes, and she asked about my experience and what I enjoy doing. I was offered the job the same day. I completed background paperwork over two days, then had a drug screen that took 24 hours. I started the following week.

The interview process was pretty straightforward. My first interview was with the hiring manager. She asked questions about my experience and then more situational questions. The next interview was with my soon-to-be peer. That interview was more conversational; she didn't ask any difficult questions. The third interview was with the VP of Merchandising (my supervisor's manager). She asked situational questions.

Had three interviews with basic questions, then a final one with more in-depth questions that weren't really relevant to the Associate Buyer role. The questions seemed more suited for a Director level or higher, focusing on business growth, which felt inappropriate for an AM role. The people were kind, especially in Human Resources.