Zara Store Manager Interview Questions
& Process

Ich musste eine Präsentation erstellen, was völlig in Ordnung war, aber mir wurde im Gespräch erst mitgeteilt, dass das Bewerbungsgespräch auf Englisch gehalten wird. Das hat meine Präsentation erschwert, da sie auf Deutsch ausgelegt war.

I sent in my resume and cover letter online and they invited me to their head office in Shibuya for an interview. The job ad was in English and said they wanted English speakers because the job was in a mostly English speaking environment, but all their emails to me were in Japanese and the first interview was entirely in Japanese. The woman I met with took me to a conference room where I had to fill out a 4-page application with my contact info and some short questions like how I handle stress and to share an example of a strength. It also asked about salary expectations, when I could start, and to rank my preferred store locations and brands. Then she asked common interview questions like why I want to work there and to describe my current job in detail. She asked about my salary expectations again and if I'd still want the job if the offer was lower than I asked for - I said I'd have to think about it. I got to ask questions and she told me a bit about the company culture. The whole thing took about 90 minutes. A couple of days later, I got an email inviting me to a second interview. This interview was with a different woman, was a mix of English and Japanese, and took 2 hours even though it was scheduled for 1. She asked more detailed questions about my current job, including how I dealt with problems like staff not performing well. She asked if I'd been to a Zara store recently, which I had to prepare, and asked for my impressions of the store. I gave her detailed feedback on good points and areas for improvement, and then she asked for my strategies to improve those points. We discussed salary more, and she explained compensation packages and bonuses. We also talked about start dates since they were hiring for a new store opening soon. She said they'd let me know their decision within a week. Two days later, I got an email saying I was rejected.

My interview was a 3-step process. First, we had a group project where we split into two teams and made presentations. Second, I had an individual project comparing Zara with another fast fashion brand, for which I prepared a PDF presentation. The third and final step was a verbal interview in English. I got a job offer at the end, but it took too long, so I had already accepted another position.