I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Staples (Milton, GA) in Dec 2011
Interview
Spoke at length with General Manager, then spoke with District manager the next day. They asked the typical questions such as: describe a time when things didn't go the way you hoped; describe an event in your experience that you are proud of; what is your attitude towards working with people of diverse backgrounds; how have you worked to grow your employees, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you feel about working with customers and employees of diverse cultural backgrounds?
I applied online. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Staples (Lake Stevens, WA) in Jan 2014
Interview
Applied online, and got a call 3 days later for an interview. I arrived 15 minutes early, and he wasn't ready for me yet. He came out and invited me in, and we sat down. Then he just started a conversation with me. An hour later, he told me the interview was done and did I have any questions. Confused, I asked him when we started, he replied "I asked the questions, but just more in a casual way." Feeling satisfied I asked a couple questions about the company and the way it worked.
I applied in-person. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Staples (Brea, CA) in Sept 2013
Interview
They basically said I would have to learn the ropes of inventory and selling, but they didn't say that I would not touch a computer until I did all of that. They made it sound like I just had to go through some training and some on-the-floor experience. This was not the case. It's impossible to do tech work and do sales/inventory management- so I was essentially a salesman- this was not made clear in the interview. They also did not make clear that they wanted you to be a perfect salesman before they'd "let you" start doing tech work.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give me an example of a time you had to work with a team.
I applied online. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Staples (Orange, CA) in Jul 2012
Interview
Short and straight to the point. Operation manager asked few simple questions for me but had nothing much needed from me as I was highly recommend by her General Manager.