I went in to fill out an application and had a short interview on the spot. They asked if I was an artist, what my favorite Trader Joe's product was and asked about my experience with a previous employer. We set up a second interview. The second was with two captains. They asked me to bring a portfolio which we went through and talked about. They asked me just to talk about my work and how long different pieces took to complete. They also asked about how I make work fun and dealt with different situations. How I dealt with stress and what would put me on edge. Asked about a time with a difficult person and other standard interview questions. It was an extremely laid back interview.

I shop at Trader Joe's all the time and noticed they always have neat signs hung up in the store, so I picked up an application to see if there was an actual position for making signs, and to my excitement, there was. I was really in need of a job at the time, so I instantly filled out the application and handed it in. The next day, I called and asked for the hiring manager and asked if he had a chance to look at my application. He put me on hold while he went to review it, and after a few minutes he came back to the phone and asked if I can come in for an interview the next day. When I arrived to the store, the hiring manager took me to the employee's only section of the store in the back, and asked me why I want to work at Trader Joe's, why I love art, and what hours I would like to work. I'll be honest, the guy was a snobby jerk. I told him one of the reasons why I love art is because I enjoy expressing myself, and he instantly cut me off and said that as a sign artist at Trader Joe's, you do not represent yourself at all, but in fact you have to follow strict directions. Then, I told him what hours I'd like to work and he told me that the sign artist position only has one shift in the early morning, and that I'd have to come in at 6 AM on a daily basis, sometimes even 5 AM. After that, he took me to the TINY room where the current sign artist was working. They gave me a jar of tomato sauce and pasta, and asked me to design a quick sign advertising them. The current sign artist gave me some pointers on what the sign should look like beforehand. I made the sign, and the hiring manager came in to review it - he said he was going to give me constructive criticism, but all he did was point out the few things that I did wrong. After he left, the current sign artist told me that regardless of the hiring manager's comments, I was "by far" the best they've interviewed that week. After that was over, the hiring manager told me he'd call me if I got the position. But, before saying that, he mentioned that I probably won't be good for the job because of the early hours, considering I'm a student. With that said, the hiring manager never contacted me. However, I'm glad he didn't - according to him, the hours for the job were absolutely ridiculous and the joke of an office the sign artist has resembles an elementary school desk, and it was really depressing. Overall, it was a bad experience because of the hiring manager's sneer personality and horrible attitude towards me. I felt confused about whether he was looking for a potential candidate or if he just wanted to make me feel low.