JCPenney Sales Associate Job Description & Interview
Job Description and Duties
What Does a JCPenney Sales Associate Do?
The main function of a JCPenney sales associate involves providing exceptional customer service to hundreds of store patrons that come in every day. Responsibilities of a JCPenney sales associate include greeting customers, assisting guests with finding merchandise, stocking and organizing product on the sales floor, ringing up purchases, and handling returns and other discrepancies. These duties help maintain the excellence and reputation JCPenney carries in the department store retail industry.
Salary and Compensation
How Much Do They Get Paid?
The average pay for a JCPenney sales associate is about $9.00 an hour. Experienced sales workers may earn more. Many JCPenney locations offer commissions and additional rewards for meeting certain sales goals. JCPenney also offers a wide variety of job benefits. Benefits vary based on experience, employment status, and job title. Some typical work benefits available from JCPenney include flexible scheduling, paid vacation, medical coverage, and a 401(k) retirement plan.
Next:
Review the JCPenney Application page.
JCPenney Customer Service Desk Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: I originally started off as a sales associate, but as I’d worked there a little bit longer, I transitioned over to the customer service desk.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: I had recently worked at JCPenney… I mean, Giant Eagle before I went to JCPenney’s, so for me, it was a lot more lax, except we had to wear business casual. But the environment was pretty relaxed. All of the coworkers were really nice. The environment was, like I said, pretty relaxed. Like I said, I started off as just a regular sales associate, so I was just working cashier and folding, so it wasn’t that bad to start off. It’s a nice, easy… if you’ve never worked in retail, a nice easy job to just kind of start at. Not too much pressure.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: I would say after I got into it and they moved me to the customer service, I like jobs where I’m able to do multiple different tasks within one job. So customer service, we did returns, pickups. Anything that went on in the store, we basically took care of it, and I think I liked the extra responsibility.
Interviewer: Please describe the application and interview process.
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: When I applied, I applied online. Maybe two weeks, I got a call to do a phone interview, where she asked me just basic questions about the store, like why I wanted to work there, and if I was an associate, what are some things that I would do? Then from there, she set up an in-person interview. I think I had that about a week after. Then, after I went to the interview I got hired on the spot, so.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: In person, she basically asked me about my experience at my previous job, why I decided to leave, and any concerns that I had working at their job, that I didn’t get from my other job. Then they asked me what was like the hourly pay I would like to be paid. That was basically it.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: Like I said, I did have three previous years when I worked at Giant Eagle. It wasn’t exactly the same, but I was used to dealing with customers, and working at a faster-paced environment, and working with a cash register. Also, I did bring and print a resume with all of my school information, my previous work experience, any clubs or activities that I did. I think that might’ve actually helped, because you don’t always need one, but it does help show that you can balance multiple things and work, so I think that could’ve helped.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
JCPenney Customer Service Desk: I would just say when you go into your actual interview, always dress as nice as possible. I don’t think you have to be suit-and-tie nice, but a nice business casual just to show that you’re serious. Always arrive a little bit before time, because I know when I got there, I did arrive before the time, but I know when I got there, I couldn’t find the actual room where they were giving me my interview, so I had some time to kind of like ask around and still be early before I had to go to my interview. I think that’s always important.
JCPenney Sales Associate Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
JCPenney Sales Associate: When I first got hired at JCPenney, I was a retail sales associate. I worked in the men’s department, so over time I was responsible for helping with the tailoring, with the suits and the dress shirts, organizing clothes, cashier, also helping to find the right shoe sizes for different people as they came into the store, so a lot of different responsibilities.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
JCPenney Sales Associate: When I worked there, it was during the summer before I got to college, so it was pretty slow-paced. But there were times where a lot of people came in, especially with a lot of sales that went on online and in stores. So, it was moderate-paced and it was a fairly simple work environment.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
JCPenney Sales Associate: I liked the fact that my schedule remained the same for those couple months that I was there. It helped out with just remembering when I have to go in. And I got a decent amount of pay. I got paid 8.50 starting out, and I would work maybe like four- to six-hour shifts at a time, and worked about four or five days a week, so.
Interviewer: Please describe the application and interview process.
JCPenney Sales Associate: The application is all online. Once you filled that out, there was also an online survey that they did, just to see what you’re like when it comes to dealing with clients, helping customers out, if you come into conflict with someone, and everything like that. Over time, you get a call from them, and then their interviews are group based. What you do is they ask a decent amount of general questions. Each person gets a chance to respond to each one of those questions, and then over time, they do like a team-building activity. What they did was to see who was taking control of the situation when it came to the team-building activity, who would fall back, and who would try to get everyone else involved. I luckily was one of the people that tried to get everyone else involved and was paying a little bit more attention to stuff, and while everyone else was able to leave at the end of it, the two hiring managers asked me to stay after, because they offered me a job right after the interview, so I was able to start up that following week.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
JCPenney Sales Associate: Of course, they asked, “Have you ever worked in retail before?” No, this was essentially my first job. They asked, like how would I deal with an unruly client? Have I ever… How are my organization skills? Can I follow directions? A lot of general questions. Even though they weren’t directed towards just one person per se, they gave everyone equal opportunity to try to answer these questions, but I felt like I was able to make my points whenever it was applicable for me to do so.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
JCPenney Sales Associate: When I did get the job, well of course they asked me up front, “Would you like to position?” I said yes. They already had my application, so they contacted me over the phone. They asked me to come in for the basic training. and the training was mostly computerized. We would go online, go through a certain amount of training, which we were paid for, mock situations when we would try to have to like ring people out over the register. We watched videos on how to deal with customers, what to do in different situations, who to call if we were ever in a situation, and stuff like that. So even though they were asking me if I wanted the job up front, they had my contact info over the phone, so they called.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
JCPenney Sales Associate: I’m a little bit more direct. My mom works in HR. Well, both my parents work in HR, so going into it, we would do some mock interviews. We’ve been doing mock interviews all throughout high school, gone to etiquette dinners and stuff like that. So I feel like I’ve had a little bit more of an advantage than some people. But of course, I was still a little nervous, because it was my first job, you know? So.
Interviewer: what other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
JCPenney Sales Associate: I feel like for me, it was a good starting point for someone that didn’t want to work in like food services or do anything that feels like it’s too much. I took the experience from JCPenney. I was able to roll with it. Now that I’m a manager here within the University of Akron Student Union, that experience that I had as a incoming freshmen was able to carry with me with communication skills, organization skills, how to talk to customers, and even being able to learn some management skills from the people that I worked with.
JCPenney Customer Service Assistant Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
JCPenney Customer Service Assistant: I was a customer service assistant, so I was open on the floor with customers in general and also open to ring at the cash register.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
JCPenney Customer Service Assistant: Usually throughout the day, I would come in, go on floor, help customers that have questions. I would help out in the fitting room, help out with choices, like what color matches best or something like that, and also help show them around the store, in case they need a specific location to go to. That’s usually basically what I would do.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
JCPenney Customer Service Assistant: The application process… you apply online, and after applying online, you go in for an interview. After the main interview with the representatives, you do a training session. They usually guide you through it once you apply online.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
JCPenney Customer Service Assistant: I would definitely say dress appropriately. That’s one of the key things that customers look for. When you dress nicely people, walk up to you and ask you questions about what to wear or what to buy.
JCPenney Home Department Sales Associate Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
JCPenney Sales Associate: My job title was in the home department. I basically greeted the customers when they came in. I also rung them up, helped them find things at JCPenney.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
JCPenney Sales Associate: The routine is basically to make sure everything gets straightened. When you see a customer, you have to make sure that you greet the customer because they were big on that and just helping the customer.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
JCPenney Sales Associate: The application… you have to fill out an application online. I actually went inside and filled out the application. I was actually called back the next day, and he interviewed me, and it was real easy.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
JCPenney Sales Associate: My experience of course, and he asked why I would like to work at JCPenney and why I think I would be a good fit for JCPenney.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
JCPenney Sales Associate: Have a lot of experience, I guess, in customer service and be energetic.
JCPenney Retail Associate Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
JCPenney Retail Associate: My job title was retail associate. Basically, I just straightened up the clothes; if there were clothes on the floor, put them on the hanger; if a customer wanted clothes from the back room, go check and see if we still have them; and then sometimes, I will ring the customers up.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
JCPenney Retail Associate: It was pretty much friendly. At first, when you first start working, you don’t know anybody, so you have to kind of make yourself comfortable with the people you’re working with in the environment. Once you got to know everybody, and all your managers and everything, it was a very friendly environment.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
JCPenney Retail Associate: You were just basically doing rounds to make sure everything looks nice for the customers, make sure there’s nothing on the floor, make sure everything’s straightened up, no clothes hanging off the hanger. If there’s one coat left and there’s some in the backroom, to go get them and fill up the shelves or whatever. Just folding clothes, stuff like that.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
JCPenney Retail Associate: You apply online, and there were some questions – the basic application about yourself, so they can get to know you – and then basically, you just have to make sure you call and check up on your application. Call the human resources office to make sure they even saw your application, to let them know that you’re eager about the job. After that, if they like you, they’ll call you and tell you you get an interview. Come in, you may have to do a second interview. I did, but then at my second interview, they told me I got the job. That’s basically it.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
JCPenney Retail Associate: Your strengths and weaknesses. That’s a big one for all job interviews. They want to know about your prior experiences, if you have any in that field or not. They want to know why you want to work there. Do you know anything about the company at all? Situational questions, like: “If you were in this situation with a customer and this customer got angry, what would you do?” I guess you just kind of have to think about it, because you don’t want to give the wrong answer. Because it might be something that you might just react to, and it’s not the right reaction that you’re supposed to give the customer, if that makes sense.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
JCPenney Retail Associate: I believe that I was more eager about the job. I kept calling to check on my application, letting them know that I really wanted the job. And I think that’s a really big part of trying to get a job, to let the human resources people know that you really want the job. If they don’t think you really want the job, then they probably won’t give it to you.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
JCPenney Retail Associate: Be yourself, but also be comfortable in the workplace, because that’s how you get through your workdays easier.
