How the Interview Process Works
One on one interview format
The sheer volume of departments in Meijer stores makes the retailer an ideal place to find work and gain valuable experience. Hiring for part-time and full-time positions across all fields of operations, the company conducts interviews using brief, one-on-one formats. Entry-level job seekers and aspiring professionals alike sit with hiring representatives in person and answer questions regarding the position desired and personality traits.
Multiple interviews
Most day-shift workers experience one or two job interviews, while night-shift team member hopefuls and managers often sit through as many as three or four hiring sessions with Meijer.
Interview Questions
Basic interview questions asked during the Meijer hiring process refer back to initial information given on official employment forms. Interview questions touch on subjects like availability, earliest start date, decision to work for the department store, and comments, questions, or concerns an applicant might have about work environments, responsibilities, and pay.
What specific questions might they ask?
Meijer interview questions may include:
- Do you have any health restrictions?
- How do you deal with difficult or upset customers?
- Have you ever been expected to exceed daily tasks without being asked?
Time Spent in the Interview
Average interviews last from 15 to 30 minutes. In some extreme cases, applicants may sit with Meijer hiring personnel for up to an hour, though instances of longer interview duration typically only occurs with managerial candidates.
Take Care of Self Presentation
Workers should approach the hiring process in a professional and distinguished manner. Though a first-time job for many, applicants should treat the opportunity with absolute integrity and display a well-manicured and enthusiastic disposition at all times. Meijer tends to favor workers who take great interest in the company and the sought-after position.
How to Dress for an Interview at Meijer
Business casual attire is best when interviewing for entry-level grocery store jobs. Looking professional is a crucial part of choosing what to wear. For a Meijer interview, how workers present themselves is a sign of the types of employees they will be. Well-dressed and on-time candidates increase their chances in the hiring process.
Insider Tips
Listen: former Meijer employees discuss working for Meijer.
Meijer General Merchandiser Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer:
Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Meijer General Merchandiser:
So at Meijer I was put in as a GM, General Merchandiser. Primary duties of a general merchandiser is to go whether like whatever position they put you in for that day, it can be electronics, pets, home or what’s the other one? HVC, like the health and care products. You go, you organize it, push all labels facing forward, everything up and then you do returns and you help any customers that ask you any questions. They also had me mainly inside of fashion, so there you are in charge of taking the carts out of the back and putting the clothes up into the front, wherever they can fit. You’re in charge of returns, folding all the clothes, organizing all the hangers and once again helping customers if they have any questions.
Interviewer:
What was the work environment like?
Meijer General Merchandiser:
Managers were very approachable, but the coworkers inside your sections were usually downbeats. It’s really busy. Yeah, you have your slow days, but even then it’s still pretty busy. There’s a lot of customers.
Interviewer:
What was your favorite part about working there?
Meijer General Merchandiser:
Yeah, I would say my favorite part was whenever I got to do something new with my supervisor. Like she’d take me and she’d show me how to do some new things and we’d go do it. Just like a day away from like the normal job and that’s what I probably appreciated most about the job was just any day that I wasn’t folding clothes.
Interviewer:
Please describe the application and interview process.
Meijer General Merchandiser:
So the application. I did my application in person, wrote it all down and then I spoke to them. I also came in before the store opened, so it may be a different process. But our HR director gave me a call and she asked me when I wanted to do a calling interview. They called me, they asked me a few questions, just basically like what do you do and what do you like to do and what do you dislike about your job now? And stuff like that. The basic interview questions. Then she sent me a text later on telling me that she wants me to come in and I come in and since they were opening, they had like a lot of interviews going on at once. So I sat around at, like just kind of like a bench area with about 20 other people, and then they just called me. They had a first part and a second part of the interview process. If you passed both of those interviews then you would go and you’d figure out your salary and your hours and everything.
Interviewer:
What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Meijer General Merchandiser:
What do you like about your job now? What don’t you like about your job now? I think they did the one like three words to describe yourself. They did … Oh gosh. How would your coworkers describe you? And that’s about all I remember, like exactly. It was a lot of the basic ones.
Interviewer:
How were you notified that you received the job
Meijer General Merchandiser:
After everything, it was right after the second interview, like the second in-person interview and if he said, go to this lady, then you got the job, and if you didn’t go to the lady then you don’t get the job. So it was just kind of right there.
Interviewer:
What set you apart from other candidates?
Meijer General Merchandiser:
Probably because I had my manager from a previous job was actually there during the interviews and he talked to one of the interviewers, he did clarify that I was a very good worker. I would also say what set me apart was that I was very confident. I knew that I was capable of the job and I know I’m like a very, very good worker.
Interviewer:
What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Meijer General Merchandiser:
Make sure you tell them that you’re very customer oriented and that you have a positive attitude towards all customers. They try to, like one of their big things is like have a happy, healthy employee family. Like they just want everyone to be very positive and very happy.
Meijer Bagger Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Meijer Bagger: I was a bagger. I was considered as a bagger because at the time I was sixteen so I couldn’t do anything outside of that. It was basically like part custodian and part someone who basically goes outside, gets the carts, bring them back in for the customers.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Meijer Bagger: The work environment is very easy to get used to. Like when you have other employees, if you have a question or anything, they’ll help you, they’ll assist you. They’ll help you find where such item is or where does it need to go. When it comes to customers, it’s easy to get used to as well. When you have international customers and you don’t know what they’re saying, Meijer has international workers. If you can’t understand what someone is saying, you can you refer them to the other employee or you can get the other employee to help translate.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Meijer Bagger: Typical work day at Meijers, on Sundays it is … I’ll give you two. On Sundays it is very hectic. It gets so full, so packed, so quick. Say you’re working, like you’re working on a specific project, you’ll get a lot of customers coming up to you asking questions of where things are or like price checks or anything. Another day is the first and the third I believe of every month when food stamps start to come in, it’s really, really packed.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Meijer Bagger: The application process, with that you can either do it online or you can do it in person. If you do it in person, it will take at least ten, fifteen minutes depending on if you either had a first job or this is like another job that you are trying to get. If it’s your first job, it will take at least fifteen minutes for you to complete the application. Well no, it will take you actually ten minutes for that because you wouldn’t have any … What is it? You wouldn’t have any work experience in the past so it will take at least ten minutes because it’s a short process. If you’re looking for another job, like a part time job then it’ll take fifteen minutes. What they’ll do is, after you complete that and if you are looking for another part time job, they ask for a resume. Once you give them the resume, they’ll review it. If they like what they see, they’ll call you in for an interview.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Meijer Bagger: What kind of questions, like they personally asked me were … What is it? Have you had any work experience before? Are you looking for a full time or part time job? What department would you like to work in or prefer to work in? They also asked how well is your communication skills, just for like when a customer approaches you with a problem or a question. I believe that was it.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Meijer Bagger: At the time that is when I first applied. It took a month only because of how I forgot my social security number, that was the only reason. They notified me via telephone. I was notified through the telephone that I was accepted for the job and that was that.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Meijer Bagger: If you’re trying to get employment at Meijer, either if you’re looking for a full time job or a part time job or if this is your first job, just know that Meijer is a very safe environment to work in. It is very easy to get used to the workers and the customers.
Meijer Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Meijer Employee: My job title at Meijer’s… I was actually a stock personnel. Meijer was a 24-hour company, 24-hour store. I would go in there late hours and restock the shelves, and it was an eight-hour shift.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Meijer Employee: The favorite is just being able to kind of supervise myself. You’re out there and you put a lot of pride into what you do, making sure everything looks really neat and perfect, and you have your music blaring at night. There’s not a lot of customers, so we can listen to our music. We can make sure the shelves look great, and make sure the floors are nice and clean.
Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Meijer Employee: A typical shift for me usually starts at about 11:30. I would come to work and see exactly how much product we needed to put out. It depends on the time of month, because when the store is busier, we have a lot more product to put out. A typical day would just be grabbing my skids, getting them out on the floors, and making sure my products is up.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Meijer Employee: They just pertained to if you can lift a certain amount, making sure that you had a decent education where you could read the product and make sure the product was in the right spot. Just making sure that you are being aware of your surroundings, because you’re dealing with a lot of customers and you just can’t act a certain way around our customers.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Meijer Employee: I was also been… from the military. I’m the kind of guy who… a go-getter. When I talk to people and interview, I’ll let them know what kind of young man I am and what I expect. Being a person who can supervise himself, I think that set me apart, and I thought that the interviewer could tell.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Meijer Employee: I think I would give the advice of going there with an open mind and having a lot of self-confidence and being able to work independently, not over thinking the job. That kind of advice.
Meijer Stock Associate Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Meijer Stock Associate: I was a stock boy. They would receive shipments of anything from like clothes to food and I would just load it up. Just essentially move boxes around and get it ready to go out on the floor.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Meijer Stock Associate: It would get kind of loud. There was a lot of machines running around. I worked by myself so there wasn’t a lot of communication or interaction with anybody. It was a little bit dark, but nothing bad.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Meijer Stock Associate: I went in and they had me sign a few papers. I forget, just asking me where I had worked before and just what they thought I was good at, just a regular job application. There really wasn’t much to the interview. They just asked if I could lift a certain amount of weight to do on my own and if I could make it into work on time. They just tried to figure out a little bit of me to see if I could be reliable enough to consistently make it into work and get the job done and not try and cheat the company.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Meijer Stock Associate: They would ask if they’ve ever been … Like wanted to steal or thought of stealing with the company because they were big on that. They used to give a lot of stuff that wouldn’t get sold fast enough to charities so they wanted to make sure no one was stealing items from the company and they could be trustworthy employees. Just stuff along those lines because it was more physical labor so they wanted to know if they could trust an employee rather than figure out if they could keep up on an intellectual level.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Meijer Stock Associate: I was young and fit. I was a college student so I think they trusted me that I was trying to do the right thing for the company and I had a … I was just trying to make money so I could continue to go to college.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Meijer Stock Associate: It took me about, I think, a week or two because they sent me to a clinic to get drug tested and get a physical. Once that all got cleared, they called me and told me.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Meijer Stock Associate: It’s hard work and the hours can sometimes go longer than expected but it’s rewarding and the pay was good.
SHAHID says:
I AM 15 AND I REALLY WANT TO WORK BUT I WILL BE 16 IN OCTOBER OF 2011