Petland Interview Questions & Tips

Hiring Process Overview

Petland maintains a sizeable network of stores that relies on motivated and dedicated individuals to provide customer service and sales. During the hiring process, the retailer uses a single job interview to weed out candidates and select the most eligible workers. Entry-level positions like sales associate take applicants through brief, personal interview sessions with a hiring manager in casual and laid back settings. Job hopefuls discuss pet store-oriented topics and answer questions about personality and professional motives for 20 to 30 minutes before the hiring person either makes a decision or tells the applicant to await a phone call regarding a final decision.

Structured Interview Process

Other employment opportunities, like pet counselor or manager, require a much more stringent hiring process. Petland pet counselor associates and managerial job seekers must typically interview on multiple occasions. The additional rounds of job interview almost always feature different hiring personnel, which may include supervisors, assistant store managers, store managers, or area and district managers. Sometimes, managerial candidates encounter a mix of panel interviews and 1:1 interviews as part of the hiring process. The average time job seekers spend in the interview process, regardless of position sought, falls between a few days and two weeks. Any additional time spent in the interview process typically results due to increased numbers of eligible workers vying for the same spot.

Potential Interview Questions

Hiring representatives may ask candidates interview questions related to hectic and noisy work environments like:

• "Are you able to perform your assigned tasks while potentially distracted?"
• "Are there any animals that scare you or make you anxious?"
• "What is your favorite part of working with animals?"

Other Petland interview questions revolve around operations, sales, and typical customer service scenarios, such as:

• "If you couldn't help a customer find an item, what would you do?"
• "What are some ways to ensure the customer leaves the store happy?"

Petland Sales Associate Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Petland Employee: I was hired as a sales associate, and my duties were handing puppies to people, but they also defined who I could hand it to. You have to get permission from a parent to hand it to a kid. And, that was about it. I had to clean up at the end of the night, too. You would get assigned mopping the floor or stocking shelves. Thankfully, you didn’t really have to take care of the poo.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Petland Employee: The application… I went in there and asked for an application. I filled out a one-page piece of paper, talking about the experience with animals, and also sales. I don’t think it had an online component, they may have skipped that. When I walked in, I talked to a manager immediately. Then after that, I was just hired and brought in. Direct deposit information, and that was about it. It was really fast.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Petland Employee: “Are you generally punctual?” They always ask if you have a car. They ask that in every job. I’ve just been dumbfounded. How do you have a job if you do not have reliable transportation to get there? They have to ask. Other than that, filling out hours you were available.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Petland Employee: Ask for help whenever possible, because their training process is kind of vaguely formed. When you walk in, you have nothing to do time-wise, other than handing puppies over. If someone magically wants that dog you handed to them, you don’t know how to sell it yet. So, you have to ask for another associate, and they’re going to want the sale, because they did all the work, and you just handed them the dog. When you just start out, you’re not going to get commission on it, anyway – you only get like 1%. So, you’re going to end up getting your hourly rate, anyway. Give the sales and make friends first, when you’re not going to make money off the sale, anyway, to another associate. That kind of social currency at the place you work, I didn’t quite understand that one when I got hired. And I kind of made some enemies rather quickly, just because I wanted a sale to count towards me, even though it meant nothing for money.

Related Links:
Petland Application