Spencer’s Interview Questions & Tips

Navigating the Interview Process

With more than 600 stores in shopping malls across the country, Spencer's Gifts maintains constant hiring needs. The interview process provides job seekers with the opportunity to meet with a hiring manager and possibly gain employment. The company typically interviews candidates either one-on-one or as part of a group, with group interviews normally only used when filling entry-level job openings. Applicants contending for entry-level sales associates jobs usually have to interview just once, while prospective managers generally complete a multi-round interview process often lasting a month or longer.

Potential Interview Questions

Interviewers commonly use situational questions to gain insight into the experiences and skills of potential workers. Interviewees are regularly prompted to describe times when they overcame an obstacle at work or went above and beyond to help a customer. Hiring managers also frequently ask questions such as the following to see how well applicants might fit in with the rebellious and sometimes provocative nature of the brand:

• "What do you know about Spencer's?"
• "Do you have any problems with the products we sell?"

Job seekers participating in group interviews often have to partner with another candidate and pretend to sell a piece of merchandise so the hiring manager can properly gauge sales skills.

Tips For Success

Wear casual but slightly dressy clothes in order to look professional while still reflecting the character of the irreverent retail chain. Perform some background research the company before the interview to get a better idea of the type of employee the company prefers to hire to represent the brand. Respond to Spencer's interview questions in a way that either clearly highlights specific examples of your abilities and experiences or accurately showcases your personality and interpersonal skills. Remember to acknowledge the hiring manager appreciatively at the conclusion of each interview and contact the store a few days after to check on the status of the job vacancy.

Spencer’s Sales Associate Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Spencer’s Sales Associate: At Spencer’s, I was a sales associate and then you basically… you went around the store and like, restocked the merchandise, refolded t-shirts when they got messed up, and then you were also a cashier when you were assigned there. You just kind of walk the floor, made sure that everything looked okay, it wasn’t a complete mess.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: Fun, well because it was Spencer’s and so it’s got all kinds of like gag gifts and stuff. You always got like the fun crowd in there. It wasn’t a bunch of like uptight kind of people. You met a lot of interesting people there, like your customers and stuff.

Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: Probably the coworkers and the atmosphere. Like all of it just kind of put together was like you knew that the people were working there because they wanted to have a fun time and so therefore it was all enjoyable.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: For the application, it was an online application. You just went to their careers and it sent you to a different page. There was this portal thing that you applied through and then when they called me back, well they called me for an interview. I went in and interview took about maybe 15 to 20 minutes. It was pretty easy. They just kind of went over my application and then they asked me a couple of other questions, like what would you do in this kind of circumstance, what would you do in this kind of circumstance kind of thing. Then I left and they called me back a couple of hours later that I got the job.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: They asked me questions like, one of the ones I know for sure was if you’re getting a difficult customer where they want to do like a return plus an exchange, it’s just like return a certain item and then exchange for something else, for a different item, how would you go about that? Would you be able to handle it yourself or would you have to call management? It was one of those things where it was like you need to try to figure it out yourself and only call a manager if like you really are having a hard time with the customer themselves. You should have the knowledge to do it by yourself.

Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: I don’t know. I guess I was just kind of, like I wasn’t really shy about it. It was kind of a thing I was trying to get over, so I wasn’t really shy when I was in the interview. I guess just because I was like myself. I wasn’t trying to impress them. I guess that kind of set me apart.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Spencer’s Sales Associate: You’re going to get some crazy questions from customers, but you should expect that just because of the kind of store it is. It should be a lot of fun, so if you’re looking for somewhere fun to work I guess that’s a place you could go.

Related Links:
Spencer's Application