Old Navy is one of the most popular clothing retailers in the US. Promoting community, empathy and joy in the workplace, employees working in the stores have mostly positive experiences with this work.

When trying to get a job in one of their stores you may interview in a group or alone, online or face to face. In any case, the form of your interview does not change much about the questions you will get. They will ask you mostly simple personal questions and a few situational questions (which are more difficult). Let’s have a look at 10 common questions they may ask you in Old Navy interviews.

 

Why do you want to work for Old Navy?

You will get this question in almost every interview at Old Navy, regardless of whether you apply for a position of a sales associate, cashier, or something more elaborate such as store manager or inventory manager.

You have a few options for a good answer. One is referring to their brand, and values they try to promote in their stores (equality, community, joy, justice, love). Saying that such values resonate with your values and hence you’d love to work for them is an excellent answer.

Another one is referring to a great level of customer service (you experienced it while shopping in their stores), organization of the place, or perhaps positive feedback other employees left on the brand.

If you know someone working for Old Navy already and they recommended you to apply, praising the working environment, you should definitely mention this in your answer, including the name of the person who recommended you to apply.

Try to show some enthusiasm while talking about a proposition of working for Old Navy. The hiring managers should get an impression that you really want the job, and do not consider it only your last option.

 

How would you define an outstanding customer service?

Shoppers expect much more than just a good price nowadays. They want to enjoy their shopping experience, and meet friendly and knowledgeable sales associates. Managers at Old Navy understand the importance of a great customer service, and you will get this question (or a similar one) in almost each interview for an in-store position with the retailer.

You can define such as service in several ways. One is saying that if a customer feels welcome, heard out and respected in the store from the moment they enter the building until the moment they leave, then they definitely received an excellent service from the people in the store. And it doesn’t matter whether they eventually purchased something or not.

Another idea is talking about returning customers. Say that you are not sure how to define a great customer service (you will learn how to deliver one in your training), but if people return to the store again and again to do their shopping and spend more money, then they certainly received a great service from the people working there.

Special Tip: You may check also 7 sample answers to the question “How do you define an outstanding customer service?

 

Describe a time when you had a conflict with one of your coworkers in your previous job.

Interviewers are interested in your attitude, and not in the particular situation you describe in your answer. Can you admit making a mistake? Do you try to solve conflicts constructively? What is your attitude to colleagues? Do you try to cooperate with them or compete?

Conflicts belong to every workplace, and we cannot entirely avoid them. But if you show the interviewers at Old Navy that you try to solve conflicts in a constructive way, and can get over bad words quickly, and look for the good things in people, they will be happy with your answer.

If you apply for your very first job, and hence have no experience with conflicts, you can say that you want to act friendly to your colleagues. You want to be attentive to their needs, help them with their work, and basically try your best to be a team player. If you succeed, there won’t be many conflicts in the workplace…

assorted clothes in an apparel store

What is your availability? Which hours can you work?

Old Navy stores are almost always open, and they hire people for all types of jobs–full time, part time, seasonal. Therefor you do not have to be worried if you can work only on weekends, or perhaps only 20 hours each week (because you study for example, or have another part time job).

Try to prepare a clear schedule for each day in a week. You can even bring it to the interview with you, and with its help illustrate on which days you can work and exactly which hours you are available.

If you can, however, you should show some flexibility. They should not get the feeling that you consider your job with Old Navy your last priority (after school, boyfriend, hobbies, everything else). Of course you may have something else on the top of your list (school, or family), but this job should come second on the list.

 

What motivates you the most in work?

Sales associates who lost their motivation won’t do a good job, and won’t succeed in delivering an excellent customer service to the shoppers. But you should not expect your manager to motivate you, because such motivation fades quickly.

Try to talk about a clear reason why you wake up to work, and this should be more than making money. You should have a goal you follow, something you can keep on your mind, something that will drive you forward on difficult days. Or you can talk about great collective and a feeling of responsibility for your colleagues. For example:

  • You want to complete your studies but without regular income you cannot afford that. Hence your goal to earn a degree one day and have more career options motivates you to try hard in your  job.
  • Applying for a job you enjoy doing–because you love fashion and clothes and talking to people, you do not need any special motivation. Your day in a store flies away quickly, like a butterfly on a hot summer day…
  • Wanting to support your children so they can have a good life and study is your main goal, and you certainly cannot afford that without trying hard in work.
  • You are a team player, and you understand that each retail store is like a living body. If any organ malfunctions, we get sick and cannot thrive. Hence you feel responsibility for your colleagues, and do not want to let them down with bad results. What’s more, you hope that a good collective in a store will lift you up on low days.

 

5 other questions you may get in your interview with Old Navy

  • What do you consider your greatest strength and your biggest weakness?
  • How long do you want to have this job?
  • Imagine that a customer accuses you of a bad service. What will you do.
  • Imagine that you overheard two colleagues gossiping something untrue about the store manager. What would you do? Would you report them?
  • What are your salary expectations?

 

What to wear to your interview with Old Navy

Interviews with Old Navy are typically casual, and may even feel informal. If you apply for an in-store position you can wear anything that you’d wear to a meeting with a friend. The company doesn’t have a strict dress code, and you won’t win any extra points with any choice of clothes.

Just wear something decent, something you feel comfortable wearing. It goes without saying that your clothes should be clean and well ironed. If you want, you can check some special interview attire tips, but as I already mentioned this won’t make much difference with Old Navy. Just be yourself and if you can, wear something you bought in their store :).

 

Specifications of a group interview

Group interviews are little bit specific in this case. Interviewers may split the applicants into groups of three or four people and let them cooperate on certain tasks. This can include anything from solving some logical puzzle to preparing a short sales presentation.

They let you work on your task and observe how people behave. Who is leading the team? Do people within the teams cooperate, or compete? Do they seem to have fun working together?

Needless to say, Old Navy promotes team spirit and cooperation in the workplace. If you interview in a group, try to act friendly and communicate with other people in the room. Instead of trying to stand out help someone else stand out. If the hiring managers recognize this attitude in you, you will almost certainly get the job…

 

Behavioral questions for managerial level interviews at Old Navy

If you apply for a managerial role, you may face some situational or behavioral questions which you won’t get while applying for a sales associate or cashier role. For example:

  • Describe a time when you were under pressure in work.
  • Tell us about a time when you failed to meet a goal.
  • Describe the biggest failure of your professional career.
  • Tell us about a situation when you faced a conflict of personal and professional interests in your job.
  • Talk about a situation when you successfully motivated someone in your work.
  • Describe a time when you demonstrated your leadership qualities.

If you find these questions difficult, please read our analysis of 15 most common behavioral interview questions. Thank you!

 

Conclusion

Job interviews at Old Navy belong to easier interviews. The company doesn’t have a standardized interview process for their stores, and that’s why some managers may surprise you with an unexpected question. But if you manage to demonstrate motivation and right attitude to work and to your colleagues, they will give you a chance.

Read this article once again, and try to write down a short answer to each question. Then you should also check our guide on how to overcome interview nerves, and learn something about corporate values of Old Navy. Knowing something about the company will help you to chill out, and perhaps even to connect with the interviewers… I wish you good luck!

Antony
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