I applied online for a position at an H&M which will soon open at my local mall. I found the online application very easy and straightforward. I was then emailed about 5 days later an invitation to an Open House, where I was to be interviewed.
The invitation said to dress casual and to show case your personal style. I wore a nice blazer, a casual tee from H&M, a nice necklace from H&M, black Harem pants and flats. I can say everyone at that open house had very different style.
I was nervous for the interview given I had only been to a handful of interviews before, but I read as much as I could about the company on their website so as to be as best prepared as possible. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is going to interview at H&M because many of the questions they asked me in the interview related back to what I found on the company website.
At the open house, I came in, registered, and waited in line behind about 7 other people waiting to be interviewed. I was called about 20 min. later. I first interviewed with a hiring manager. She was very nice and laid back. She began the interview telling me about herself and then she asked me questions like, "Tell me about yourself", "What experience do you have in retail", "Why do you want to want to work with H&M", "What's your availability?", "What do you expect from H&M?", "Are you willing to work weekends?", "What is your expected wage?" and finally she asked if I had any questions for her. I asked her what she enjoyed most about her job. (I think it's a good idea to have a question or two in mind to ask your interviewer in case they give you the opportunity to ask questions).
She then asked me if I had time to interview with another manager and I said yes. I waited about 10 min. and then interviewed with a Store Manager. She asked me pretty much the same questions the Hiring Manager did, along with a couple others. I felt kinda redundant repeating myself but they're looking for consistency so keep your answers consistent. She also asked me questions like: "Tell me about a time you gave great customer service?", questions regarding my last position in retail, "In your, previous retail work, how did you raise sales?", "What does it mean to you to be straightforward?", and "What does "We believe in people mean to you?" These last two questions relate to H&M's values, so like I said study their website!
After the interviews the Store Manager told me that they would notify me within 2 weeks if I got the job.
About a week after that, I received a call inviting me to another interview.
At that "interview", I was offered the position. She only asked me a couple questions to refresh her memory about which of the applicants I was. She asked me to explain my retail experience. Then she told me she'd like to offer me the position. She then took out a folder and began to explain to me everything inside it (code of conduct, training process, benefits, etc). She gave me my orientation date, place and time and that was about it. Overall took about 15 minutes.
My interview tips would be for you to be yourself! Be positive and upbeat! Try to incorporate stuff from their website into your answers. For example, when they asked me "Why to you what to work for H&M", I answered something like, "I want to work for H&M because I share many of their values such as respect for all people and the environment. I really love their approach to sustainable fashion, because often as consumers we aren't aware of the environmental impacts our clothes have plus H&M is quality clothing at affordable prices and that's something that really sets it apart from other sustainable clothing lines."
I'm someone that really likes to be around people, likes helping people and has an entrepreneurial spirit and I really tried showcasing that in my interview. I was worried about not getting the job because I only had about 8 months of previous work and that had been about 2 years ago! But I mentioned to them that for about 10 years now (since age 14) I had run my own stall at a local market during the summers, so I'm assuming that helped my case.
