I had seen in the newspaper that a Trader Joe's was opening in Sarasota Florida on September 7 2012, they would begin accepting applications on July 30th 2012 at 9:00am in person at the new store. So July 30th came around and I showed up at the store a little bit before 9:00 am and was greeted with a line of people about 70 strong and growing. I did not like my chances, so I chit chatted with some very nice people in line. Finally I reached the front of the line after not too long and was greeted by a Trader Joe's crew member which directed me to another crew member that was conducting interviews on the spot. The interviewer was a very smiley person very upbeat, put me at ease a bit. Pretty much the interview consisted not so much of previous experience but more about my attitude towards people. The interviewer asked me about my customer service aptitude. Asking me for example: Tell me of a time when you exceeded a customer expectations, Why should we hire you? Why do you want to work for Trader Joe's. Very few questions about past jobs, the interviewer seemed more interested in my people skills which is not surprising being that Trader Joe's is known for their customer service. The interview probably took 30 minutes after which I thanked the interviewer and left. They called me the same day to arrange a second interview which would be conducted by two people. The focus of this interview was the same as before: customer service. Just like before the interviewers were very nice. The only different thing from the first interview was that the asked me about food more. For example one question was: If you invited us to your house as guests what would you cooked for us? I tried to be descriptive in my answer about the food I would use and how I would prepare it. This interview lasted about 25 minutes. After this I was directed to meet my final interviewer which would be with the captain of the store. This interview I thought was the easiest of the three because the interviewer didn't ask me any behavioral questions. It was more about explaining company culture and what type of person Trader Joe's is looking for and how that would fit in with me. It was if they were trying to see and if me and Trader Joe's were a match made in heaven. After that they contacted me within a week with a job offer which I accepted.

It's two to three interviews, the final with the Captain (or highest manager) of the store. The interviews are largely to get to know your personality and how well you would do at customer service.