I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Costco Wholesale (Lynnwood, WA) in Apr 2016
Interview
It was an intimidating process where they took me back to a small room and had two people drill me with questions. One guy had a furrowed brow the whole time that made me feel like I was unintelligent and saying everything wrong. This was after waiting more than 1/2hr to interview in the break room. It was an annoyingly typical corporate interview (where do you want to be in 5 years?) When they said "okay, we have 20 more people to interview so we'll let you know," I know I didn't get the job, or assumed, because while I was waiting I chatted with another candidate who was told she got the job, the same job, on the spot. I almost called this to their attention so I could get an immediate "no" haha. While I stick by the fact Costco is a good company that offers competitive pay, this was a disappointing interview experience. The questions were vague and not accurate in determining who would actually make a good candidate. All in all, I can say--at least I don't have to work the crazy holiday season there where the giant parking lot is packed and I'm sure every single employee is stressed. It's their loss, I am a hard worker.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q: Discuss a time you had an issue with a coworker and how did you handle it?
Q: How did you prepare for this interview?
Q: Why should we hire you over the other candidates?
You sit at a table in the food area with two managers. If you have a heart beat you got a job. They drug test immediately. They take you into a back room to suck on a dry sponge for about 5 minutes to see if you pass the test.
Initial phone screen with a manager. Went on to do in person interview with other managers (previous experience in a team, what i did to prepare,etc.) Clarified my schedule and started the onboarding a week later.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Time you worked on a team, mistake you made, communicating something new
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Costco Wholesale in Nov 2025
Interview
This was for a seasonal position. Went in and got seated in the breakroom. They called me in after about 15 minutes. I was interviewed by the Admin manager and the Front end manager. It went really well! They dud an amazing job of making me feel comfortable. I handed them copies of my resume and they were just pointing things out and asking me about that and what my plans were at Costco, considering the prestige of my college degree and my professional experience thus far. After that they asked me general situational questions. Told me to wait in the breakroom again to speak with GM. Conversation with him took less than 5 minutes. He told me my resume was impressive, also asked me what I was hoping to gain at Costco. Afterwards told me to be on standby to get my drug test done. That took about 15 minutes and I had orientation 2 days later.