I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Nordstrom (Atlanta, GA) in Apr 2010
Interview
I applied to work as a sales associate and was emailed for a time to schedule a phone interview for a selected time and day of my choice. A Nordstrom recruiter then called me and asked me 5 or 6 brief questions. This lasted about five minutes and went very well and I was scheduled for an in person interview. When I came to the customer service dept. for my interview, I was greeted by the HR hiring manager and I kid you not this lady looked about 18 years old. But nevertheless, it went well and she was very nice and to the point. Oddly, after we were done she went to speak to the manager and came back a few minutes later to tell me that the manager in my desired dept. had someone else in mind for that position already, and that she was unaware of that when I applied. However, she said, there are a few sales associate positions open in a different dept., and that I would have a better selling potential there. So I then immediately met with the manager of that dept. for a second interview. I wanted to work in a more slow paced dept., but I thought the other dept. might be okay, especially since I hear you can wear jeans sometimes when you work there. The manager in that dept. was very plastic like and borderline snotty. She asked me the same questions the first lady did, and then took me to the sales floor and showed me around. She then told me i would do a mock sale to her where I pretended like she was a 16yr old girl going on a vacation to with her family and needing 2 outfits in which I needed to pick out for her. Once I had my 2 outfits the manager came back and I pitched them to her while in character. Then she asked if I had any questions and and told me I should hear back from her within a week after my background info clears. A few days later she called me back and said she only had a cashier position available, not the sales spot I originally applied for, so I declined.
So easy, I went to a job fair and was hired on the spot. They need people in the kids department, that's the easiest section to get into. They just ask about your personality and who you are.
Was inside Barton creek mall, hiring manager was prompt and clear with questions ranging from how I would handle difficult customers, to my personal experiences that could apply to the job.