I applied in-person. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Smithsonian
Interview
I submitted an application and was contacted within a day. An interview was scheduled for the same week. The interview was a standard form package of about three pages, and the questions were all your standard "What's a time when you've gone above and beyond for a job?" and "What makes you a team player?" They were so general that I actually had a little bit of difficulty thinking of an answer that didn't sound phony or naive. After those questions was a very basic math test to make sure you can give a customer change correctly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"If you suspected someone of shoplifting, what would you do?" This one was hard because the procedure really varies from employer to employer, but your basic "Watch the customer, then notify a supervisor and security" pretty much covers it. Again, all the questions seemed very general and cutesy to me, so they were all difficult to answer without coming across as obnoxious.
I applied in-person. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Smithsonian (Washington, DC) in Feb 2011
Interview
I handed in my resume to one of the gift stores. The store manager contacted me for an interview for which I was accepted. They proceeded to run a background check on me. I went to get fingerprinted and get a badge. I attended an orientation class and started work.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Generic interview questions. You should give detail about previous work experience and why you are qualified for the position. Some questions about what you do in this or that situation if it happened.