I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at DSW (Orange, CT) in Apr 2014
Interview
I filled out the online application and got a call about a week later to schedule an interview, the co-manager who spoke to me on the phone was extremely friendly and outgoing, and I expected to interview with her. However, I showed up the next week for my interview with the store manager, who made up his mind with the first answer I gave that he was not going to hire me. He first asked about my sales experience, to which I replied that I didn't have any. He seemed surprised by this and continued on to be a bit condescending through the interview, even though my lack of experience was on my job application and they invited me to interview anyway. The questions were very easy, I had no trouble answering them in detail and with enthusiasm. Very typical interview questions; "if you saw this happen..", past experience with handling peoples specific needs, etc. He told me he would need to email me the background check that I would have to sign off on within 24 hours, and said he would get back to me by Monday. I left the office and received a rejection email less than 2 minutes later.
They likely won't hire you if you have no experience in sales, so unfortunately my time was wasted.
What you’d expect for a PT sales associate position — 15-30 minutes long, one-on-one with the manager, and questions that you’d expect to answer for a retail sales associate job.
I applied through other source. I interviewed at DSW in Jun 2026
Interview
Easy! The manager listed times when she was available, and I was able to choose when to come in. The questions were really straightforward and conversational. I was also able to ask a lot of questions to see if it was a right fit for me!
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at DSW (Maple Grove, MN)
Interview
Easy. Waited for a manager in the front took me to the back on for store and had the interview in a little room off to the side. Quick process called when I got the job.
DSW interviews FAQs
Sales Associate applicants have rated the interview process at DSW with 2 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 75% positive. To compare, the company-average is 74.1% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Sales Associate roles take an average of 10 days to get hired, when considering 423 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at DSW overall takes an average of 12 days.
Common stages of the interview process at DSW as a Sales Associate according to 423 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 33%
Background check: 15%
Group panel interview: 10%
Personality test: 10%
Drug test: 9%
Skills test: 8%
Presentation: 5%
IQ intelligence test: 5%
Phone interview: 5%
Other: 0%
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