I applied in-person. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at DSW (Marlborough, MA) in Oct 2011
Interview
First was a phone interview, asking questions about why you want to work at DSW. They just want to get a feel of your people skills over the phone because that's part of their customer service. They followed up with an in person interview with the store manager. She was professional and seemed down to earth. The in person interview was at the store in the back, she asked a series of questions as to how you handle certain types of situations regarding sales and customer service. I remember it not being very long but just seemed like a normal interview for a retail position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How to handle difficult customers given specific scenarios.
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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