I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at CarMax (Houston, TX) in Jul 2016
Interview
4 hour interview. One panel with two senior buyers and one with a purchasing manager. Simple behavioral questions mostly. Set in an open environment. Very friendly demeanor. Mom-probing questions. I believe they want to view your communication skills for the most part. As long as you can carry a good conversation you should be able to maneuver pretty easily around questions asked of you.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at CarMax (Laurel, MD) in May 2016
Interview
Approached via LinkedIn by recruiter. First completed online process of resume loading and job history etc., as well as lengthy psychological questions evaluation online as well. Then they called to say they wanted to go to the "Next Step" to an in-person interview. The computer did not interact easily due to the number of moves I have had for the background check info as they require 7 years of addresses and only allow 3 spaces for previous addresses. The CarMax Supervisor fudged my length of residence for me to get it to accept my addresses, which concerns me that this will make them assume I provided false information. Aside from that there was another set of psychological eval questions to complete on a computer onsite. Then I interviewed with a single buyer, then with a pair of buyers, then with another pair of buyers. They were all very pleasant and the interview process, though intense was not a problem as I have significant retail experience from which to draw examples of how I dealt with different problems, issues, situations. The background check will be thorough as they review social security info, credit history, criminal history, etc. Waiting to hear back. As I said, I enjoyed this interview, but it would have been intimidating had it been my first interview out of school.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give me an example of how you went about and beyond to provide excellent customer service.
I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at CarMax (Norwood, MA) in May 2016
Interview
Phone interview for about 30 minutes with a recruiter, very basic questions. Then had you complete an online security type survey of 150 questions. Then about a week later scheduled an interview with 2 managers at one of their locations. When I walked in for this 8 am interview, I first had to fill out another online informational survey as well as several background check authorizations. One of which included a social security earnings statement, which is a first. Afterwards they said they would have the first interviewer meet with me. I then sat for over a half-hour waiting for this person, who then showed up with a mug coffee in her hand (so she probably decided to take a break and make we wait) and said she would be with me in a moment. This totally turned me off. I later informed the recruiter of this experience, which I know probably turned him off. I still took the high-road and emailed this same company recruiter a thank you letter and he responded with a terse one-line email "I don't know anything yet and will let you know when i do". Real unprofessional response in my book considering this experience. So no surprise that they later turned me down. Company needs to get their act together in attracting and conducting a positive interview experience, they lost a possible future customer. I was totally turned off by this experience and would never recommend them., nor would I consider them when looking for an automobile.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
When was a time you failed to meet a deadline and what did you do?